Broken Windows Theory Essay Example for Free

Broken Windows Theory Essay The â€Å"broken windows† theory as explained in the article; which holds that physical detoriation and an increase in unrepaired buildings leads to increased concerns for personal safety of residents and a rise in the crime rates, is an applicable theory for the conditions in the inner cities. I believe it also can apply to the current conditions in some suburban areas that are degrading, such as the local town of Norristown where I grew up. Norristown up until the 1960’s and the rise in drug use, was peaceful little mini-city in the suburbs of Philadelphia. Growing up in Norristown, my father would tell me stories of neighbors taking care of neighbors during tough economic times, and even fearing getting in trouble because everyone in the neighborhood would hit him before he got home to his father. The area hangouts were always clean and peaceful, and the houses were up kept. There still was crime, but it wasn’t always violent or prevalent. That all changed in his estimation by the late 1960’s. The drug culture entered into the area, and houses started to become run-down due to numerous squatters living 10-15 at the time in them. Area hangouts became dangerous, and he said they would have to literally fight other groups to be allowed to use the basketball courts. Violent crimes with weapons rose, and so did murder. During the 1970’s and the 1980’s, older residents began moving out in droves despite the Council’s attempts to institute tougher crime-fighting tactics. By the turn of the 2000’s, many neighborhoods looked rundown and were dangerous. I was born in Norristown in 1986 and lived there until my parents were able to move out in 1998. Drugs were rampant, crime was bad, and my mother never let me leave the house without someone older and trustworthy escorting me. If you took the time walking down in the neighborhoods, which we did a lot to get to school, you noticed many of the things mentioned in the â€Å"broken windows† theory breakdown. Many houses had broken windows, graffiti, and were the hangouts for drug users. Squatters were as prevalent as they were in the late 1960’s, with anywhere between 10-20 adults of all kinds of races living in the houses and dealing drugs. The police couldn’t do anything without getting shot. A lot of officers were harmed, and the drug operations to try and stop the flow of drugs from Philadelphia and Camden, NJ were hardly successful. I personally saw two of my cousins fall trapped to both sides of this dichotomy, one became a narcotics officer who was forced into retirement due to being shot in the back by a drug dealer, and another cousin is spending the next 25 years in prison for drug trafficking and the sale of cocaine. Gangs and drug dealers began coming from Philadelphia to establish â€Å"satellite† branches of their operations. People began putting bars on their window s due to the break-ins, community events kept getting cancelled, and the sound of gunshots became normal. By late 2004, the Council in Norristown decided to take action. Rundown houses were boarded up and condemned. Cops were brought in from outside jurisdictions to train the Norristown police on how to run better undercover drug sting operations. Crime was reduced, but murders were still high. The Council also sought out one thing they didn’t before, outside investment by companies to revitalize sections of the town. With these steps, Norristown has begun to improve, and so has the feelings of safety for the local populace. However, Norristown has decades of decay to combat, which will take time. If only they had looked at the â€Å"broken windows† theory they could have fixed this years ago.

His Odyssey to Chat :: Argumentative Persuasive Communication Essays

His Odyssey to Chat From the readings in Constructive Identity in the Computer Age, there are many authors with different views and claims about the Internet, such as Sherry Turkle who wrote an article called "Identity in the Age of the Internet: Living in the Mud," about how we should have hidden identities online to hide behind. Even Dale Spender had a few great points in her essay "Gender Bending," about gender-neutral names enabling us to speak freely on the net so that we are not judged for being a man or a woman. The author that struck me most was Jesse Kornbluth. He is the author of the essay, "(you make me feel like) A Virtual Woman." Kornbluth claims that he cannot have a meaningful conversation online because people are playing word games of either sexual content, or defending themselves against that sort of communication. And how people speak like they are online addicts. "(you make me feel like) A Virtual Woman," expresses Kornbluth's thoughts about communication. In the beginning of his essay, Kornbluth apologizes to any women readers who may have been offended by his portrayal of a woman character on the Net. Then he goes on telling his readers why he faked as a woman on the Net. Kornbluth's main goal was to experiment with genders online. In the beginning of his venture through cyber communication, he is first approached by "online addicts." These are people on the Net who like to express themselves using expressions such as LOL (laugh out loud) and {{{{LOLA}}}} to signify a warm greeting. These type of conversations only bored Kornbluth. So, he moved on to the next chat room, the member rooms. Yet, the people in this room only had one idea on their mind, "The women, in the main, come to talk; the men, in the main, talk to come." (Kornbluth 77). Next he tried the male rooms, although, Kornbluth knew that the male rooms were usually only for gay me n. Kornbluth feels that if he were to actually stay and converse in the men's chat he wouldn't have the chance to talk to men like himself, "quick thinking, sharp tongued, straight men." His last chance was the "women 4 women" chat room. He figured that he couldn't just enter as a man because he would be kicked out and be forced to hang out in one of the main chats.

