Eco architecture and culture Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 8250 words

Eco architecture and culture - Dissertation Example 11 3.5 What was the cultural effect on those communities that chose not to live above ground? 12 3.6 Why are some cultures still driven to living underground? 13 3.7 What are the main types of underground homes? 13 3.8 Why are underground homes still popular in certain countries and civilisations? 15 3.9 What is the modern day attraction to creating underground homes in the developed world? 17 3.10 How has modern technology influenced our perception of underground homes? 18 3.11 How has modern day thinking influenced our perception of underground homes? 19 3.12 How do modern day underground homes compare with the original? 20 3.13 How do modern day underground homes influence modern day cultural development? 20 3.14 The cultural effect of global warming 21 3.15 Underground homes and eco architecture. Differences and similarities 21 3.16 What is the way forward? 22 3.17 How today cultural development influences living underground? 22 4. Discussion on literature 23 5. Conclusion 23 6. Recommendations 24 Bibliography 25 Critical Bibliography 26 Abstract The return of living underground, as a social phenomenon, can be characterized rather as expected. The continuous increase of population in cities would have normally such outcome, either in the short or the long term. At the same time, the limitation of energy sources worldwide has promoted another trend: the alignment of architecture with the rules of sustainability. Indeed, the last decade, eco – architecture, as this trend is known, has rapidly expanded worldwide strongly affecting the social, economic and cultural framework of each country. The effects of eco-architecture on culture are discussed in this study. Emphasis is given on a particular aspect of eco-architecture: underground living. This is because underground homes have become popular, offering an effective alternative for those who are interested in promoting sustainability. It is proved that eco-architecture can interact with culture but und er certain terms. Moreover, the relationship between eco-architecture and culture is not standardized; it can be strong or weak, depending on the level at which eco-architects are free to promote architectural projects which can highly affect the cultural characteristics of a particular region. 1. Overview 1.1 Research Objectives The objectives of this study could be described as follows: a) to identify the key characteristics of eco-architecture, b) to check whether eco-architecture is able to interact with culture and at which level; C) to identify the reasons for which people had initially chosen to live underground but also the reasons for which they decided to move to buildings above the ground; d) to compare the quality of underground homes, as compared to conventional homes; e) to check whether modern thinking can affect the views of people in regard to eco-architecture and living underground and f) to estimate, as possible, the expansion of underground homes, as a trend, in the future. 1.2 Value of the topic Living underground has been a common practice in the early years of human history. Still, the rapid development of technology and the changes in the structure and the principles of societies have led to the need for different forms of living. Moving above ground has been a critical point for the history of humans. It seems that the above transition has been highly promoted by culture. For similar reasons, a different trend has recently appeared: living undergroun

Health History and Examination Essay Example for Free

Health History and Examination Essay Neurological System (headaches, head injuries, dizziness, convulsions, tremors, weakness, numbness, tingling, difficulty speaking, difficulty swallowing, etc., medications): Patient is alert, awake and oriented. Denies headaches, head injuries, dizziness, seizures, tremors, migraine, difficulty in speech and swallowing. No history of falls. Patient does mention that he has numbness and tingling of fingers and toes occasionally. Takes Gabapentin 100mg orally three times a day. Head and Neck (pain, headaches, head/neck injury, neck pain, lumps/swelling, surgeries on head/neck, medications): Patient denies neck or head injuries, denies swelling or lumps on neck and head, Denies neck pain or headaches. Eyes (eye pain, blurred vision, history of crossed eyes, redness/swelling in eyes, watering, tearing, injury/surgery to eye, glaucoma testing, vision test, glasses or contacts, medications): Patient wears eyeglasses that are with him. Bilateral cataract surgery done in June 2013. Regular vision checks after surgery done in November 2013 and at present he is not on any medications at home. Ears (earache or other ear pain, history of ear infections, discharge from ears, history of surgery, difficulty hearing, environmental noise exposure, vertigo, medications): No complaints of ear pain, infection, surgery tinnitus due to noise, or vertigo noted. Not on any medications. Hard of hearing right ear but does not use a hearing aid. Nose, Mouth, and Throat (discharge, sores or lesions, pain, nosebleeds, bleeding gums, sore throat, allergies, surgeries, usual dental care, medications): Denies discharge from nose and throat, denies presence of sores or lesions in the mouth. Denies nose bleeds, bleeding gums, or sore  throat. No known allergies noted. Has upper and lower dentures that patient cleans with Polident tablets daily. History of Tonsillectomy at age 7. Skin, Hair and Nails (skin disease, changes in color, changes in a mole, excessive dryness or moisture, itching, bruising, rash or lesions, recent hair loss, changing nails, environmental hazards/exposures, medications): Patient’s skin color is ethnic. Has some gray hair but no alopecia. Has well groomed nails. Denies skin problems. Particular about usage of moisturizing lotions after bath. Breasts and Axilla (pain or tenderness, lumps, nipple discharge, rash, swelling, trauma or injury to b reast, mammography, breast self-exam, medications): Patient denies any problems with breasts and axilla. Does not perform self-breast