Uloop Morning Scoop: Puerto Rico Campuses Are in Crisis and 3 Other Things You Should Know Today

By Uloop Staff on September 29, 2017

 

Hey Friday you finally got here. Once you get this dose of news that’s happening outside campus, you can start to think about gameday and sleep and all that good stuff the weekend has in store. But first the Uloop Morning Scoop for September 29: 

 

Trump waives Jones Act to allow better assistance for hurricane-battered Puerto Rico

President Trump is finally moving to bring aid to Hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico. (Image: YouTube screenshot/NY Times)

President Trump waived the Jones Act’s shipping restrictions on Thursday at the request of the Puerto Rican governor and Congress who were concerned about fuel, food and emergency supplies in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

USA Today reports, “The decision temporarily lifts the Jones Act’s restrictions prohibiting foreign-flagged vessels from picking up and delivering fuel between U.S. ports.”

Hurricanes Irma and Maria have battered the island in recent weeks leaving the country with shortages of supplies. Maria also wiped out the power supply, cell towers, and caused shortages of diesel which the country uses for much of its power. The waiver will be in effect for ten days and applies to all products.

 

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Hurricanes Put Caribbean universities IN FURTHER TROUBLE

It’s unclear when campuses in Puerto Rico will be able to re-open. (Image: Screenshot from Chronicle for Higher Education/Milagros Rodriguez)

Inside Higher Education reports “a little more than a week after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico at Category 4 strength, the extent of the damage to the University of Puerto Rico’s 11 campuses remains unclear.”

The university president said the most pressing need is electrical power, mainly to keep lab and potentially explosive environments safe.

IHE reports that none of the 11 campuses are open for classes, and that no reopening date has been established. The natural disaster came hard on the heels of another kind of crisis.

“In Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria came on top of a deep financial crisis that has implications for the island’s flagship public university. The University of Puerto Rico’s accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, put eight of the university’s 11 campuses on probation in May, partly due to concerns about finances and institutional resources, according to the report.”

Read the full story here.

 


TODAY IN A TWEET

Like we said, every day is national something day, but this is a good national something day.

 


IN the most least-surprising News of all time…

Um, yeah I’ll have four cheeseburgers,
five large fries and um… (Image: YouTube screenshot/BNTY)

Business Insider reports the earth-shattering news that McDonald’s is doing tons of business in states that have legal marijuana.

“Forty-three percent of consumers who purchased marijuana from a dispensary in states where the plant is legal ate at McDonald’s restaurants in the past month, according to a new studycommissioned by Green Market Report and Consumer Research Around Cannabis as part of their joint ‘Cannabis Freakonomics’ series, writes BI’s Jeremy Berke.

They continue with a fast-food breakdown: “Eighteen percent satisfied their marijuana-induced cravings at Taco Bell, 17.8% chose Wendy’s, and 17.6% chose Burger King. Subway came in a distant fifth place, with 8.7% of marijuana consumers reporting they had eaten there in the past four weeks.”

Would love to see some statistics on how well Girl Scout cookies sold in those states. Come on journalists, get on it!

 


AND finally on this last Friday in September, watching scary movies can be good for you!

Come on, it’s just a movie, silly (Image: YouTube screenshot/MovieClips.com)

According to Gabriella Orta from Florida State, anyway. In an article for Uloop News, she writes, “I am telling you, watching suspenseful movies and series has its benefits and I am here to let you know everything.”
She lists five good things that happen to you when you watch scary movies. Check them all out here.

 


OK, you’ve done good by filling up your brain with knowledge. Now go do you… its the weekend after all. 

And remember, you can use Uloop to find a part time job on your campus, connect with a tutor or get a head start on housing for next year.  And don’t forget, if you’re into that email thing:

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