Center for American Studies Brings

KATHERINE ZICKEL KATHERINE.ZICKEL.22@CNU.EDU

This week the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reported that monitors within the country of Iran have detected Uranium within the Iranian nuclear program reaching 86% enrichment, just four points less than the standard weapon-grade needed for a nuclear weapon.

Iran has, since their 1979 Revolution, set themselves up to be a longtime adversary of the United States and has pursued a policy of sponsoring terrorism across the Middle East, most notably Yemen and Palestine. Iran has also been in the news for their violent crackdown of major protests throughout the previous year.

The US Department of State has treated Iran’s nuclearization as a clear and present danger, and everything from sanctions to Obama’s previous “Iran Nuclear Deal” show great effort taken to try to put a stop to Iran’s nuclear program. All of these measures have fallen short it seems, and with this level of enrichment the most recent benchmark for Iran to have hit, their nuclearization may only be a matter of time.

Norfolk Police have charged Letty M. Lopez, the mother of a 6-year-old student of Little Creek Elementary, with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and allowing access to a loaded firearm by children.

This charge follows an incident where the 6-year-old had brought the gun to the school. The incident has been picked up by nationwide news networks, such as CNN and NBC, whose reporting on this event has provided further details. Faculty discovered the weapon within the child’s backpack and immediately confiscated it, before turning it over to the police. No one was injured in this inci- dent, but deep-rooted fears around incidents of this kind persist among school faculty, with the memory of the recent shooting at Richneck Elementary School still very fresh. With recent attention on this subject, these incidents are becoming increasingly common in the press - with two other incidents of young children gaining access to their parent’s firearms in North Carolina and Philadelphia receiving national attention as well.

On Feb 3, 38 cars from a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, 11 of which were carrying hazardous materials such as vinyl chloride, according to the National Transportation and Safety Board.

Northeastern Global News interviewed Phil Brown, professor of sociology and health sciences at Northeastern University, who said that “Exposure to vinyl chloride through drinking water is frequently associated with liver cancer, and, when burned, it produces highly toxic phosgene gas.”

Due to the risk of the gas already leaking, Norfolk Southern Railroad made the decision to instigate a controlled release to burn off the deadly chemicals rather than wait for them to dissipate naturally, according to Brett Bachman, an independent film editor. An evacuation of the town was issued, and has since been lifted by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine earlier last week.

According to NBC, at least six residents of East Palestine have filed class action lawsuits, claiming loss of income due to evacuations, exposure to cancer-causing chemicals, and no longer feeling safe in their homes.

The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) says it’s continuing to investigate the cause of the derailment, however, according to the agency, a faulty wheel may be to blame. The wheel is currently under examination.

Last Thursday, Feb. 17, the Center for American Studies at CNU held a day-long conference on the subject of National Security, headlined by the visit of the current director of the FBI, Christopher Wray. Additionally, the speaker’s list included Rear Admiral Douglas Verissimo, Director of Maritime Operations for the U.S. Fleet Forces Command, and Aliscia Andrews, the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security for Virginia; as well as several panel sessions of professionals within both the government and private sector.

The broad subject was national security, with specific focus on a range of topics that included Cyber Vulnerabilities and Ransomware Attacks, Domestic and International Terrorism, and The Risks and Potential Benefits of Unmanned Systems.

Senior CNU student and political science major, Erin Reno, spoke to the value of these sessions, “The Director spoke a lot about the fight against cyber crime and stuff, which was really interesting, something that I don’t know a ton about… I’m really excited to hear from these experts.”

During this conference there were several breaks in the program for ‘Student Networking,’ to give students the opportunity to connect with careers that several speakers described as not only professionally attractive, but also fulfilling an essential service to the country as well.

The event was put together and planned through CNU’s Center for American Studies, headed by Professor Nathan Busch and the center’s Junior Fellows.

In the days following this event, Professor Busch told The Captain’s Log, “This conference would not have been possible without our team of Intrepid Junior Fellows. We are grateful for your help in making this event the success that it was.”

One of these fellows, Keelan Graves, a junior double majoring in American studies and political science, spoke about his time at the Center, “[F]inding Junior Fellows was such an eye opening experience for me because I got to not only get unique opportunities like working this one, but also be able to meet people that I would have never met before.”

When asked about the event itself, Graves said: “I enjoyed meeting all the new people. I have worked two symposiums for the Center of American Studies now and one of the best things is meeting all the professionals. They’re so passionate about their jobs. They bring unique opportunities, they also bring different informational stuff, and so it’s really cool seeing all the students who are passionate about it come out.”