examination. Peripheral Vascular and Lymphatic System (leg pain, cramps, skin changes in arms or legs, swelling in legs or ankles, swollen glands, medications): Denies leg pain, cramps or discoloration of arms and legs. Complains of occasional swelling on ankles. Takes Lasix 40 mg orally once a day. Cardiovascular System (chest pain or tightness, SOB, cough, swelling of feet or hands, family history of cardiac disease, tire easily, self-history of heart disease, medications): Denies any chest pain or tightness. Denies shortness of breath or weakness. Complains of occasional cough relieved by Robitussin DM 10ml orally every 6 hours as needed. Patient is hypertensive and had an MI in 2005 but denies any history of Congestive Heart Failure. Family history shows that his father died of heart attack at age 75. Patient had an echocardiogram and stress test done last year as outpatient and per patient results were normal. Patient is taking Aspirin 81mg orally daily, Lopressor 25mg orally daily, and Plav ix 75mg orally daily. Thorax and Lungs (cough, SOB, pain on inspiration or expiration, chest pain with breathing, history of lung disease, smoking history, living/working conditions that affect breathing, last TB skin test, flu shot, pneumococcal vaccine, chest x-ray, medications): Has occasional cough that could be due to change of climate. Denies shortness of breath or pain with breathing. Denies smoking and no history of lung disease is noted. Immunized for Influenza and Pneumonia on 10/14/2013. Patient was in ER in March for cough and fever and x-ray of the chest showed no abnormalities at that time. Musculoskeletal System (joint pain; stiffness; swelling, heat, redness in joints; limitation of movement; muscle pain or cramping; deformity of bone or joint; accidents or trauma to bones; back pain;  difficulty with activity of daily living, medications) Denies any symptoms of joint problems and does not take any medications at home. Patient is independent and requires no assistance for activities of daily living. His wife and he take walks on a daily basis for 20 minutes. Gastrointestinal System (change in appetite – increase or loss; difficulty swallowing; foods not tolerated; abdominal pain; nausea or vomiting; frequency of BM; history of GI disease, ulcers, medications) Denies any gastro-intestinal disease, ulcers, or diabetes. Consumes low sodium diet with no added salt three times a day and a bedtime snack. Includes plenty of vegetables and fruits in his diet. No swallowing problems noted. No complaints of nausea, vomiting or diarrhea noted. Patient has daily bowel movement and reports that it is brown in color. Denies use of stool softener or laxative. An Endoscopy and Colonoscopy was done in January 2014 and no abnormalities noted at that time. Genitourinary System (recent change, frequency, urgency, nocturia, dysuria, polyuria, oliguria, hesitancy or straining, urine color, narrowed stream, incontinence, history of urinary disease, pain in flank, groin, supra pubic region or low back) Denies pain or any urinary problems. Patient verbalizes increased frequency of urination due to Lasix. Patient wakes up twice at night to urinate but he is continent of bladder. Per patient no prostate problem noted. Last prostate exam was done in February 2014. Physical Examination (Comprehensive examination of each system. Record findings.) Neurological System (exam of all 12 cranial nerves, motor and sensory assessments): Patient is awake, alert, and oriented with no memory loss. Patient is calm, cooperative and pleasant. Judgment is intact. Patients speaks clearly and in full sentences. No difficulty noted while speaking. No swallowing problems noted. Patient has a steady gait with full strength. Sensations present in all extremities. Complaints of occasional numbness and tingling of fingers and toes but denies upon examination. Head and Neck (palpate the skull, inspect the neck, inspect the face, palpate the lymph nodes, palpate the trachea, palpate and auscultate the thyroid gland): Skull and neck are normal on examination. No deformities or hematoma noted. No lymph nodes identified on palpation. Adam’s apple present. Trachea is normal on palpation. Eyes (test visual acuity, visual fields, extra ocular muscle  function, inspect external eye struct ures, inspect anterior eyeball structures, inspect ocular fundus): Patient has eyeglasses with him. Patient is able to open and close his eyelids. Pupil is round and reaction to light is constriction to both eyes. Denies any blurring, watering, or tearing of the eyes. No redness or infection noted. Ears (inspect external structure, otocopic examination, inspect tympanic membrane, test hearing acuity): Hard of hearing right ear with no hearing aid. As per patient the physician had recommended hearing aid for the right ear but patient did not wish to use it. Otoscopic examination revealed normal ear canals and eardrums with minimal amount of earwax. Nose, Mouth, and Throat (Inspect and palpate the nose, palpate the sinus area, inspect the mouth, inspect the throat): Nose, mouth and throat are normal on examination. On palpation no pain noted to sinuses. The upper and lower dentures fit well on the patient and do not become loose while talking or chewing. Skin, Hair and Nails (inspect and palpate skin, temperature, moisture, lesions, inspect and palpate hair, distribution, texture, inspect and palpate nails, contour, color, teach self-examination techniques): No skin break down or rashes or lesions noted on inspection of the skin. Color is normal to ethnicity. Skin is warm, dry an d intact. Mucus membranes are pink and moist. Hair is gray and no alopecia noted. Texture of hair is soft to touch, no split ends noted. Kept short and clean. No ingrown nails or cracked nails noted. Nails are well groomed and pink in color. Patient verbalizes examining the skin and nails everyday while taking a shower. Breasts and Axilla (deferred for purpose of class assignment) Peripheral Vascular and Lymphatic System (inspect arms, symmetry, pulses; inspect legs, venous pattern, varicosities, pulses, color, swelling, lumps): Bilateral upper extremities are warm, symmetrical with bilateral radial pulses 