WORLD & NATION
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Injustice in Rotterham
BY NICOLE ZELNIKER
Staff Writer
Threatened and terrorized. Helpless and hurting.
Angry and alone.
For the past 16 years in Rotherham, England, a Pakistani
gang has sexually assaulted over 1,400 young girls.
C^e of tihe survivors is 25-year-old Luq^, who finally
confessed to her parents at the age of 14 that she had been
sexually abused for two years.
"They say it's vulnerable girls these people are after,"
Lucy's mother said in an interview witii llie New York
Times. "Well, of course they're vulnerable. They're
innocent. They're children."
Nor is it just Lucy who has such a horrifying story.
"I'd saved all my dothes... and I gave the police dothes
as evidence," said 24-year-old Emma in an interview
with the BBC. "They lost the dothes (and) said it was my
word against his. TTie police said they couldn't offer any
protection."
According to The New York Times, one girl reported
that gang rape was the norm in her neighborhood. Some
parents were even charged for wasting police time if they
called in about their missing daughters multiple times.
"These were throwaway kids to a lot of people, and
that's a shame," said Assodate Professor of Political
Sdence Ken Gilmore. "We tend to care about some kids
more than others."
Many wonder how this cotdd have gone on for so long
without police action.
"The officers were hesitant to (act) toward a group
of people of entirely the same race," said Guilford
sophomore and Judidal Affairs Steering Chair Molly
Anne Marcotte.
Most of the victims also have something in common.
"These girls were (mostly) from really poor
neighborhoods, foster homes, orphanages or really poor,
working dass families," said Gilmore. "If it had happened
in a rich neighborhood there would have been a lot more
stink about it."
Along with radsm and dassism, the police may have
other reasons for wanting to keep .these attacks under
wraps.
"There are cultural things at play here," said Ehrector
of Study Abroad Jack Zer^. "The British don't air their
dirty laundry."
Police did more than just neglect to save hundreds of
girls from abuse.
"These girls were often treated with utter contempt,"
said Luc)^s mother, remembering the police referring to
Lucy's attackers as her "boyfriends" and the victims as
"tarts."
Often, the police would use words like "grooming" to
describe what happened to these girls.
"You're brutali^g these women and turning them
into a piece of property," said Gilmore. "You're not calling
it what it is: if s brutalizing helpless kids who have no one
to turn to."
Recently, retaliations by English fasdsts have led to
further complications.
"It isn't a race issue, but Islam is a problem and it
needs to be looked at in this sodety," said Andrew Edge,
member of the anti-Islamic English Defense League in an
interview with Vice.
According to Unite Against Fasdsm member Weman
Bennett in an interview with The Guardian, these groups
are taking advantage of the attacks to promote their own
agenda.
"None of those groups ... have got any interest in
truly repr^enting people or developing anything inside
Rotherham," said Bennett.
Today, the investigation continues. Lucy, afer years of
strugglingwith depression and anorexia, has begun to tell
her story.
"That shows immense strength on her part," said
Marcotte. "In that way, she can prevent these things from
happening again."
Blue whale population on the rise,
yet facii^ continued endangerment
BY JULIET MAGOON
Staff Writer
According to the research of
Cole Monnohan and Trevor Branch,
sdentists at the University of
Washington's Branch Lab, California
blue whales are at 97 percent of
previous historic levels.
Their research reveals a rebound for
the California blue whale population,
while other groups of blue whales are
still lagging behind in numbers.
Branch shared his and Monnohan's
data of other populations with The
Guilfordian via an email interview —
the Chilean blue whale population is
at seven percent of its Ifistoric levels,
while the Antarctic population is at a
mere one percent.
Through analysis of repeated whale
calls in certain areas of the world,
Monnohan and Branch computed an
estimate of the blue whale's population
by calculating a count of whale losses
due to whaling.
What, according to Branch, has
caused this remarkable recovery?
"The end of whaling," Branch said.
"A ban was implemented in 1966, but
illegal Soviet whaling continued until
1971. After that, no blue whales were
caught in the North Pacific. Stopping
whaling allowed them to recover.
"It's good news: if we stop whaling,
hunting, fishing, shooting, logging of
endangered species, we can usually
expect them to recover eventually,"
said Branch.
If only it were that simple.
"It is rubbish to act as if we have
a correct estimate," stated Michael
Fishbach, co-founder and co-
execcutive director of The Great Whale
Conservancy. "We do not know what
the population is."
To Fishbach, while the media is
reporting a story of success and
triumph, many of the details are
unsupported *
"The media looked at (Monnohan
and Branch's) paper in a way that it
was a happy story, when in fact it was
a very false story," said Fishbach.
In Fishbach's opinion, there is
no precise manner in which we
can represent a population of an
endangered species whose numbers
have not been legally or accurately
recorded in history.
According to the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration,
recent studies have revealed
discrepancies in Soviet whaling
ships' records, meaning far more blue
whales were killed historically than
previously thought.
