Piece on a Massachusetts Bill

False Alarms Put Price on Search and Rescue Operations

By Estefania Souza

BOSTON—State Rep., Stephen Kulik’s bill to modify the Massachusetts law regarding search and rescue operation expenses was passed by the Senate in January, but it has been stuck ever since. Kulik, D-Worthington, proposed to change the law (General Laws Chapter 6A Section 18L) so that in the future the government can be reimbursed for certain search and rescue operations.

Bill H00650 would directly affect the government and certain people. If the bill gets passed, two types of persons would be responsible for paying the cost of a search and rescue operation:

First, people who recklessly put themselves in a dangerous situation. “[One] reckless spelunker had to be rescued (for a second time!) at considerable cost to the town in money and personnel,” said Kulik. Cases like that—in which persons practically create the situation from which they have to be rescued—were what prompted him to propose the bill.

The other group affected by the bill includes people giving authorities false information that leads to search and rescue operations. The bill holds people who knowingly provide false alarms liable.

Under the bill, both groups would have to pay the operations. However, according to Kulik, no costs to the taxpayer will come from this bill. “There is no cost other than the nominal work needed to add up the costs expended for a response and sending a bill to the violator,” said Kulik.

However, the bill states that offenders will only be charged for an amount equal to the total cost of the operation—including salaries, equipment and fuel.

According to Kulik, no other bill of the sort has been filed in Massachusetts, but several states in the country have similar laws. For example, New Hampshire has a law that holds citizens, who because of negligent acts require search and rescue operations, accountable for the expenses of the operations.

Bill H00560 is yet to undergo a public hearing during which, according to Kulik, strong opposition may surface. “[But for now] local officials and public safety personnel who know about it are supportive,” said Kulik.

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 Visit this website for more information on how a bill becomes a law.

Piece on BU Disaster Reporting Conference

Conference Sheds Light on How Media Should Cover Disasters

By Estefania Souza

BOSTON—A panel made up of a reporter, a coordinator, an editor and a UN senior policy adviser answered questions Thursday afternoon regarding media coverage in countries affected by natural disasters. The panel, Getting the Information out—Immediate Crisis Response, was part of a conference held at Boston University to address how natural disasters are reported.

The underlying issue seemed to be the relationship formed between the media and the disaster-stricken country. “Journalists [place] burdens on a country that has been hit by a disaster,” said Donna Leinwand Leger, a reporter for USA Today.

To answer the question of how reporters should behave in the aftermath of a disaster, she said the media has to be conscious of their presence. “You must be self-sufficient…ought to be mindful,” she said.

The panel explained how it is hard for an affected country to deal with international media. “The media com[es] in… expecting immediate response,” said Nancy Dorsinville, senior policy advisor of U.N. Office of the Special Envoy to Haiti. Journalists, she said, often forget that they are dealing with destroyed countries.

Dorsinville went on to tell the anecdote of one media team in particular, “One French rescue team in particular… said ‘we need someone to go to the local fire station and get us ladders and ropes.’ Fire stations. Plural? Hello!”

The problem, according to Dorsinville, is that the international media forgets about the vulnerability of the affected country. “Everything is already fragile…and the media is coming and saying we want this we want that… everything has to be done right away… [and] that’s a real challenge,” she said.

However, Dorsinville also said that media coverage is necessary in the aftermath of a disaster. “[It’s about] how the media contributes to [the] implications,” she said. According to her, it depends on how the media makes a connection between what happened and what is reported.

The fact is that “25 percent of news in general is about some kind of natural disaster,” Dorsinville said. “There seems to be something in the general public that really is curious… by those kinds of things.” News have to be covered regardless of the gory details, she said.

Manolia Charlotin, editor and business manager of the Boston Haitian Reporter, added to this point. “For journalists… its important for us to respect this institution and this profession,” she said. According to her, the media should continue to report on natural disasters and their consequences. “We (the public) need reporters to keep covering the facts.”

In her opinion, the media plays a very important part. “At the end of the day, without journalists, we don’t have any information to work with,” she said.

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Immigration-Related Piece

From Harbin to Boston

By Estefania Souza

BOSTON—A petite girl with onyx-black hair and eyes that could make anyone doubt her Asian nationality sits cross-legged on a futon, just as any other college sophomore would. Deedee Sun can’t help laughing when she tells the story about her elementary school in Ilinois. “Everyone had sleeping bags… [and] I had a blanket,” she says. “Someone asked why, and I was so frustrated that I couldn’t explain.”

But it didn’t take Deedee long to adapt to life in the United States. After elementary school in Decatur, Illinois, and high-school in the prestigious Mathematics and Science Academy, Deedee seems more like she’s from the Windy City, than from China.

Yuchen “Deedee” Sun was born in Harbin, China. As an only child, she explains that while her mother grew up with a privileged family in Harbin, her father was from the country province of Jilin.
“The original plan was to have me in the United States,” she says. But the Cultural Revolution in China impeded her mom from leaving the country and because of that, Deedee was born there instead. Just three months after, Deedee’s mom unexpectedly got the opportunity to study at Lawrence University in Wisconsin and took it. So her mom immigrated to the U.S. while Deedee and her father moved to the countryside. In little time, Deedee’s dad got a spouse visa and joined his wife in the U.S., leaving Deedee under the care of her grandparents.

“We tried to apply for a visa for me… right after my dad left, but it took many years for my visa to get approved,” she says. It wasn’t until she was 5 that Deedee was able to join her parents in the U.S.
“My parents definitely had to sacrifice a lot coming to the United States,” she says. While her mom attended graduate school, her dad waited tables to support the family. Deedee explains that immediately after graduating, her mom began working with Metlife in order to keep her visa. “My mom had to get a job that’s not really what she was interested in at all,” Deedee says, acknowledging her mother’s efforts to stay in the U.S.

When asked if she remembered any specific struggles, Deedee doesn’t seem to remember too much. “I remember we lived in this small apartment… but I was little then. I didn’t notice much if money was tight or anything like that.” By the time she was “a pre-teen and things started to matter,” her dad had moved on from his job as a waiter and money was less of an issue.
Nowadays, Deedee Sun is a rising sophomore at Boston University working towards a double major in broadcast journalism and economics. B.U. is a very diverse school, with students from all over the world, but that doesn’t bother Deedee at all. In her opinion, student visas should be easy to attain.
“Why would you want to prevent spreading knowledge?” she says. “It makes sense for people from other countries to come here.”

What doesn’t make sense to her is the issue regarding illegal immigrants. “I’m not fully versed on this subject,” she admits. But she says there is no reason for American citizens to have to pay the insurance of those who illegally enter the U.S. Deedee claims that it is unfair for illegal immigrants to be treated medically when they are not paying anything back. Unlike in China, where medical assistance won’t be given to you unless you have personal insurance, in the U.S., all patients are treated in emergency rooms.
She explains that there is a difference between handing out student visas and simply making it easier for illegal immigrants to stay in the country. “My parents definitely had to sacrifice a lot [to become American citizens], she says. From Deedee’s perspective, immigrants should be allowed to stay in the country as long as they follow the law and work for their citizenship.

Amidst a student body with more than 20% international students, Deedee is no longer the one that stands out because of her nationality. But she has not forgotten her heritage and realizes that the issue of immigration is complicated. She says she doesn’t have enough knowledge to answer it in depth. But she poses an important question, “Where do you draw the line?”

Here is a map illustrating Deedee's immigration:


View Deedee in a larger map


Deedee Sun is an active reporter for Inside Boston. She spends time creating and editing stories for BUTV, BU's student-run news channel. 

Click here for more of Deedee's videos.