2+. Bilateral lower extremities are warm, symmetrical without any discoloration. No varicose veins noted. Bilateral pedal pulses 2+. A trace of edema is noted on both ankles and feet. Cardiovascular System (inspect and palpate carotid arteries, jugular venous system, precordium heave or lift, apical impulse; auscultate rate and rhythm; identify S1 and S2, any extra heart sounds, murmur): Carotid arteries are normal with pulse 2+. No jugular vein distension noted. Apical pulse is 82 beats per minute, BP of 150/80 mm of Hg. Heart sounds S1 and S2 are on auscultation. No murmur or extra heart sound noted. EKG shows a  Normal Sinus Rhythm. Thorax and Lungs (inspect thoracic cage, symmetry, tactile fremitus, trachea; palpate symmetrical expansion;, percussion of anterior, lateral and posterior, abnormal breathing sounds): Thoracic cage is normal and symmetrical. No abnormality noted on palpation and percussion. Breath sounds are clear and equal on auscultation in all lung fields. Respirations are even, regular and unlabored. Patient has occasional nonproductive cough relieved by cough medicine. Respiratory rate is 18/minute and Oxygen saturation is 99% on room air. Musculoskeletal System (inspect cervical spine for size, contour, swelling, mass, deformity, pain, range of motion; inspect shoulders for size, color, contour, swelling, mass, deformity, pain, range of motion; inspect elbows for size, color, contour, swelling, mass, deformity, pain, range of motion; inspect wrist and hands for size, color, contour, swelling, mass, deformity, pain, range of motion; inspect hips for size, color, contour, swelling, mass, deformi ty, pain, range of motion; inspect knees for size, color, contour, swelling, mass, deformity, pain, range of motion; inspect ankles and feet for size, color, contour, swelling, mass, deformity, pain and range of motion): Cervical spines are normal in size, no pain or deformities noted with full range of motion. Bilateral shoulders are equal in size, no swelling or mass noted. No pain noted on movement of shoulders. Bilateral elbows, wrists and hands are equal in size, with full range of motion and equal in strength. No deformities noted on inspection. Bilateral hips are equal in strength, no swelling or mass noted. No evidence of redness or injury noted. Sacrum is intact. Bilateral lower extremities with full range of motion and equal strength noted. No swelling or deformity noted. Bilateral ankles and feet noted with trace of edema. Gastrointestinal System (contour of abdomen, general symmetry, skin color and condition, pulsation and movement, umbilicus, hair distribution; auscultate bowel sound;, percuss all four quadrants; percuss border of liver; light palpation in all four quadrants– muscle wall, tenderness, enlarged organs, masses, rebound tenderness, CVA tenderness): Abdomen is flat and non-distended. Bowels sounds present in all four quadrants. Abdomen soft and non-tender on palpation. Percussion revealed tympany in all four quadrants. Umbilicus is midline and inverted. Surface of abdomen smooth and even, with homogenous color. No lesions or surgical scars noted. Genitourinary System (deferred for purpose of this  class) FHP Assessment Cognitive-Perceptual Pattern: Patient is alert and oriented, no memory loss. Well educated, and has the ability to read, write and understand information. Patient uses eyeglasses for reading and is hard of hearing right ear. Nutritional-Metabolic Pattern: Patient eats a low sodium diet with no added salt three times a day with a bedtime snack. Home cooked food with vegetables and fruits included in the diet are his preferences. The patient or his wife prepares the food. The patient and his wife do the food shopping. Sexuality-Reproductive Pattern: The patient has three children and 5 grandchildren. He is not interested in sexual activities but loves to spend time with his wife. Pattern of Elimination Patient is continent of bladder and bowel. Urinary frequency is increased due to effect of medication (Lasix). Pattern of Activity and Exercise: Patient is independent in activities of daily living. He is not involved in vigorous exercise but walks daily for 20 minutes along with his wife. Pattern of Sleep and Rest: Patient usually sleeps for 6-7 hours at night with an afternoon nap for 30 minutes. Patient wakes up twice at night to urinate but goes right back to sleep with no difficulty. Patient denies use of sleeping pills. Pattern of Self-Perception and Self-Concept: Patient is well dressed and has self-respect and respects others too. He leads a disciplined life with the ability to take care of himself and his wife. He is friendly with his neighbors and is an active participant in church activities Summarize Your Findings (Use format that provides logical progression of assessment.) Situation (reason for seeking care, patient statements): Name: Lawrence Kelly Age/Sex: 72 years/Male Presenting complaints: Increased swelling of ankles and feet, numbness and tingling of fingers and toes, and occasional cough. Background (health and family history, recent observations): History of present complaints: Patient complains of swelling of feet and ankles for 2 weeks with numbness and tingling of fingers and toes. Occasional cough for last one week. Past medical History: Hypertension, MI, Hard of hearing (Right Ear). Medication history: Lasix 40mg orally daily Aspirin 81mg orally daily Plavix 75mg orally daily Lopressor 25mg orally daily Gabapentin 100mg orally three times a day Assessment (assessment of health state or problems, nursing diagnosis): Mr. Lawrence Kelly 72 year old male presented with complaints of swelling of feet and ankles with numbness and tingling of fingers and toes for the past 2 weeks. Occasional cough for the past one week. He is alert, awake and oriented with steady gait. Hard of hearing in the right ear. His vital signs are BP150/80 mm of Hg, Pulse 82, RR 18/minute, and Temp of 98.4. No chest tightness or pain verbalized. Breath sounds are clear and equal in all lung fields. Abdomen soft, non-tender and non-distended. Bowels sounds present in all four quadrants. No difficulty in urination verbalized and color of urine is amber. Trace edema noted on feet and