With three and a half weeks until Election Day, all the media can seem to talk about are the two main candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Yes, this election is important, and yes, news coverage on the candidates is inevitable. However, it almost feels like this election cycle has been going on forever, and the amount of coverage that the candidates are getting is insane (as well as the lack of coverage that the third party candidates have gotten). Anyways, here are a few major headlines that you may have missed due to the overexposure of this election.
1. The Dakota Access Pipeline
Major cultural and environmental concerns. While some farmers just don’t want the pipeline to cross their land, Native American tribes do not want the pipeline to cross sacred ancestral lands. The environmental concern: pipelines rupture and have spills all of the time. These not only could contaminate the main water source for The Standing Rock Sioux and many people living along the pipeline, but would also be extremely expensive to clean up. Protests have been going on for months, but have become even more popular when well known actress, Shailene Woodley, got arrested during a protest on October 10 th. She has since been released from jail, and you can watch the live stream of her arrest here. The video is long, but you can actually see her get arrested at the end. Protests are still happening, and construction has been resumed, but the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe will not rest until their lands, people, and water are protected form the destructive pipeline.
2. The Great Barrier Reef is Dying
There was a massive bleaching event that has left the coral on “the brink of death”. When the waters warm up, the algae that live on the coral become damaging to the coral. The coral has defense mechanisms that try and stop the algae from doing damage. These mechanisms involve self-removing the algae, which is a primary food source for the coral. The coral will eventually start to starve until the waters cool down, and the algae can attach to the coral again. The problem is that the ocean temperatures are rising every year (thanks to a very real thing called global warming), leading to longer and longer bleaching episodes and to prolonged starvation of the coral. While some scientists are optimistic about the resilience of the coral, others are not so convinced.
3. Racial Discrimination in this country is still very real.
Dr. Tamika Cross was on a Delta flight when a passenger began to have medical problems. The flight crew asked if there were any physicians on board and when Dr. Cross stood up and offered her assistance, she was denied by the flight attendant for lack of credentials. The flight attendant then proceeded to allow a white male physician assist the passenger. You can read her full explanation of the experience below.
Fortunately for the passenger in need, there was another doctor on the plane. However, had there not been, and had the medical issue been severe, a life could have been lost due to the racism, insensitivity, and disrespect that the flight attendant showed Dr. Cross, simply due to her skin color. This is only one of many examples that can show the racial discrimination that minorities still face in this country today.
I’m sure there are many other stories out there that we may have missed due to the extensive cover of this election. My best advice is to keep scrolling past the politics on the news sites and keep yourselves informed!!
