Olivia Conniff
Bio 10H
1/13/19
Current Event 13
Hamers, Laurel. “Here's How the Record-Breaking Government Shutdown Is Disrupting Science.” Science News, 12 Jan. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/how-record-breaking-government-shutdown-disrupting-science?tgt=nr.
For Current Event 13, I decided to read the article, “Here’s How the Record-Breaking Government Shutdown is Disrupting Science,” by Laurel Hamers, because the title really interested me. The current government shutdown is now entering its fourth week, becoming the longest in history. Scientists in all areas of work are being impacted immensely. Those who handle food safety and public health are furloughed and countless projects that research everything from climate change to pest control to hurricane prediction are on hold. EPA employees who enforce laws restricting air and water pollution are on leave, and work to clean up Superfund sites, areas of extreme environmental contamination, is suspended. That means that any research into the potential health or environmental effects of new contaminants is on hold. The government agencies that have been affected are the U.S. Geological Survey, the Department of Agriculture, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency and NASA, where nearly all employees are on leave. Also, 40% of the Food and Drug Administration’s workers are furloughed, as are most employees of the National Parks Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Perhaps one of the greatest impacts, the National Science Foundation, which is responsible for providing nearly $8 billion in research funds each year, has stopped awarding grants and has canceled review panels with outside scientists.
This article really impacted me because I truly care about science and new research discoveries being made and it upsets me that because the government is shut down, these things have been halted. I think it is terrible that the government has been shut down for 2 weeks, because that means that extremely important agencies have been shut down for 2 weeks. All of the agencies listed are crucial to the safety of the environment, which is in a delicate state. Funding to research projects is also halted, stopping new scientific discoveries from being made, which is also very upsetting to me. Without this research, problems that need solving are left unsolved.
This article was extremely informative and for the most part Hamers did an excellent job. I really liked how Helmers used language that was not too sophisticated but also not too simple or boring to read. She also included a lot of detailed information on exactly which government agencies are affected by the shutdown, as well as how they are affected. She left no stone unturned as far as listing every single aspect of science that has been affected. While the article was very good for the most part, I feel that there were some instances where Hamers was a bit repetitive and could have cut down on some of the things she was writing multiple times. Overall, I really enjoyed reading Hamers’ article and gaining a better understanding of how the government shutdown is affecting science.
Chris Aherne
ReplyDeleteBiology
Mr. Ippolito
2-7-19
Hamers, Laurel. “Here's How the Record-Breaking Government Shutdown Is Disrupting Science.” Science News, 12 Jan. 2019, www.sciencenews.org/article/how-record-breaking-government-shutdown-disrupting-science?tgt=nr.
For Current event number 2 I decided to read Olivia Conniff's review on the federal government's recent shutdown and why it is affecting science. I found that her review was not only well written but very informing as well, she very much so got a full understanding of what was going on. She instantly grabs the reader's attention in the first few sentences, talking about how this was "the longest federal shutdown in history". But, what most grabbed my attention was her statement on how the FDA was being affected. Since the FDA is a branch of the federal government, 40 percent of its employees were taken out of work. This leaves us with a lot of questions, making us want to research the topic even more. But it wasn't only the FDA, she also mentions that the "National Parks Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service" also had to close their doors during the shutdown. This only brought me closer to the story. Overall, she did a great job covering the impact it had on science, and our country.
Although she did a great job covering this topic, there were spots where she could improve. First was the way she formatted her review, she didn't go into depth on the affect it would have on science as much as she went in on how much of an effect it would have on our country. Leaving her review to be a little bit messy. Second, I felt that there were areas in which she went into great detail, but some areas where she went into to little. Leaving the reader questioning some aspects of this governmental shutdown. She could improve on these points by putting ideas together more, rather than leaving gaps in between ideas. secondly, she could just find some more information on the spots that felt less detailed than others. Making her review flow better, and seem more balanced.
Overall, she did a good job explaining her topic. I learned a lot about how the shutdown would affect our society and science as a whole. It left me questioning thing that I wouldn't have thought about from just reading the news. This topic drew my attention because I have seen it in the news a lot and I'm a very avid political reader. It will not only change my view on the shutdown, but it will change my view on how heavily science relies on the government.