Author Archives: Zabia Choudhury

3.5 Annotated Bibliography; Draft

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My topic didn’t change much, however, I did target the entirety of New York State rather than just New York City. It was clear that Long Island has the worst water in the state compared to the city, which – thank God – is nearly contaminant free. But Long Island water is borderline hazardous yet the New York Water Canal Systems don’t seem to acknowledge how serious the problems are to those that don’t own water purifying filters. My best piece of evidence was actually a letter from US Representative Kathleen Rice sent to the EPA, voicing her concerns of Long Island’s water supply. She also took a stab at the EPA who have taken several years to fix water concerns (see Flint, Michigan). So, I can only hope Long Island’s water supply is fixed sooner rather than later. I think what I have left is adding quotes from the sources I have, or not? I’m actually not sure if an Annotated Bibliography needs quotations from the articles or not. The examples I came across online lacked direct quotations, so maybe I’ll just write a little more in my descriptions. However, I do think my answer has been completely answered because New York’s water is very questionable and I definitely recommend a filtration device in every home if affordable.

3.4 Blog Post; Research Paper

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Working Research Question:

Is New York water really considered to be the “champagne of tap water” or does evidence prove the opposite?

Annotation of New Source:

Dovey, Rachel. “Cleanup Begins in NYC’s most Polluted Waterway.” Next City.org. Oct 18 2017 ProQuest. 6 May 2020 .

Rachel Dovey wrote an article named “Cleanup Begins in NYC’s most Polluted Waterway”. In this article, she describes how Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal was finally receiving a large clean-up as the site has been a significant hazard to people, animals, and plant life alike. She states that the canal was “…a(n) environmental and public health disaster just a rainy day away from cross-contamination”. Dovey explains that that canal could cause serious contamination to NYC’s drinking water and could have dire consequences to wildlife. In the article, she also explains that the canal hadn’t been cleaned since the construction in the mid-1800’s.

Working Thesis:

New York tap water has a history of being one of the best drinkable water sources, but studies show that in different areas of New York there is severe contamination of its water.

Anything Else:

I’ve been thinking about moving my focus to just Long Island in my search of the contaminated water. I’m still not entirely sure though, maybe just a slight tweak because my research really consists of Long Island and New York State as a whole, rather than just the city. But I’ll definitely see what else I can find and add.

3.3 Blog Post; Research Paper

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So what I’ve collected about the differences between popular sources and scholarly sources is the actual context of the source, which I believe is whether or not there are reporters or actual chemical evidence of contaminated water. I feel like a popular source can be authoritative if there are multiple sources, including an investigation. And the biggest questions to ask is how reliable is the source, is it a ‘.com’, ‘.org’, or a .gov’, does it have a bibliography with different references?

I’ve found another source that I believe is a scholarly source which actually questions the chemical property within New York water and discusses how Long Island has the most contaminated water in the state. This source has numerous footnotes that relate back to other sources that have evidence of nineteen different emerging contaminants were detected in Long Island, and that Nassau County has the highest number of water systems that have detections of contaminated water. The most prominent contaminant is strontium, which I’ve found in a different article from the American Bone Health that ingesting high amounts of strontium can have dangerous side effects. It can cause, to name just a few, liver inflammation and disturbances in thinking. And to think that Long Island’s water system has a high amount of strontium is worrying, especially since Nassau County borders many cities in Queens, NY.

3.2 Blog Post; Research Paper

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This post is a little late because I did not manage my time wisely at all this week as I spent most of it sick (sorry Prof). However, I did find an actual book of the history of New York City’s water supply, titled Empire of Water : An Environmental and Political History of the New York City Water Supply. As great as this find is, it’s about 12 chapters and I’ve just started reading it. I know I have to skim it but it includes a ton of information on everything I need, including the beginnings within the Catskill Mountains to the Delaware water systems to the present (well around 2013). But from the looks of it, it does even include the problems NYC has faced with the water supply, which I’m excited to learn more about. With this large chunk of knowledge, I know I can tie it back to the few articles I’ve found discussing the issues of NYC’s water supply.

