This is what you might have missed last week:
After approving a shutdown in last week’s student assembly, an unknown individual hacked into two Facebook accounts and threatened the protesters. The accounts belonged to professor Patricia Noboa and student Aurelis de Jesús Pagán. Both accounts were used to post warnings in the group page Oriéntate UPR Cayey. “the_Slay3r_root” (name the hacker used) threatened to hack into every account in the group, publish intimate pictures of students, and post Biology and Chemistry exams hours before they were to be administered. The hacker published two intimate pictures on the group and advised to not be underestimated; he said the threats would continue until the shutdown was canceled.
Puerto Rican social movements represent the discomfort amongst the citizens of the island and they have has caused certain manifestations as time has gone by.
- The Grito de Lares occurred on September 23rd, 1868, and its goal was for the island to obtain independence from the Spanish colonizers.
- A strike in defense of suspended students was held in 1931 when the UPR administration suspended 138 students after they publicly criticized said administration and the government.
- The Massacre of Rio Piedras occurred in 1935 when the police confronted followers of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party; the agents shot four protestors.
- The Massacre of Ponce took place in 1937 when citizens held a peaceful march requesting the freedom of Pedro Albizu Campos after he was illegally detained; the police confronted the unarmed protestors leaving 19 dead and 235 injured.
- Student protests against the rector of UPR Rio Piedras Campus in 1948 when he didn’t allow Pedro Albizu Campos to use the university’s theater. The protest involved the police and led to hundreds of arrests and the expulsion of 400 students.
Amongst other movements, read more about them in last week’s reportage.
In September, the Puerto Rican Seismic Network reported six earthquakes with an alarmingly short gap of time around the same epicenter; the largest earthquake marked 6.0 on the seismic scale and did not pose any danger. Though unlike other natural phenomena, earthquakes have no warning, therefore, it is important to be prepared.
Before it occurs you should know the consequences of these type of natural disasters and have a plan on how to exit each building safely and where to meet as well as have an emergency bag with canned goods, bottled water, medicine, a first aid kit, flashlight, a battery-powered radio, batteries, a whistle, and a copy of each important document; also, carry a source of entertainment like card games.
During the earthquake keep calm and protect yourself by finding cover, if there is nothing that you can fit under, lean against a wall away from breakable and dangerous objects. Cover your head and neck with your arms while laying in a fetal position. If you are outside of a building steer away from any structure that may fall on you, lay down in fetal position and cover your head. If you are driving, locate a safe space to park and sit on the back seat covering yourself.
After the earthquake, you show wait a couple of minutes in case there are any replicas. Verify if there are any dangerous objects on the floor or about to fall before exiting your safe spot. If you are inside a building only exit if it is safe to do so, moving away from electric cables, fallen trees or weakened foundation. Cover your mouth, eyes, and nose from dust and debris. Use your whistle to ask for help. Call your loved ones and stay informed of the news.
A student at the Pontifical Catholic University in Ponce threatened, on Wednesday, to arrive at the institution’s student center with a machine gun next Valentine’s Day. Another student published in a confessions page on Facebook that they had heard a student expressing he was very depressed, hated humanity and started jokingly saying he was going to take a machine gun in his bag on Valentine’s Day.
The student council expressed that they were taking matters into their hands and that the administration had been informed and will be taking action.
Professor and theater director Edgar García is back at the UPR Rio Piedras Campus where he will launch, once more, Teatro Repertorio and similar projects. The professor and director is currently exploring new musicals to bring back and said he was not looking for a superficial play or something of easy comedy. García wants a musical that calls for the audience’s attention.
