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Seismic St. Louis

Emily Sekine

I'm interested in better understanding the ongoing geological processes that shape St. Louis and the Mississippi Valley region. So far, I've been looking into the history of seismicity in the region, focusing on the fascinating but little known history of the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811 and 1812 -- the most devastating earthquakes to have hit the US east of the Rockies. I've also been exploring how St. Louis and surrounding areas are dealing with the possibility of another earthquake occurring in the future. According to one article I read, one of the biggest uncertainties is what would happen to the heavily engineered Mississippi River in the case of another major tremblor. The shaking could break the levees, flooding wide areas along the river and creating cascading effects. The flow of the river might also reverse completely, as occurred during the New Madrid earthquakes.

On these possibilities and the lack of scientific consensus surrounding intraplate seismicity in this zone, see this article in The Atlantic.

On current efforts to create earthquake hazard maps in St. Louis, see this overview on the US Geological Survey site.

For a deeper dive into the history of the New Madrid earthquakes, see this book by historian of science Conevery Bolton Valencius. 

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Alexi Martin

Three ways the article is supported through using statements from the WHO about the problems of public health security, research studies on global epidemics such as “dark winter”, TB DOTS, and others. The article also uses direct quotes from credible sources such as national security officials: Richard Clark and the NSABB to name a few.

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Alexi Martin
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Three points I followed up to learn more was:

healthcare currently in the united states, for example obama care and how it helps people without insurance. I learned that through this system it was easier and more efficient for some people to get care and insurance even if they had prior health conditions. However I also learned it is not a perfect solution.

https://www.healthcare.gov/

I looked up the percentages of americans who do not have health insurance. From researching this I learned that the number was a lot higher than I had expected and I questioned why the number was not lower due to obama care.

http://kff.org/uninsured/fact-sheet/key-facts-about-the-uninsured-popul…

The last point I looked up was national admission rates to ERs. I was curious on the national average about how many people seek help. I wondered how many people do not seek help becasue they do not have insurance. I also became curious about how many of these people came to get treatement and were denied.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/emergency-department.htm

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Alexi Martin

The research the organization has done in the past year is calling for the closure of Guantanomo Bay and ensuring that the US accepts Syrian refugees. They have taken first hand accounts of individuals in both circumstances. They provide annual reports for each year of the work they have accomplished these reports are extensive and explain what human rights were taken away and what PHR has done to help.

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Alexi Martin
  1. “ for many people, the idea that they had to stay in a state of heightened response to the pending ‘crisis’- a state they had to already been in for over two years- produced huge anxiety and exhaustion”

“ Within two years, 4,600 of the publically subsidized housing units in New Orleans were being torn down and $1 billion was committed by HUD to town developers to create “mixed income residences; however developers were not expected or required to build one to one replacements for units lost”

“ Not surprisingly, residents and those still trying to return to New Orleans are asking the question: Where did all the Federal money go?”

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Alexi Martin

Emergency response is not discussed much in this article. The article discusses that other basic needs like shelter, food and safety need to be established before resources for mental health can be addressed. I believe that there needs to be emergency response for mental health because if it is not treated and recognized early it can develop into a life long issue.

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Alexi Martin

"She saw the illness of this group as a "struggle for power" and material resources related to the disaster."

"According to one biochemist, many of the cleanup workers recieved 6-8 times the lethal dose of radiation." "They are alive," he told me.
"They know they didn't die, but they don't know how they survived."

"Citizens, have come to depend on obtainable technologies and legal procedures to gain political regongition and admission to some form of welfare inclusion."

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Alexi Martin

Very little in this film failed to convice me. The information was well thought out and put together, the resources that were in this film were vaild and cannot be refuted because they are first hand accounts. This film does shine a negative light on nuclear power, which made me a little concerned because nuclear power is not always dangerous, but other then that nothing was done sloppily or had incorrect information