The Illegal Cheetah Trade

Baby cheetahs. Photo credit: bbc.com 

One news story that caught my attention this week was about the illegal cheetah trade. Arab nations have recently joined forces with African countries to prevent the illegal live trade of cheetahs. Cheetahs are being trafficked from Africa to parts of the Middle East. Part of the plan to stop this illegal trade is to put a stop to the use of social media to flaunt, pose, and advertise these cheetahs. Social media is being used to display these purchases and to connect buyers and sellers, which has resulted in an increase in the trade of cheetahs. The plan includes working with social media platforms and implementing new reporting requirements so they can better monitor the problem. The United Arab Emirates is cracking down on social media platforms and have already begun to target some of the biggest websites in the illegal trade of cheetahs and have removed online advertisements. They are also in the process of passing domestic legislation that would outlaw keeping cheetahs as pets, which they hope will cause a reduction in the demand for cheetahs.

Photo credit: http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/

There are currently less than 7,000 cheetahs remaining and they're spread across 29 different countries. They are labeled as vulnerable animals and the population continues to decrease. Cheetah cubs can be sold for up to $10,000 in illegal live trade. Once they're bought, these cheetahs are captured in their wild habitat, packed into crates and shipped to the Middle East. Almost 85% of these cheetahs die on their journey. Fashion and technology have both contributed to a recent rise in the illegal trade of cheetahs. In some cultures, wealthy people consider having a cheetah as a pet a status symbol. These animals need to be protected and hopefully monitoring social media will be a major step toward saving them.  

To learn more about this issue and become more aware, visit this website: http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/09/29/cracking-down-on-the-pet-cheetah-trade/

National Anthem Protests

Kaepernick, #7, sitting during the National Anthem before a preseason 49ers game
Photo credit: sbnation.com

An interesting topic that has been in current events this week is that the National Anthem protests have spread to college football and the WNBA. The National Anthem protest began when Colin Kaepernick, quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, refused to stand for the National Anthem during a preseason football game this summer. His reasoning was racial injustice and police brutality against African-Americans. Kaepernick refused to stand because he said that he wasn’t going to stand for the flag when black people and people of color are being oppressed in this country. He followed that by saying that he plans on donating $1 million to different organizations that help communities. 

Michigan football players raise their fists during the National Anthem
Photo credit: foxnews.com

Joining Kaepernick’s protest, this weekend college football players for Michigan and Michigan State raised their fists while the National Anthem played. Then later that day, before a WNBA playoff game, New York Liberty guard Brittany Boyd sat on the bench with her head bowed during the Anthem. Boyd had also previously sat for the Anthem during the past couple of games. Players on the WNBA Indiana Fever team had also decided to kneel during the National Anthem before their playoff game. Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh, who had coached Kaepernick in San Francisco for four seasons, said that he supports his players and that this is an issue that clearly isn't going away. After the games, these players are using Twitter to explain their reasoning for joining the protest and what it means to them. While this has caused a lot of backlash on social media, more players and teams continue to join Kaepernick and this protest. 

Back to School Comedy Jam

One interesting thing I’ve been able to do lately is volunteer for the back to school comedy event that Program Board put on a couple of weeks ago. The event featured comedians Jay Pharoah, Michael Blackson, and DC Young Fly. I think Jay Pharoah is absolutely hilarious and I love the imitations that he does; I’ve been a fan of his ever since I saw him on Saturday Night Live. My job for the event was to scan tickets when people walked in the door. The doors opened at 7:30pm and tickets were free for students as long as they had their student ID. Scanning tickets was pretty easy, except for the fact that people were eager to get in and got a little impatient while waiting for their ticket to be scanned. Since the event was free, we didn’t have any problems with people trying to use a ticket that was already scanned (that usually happens at the concerts).

DC Young Fly, who is from the MTV show Wild N' Out, opened the show, but I didn’t get to see him since we had to stay by the doors until 8:30pm to scan the tickets of people that arrived late. Michael Blackson, who is in the movie Next Friday, came on next and he was so funny. He wore a bright yellow suit and told a lot of stories about his childhood and his mom. Jay Pharoah closed the show and I personally think he was the best of the night. His imitations of Drake and President Obama were spot on and he had the crowd nonstop laughing. He sang Justin Bieber songs and talked about Kanye West running for president in 2020. I really enjoy being a part of program board and getting the opportunity to volunteer at these events. There will be another comedy event featuring Adam Mamawala on Tuesday, October 11 at 7:30pm in the UC Rotunda that everyone should check out!

Jay Pharoah on stage

Me and my roommate after the event 

Working 9 to 5

For the past three weeks, I've had the song 'Working 9 to 5' stuck in my head (even though I technically work 8 to 4:30). Even though I have to get up earlier, I find myself excited and looking forward to going to work. So far, my internship has been full of new faces and tons of information. I've spent a lot of time in the intern room looking over case details and reading probation recommendations. The intern room is where all of us interns keep our stuff; it's also where we go to look over and reorganize files. Even though reading files can be boring and mind-numbing, you learn a lot of interesting details about some kids on probation. The room is a little small, but only me and two other interns use it. It's our little sanctuary when things get a little crazy in the office, especially on Wednesdays when the juveniles come in after school to do their drug tests before teen drug court.

The intern room 

The Isabella County Trial Courthouse 

I recently learned how to use this system on the computers in the courthouse that allows you to look up anyone that has a criminal history. It gives information about all of the charges they faced, restitution they were required to pay, and whether or not their case is still open. It's a lot easier to use this system than having to look through a file until you find what you're looking for. So far, this internship has been very eye-opening and I've learned a lot about what kind of criminal activity takes place here in Mount Pleasant. With three months still left of my internship, I can only imagine how many more files I'll read and people I'll meet. 

An introduction to my blog

When you think of interns, you most likely think of people running around taking lunch orders, getting coffee, and answering the phones. Today I began my journey as an intern at the Isabella County Trial Court with juvenile probation and I was relieved to find out that retrieving coffee wasn't a part of my job description! Even though my internship just began, I can already tell that it's going to be an interesting experience full of ups and downs. I intend to use this blog as a way to inform others what being an intern is like and to explain some of the situations I encounter at the courthouse. I hope you enjoy my blog!