I think that this book can serve as a great intro/few body paragraphs of my research paper because it discusses this history (which is what I need to start on). The history is important. I need backbone on the idea of why ‘NYC has the best water on earth’ so that I can debunk the argument and counter it with ‘maybe NYC doesn’t have the best water on earth’. It was harder to find books based on the current talks of NYC’s water supply but there are many, many articles based on Google Scholar sites and articles. A lot of these articles mention hydrofracking, which is a high-pressure injection of ‘fracking fluid’ into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. In other words, it’s digging a hole into the ground so that gas and other fossil fuels can come to the surface faster which is the method people use to operate gas stations. Could hydrofracking be a reason as to why the NYC water supply isn’t as exquisite as the state wants to make it seem? I also know I have to incorporate Long Island’s water issues into this as NYC and Long Island share a very thin line of a border. And Nassau County, which is steps away from NYC’s many cities, have cited to have multiple problems with their water, which is the built up yearly algae I’ve mentioned in my previous post. All in all, I think I have a nice start because I think I have the beginnings all worked out.

Blackfish Documentary; Show & Tell

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So, I’ve decided to do my Show & Tell on the documentary Blackfish. This documentary is about the hardships of animals that live in SeaWorld, especially Orca’s. You may be wondering why I’m showing a documentary on the harsh treatment of killer whales as something to do with climate change. Believe it or not, this documentary shows us that two coincide.

Nature documentaries have a large possibility to encourage positive environmental change. The ‘Blackfish Effect’ is something that is widely referred to as a sustained movement to release the captive animals trapped within SeaWorld. After the documentary was released, the backlash was almost immediate. Sales for SeaWorld dropped 50% and the parks haven’t seen numbers like they once did before the documentary aired. A documentary had the effect to practically take down parks that saw millions of revenue each year. Blackfish has become a classic case of how to create an emotionally charged real world crime story to fuel positive change. Thus, environmentalists believe that we need a movement as large as the ‘Blackfish Effect’ to really make a dent in the ongoing climate crisis.

I think if you guys have watched this documentary, you’d agree. If you haven’t watched it, I recommend it 100% – it’s one of my favorite documentaries that represent environmental injustice.

My questions for you guys are:

  1. If an emotionally charged documentary can help global warming, what do you guys think the documentary should be based on?
  2. A documentary is not all we need. There are multiple documentaries that show how drastic climate change is. But why was was there more change to showing animals in captivity than polar bears dying in Antarctica? Is it not the same thing – indirect murder?
  3. Are there ever any instant solutions to help the climate crisis or is tugging on the heartstrings of people the only way to bring real change?

Post 3.1; Research Question

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Is New York water as clean as the NYC government makes it seem?

I think that I’m going to do my research paper on the water of New York. Everyone seems to drink it and everyone says that New York water is the best water in the world. But is it really? Apparently, the water from the Long Island highly differs from the water in New York City in consumption safety. In the summer, algae rises to the surface of many large bays of New York, which causes turtle and fish to die. In the grand schemes, the geographical location of both locations are not as far as one sees. There are many towns that even border Long Island to Queens.

What exactly makes New York City water so healthy and readily available to drink from the tap? This is a filtration system that millions of New Yorkers not only believe, but continuously fall back on. Some even completely skipping at home filtration such as, Brita filters. Granted, the New York City water system cannot be compared to Flint, Michigan as we’ve never had an issue as large as theirs. However, how much is New York City really hiding when it comes to its water?

Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s amazing that anyone and everyone can drink the tap water of New York, which includes numerous homeless people throughout the state – not a single soul will die of dehydration. The public parks of the city and state include multiple water fountains so even the homeless can gain access to New York’s water. But this doesn’t mean that the water is highest potential of prime quality. Just because New York City has what is deemed to be the safest tap water to drink in all of the US does not automatically make it the actual safest option for water. Now, I am not a water filtration expert, but I find myself speculating quite a bit about the water of New York.

On the other hand, there’s also the debate of bottled water companies filling those waters with tap water. Bottled water rose to consumer preference over tap water in recent decades due to the societal perception of ‘what is safe water’. It’s a very contradicting industry given previous leaked information regarding the water source of bottled water. Thus, is bottled water safer than tap water if it might just actually be tap water?

SO, what is safe water? I know this is starting to feel like a conspiracy but back to my first question asked, is NYC tap water as safe as the government wants to make it seem – it all ties together. Some people want to believe that bottled water is better and safer than tap way but if water bottle industries are just deceiving us, is it possible that the New York government is deceiving us as well?

There’s so many questions that I can have answered if I focus my research paper on this topic. I don’t want to question how safe New York’s water is but is it as safe as the city wants us to believe?

 

Class 9.1 Blog Post

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Class 9.1

Paragraph 1 (draft):

Immediately, my eyes catch onto the lone shopping cart. It’s the only shopping cart in the entire parking lot. There aren’t any cars crowding around the shopping cart and there aren’t any individuals walking around either. The place is entirely empty, except for the single shopping cart.  It’s extremely foggy; I can’t see past the fog and it only makes me wonder what else is around. I can only assume it’s cold as well, because the fog is so strong it must mean it might’ve rained or it will rain. There are bright lights, which are clearly street lights to show some sort of light within the picture. There are multiple streetlights, maybe around ten, and there are some that are rather close to the shopping cart and some that seem about half a mile away from the main object of the picture.

