NOCTILUCA March 2017

OPINIONS

Appleton, Wisconsin March 2017 Volume XXII

Issue V Page 3

As the latest issue of the

Noctiluca is being distributed

to our subscribers throughout

the school, you may notice that

there seem to be fewer copies

floating around than usual. In

the past, there was no need to

pay for a paper subscription;

you could always just pick up

an extra copy from the library,

grab one from a blue newspa-

per box around school, or just

find one sitting at nearly any

empty table.

However, for the last couple

editions of the paper, this has

become less and less the case.

Throughout the year, the Noc-

tiluca has scaled back its pro-

duction quantity, pushing the

printed number all the way

down from 900 copies during

the 2014-2015 school year to

700 copies in the 2015-2016

school year, and now to 500

copies for the issue you are cur-

rently reading. Though this de-

cline can be attributed to many

different factors – such as the

attack on journalism within

our society or the fall of print

media in the age of technology

– the most prominent reason is

that we just don’t have enough

subscriber support to help pay

for the paper to be printed.

In a time where journalists

and the media are under attack

from many sides, it becomes

increasingly more important

to support the local reporting

that we count on to keep us in-

formed. As the world becomes

more clouded with the waves

of fake news and misinforma-

tion that constantly wash over

all of us, the importance of

genuine news and reliable in-

formation serves as a way to

combat ignorance. The light

emitted by real journalism is

the best method we have to cut

through the murky misinfor-

mation that others, with the in-

tention to mislead, might throw

out into the world.

If you recognize the impor-

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though the Noctiluca receives

some of its funding from adver-

tisements, a large and impor-

tant part of our budget comes

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Now more than ever, we need

reliable and verified informa-

tion, not just in our world as a

whole, but within the walls of

our own school. For only $1 an

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Noctiluca

Editorial

How fortunate the American

people are, for we are afforded

rights under theAmerican Con-

stitution that provide this coun-

try with the means to strive

for progression – morally, leg-

islatively and economically.

Through ideologies focused

around liberty and equality,

Americans have aspired to so-

lidify and maintain well-es-

tablished living conditions for

themselves and their neighbors.

And from this thought pattern,

individuals tend to develop

humanitarian natures, because

America does not represent or

provide for one individual only.

But Americans cannot lose

sight of human populations

dispersed across the globe.

Recently, the United Nations

declared that the world is cur-

rently facing its greatest global

humanitarian crisis since 1945.

We cannot ignore the extreme

suffering endured elsewhere

in the world; we must find the

means to support these coun-

tries, since they do not have the

necessary resources for surviv-

al, funding is scarce and hun-

dreds of individuals are dying.

Currently, the UN is work-

ing to resolve Level 3 emer-

gencies within Iraq, Syria and

Yemen while people within

Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia

and Yemen are experiencing

extreme famines. According

to the United Nations Refugee

Agency and the United Nations

Office for the Coordination of

Humanitarian Affairs, a Level

3 emergency is considered a

high level priority statement

that serves as a practical re-

sponse mechanism, which is

reserved for “severe, large-

scale humanitarian crises.” The

Office for the Coordination of

Humanitarian Affairs, states

that, within Syria alone, there

are 13.5 million people in need

of humanitarian assistance, 5

million people who have fled

the country and 6.3 million

people internally displaced by

violence. These statistics were

published this January. Cur-

rently, the Syrian population,

as of March, is about 19 mil-

lion; the previous statistics add

to about 25 million people in

total. Since all of these num-

bers have been produced by

the United Nations, it can be

concluded that about 6 mil-

lion people have either fled the

country or died from internal

violence in the duration of only

two months. That would com-

pare to removing every Ameri-

can who resided in Maine,

New Hampshire and Connecti-

cut from the United States, in

only two months. And Syria is

only one of the three countries

where Level 3 emergencies are

being addressed by the United

Nations. As a result of these

catastrophes and resembling

catastrophes in other countries,

the UN has approximated that

$22.6 billion is required in or-

der to provide humanitarian aid

to suffering populations and

mediate/relieve the global hu-

manitarian crisis.

Raising funds of this magni-

tude will be a feat difficult to

accomplish. Nationalist senti-

ments around the world are

not increasing the probabil-

ity that this proposed monetary

amount will be met. First world

countries are closing their bor-

ders, providing no sanctuary

for suffering refugees—refu-

gees who have fled radical ter-

rorists, civil wars, genocides,

impending famines, authorita-

tive governments and more.

Currently, America is solely

focused around reconstructing

its own infrastructure, which is

a commendable aspiration. Si-

multaneously, President Trump

is promoting an idea that we

should only invest in America,

that closing our borders to refu-

gees from other countries and

refraining from investments

in foreign programs (like the

United Nation’s efforts to re-

duce the humanitarian tragedies

across the globe) will allow

America to become prosperous

“again.” But is a prosperous

society equivalent to a progres-

sive society? Unfortunately,

some European countries and

Cuba are prohibiting refugees

from crossing their borders as

well. Similar sentiments were

expressed as rationale for sup-

porting Brexit late last year.

If countries are not willing to

assist suffering refugees and

global nationalist sentiments

are chastising the monetary

support of global funding, how

will the United Nations effec-

tively provide humanitarian as-

sistance to these displaced and

food insecure individuals?

As Americans who believe

in the welfare of individuals,

we must take action to support

United Nations and similar or-

ganizations—organizations as-

piring to alleviate the tragedies

endured.

Currently, a local project

led by North high students,

carried out through the Days

for Girls program, is working

to send feminine products to

women overseas. Other local

projects related to the health

of other individuals in these

countries could be initiated as

well. We can continue to op-

pose President Trump’s travel

ban through local and national

protesting and lobbying. Ulti-

mately, we must strive to assist

those who do not have access

to humanitarian necessities. We

cannot let innocent lives suffer

from civil wars, terrorist at-

tacks and famines. As Stephen

O’Brien declared to NPR, “All

four countries have one thing

in common—conflict. This

means that we, you, have the

possibility to prevent and end

further suffering.”

By Kate Bennett

Syria, Iraq and Yemen have Level 3 emergencies that must be addressed.

Information provided by

the United Nations OCHA. Infographic by Kate Bennett

These are the remaining copies of the Spring 2016 issue (top

stacks) and the February 2017 issue. The bottom stack contains

only seven copies of the February 2017 issue.

Photo illustration

by Maeve Salm.

Global suffering must cease regardless of nationalism

Support

independent news

for coverage

The world faces

humanitarian

crises

State of the Humanitarian Crisis in Three Nations

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