ankles. Pedal pulses is 2+. Nursing Diagnosis: Fluid Volume Excess manifested by edema of feet and ankles. Recommendation (diagnostic evaluation, follow-up care, patient education teaching including health promotion education): Blood tests should be done including Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, Vitamin B12 Level, and BNP. X-ray Chest is recommended to find out if patient has CHF Echocardiogram could be repeated as it was done more than 6 months ago Teach the patient to monitor BP, Pulse, Intake and Output, and Daily Weights. Advise the patient to elevate the lower extremities on pillows to reduce  dependent edema Encourage the patient to read food labels on the sodium content Avoid fried foods, canned and frozen foods (Nanda Nursing Interventions, 2012) Provide information about community services such as Heart Center at Barnabas Health, Phone No. 1-888-724-7123 (Barnabas Health, 2013). References: Barnabas Health. (2013). Barnabas Health Heart Centers. Retrieved from http://www.barnabashealth.org/services/cardiac/index.htmlLifestyle and home remedies. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-failure/DS00061/DSECTION=lifestyle-and-home-remediesNanda Nursing Interventions. (2012). Nursing Interventions for Fluid Volume Excess. Retrieved from http://nanda-nursinginterventions.blogspot.com/2012/04/nursing-interventions-for-fluid-volume.html

Moral Panic: Youth Slashing in Singapore

Moral Panic: Youth Slashing in Singapore 1. Introduction Slashing cases involving Singaporean youth gang members gain immense notoriety in 2010. The visibility of such criminal acts is amplified further by the mass media. Such reports provoke the publics latent fear of being attack by youth gangs especially so when high-profile cases such as the murder of Darren Ng at Downtown East was reported to occur in the evening between 5.30pm and 5.57pm at a time period where school-going children would be making their way home. This fuel the anxiety felt by already paranoid parents of school-going children. Moreover easy access to gruesome and explicit pictures of the victim that were splashed across both printed and online medias, further fuel widespread panic of youth gang members being more daring to strike anytime in the day. Such panic is contrary to updated statistics proving that crime rates in Singapore have been steadily on a downward trend. The question at hand then is What caused this mass panic of youth slashing in Singapore despite there being no actual spike in crime rates? In our assessment of Singapore youth slashing, several critical tenets of moral panic were identified; high concern over youth violence and gang associations, increase hostility towards the group seen as a threat (people, who were caught carrying weapons, at-risk youths), disproportionality in depiction of the problem and short life-span. This paper seeks to investigate moral panic on youth slashing in Singapore. In our essay discourse, we argue that the surge in news reports youth and gang violence attributes to the moral panic of youth slashing in Singapore. The increased visibility of such criminal acts and detailed reporting has push the issue of youth delinquency to the spot light. This paper will first consider the crime trends in Singapore with an emphasis on youth statistics to ascertain whether the crime rates show any spikes which may be a cause for panic for citizens. In our use of statistics, we assume that all criminal acts were reported accurately. Next, a study of news reports by the Singapore printed English media- Straits Times and New Paper would be conducted to see how frequent such reports were published. 2. Crime Trends in Singapore In the latest Singapore Police Force Annual 2009, it published a 10 year trend of crime rates for Singapore. It captures official crime statistics that includes only reported criminal cases. Figure 1 show that the overall crime and overall crime rate is relatively stable, reaching its peak in 2005 and gradually decreasing over the next 3 years. The year 2008 saw a marginal increase of 1% in overall crime from 32,796 cases in 2007 to 33,113. However according to the SPF annual, the crime rate per 100,000 population mark has actually fallen from 715 in 2007 to 684 in 2008. Further statistics from SPF website records that in year 2009, the number of overall crime cases recording a marginal increase of 0.2% as compared to the previous year. However, overall crime rate in 2009 was 665, lower than 684 in 2008. In 2010 then, overall Crime reportedly fell by 0.6% (or -200 cases), from 33,186 cases in 2009 to 32,986 cases in 2010. There was no mention of crime rates. Comparing the total crime cases reported in 2010, the general crime trend for Singapore would be seen as gradually decreasing. In 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2010 reports, youth crime was highlighted as a key crime concern. The majority of crimes among youths were for shop theft and other theft. Only in 2007, did rioting become the second most common crime among youths. At the peak of 4608 recorded cases of crimes against persons in 2005, only 21 of them were murder cases (Singapore Police Force, 2010). 0.004% of crimes against persons were murder cases at the peak of crimes against persons. There were no statistics that confirm what percentage of the murders was committed by youths. However, the overall crime against persons has remained relatively unchanged since 2006, and we would extrapolate that the number of murder cases would accordingly remain stable. Contrary to the statistics, there was a surge in news reports youth and gang violence in 2010. In the official crime summary for 2010 it was reported that there has been an increase in the number of youths arrested for rioting from 468 persons in 2009 to 531 persons in 2010. However the number of youths arrested for rioting 2010 is still lower from that in 2007 whereby 573 persons were arrested for rioting. Yet in 2010, the responses towards youth and gang violence were more fervent. The public members were organising Citizens-on-Patrol (COP) Programmes (Lim, 2010) and increasing the frequencies of such patrols in the wake of the Bukit Panjang Slashing case. One cannot help but ponder what incites such panic among citizens regarding neighbourhood safety when the statistics seem to show a relatively stable decrease in crime rate. In our essay, we argue that the surge in news reports youth and gang violence attributes to the moral panic of youth slashing in Singapore. 