Mole people and meth chemicals: student sustainability video festival 26

I just finished submitting my grades for the semester, which means it's time for the last installment of the Student sustainability video festival until December.  Normally, I'd post the students' favorite video, like I did in Student sustainability video festival 21: Extreme weather in May.  It turns out that "Face Your Food" was the video from the favorite talk, so I already posted it.  Instead, I'll post videos from the two talks that vied for runner-up.  Both of them, coincidentally enough, are old segments from news shows.

First, NewsPoliticsInfo hosts this CBS News segment Homeless People Living Underneath Las Vegas.


The student used this segment in a talk about "Mole People."  On a fantastical note, she passed along an anecdote that a friend of hers thinks they would be the first to become zombies in case of the zombie apocalypse.  I think her friend should worry about disasters that actually will happen and not the metaphors for them.  Besides, these people might actually be better candidates for surviving the apocalypse, even if they are among the first surviving victims of collapse.

One of the Las Vegas tunnel dwellers was a meth addict.  That just happens to lead into the next video, in which KCRA News reported Meth Chemicals Wreak Havoc On Environment.

From corrosive acids to lighter fluid, the ingredients to make methamphetamine often end up in the ground or flushed down the drain.

Ugh, nasty.  While I'm on the subject, it so happens that I have a bunch of stories about Meth from KPBS from earlier this year.  Follow over the jump for them.

The following stories originally appeared in Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Sochi Olympics) on Daily Kos in February.

KPBS: San Diego Meth-Related Deaths Up 55 Percent Since 2008
By Jill Replogle
Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Deaths due to methamphetamine have risen more than 55 percent in San Diego since 2008, according to the county’s Meth Strike Force.

Arrests for meth possession and sale are also up, along with the percentage of adult arrestees who test positive for meth and the number of meth users who end up in emergency rooms.

On the other hand, meth labs have nearly been eradicated in San Diego County, authorities say, and the percentage of juvenile arrestees who test positive for meth are down from 10 percent in 2008 to 4 percent in 2012.

KPBS: 45 San Diego Gang Members Charged With Meth, Gun Crimes
By Jill Replogle
Thursday, February 6, 2014

The U.S Attorney’s Office in San Diego announced indictments against 45 people for charges related to gun and methamphetamine trafficking on Thursday. Authorities said the meth was distributed in San Diego, but also as far as Hawaii, Guam and Minnesota.

The indictments followed a yearlong investigation into six San Diego street gangs, including the Oriental Killer Boys, Linda Vista Crips and Logan Heights Calle Treinta.

Most of the meth allegedly sold by suspects was from Mexico, U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said in a press conference. She added that some of the meth was extremely pure — “mid and high 90 percentage.”

With that, Crazy Eddie's Motie News resumes its regular programming, whatever that is.