Category: Unit 2

Source 1: 

“On the Fireline: Inside Canada’s record-breaking wildfire season”

By Neetu Garcha Global News

Published September 30, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jni2DhxzTo4

 

The source’s content was brought to us by Global News current affairs program The New Reality, featured on YouTube. The New Reality is a made in Canada news show that features documentary and investigative reports.  The reporter, Neetu Garcha and her crew were granted rare access to the British Columbia WildFire Service crew to shed some light on why this season’s wildfires have been so devastating. Some interesting factual information featured in the report is that British Columbia has had record breaking wildfire seasons before but this current wildfire season is the most destructive on record.  With more than 2 million hectares burned so far and this report was done at the end of July 2023 while fires were still burning. The firefighters use a tactic called a surface burn that uses fire to fight fire by using small hand torches to burn natural fuels on the ground like dried grass. The theory is items like grass and wood that are already burned and black will not ignite again. Wildfire Ecologist Robert Gray was interviewed for the report and says, “acceleration of climate change is amplifying the length and severity of fire seasons’ ‘ and “climate change is resulting in more lighting, about a 12% increase’ ‘. Forest debris, hot and dry weather can all be contributing factors to wildfires. According to Gray and stats from Canada’s Federal government, “Lightning strikes caused nearly half of all Wildland fires in Canada and nearly 60% in British Columbia. More than 230,000 people had to be evacuated from their homes, Indigenous communities among the evacuated are often hit by wildfires severely. Amy Cardinal Christensen is a Native American research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service in Alberta Canada, she discussed a process called “Cultural Burnings’ ‘ where Native American tribes conduct planned burnings of the land to combat seasonal wildfires.  “Cultural Burnings’ ‘, are ancient and passed down from generation to generation but because of many federal government rules about land ownership in Canadian territory Native Tribes are sometimes left out of the seasonal land burning.

I believe that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jni2DhxzTo4 was a really good source for this topic. The reporter Neetu Garcha gained access to ride along and film the British Columbia WildFire Service crew while they were in the process of managing the wildfires that had hit British Columbia back in August and September 2023. Neetu Garcha’s credentials are of a veteran reporter who has reported on crime politics and global weather events affecting Vancouver British Columbia for many years. She also sits at the news desk for Global News when not doing investigative reporting. Her reporting style is honest and straight to the point, making sure she asks all the right questions and interviewing experts in the specific field. The purpose of reporting on the Canada wildfires is to inform the world on why this season’s fires were so devastating, how much devastation was recorded and what the government in British Columbia did to manage the wildfires. I believe Neetu Garcha’s reporting is credible because the British Columbia WildFire Service crew gave her access to film and report on what they were doing to manage the wildfires. 

I believe Neetu Garcha’s chose this genre because it allowed her to film some of the destruction the fires caused in real time, it was fast pace in your face reporting getting the facts from the fire and climate experts, and gives the audience, who I believe would be people who are genuinely interested in knowing more about the Canadian Wildfires a much better understanding of what these wildfires really involve by using a strong visually component. Film/video is always a more impactful genre to use as a reporter. Having the documentary air on Youtube allowed it to reach a larger audience. Global News has almost 4 million Youtube subscribers and since the documentary aired on September 30th, 2023 almost 7,000 people have viewed it. 

A really important statement I want to highlight was made by Aus Al Mubarak, a task force leader on the British Columbia WildFire Service crew. In the interview he said, “You’re pushing the limits of what humans can do in this job a lot of the time but they’re physically, emotionally or intellectually just the amount you have to manage at any given moment.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jni2DhxzTo4. This tells me the firefighting crew responsible for fighting the wildfires are stretched thin and can experience physical, mental and emotional stress. Fighting wildfires is hard labor intensive work.  Mubarak in a leadership role has to make sure his crew is safe and carry out the orders he is giving them in order to prevent the fires from spreading.

Source entry 1 : https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/2782/

Jasmine Abrams notes, gender roles are a part of our everyday lives and are derived of many factors: “Gender roles are social constructs or labels given to people based on behavior, societal and cultural norms, and expectations (Unger, 1979). Gender role beliefs shape and are shaped by childhood and adult experiences (Blee & Tickamyer, 1995); thus these constructs change over time (Twenge, 1997).” (Abrams 1).

Like in any society; genders have gender roles: society’s definition of men and women. For example, men are expected to be: masculine, dominant, stoic, in control, and un-feminine. Whereas, women are expected to be: feminine, not “fat”, understanding, and un-masculine. With these gender roles, a system is created that derives out of toxicity for both masculinity and femininity. Society normally views this concept of gender as if it was written in stone and a person would be crucified like heretics if they would call out these concepts. The concept of gender with its toxic roles is like a bird cage that locks people from reaching their full potential. Gender roles make men, women, and even worse young children, live up toxic standards that are perceived to be ok. No one should be forced to live a certain lifestyle just to be accepted by society. The toxicity of gender roles leaks into American society affecting marriages, education, salaries, and much more(placeholder).

Souce entry 2:

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3593076

The toxicity of gender roles has also affected education by creating a stigma of what career choices men and women partake in. Society places certain standards on genders that creates discrimination in an educational environment. Shelley J. Correll notes that the belief of one (gender) not being good enough for a career field derives all the way from high school:

… gender differences in the selection of activities that constrain occupational choices often occur earlier in the life cycle. This is especially evident in the case of professions like engineering, where a college degree in the field is necessary to pursue a career. Due to the sequence of required classes, the decision to pursue a degree in engineering or the physical sciences must usually be made during the first or second year of college (Seymour and Hewitt 1997). Further, those who fail to take advanced-level math classes in high school are highly unlikely to select college majors in science, math, or engineering (McIlwee and Robinson 1992). Since gender differences in the selection of activities relevant to careers in these fields emerge as early as high school, it is important to examine decisions made at this stage in the life cycle. (5).

Thus meaning, due to the discrimination of certain career fields being masculine or feminine women and men are more likely to peruse career fields where they believe their gender is suited for and that shouldn’t be the norm. Instead of people perusing career fields that allows them to survive in society; they should choose career fields that they genuinely enjoy.

The toxicity of gender roles also affects children by subconsciously forcing them to like certain interests and or hobbies to be perceived as masculine or feminine. As a kid, playing with toys cars, watching wrestling, and playing video games were the social norm for adolescent boys.

Out of all the potential topics I wanted to expand on, there was one that really stuck out to me. What does government housing in New York City serve exactly? All over New York City there are specific areas that you can find government housing in. Usually all the apartment buildings/ complexes share a very similar structure on both the outside and inside. They typically are brick houses that range from 5-12 floors.  Often at times the buildings are shaped as a cross in which you can truly see from the top.

I have a particular interest in this subject because of a personal connection. Along with many of my relatives on both sides of my family, I once resided in government housing on the lower east side. But some people would know it by the term “the projects”. As the years progressed, City living expenses became more and more expensive due to inflation. Which made a lot of people’s living choices very limited. The apartments were mail=nly marketing to individuals that would make six figures. But despite the extensive history my family and I have with housing, I’ve never really been able to grasp the logic behind it. Except that its primary purpose is to provide assistance to the people who lack the resources to pay for conventional NYC residences.

In my research on this subject, I’m looking for the fundamental causes and effects of the official start of the NYC housing program. Additionally, the aim is to identify common patterns and recurring issues the New York City tenants had to deal with. Such as who was primarily in need of housing compared to the remainder of the city. Furthermore, another goal was to determine the reachability and competitiveness of lower-cost housing due to the rising population as well as post-covid circumstances.

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