3. Literature Review From a sub-cultural perspective, using Cloward Ohlin(1960) theory of differential access in illegitimate society we could see street corner gangs as a form of conflict subculture, and their senseless violence a product of status frustration. Subcultural theories looked at how crime occur as individuals internalize a set of norms and values that brings them into conflict with the law. As described by Miller (1958) in the focal concerns theory of lower class where he identified trouble, toughness, smartness, excitement, autonomy, fate as concerns deeply embedded in the culture of the lower class. While many studies have attempted to explain street corner gangs and youth violence, there are also many others that looked at the social construction of the crime. Media constructions of crime have been immensely studied in the field. Research on media and crime generally agreed that crime is staple in news and popular programming and that uncommon events tend to be overrepresented (Pizarro, Chermak, Gruenewald, 2007). In studies of gang and youth violence, it is established that particular media portrayals of gangs and youths have shaped the identity of this group and the societys attitude towards them (Dorfman et.al, 1997; Thompson, et. al, 2000). Esbensen Tusinski (2007) discussed medias tendency of stereotyping gangs and their associations with violence and organizational capacity. Where youth violence is concerned, there are also studies particularly on school shootings in US public schools (Frymer, 2009; Waldron, 2002; Muschert, 2007) and knife crime in UK (Squires, 2009; Wood, 2010). The concept of moral panic however goes further to explore the profound influence of media as an instuitution of social control through amplifying deviance. Attention is given to the ideological role of media and the construction of meanings. In Cohens work of mods and rockers this concept is useful in understanding how they were labelled and controlled, as well as explaining how and why the societys reaction was formed. Concept of moral panic can be characterised by a heightened fear over evildoers and the threat they bring to society. It must have a scapegoat and an obeject to be panicked about. This usually brings about a strengthening of social contol apparatus such as stricter regulations. The indicators of moral panic included high concern over the problem, increasing hostility toward the group engaged in the behavior, widespread agreement that the threat is real, disproportionality in the depiction of problems and volalitily (Goode Ben-Yehuda, 1994). Goode Ben-Yehuda (1994) used three theories to explain what brings about the panic. Interest-group theory looks at moral entrepreneurs use media to publicise their concerns their claims taken up by significant section of the media and presented as factual (Jenkins, 1992). Elite-engineered theory see the ruling class as deliberately and conciously creating a moral panic over an issue which they see as not terribly harmful to the society to diver t the public from more serious issues. The third- grassroots theory- presented by Goode Ben-Yehuda (1994) is a bottom-up rather than top-down theory of moral panic. This theory looks at public participation in moral panic, where media then magnify real public fears about crime. There has been increasing application of this concept in studying youth and gang violence (Welch, Price, Yankee, 2002; Bartie, 2010; Killingbeck, 2001), and we believe that this concept is relevant to the current issue we are studying. Yet it would be inadequate to dismiss Singapore slashing case merely as a moral panic. As Squires (2009) argued, Cohen (1972) study of Mods and Rockers did also present how moral entrepreneurs have exploited societys reaction for their own agenda. Henceforth, this paper would like to discuss whether the attention given to local cases could be attributed to moral panic. 4. Case Studies of Youth Slashing in Singapore One of the first incidents, though did receive much attention include one at Pasir Ris on 5th March. The incident was only reported in June where the attackers were prosecuted (tell me if you find another article about this). The other is at Kallang area where a a gang of Sarawakian robbers committed 4 violent thefts, where 1 Indian national was murdered. Below are the high-profile cases: 1) 30th October 2010 at Downtown East 19-year-old Darren Ng Wei Jie died after being assaulted by a group of gang members. The attack started with staring and angry words before he was attacked with choppers and knife. A total of 11 youths were arrested and charged with murder, all of whom were Chinese. The incident was seen as gang-related. Ng was later found out to be a member of one of the gangs. 2) 8th November 2010 at Bukit Panjang 20-year-old Jayasiva Shangar Guru was slashed and stabbed by a group of gang members. The gang also attacked at Jelapang Road, where another six youths were assaulted. In both incidents, the victims were attacked after denying being a member of Pak Hai Tong gang. The attackers were believed to be members of Sah Lak Kau. There were speculations that nights incident was related to a gang fight earlier that day at 6pm where a group of men were chasing after a teenager taunting him to fight back. A total of fifteen men were arrested. Following the two high-profile slashing cases, there were reports of three others. On 18th November at Ang Mo Kio, two youths got into a dispute outside a fast-food outlet, where eventually one of them attacked the other with a knife. On 24th November at Teck Whye, an off-duty auxiliary cop was attacked by 7 street-gang members who deliberately bumped into him. In December at Yishun Ring Road, a 23-year-old man was reported to have been assaulted by 3 youths of age 13, 15 and 18 after a dispute of missing handphone. 