Category Archives: Andrea Illan

Florida governor to run for Senate

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By ANDREA ILLAN

Florida Gov.  Rick Scott, officially announced on Monday that he would run for one of the U.S. Senate seats to represent Florida. The Miami Herald reported on the matter and commented on Scott’s upcoming campaign as well as his politics during his time as governor.

The announcement took place at an Orlando rally filled with supporters of the politician. In making the announcement, he also criticized current senator and his opponent, Bill Nelson. The article reports Scott said that “We shouldn’t be sending the same type of people to Washington.”

Additionally, the article comments on what is to come for the two candidates by making note on how expensive the race will be and how close it will be in the end.

Regardless of political views this Senate race will be important and memorable for the state of Florida.

Nelson has the experience, as he has held the seat for three consecutive years. He represents tradition, so this is why he might remain attractive to voters. However, if voters seek someone new to represent Florida in a conventionally Republican way, they will most likely gravitate towards Scott.

The announcement also leaves Floridians thinking about the possibility of a new governor for the state. And if this becomes a reality, it also raises the question of who the next person to fulfill this seat could be.

The article on the Miami Herald can be found at http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article208323384.html

Donald Trump Jr. wears controversial pin

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By ANDREA ILLAN

Most of the American public will remember when then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton referred to a portion of President Donald Trump’s supporters as a “basket of deplorables” during the 2016 presidential race.

More than one year after this happened, the incident is neither talked about nor mentioned in the news anymore. Trump Jr’s outfit choice on Easter changed this.

Rather than the traditional American flag pin that politicians and political figures wear to these sorts of events, the president’s eldest son chose to wear a golden pin of the American flag with the word “deplorable” over it.

None of the main news sources have commented on the issue but online magazines Esquire and The Root both published brief content on the matter.

Esquire’s take was one of comedy towards the matter. The article ridicules Trump Jr. by referring to his choice to do this as “profoundly stupid,” “dumb” and “unfit for the situation.” On the other hand, The Root’s article takes an angrier approach and comments on the situation with profane language.

Both analyses of Trump’s choice are mostly superficial and miss the real problem with the president’s son wearing a pin that says “deplorable” on it.

By choosing to do this, Trump Jr. adds to the image of immaturity that has been linked with the public image of his father. Further, it raises questions about the motive behind the action. Was it meant to be a joke? Or did he wear it as a reminder of the 2016 victory to President Trump’s adversaries? Was he referring to himself as a “deplorable” individual?

Only Donald Trump Jr. can answer these questions. Regardless, this behavior is should not be acceptable for the presidential family and should have been picked up by more mainstream news outlets.

Both online articles can be found at https://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/a19665174/donald-trump-jr-deplorable-pin/ and https://www.theroot.com/donald-trump-jr-wore-a-deplorable-lapel-pin-because-he-1824274742

Ultra Music Festival becoming safer?

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By ANDREA ILLAN

Despite the negative coverage in the past few years, Miami EDM music festival, Ultra, received comparably more positive coverage this year, as it is considered to have been relatively safe when compared to other years.

The music festival takes place every spring and has seen extreme amounts of arrests and deaths of festival-goers through its history.

On its 20th anniversary, however, CBS Miami reported that Miami Police only arrested 27 people on the account of Ultra in the three days of the festival.

Additionally, the Ultra Music Festival security director referred to this festival as “one of the safest.”

This is not only favorable for festival-goers, but it is also great news for the people that live around Bayfront Park, which is where the festival takes place every year.

This time of year is usually stressful for homeowners of the area, as some have confessed to news outlets that they leave their Brickell homes every year during this time. But coverage focusing on positive aspects of the music festival, such as this CBS Miami story puts homeowners at ease.

This article also reports that the arrests were mainly related to fake tickets and the use of drugs. While these subjects are to be taken seriously, they are considered to be minor offenses compared to what has been seen in previous years.

If Ultra Music Festival continues to become increasingly safer as time progresses, the festival can become a completely safe environment for people to enjoy EDM music free of risk.

The article can be found at: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2018/03/26/ultra-music-festival-edm-miami-crime/

U.S. bans purchase of Venezuelan Petro

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By ANDREA ILLAN

On March 8, the Florida Senate took action to ban the state from engaging in business with companies supporting the regime in Venezuela and U.S restrictions with the Venezuelan economy continue.

President Donald Trump took recent action to prohibit the purchase of new Venezuelan cryptocurrency called the Petro. This new medium of exchange was created by President Nicolas Maduro as an attempt to fix the country’s weak economy at the moment and the increasing inflation rate, an article on Bloomberg explained.

The executive order was signed on March 19 and prohibits U.S citizens from buying this cryptocurrency.

While Bloomberg gives a brief description of the situation, an article on CNN Money further explains what this means for both countries.