"(The Soviet whalers concealed their
illegal activities through) altering of
reported biological data to camouflage
catches of undersized animals or
lactating females and over-reporting
of legal species to provide credible
1
catch totals," according to a report by
NOAA.
This blatant disregard
for international
regulation has been
called by some
marine biologists
"arguably one
of the greatest
environmental
crimes of the
20th century,"
according to
Pacific Standard.
Given these
discrepancies,
it is difficult to
determine what
the historical
population has
been. One thin
is clear, though
The blue whales'
removal has had an
important impact on
their ecosystem.
Whales produce
exceedingly iron-
rich waste literally
fertilizing the seas.
The waste floats to the
surface of the ocean,
inducing the growth
of phytoplankton,
according to NPR.
"Their poop is
actually circulating
nutrients around the
ocean," said Fishbach.
"You don't just pluck life from an
ecosystem and not expect change
Seven of the 13 Great Whale
species are endangered or
vulnerable, along with 16,938 other
known species globally, according to
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.
"It's time to get serious," said
Fishbach. "Listen to the people who
work the closest with these animals
In order to help, we must ask how
we can help.
Although the fight for whales
may not be as rosy as Monnohan
and Branch's study suggests, their
population has recovered somewhat.
Factors such as the Marine Mammal
Protection Act implemented in 1972 —
a halt to large-scale commercial salt
evaporation plants as well as an end
to low frequency active sonar waves
being utilized by the Navy — have
all helped the whale populations to
increase.
"Recovery for some of our
local endangered species works
similarly in this sense," said
Megan White, assistant
professor of biology. "If we
don't have regulations to
protect them, which is
one thing that has helped
the whales, it makes
it significantly more
our
difficult to support them."
So what can we do from here?
"We need to make it
responsibility to help," Fishbach said.
"Have compassion, understand
their plight and go to them. Give these
animals rights to life."
Feet vs. Flippers
This to-scale image
shows an average
human next to an
average blue whale.
n
o
c
c
z
o
h
Russiar-Ukraine conflict exacerbated by cease-fire violation
BY REESE SETZER
Staff Writer
Less than 48 hours after a cease-fire was
declared between the Ukrmne and Russian-
backed rebels, loud booms were heard
in the port dty of Mariupol as well as in
Donetsk.
The cease-fire was agreed upon at talks
between representatives of Ukraine, the
rebels, Russia and the Organization for
Security and Co-operation in Europe, even
though there were some details that were
not clear.
These included aspects of control and
prisoner exchange.
"Obviously it was a situation where the
both sides have strong feelings against the
opposition," said sophomore Ben Winstead,
a political science major. "And while I
hope the cease-fire helps work to solving
the is^ue, I won't be surprised if it doesn't
given the history of the parties involved."
Though the truce appeared to be holding
for the first couple of days, both sides have
been accusing one another of violating it.
Since it began, four Ukrainian soldiers have
been killed and 29 others have been injured.
There have been some isolated reports in
both Mariupol and in Donetsk of shelling
and gunfire. Both reported artillery fire,
and there has been one confirmation of a
civilian casualty in Mariupol.
Since the incidents in Mariupol and
Donetsk, however, there have been no
further reports of violations of the cease
fire. It may be only a matter of time before
fighting starts back up, though.
"Both sides needed time to regroup,
rearm and get ready for the next round,"
said Robert Duncan, assistant professor of
political science. "Until one side is in full
control, they're going to continue to do that
until one side stops;"
As far as a solution, it may be only a
matter of time before NATO gets involved.
Until then, it does not seem much is going
to be resolved.
"The only way the (Russian-Ukrainian
conflict) could be resolved is if NATO
stepped in to assist the Ukrainians," said
Duncan. "Unless they step in, nothing is
going to happen."
NATO has met as recently as Aug. 31,
according to CNN reports. There is talk
of increased military support for Ukraine
against Russia, but at this time, that sterns
much too risky.
"It is best not to mess with Russia,"
said Russian President Vladimir Putin in a
speech in late August. "Let me remind you,
we are a nuclear superpower."
Until NATO intervention, the countries'
leaders will have to stay in contact. Both
Putin and Ukrainian President Petro
Poroshenko have spoken in regards to how
long the cease-fire will last. But as of right
now, that solution remains unclear.
"Putin is a hard one to read regarding
the entire conflict," said Jeremy Rinker,
assistant professor of peace and conflict
studies.
"I think Putin's goal, at this juncture, is
to weaken the Ukrainian government and
thus gain additional concessions," said Ken
Gilmore, associate professor of political
science in an email interview. "The cease
fire comes at a time when Russian forces
have accomplished as much as they can
without a full-scale invasion."
Some Ukrainian officials also believe
that the Russian government wants to
extend Russian territory as far west as
the country's capital Kiev, which is in the
center of Ukraine.
Whatever Putin's goals are for the region,
there is no reason to think the fighting will
stop until those goals are accomplished.