Paragraph 2 (revision):

            Given that I now know where the photograph is taken, it makes me curious as to why there is nothing else around, people or cars or even a wondering animal, considering it’s at an outlet center. Outlets are usually packed with people, even if the weather is glum. The entire picture is depressing to see because there’s only one shopping cart surrounded by streetlights. The lights remind me of spotlights, large and bright, like on a stage with singers and actors. But the imagery of a stage gives off a delighted feel because most actors and singers love doing the things they do; they bring joy to other people with forms of entertainment. This lone shopping cart, gray and motionless, depicts how loneliness can be so dull and gloomy. It’s showing that even if the light is so close, it’s always so hard to get to. I see that the shopping cart is facing away from the bright, LED fluorescent beams. Sometimes, it’s hard to see the light when one doesn’t want to see it. The weather plays a large part within the image. Assuming that it’s a brisk winter day or maybe the beginning of spring, the shopping cart must be chilly and damp to touch due to the coming perspiration. It is so entirely foggy that seeing past the dense murkiness is almost impossible, except for the lights. They are burning bright. The lights are the one positive structure in the image, almost like they embody hope – it’s not always going to be dark and cold.

Paragraph 3 (reflection):

Describing the picture wasn’t hard for me, it’s the ‘in depth’ part that always seems to get me. There’s always so many interpretations and you want to think that you made this great discovery, but it barely scratches the surface. There’s so much more going on and the more you look, the more you want to read into it. I would say the revision was challenging, given that it’s always hard to understand the deeper meaning within pictures and literary texts but it’s also fun to see how far one’s mind can go. I chose to revise my description by portraying the hidden isolation within the image. It felt clear to me that the shopping cart was alone, and the photographer wanted us to see how lonely it was and how cold it must’ve felt. I felt like I could relate to it, the shopping cart, because I remember times where I felt cold and alone, and the feeling was horrendous. But just as the light depict on the picture, there’s a brighter side to everything.

 

 

Cara Daggett; Petro-masculinity. Post 2.1

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Cara Daggett claims, “Lurking behind the tactics of rigidity is a sense of personal failure; a shared frustration among white men who have struggled to find a housewife willing to receive their veneration” (38). She believes that everyone involved in the organization of ‘The Proud Boys’ are actually fragile men who feel as though they haven’t completed a goal in their life, especially finding a woman to marry who will respect them to the highest order. Daggett backs up her claim by stating that she found an article about someone who interviewed the group leaders and states that, “…the men would ‘go out, talk to women, and then marry them, procreate, be strong American family men, help restore the natural order of things that had been knocked out of whack by feminism'” (38). She has evidence to prove her claim of men joining a specific Far-Right group because men feel as though they aren’t strictly manly enough. However, what she doesn’t cite is whether the multitude of men joined this group because they weren’t manly enough or because they truly have a genuine belief in the club of ‘The Proud Boys’. They sincerely believe in reinstating tradition gender roles: a feminine housewife doing all the housework and a man who goes to work and comes home, refusing to spend any second with a woman that wasn’t his wife. Daggett doesn’t offer a counter argument in her piece.

The Uninhabitable Earth; Post 1.3

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In his book, The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming, David Wallace-Wells discusses the detriments of climate change across the globe. He uses multiple examples of how the earth is close to being completely ruined due to our nature as humans and due to our lack of protection of it. An example he uses is “The planet survived many millennia without anything approaching a world government…” (Wallace-Wells, 24). He explains that the world was doing just fine without the hand of politics, or as commonly known as the ‘invisible hand’. The government, anywhere in the world, has a habit of putting it’s hands into areas of the world that need to untouched, such as the Amazon rainforest or digging up oil ridges into the ground in the Middle East. Wallace-Wells elaborates how the earth was flourishing for hundreds of thousands of years without needing a government. In fact, he also states that, “…nearly the entire span of human civilization (survived many millennia without a world government” (24). He’s right; there’s been hundreds of years of documentation of tribes and chiefs and kingdoms that flourished without the use of a world government. There were no reporting’s of manmade climate change during those hundreds of years. Wallace-Wells has the right to say that maybe the Earth is dying because of the misuse of government, that maybe if we learned to not retreat from each other we would learn to rebuild the world’s “collapse of trust” (25).