Connecting Outside the Bubble

SNN Update

SNN Update

SNN Staff
Weekly Update

Dear St. Andrew’s Community,

Unfortunately, the SNN’s announcement was cut during school meeting, but we still wanted to spread the word on some important news that happened this past week. This will only take three minutes of your day, so stay tuned for some topics such as 3-D printed housing on a large scale, the tragic California wildfire crisis, Saudi Aramco launching their IPO, and lastly, a judge who overruled the Trump administration policy on immigration. 

1. So without further ado, let’s hear about one company's unique way to bring affordable housing to underprivileged groups. Even though we’re not homeowners yet, building a house under 24 hours with a cost of only 4000 dollars? It seems like a fantasy. Not anymore.

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Last year, New Story, a non-profit organization, partnered with ICON, a construction tech company, to start their project to end global homelessness. They printed their prototype house in Austin, Texas, 

New Story has funded more than 2,200 homes for families in need in Mexico, Haiti, El Salvador, and Bolivia in the past three years. Now, the organization will be able to erect entire villages of homes for vulnerable families in underserved communities, with each home costing under $4,000 – and built within a day.

This fall, New Story and ICON break ground on the world’s first 3D printed housing community in El Salvador which will be finished this winter.

Altogether, these homes will house about 200 people, but eventually, this community will grow to 400 homes in total and impact thousands of lives.

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2. Across the country in California, several wildfires have been fully contained over the weekend, but still continue to blaze across the state of California. Residents of California are being warned of drier weather and strong winds in the upcoming weeks which continuously poses a threat to the development of more wildfires in the area.

The exposure to wildfires is very dangerous because it can cause serious health problems such as asthma attacks and an increase in lung disease, and many people are being ordered to evacuate their homes to ensure safety as fires continue to spread.

3. On another note, Saudi Aramco, the largest producer of oil in the world (around 10,000,000 barrels per day in 2017!) has announced plans to become a publicly-traded company. It is set to be the largest Initial Public Offering ever to occur. Reuters states that Aramco mandated 27 banks to work on the deal, including Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley.” The IPO will most likely meet success because in part, as the New York Times states: “In 2018, it was by far the world’s most profitable company, recording net income of $111 billion.”

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But that being said, the investment comes with considerable risk as the company is heavily tied to Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and the royal family of Saudi Arabia, a family monarchy that has experienced its fair share of political and geopolitical conflict. The success of the IPO will determine to a large extent the perception of the crown Prince Mohammed among the people and his vision to shepherd his country into a new era of technological and industrial development.

4. Finally, for our last piece of news for the day, on Saturday, U.S. District Judge Michael Simon in Portland, Oregon issued a temporary restraining order the day before a new immigration policy was set to go into effect. Judge Simon defended his ruling for this 28-day restraining order claiming that this policy could cause "irreparable harm" to current and future immigrants. 

This policy orders consular officers to bar immigrants who could not prove they had health insurance or the ability to pay for medical costs once they become permanent residents of the United States. 

Many opposers of the law believe that President Trump has used this policy as a way to quietly prevent hundreds of thousands of immigrants who meet all other criteria from entering the country.

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Supporters fight back claiming “costs associated with this care are passed on to the American people in the form of higher taxes, higher premiums, and higher fees for medical services” and that this serves as justification for this policy. 

 For the next 28 days, representatives from the Trump administration and plaintiffs will present evidence to the court in support of their respective beliefs before another ruling is made. This case raises questions about whether the President has the constitutional right to make such extreme changes to immigration laws as well the extent to which states must comply with this policy if it is passed. But most importantly the fates of many immigrants are now in limbo until a final ruling is made…


Thank you for tuning into the SNN! This is only a small portion of the news that happened this week, so make sure you stay informed! And, See you next week! 




Sources:




Special Thanks to Christine, Sydney, JT, and Arvin!

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