5. Societal Response 5.1 Media Attention The series of attacks have triggered a search for explanations on the phenomenon of rising gang violence. Society seeked to explain the nature of fights, whether it is random or due to revenge, and the structure of gangs, now observed as loose associations different from tradition secret societies. Following Downtown East incident, many reports talked about youth gangs- how staring incidents can lead to violent fights, why youths joined these gangs. News reports of ensuing cases tend to remind readers about the significant attack at Downtown East and Bukit Panjang that inadvertently create concerns over gang-related violence in Singapore. There were also follow-up reports to keep public updated on who has been arrested and charged. Reports of being arrested were frequent to remind the society of the strict laws and the consequences of such acts. 40 suspected gang members were arrested in blitz carried out by police officers (Yong, 2010). Although there were no details mentioned, the report came with comments by Minister of Home Affairs, K. Shanmugam, to assure the public tough acts were taken to tackle youth gangs. Comments by public figures like Minister of MCYS also bring public attention to at-risk youths on the importance of increase community initiatives to prevent them from gang associations. Beyond print media, interactive news media seems to play a role in public discourse over the slashing incidents. According to Straits Times on 6th and 4th November 2010, online articles related to the incidents were most read and commented on. News of Bukit Panjang slashing received overwhelming amount of comments from members in ST forum and STOMP and Asiaone News (STOMP: Singapore Seen, 2010;, The Sraits Times Discussion Board, 2011; Asiaone News, 2010). While many comments were neither constructive nor substantial, they do reflect publics concern over gang violence and more importantly, question the safety and security of Singapore society. Again, comments are a way of making sense of the incidences: they were many questions of what is happening in society and the youths and whether there is a come-back of gangs. News and visuals in interactive media allow netizens to fuel speculations and fear over these incidences. 5.2 Legislation: Tackling Gangs In the wake of perceived insecurity at Downtown East, police patrols were stepped up. Zero-tolerance policy was affirmed, as showed in reports where teenagers carrying offensive weapons were arrested and suspected of involvement in gang activities (Straits Times, 2010). In a parliamentary debate, Home Affairs Minister K. Shanmugam stated that 93 gang members were arrested since end October 2010. He also stated the possibily of giving police additional power to prevent gang formations which include getting youths to observe curfew hours or to attend intervention programmes (Parliament of Singapore, 2011). There was also a suggestion of considering regulating the sale of knives (Parliament of Singapore, 2011). Youth crime was one of the three crime types identified by the police this year (Singapore Police Force, 2011). This is despite a decrease in total number of rioting cases last year. Police efforts of combating youth crime which include working with schools in identifying youths at risk and the StreetWise Programme- that aims to divert youths away from involvement in crime- have been re-emphasized. Such focus can be seen as a way to assure public that something is done to contain the problem of street gangs. It is clear that the series of incidents heightened the fears over youth violence. Before 2010, reports of such slashing incidents were rare.(keywords youth violence and gang violence produced mainly stories from US about American street gangs in Factiva search builder when sources are limited to Straits Times and New Paper.) And because there were little reports, there were little discussions in online forums about gang violence. In list of parliamentary reports from 2006, youth violence only came into attention recently after the incidents. Minister of Home Affairs have emphasised that the crime rates have continually decreased over the years and there is no increase of gang violence lately in Singapore (Parliament of Singapore, 2011). Henceforth, one can conclude that the attention given by the public on slashing and gang violence are a product of a moral panic constructed by the various media portrayals of the incident. 6. The Media Politics of Youth Violence in Singapore Therefore, by concluding that the public concerns on slashing and gang violence are formed as a result of moral panic, we can also conclude that the media plays a pivotal role in the construction of moral panic. The media has universally being respected as one of the major actors of disseminating information over the years. Therefore, the media has been trusted to convey the information to the public, operating as moral entrepreneurs informing the readers the goods and bads of society (Cohen, 1972). This influence has made almost every fact conveyed in the media being perceived as the truth, and when the moral value conveyed in the media intercepts with the societal value that needs to be protected, even the minor happenings in society will generate concerns and instigate fear that some measures should be taken. Thus, the media has used this authority by providing news that instigates fear to the public and arouses concerns about the slashing issue. The frequent follow-ups of the Pasir Ris slashing incident are continuous in nature whereby it tracks down from the initial crime down to the news coverage of the murdered teens funeral and the eventual revelation that he is part of the gang. This surge of news reports are aimed to cause panic and fear of the crimes, and also warns the public about the dangers of gang involvement-as seen from the reports that Darren is part of gang- and the consequences of engaging in such acts. This has instigated fear to the public whereby concerns were directed to the safety of the neighborhood, and parents not allowing their children to return home late at night since the incident happen. The incident in Bukit Panjang has encouraged more residents to take