According to CNN, Trump’s recent action follows his previous ban of U.S investors from buying bonds issued by the Venezuelan government or state-run companies, such as the leading oil company in the country, PDVSA.

Maduro stated the currency will be backed by oil, the primary resource in the country. This does not mean, however, that investors would have ownership of this resource.

Additionally, Maduro stated on a tweet that the Petro’s private auction raised $735 million. But CNN reports this amount has not been confirmed.

This executive order is a significant action for the Trump administration, as it actively recognizes the illegitimacy of the Venezuelan government.

Both articles can be found at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-19/trump-prohibits-u-s-purchases-of-venezuelan-cryptocurrency and http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/19/news/economy/trump-bans-venezuela-cryptocurrency-petro/index.html

State to end business with Venezuela

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By ANDREA ILLAN

Venezuela has been experiencing the worst economic crisis in the country’s history since current president, Nicolas Maduro, came to power. Yet, American news media often overlook this collapse and focus more on the crises of other counties.

However, recent article from local Miami Spanish-language newspaper, El Nuevo Herald, reported on a new decision that might be good news for the Venezuelan people.

This decision, taken on Thursday by the Florida Senate, prohibits the State of Florida to engage in business with companies that support Maduro’s regime. The article reported that the vote to move forward with this regulation was unanimous.

Finalizing of this decision is especially important for the state of Florida in that it would prevents the state from indirectly contributing to an oppressive regime. The last thing Florida Senate needs for this motion to go through is Gov. Rick Scott’s signature.

State Sen. José Javier Rodríguez.

Additionally, the article reported on the Florida Senate’s point of view by interviewing one of its members, Sen. José Javier Rodríguez.

He said he expressed his support for the action and explained how it favors the Venezuelan people and the struggle for democracy in the country.

Given the high Venezuelan population in South Florida, El Nuevo Herald does a great job at catering to this group of likely readers. However, stories such as this one are still not being reported enough at the national level. The article can be found at http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/sur-de-la-florida/article204132024.html

Melania Trump addresses social media

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By ANDREA ILLAN

First Lady Melania Trump delivered a speech about the challenges of American youth at a recent a White House luncheon.

In light of the recent protests by the younger generations of Americans regarding gun control, FLOTUS stressed the fact that children deserve a voice when it comes to these issues. Additionally, she encouraged parents to teach their children positive social media habits.

Many, saw the irony in this remark, as her husband’s social media presence has been anything but positive. And, as highlighted by BBC news, these people took their frustrations to twitter, where her comment about positive social media was ridiculed.

The BBC news article did a great job at providing tweets from Twitter users criticizing Melania’s speech:

These tweets and the others highlighted on the article imply her remarks are ironic given the nature of Donald Trump’s tweets.

However, he is not the only member of the Trump family guilty of negative social media usage.

The article also highlights the fact that Donald Trump Jr, her stepson, liked a post on social media that falsely accused an innocent man of being an “FBI stooge”.

Further, Mrs. Trump has been known for posting risqué pictures to her social media accounts prior to becoming First Lady. Even after her new position, she has been criticized for posting selfies and utilizing Snapchat filters on her posts.

So, the mass criticism of her speech also comes from her own usage of social media, which many believe to not be appropriate for the First Lady of the United States.

Vigil at UM honors Parkland victims

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By ANDREA ILLAN

After the shooting massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSD) that took place on Feb. 14, the University of Miami organized a candle light vigil on Feb. 20 to honor the 17 victims.

This took place at the Rock Plaza at the Coral Gables campus and according to The Miami Hurricane, “hundreds” attended the event.

During the ceremony, UM students and faculty gathered to listen to different student speakers speak on the matter. Additionally, attendees were encouraged to write letters to the school and the families affected as well as sign a banner that will be sent to the High School on UM’s behalf.

The Miami Hurricane’s coverage of the event focuses on UM’s strong connection to the Parkland tragedy. Not only is MSD geographically close to Coral Gables, but many UM students attended the high school. Some of these students, who also lost family members last Wednesday, spoke out during the vigil.

The article highlights the words by sophomore Ally Rosenberg, who lost her cousin, Alex Schachter at the shooting. Rosenberg spoke to the attendees about the hardships this has created for her family, but also used her platform to advocate change in gun control laws.

The article also makes note of UM senior Matthew Labkovski, who also lost his cousin, Meadow Pollack. It also mentions the loss of UM’s own alumnus, Scott Beigel, who was a teacher at MSD.

Additionally, the article mentions that 128 MSD students have attended UM since 2006 and that the school has 27 currently pursuing their education.

By taking this focus, The Miami Hurricane not only reports on this vigil but also demonstrates the toll that this tragedy has taken on this campus. This coverage shows that events like the ones at MSD can happen to anyone in this country and further demonstrates the importance of policy change when it comes to firearms.