part in the Citizens on Patrol (COP) programme formed by the Zhenghua division in Bukit Panjang, in order to beef up security in the area. (Ismail, 2010) In addition to that, the interest groups, the state as well as the grassroots have used the media as a social control agent to express their concerns towards the conditions of the society. These moral entrepreneurs reach the public through the media such that the news will generate some concerns from the public and get their support in controlling the crime before it goes off-hand. The media amplified the situation by describing the criminals as young, in their teenage years and living in subcultural environment of gang violence (Wong,2010). These facts have amplified the publics response towards the crime when Teen Challenge, a voluntary welfare organization received 20 percent more calls from parents since the slashing cases. The grassroots leaders are working with schools in order to control the issue of gang violence. This is to allow the youths to feel that they are part of the community, and they will feel how important it is to feel accepted by the society. There is therefore, a profound influence of the media as a social control by reporting deviance in a moral provoking manner. 7. Criticism of Moral Panic The moral panic concept has its own criticisms. The problem lies with the proportionality between the cases reported in the media and the reality. The medias role as the medium of disseminating information is regulated by the higher political and commercial forces, The news were received by citizens at second hand which means that is has been manipulated (cohen,1972).Therefore, the citizens panic might not be justified since the reality of the case is not known. The issue reported by the media might not carry the same severity as the reality. As most of the time, the media is amplifying the slashing cases in order to instigate fear and gain concern from the public. However, in actual reality, statistics provided by the home affair ministry have shown that crime cases, which include the case of gang violence, have been decreasing (Parliament of Singapore, 2011). It is only when the citizens panic has reached its point (which means that the government has received enough support and concern from the citizens), will then the reality of the case is revealed and the public will then realize that the case that they have been panicky about was an isolated one. On example of this is the Downtown east incident, whereby Pasir Ris MP Dr Ahmad Magad said that the case is an isolated one, and the neighborhood is peaceful. This was stated after receiving feedbacks from worried parents about the safety of their children and security around the neighborhood has already beefed up by the citizen as well as police patrols (Toh, Tee, 2010). This has shown the proportionality between the case reported on media, and the reality, and the citizens agenda of using the media to exaggerate the case only to gain support and concern from the public. Another point is that the publics reaction towards the issue might not be directly due to panic generated from the media reports, those reaction might be one of the societys concern towards the issue and they would like to help the state take control of the problem before it becomes worse. This is also evident from the states intervention of the matter, describing the re-examining the sentencing options as allowing an early intervention , in order to help the gangs who are yet to commit criminal offences (Ismail,2010). This implies that the situation is not as serious as it seems to be, and the state is only exercising measures to control the spread of youth violence by controlling its growth before it is too late. In addition to that, the media labeling of the criminals highly deviant and depiction of the gangs as a danger to the not only serves as a self-fulfilling prophecy to the deviants and induce them into committing more offences in the future. Thus, the moral panic not only causes the heightened attention by the public, but also exerts the identity to the gangs that they should be feared. They gain their self-defined meaning of success through displaying their masculinities and these hateful reports are only making these gangs to pursue their goals (Mcrobbie, Thornton, 1995). On example is the follow-up of slashing cases since the downtown east incident, one of which is the Bukit Panjang slashing incident involving 6 youths. It was featured in the Straits Times entitled beware the rise of copycat gangs as well as discussion forums such as Stomp and Straits Times, sparking interests that the case in Bukit Panjang might be a sequel of copycat gang-related attacks to the one in Downtown Ea st. This shows that the moral panic caused by the media did not really help to engage the community and help to eradicate the crime but rather helped the criminals in engaging with more acts as labeling them as gangsters will just reassert their identity and make them continue with their criminal behaviors. However, the media is still regarded as the most reliable medium to get current news reports and therefore its credibility rarely goes unchallenged. The frequent follow-ups by the media, portraying the numerous pictures of the crime scene viewable on the television brings these cases close to reality, with the pictures of the victim that could engage the viewers into believing that something needs to be done with these criminals.(Estrada,2001) 8. Conclusion The case of youth slashing incidents in Singapore has illustrated to us how the media induces moral panic in a society. The concept of moral panic further to explore the profound influence of media as an instuitution of social control through amplifying deviance. Attention is given to the ideological role of media and the construction of meanings. This paper also suggests that moral panic is superficially created by incessant reporting of youth slashing incidents rather than a significant spike in crime rates. In other words, this paper argues that rather than an increase in crime rates involving youths, there was an increase in visibility of such criminals act through exposures from mass media.