The article can be found here: http://www.themiamihurricane.com/2018/02/21/please-let-your-voice-be-heard-a-call-for-change-as-hundreds-gather-for-campus-vigil/

Parkland focus turns to mental health

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By ANDREA ILLAN

On Feb. 14, 17 people were killed at yet another school shooting by former student of the school. This time it was Nikolas Cruz at Stoneman Douglas High School. This is the 18th one of the kind this year and Americans are getting fed up of the gun violence and wonder when it will end.

An image has been circulating on social media in which the words “thoughts & prayers” are crossed off and replaced by the words “policy & change.”

This differs greatly from the way America has responded to these incidents in the past.

Rather than the usual tone of remaining positive, people are calling out politicians and demanding change. The president, along with many news media outlets, has decided to, once more, ignore the gun issue and give the incident the completely wrong focus.

As reported by The New York Times, POTUS tweeted about the mental state of the shooter a few hours before he formally addressed the public.Later during his formal speech, he also failed to mention gun control. Instead he continued to focus on mental health.

Similarly, an article on the Miami New Times the next day makes mention of the mental state of Cruz.

Although the article mainly focuses on how someone in that psychological state is able to get their hands on such deadly weapons, the mention of his mental health seems unnecessary when there are bigger problems at stake.

In this instance, the shooter had mental health issues but the reality of it is that many of the people responsible for these types of massacres do not. While mental health should be addressed when looking at these issues, that is an issue in itself that should not obstruct the gun debate.

Both the news media and American politicians need to focus on the real issue instead, which is the unnecessarily high accessibility to weapons in this country.

Kylie Jenner anounces baby’s name

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By ANDREA ILLAN

On Feb. 4, reality star and socialite Kylie Jenner announced she gave birth to her daughter whose name has been revealed to be Stormi.

Had this been any other celebrity, the reaction of the public would’ve been very different from what was seen on Sunday. This is due to the levels of information that came with the announcement and the dramatization of such.

After nine months of the 20-year-old neither confirming nor denying her pregnancy, Jenner broke the news to her fans on her Instagram account through a post explaining why and apologizing for keeping her pregnancy a secret. She followed this post with an excerpt from a YouTube video following her journey.

On the post she explains, “My pregnancy was one [journey] I chose not to do in front of the world. I knew for myself I needed to prepare for this role of a lifetime in the most positive, stress free, and healthy way I knew how.”

Placed No. 3 on the list of trending videos for YouTube, the video has more than three million views already.

It has received this much attention because the video not only confirmed the rumors of Jenner’s pregnancy but, as noted by the Los Angeles Times, it also informed the public that rapper Travis Scott is the baby’s father.

Additionally, the video is also the first public appearance of Kim Kardashian’s youngest daughter, Chicago West.

The amount of information that the 11:32 video shared is certainly not all it has to offer. It’s dramatic tone and the sentimentality it conveys has caused even the people who don’t necessarily keep up with the Kardashians to be talking about it since it came out.

This, in addition to the fact that the news were released on Super Bowl day, brings to attention the true motive behind a secret pregnancy and whether or not she kept it secret for the reasons she stated.

Having been in the spotlight for more than 10 years, the Kardashians have become masters at playing with the news media to their own benefit of promotion and this situation could be another reflection of this.

Night at the Frost Museum

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By ANDREA ILLAN

One of the most recently opened museums in the South Florida area, the Frost Museum of Science, has also become one of the most popular. And, as reported by the Sun Sentinel, the museum will continue to strengthen that popularity by organizing three sleepovers in the upcoming six months.

As this museum is known to be very child-friendly, the sleepovers – referred to as “Overnight Adventures”– will only be open for participants in the 6-17 age range. Exceptions to this include parents who must accompany their children.

The first adventure will take place on Feb. 9, followed by the second and third ones on April 12 and June 8. To the convenience of parents and children alike, all three events will take place on Friday nights. Additionally, all programming of the night will occur at the museum.

Spending the night at the Frost will expose children and accompanying adults to a whole new side of the museum. The museum reports that programming for these nights will include “after-hour access to selected exhibitions and a Frost Planetarium show.”

Additionally, participants should expect a “fire and ice” show, many hands-on activities, and start-gazing on the museum’s rooftop terrace. This allows for diversion, while at the same time teaching children about science.

The information website asks participants to pack their “jammies” as well as sleeping bags and a pillow. The $80 cost of the adventure takes care of everything else participants might need. This includes breakfast, dinner, a t-shirt, and a “Total Experience” free ticket to be used during their next visit. An extra $10 might be spent on parking. Activities are reported to be starting at 7 p.m. these nights.

In addition to the dates previously stated, there will also be two Overnight Adventures that will only be open for Girl Scouts of America members. These will take place on March 9th and May 11th.