Technology & Business Essay -- essays research papers

Preliminary draft of Q1: The Internet has opened up a range of new marketing opportunities for the commerce world. A wide range of advertisement options are available: Banner ads Text ads Popups Targeted ads The last is of particular interest because it can provide advertisements targeted at the location of the user (country, town etc). Take this example: Your business has a small advertising budget and you want to do some Internet advertising. Every click your ad gets, that costs you money. Say you only operate in Masterton, do you want people from Auckland or USA to see your ads and click on them, hence costing you money? Internet advertising is much cheaper than TV marketing. The bid for a 30 second advertising slot in the Superbowl went for a record 2.4 million dollars. Most Internet Advertising agents do not charge you for the amount of times your ad is viewed, but by the amount of people who click on it, this makes it much cheaper than TV advertising. Google Adsense program uses an advanced computer program to analyze the content of the page and deliver ads relevant to the page content. For example: Your looking at a page reviewing books, the targeted ads will show bookstores in your area. http://www.gaebler.com/Television-Advertising-Costs.htm https://adwords.google.com/select/main?cmd=Login&sourceid=AWO&subid=US-ET-ADS&hl=en_US https://www.google.com/adsense/?sourceid=aso&subid=ww-et-awhomegap&hl=en_US Preliminary draft of Q2: Since the...

On the amtrak from Boston to New York City Essay

The situation of the poem is described in the title â€Å"On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City,† was about a white woman and a person with a Native American background who were on a train together. What was being taken place when the speaker is meditating about the â€Å"white† woman they were having a conversations with other passengers, including an older white woman about the brief history of the city as they pass landmarks of the Native American Culture. The subject of the conversation had to do with the frustration the man had with the woman being ignorant about what land was taken away from him and his ancestors. He had brought her orange juice because it was stated right after in the next sentence he respects all elders it could have been out of kindness. That shows that the character is being bigger than himself he himself knows that being rude to this woman will now solve anything. The idea of Don Henley really made Alexie mad do to the fact that Native Americans inhabited the lands long before anyone else. Throughout the poem Alexie continues to talk to himself and use profanity whenever the white women would bring up the â€Å"white† men. For instance, when the woman asks him about Walden Pond. He says, â€Å"‘I don’t give a shit about Walden. I know the Indians were living stories around that pond before Walden’s grandparents were born†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Using profanity here represents Alexie’s outrage at the woman’s ignorance. He continues: â€Å"I’m tired of hearing about Don-fucking-Henley saving it, too†¦ If Don Henley’s family hadn’t come here in the first place then nothing would need to be saved.† Again, the use of profanity shows Alexie’s anger as a Native American whose family had been pushed out of their land. The perspective the speaker makes his judgment about the historicity and values of Thoreau’s Pond from first person from his perspective. The speakers opinion of what he thinks of the â€Å"white† history is that his peoples stories and land were taken away from them they were over powered by the white man and were not able to continue there history. Along with what they had created historically the white man would take credit for it. The poem â€Å"On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City,† by Sherman Alexie was about a white woman and a person with a Native American background who were on a train together. This is an interesting poem, because it provides a new outlook on our country as it is today, from a Native American. Alexie appears to wish other races would leave his country. He refers to all other races as, â€Å"the enemy† and believes his biggest challenge every day is simply dealing with â€Å"the enemy.† Due to all that happened to the Native Americans in the past Alexie believes his people were treated harshly, which I agree with. â€Å"Blue Winds Dancing† The story tells of a young Native American’s struggle with growing up in America. The struggle of the character exists because of the ancient Indian thought conflicting with our American expectations. The attitudes the speakers expresses are frustration or anger and how they both wish they could have there home back but it was taken away by the â€Å"whites.† For blue winds dancing the internal monologues as the narrator searches for his identity and copes with society, respectively. As for â€Å"On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City† the internal monlogues is expressed through frutration from the whites taking away land.

Mp3s a new age problem essays

Mp3s a new age problem essays Music is beautiful, and the artists who create it are greatly appreciated. Music lets you escape reality or get you in touch with reality. Most people can relate to a lot of songs, the reason for this is because the artists who write the songs are in some way or another, just like you and me. In the last two years MP3s have become very popular over the Internet and on computers. The new fad deals with sharing MP3 files with other users by downloading the songs from their computer to yours. Is sharing songs between numerous users over the Internet a good or bad concept? Is it illegal and can you get into some legal trouble for doing this? MP3 is short for Moving Picture Experts Group, Audio Layer III, and is a compression format that shrinks audio files with only a small sacrifice in sound quality. MP3 files can be compressed at different rates, but the more they are scrunched, the worse the sound quality. So are they good or are they bad? Good of course! Well it depends on what you use your MP3 files for. If you use them on your own hard drive, for your own personal use and not on any other servers, then youre not a distributor. As long as you keep your MP3s in the privacy of your own hard drive and not on the web, its okay, because youre relatively harmless. You get to download a song and make up your own play lists of songs that you enjoy, without having to go out and spend your money on a CD that you might not end up liking. In most cases, after you heard the songs on your computer and find a band that youre musically interested in, youll buy that CD. One of the reasons that MP3s are so popular is because the y come with so much convenience. Most people would rather download a song then run out to the nearest CD retailer to buy one. Why are MP3s bad? The view of the recording industries is that MP3s are threat to their very ways of life. (Anonymo...