Zombie Essay for Anthropology

The first article is a medical study of the Haitian Zombie which is the culture that originated the concept of the walking dead. Basically the African slaves worshiped numerous Gods and the Spanish Catholic Priests attempted to impose the European Christianity on the slaves in the Caribbean. Voodoo was hidden in the Catholic religion for centuries. Voodoo believes in being in tune with your environment. If you are Ill there are two possibilities. One Is you are out of whack with nature and a Voodoo priest or priestess can get you back In harmony. Two Is someone Is attacking you magically.Then you hire a Voodoo priest or priestess to stop the attacks. In Halt here are over 1,000 listed Zombie possessions a year. For a poor society with few medical doctors the Voodoo priest also acts as doctor to the sick. So where do Zombies enter into this equation. Some Voodoo practitioners are aligned with the dark side. They produce a neurotic that kills you; then after a week or so a person comes back to life of a sort. The reanimated person has very limited mental functions and basically becomes a servant to someone being capable of menial tasks.In Haiti there are approximately 1000 charges of relatives becoming zombies registered with the police. In 1997 there was a medical study in the Lancet journal concerning three people that were Identified as zombies after they had passed away. Their relatives insisted these two women and a man were family members who had died years before. The two doctors did full medical examinations Including Eggs and CT brain scans. Two of the three were Identified as cases of mistaken identity by finger prints and DNA testing. The three individuals were found to not be zombies but people with medical problems.One was catatonic schizophrenia, one was found to have serious brain damage due to epilepsy and the hire was probably related to fetal alcohol poisoning. (Foot note to a medical study of the Haitian zombie). The first pictures of a Zombie were taken by Zorn Neal Hurst in her 1938 book Voodoo Gods. The neurotic was identified by Anthropologist Wade Davis as a neurotic found in puffer fish. Other powders that were identified had several different substances In them Including puffer fish toxin and toxins from various tree frogs.Over time the compliant Zombie concept has evolved Into one where the ravenous zombie who has a taste for brains, welcome to Hollywood or Holly weird. Zombies eave Joined the fascination with various other undead characters like mummies, skeletons, ghouls, and vampires (footnote to the American Fascination article). Breaks. Some like the Resident Evil series are science experiments gone wrong, and with each new movie the Zombies have new attributes to make them scarier. They are bigger or stronger or smarter.Then World War Z has the dreaded fast zombie which means there is no escape. We all have seen the tee shirt . The movie Firefly puts Zombies in Outer Space in the future. The basis for all th ese were governments doing hidden experimentations that got away from the guards. Who isn't scared of a government who wants to control their constituents? Also another new factor is the Zombie who can organize and their primary purpose is to remove humans from existence, such as in the Will Smith movie I Am Legend.So society breaks down and the army is not there to save you, it is very much a run and hide universe; where you have to save yourself. The television show The Walking Dead shows how Americans love to be scared while at the same time want a chance to escape or fight the opponents. But Combinable shows that the Zombie apocalypse movie can also have a sense of humor. But the primary reason for Zombie movies is worldwide people like to be scared, and generally by something they know realistically really cannot exist.So you can be scared but have no real problem with sleepless nights. So what are the two scariest things about zombie evolution? The fast Zombies climbing over t he Jerusalem walls in World War Z, and animals becoming Zombies like those Doberman Pincher's in I Am Legend. Speed kills and then animals can also become Zombies. So from my anthropological perspective I see the Undead are evolving, at least in Hollywood. I wonder what Darwin would think of Zombies. I chose this Blob because I enjoy Zombie movies though I am not really interested in being part of the Zombie apocalypse.You run out of food, gas, ammunition, and toilet paper none of which seems like a lot of fun to me. Also it is interesting to me that studying Zombies is a subject that anthropologists have been interested in for close to 100 years. At some colleges you can take a class (foot note to that sheet on Anthropology 3313 about Zombies). But something to remember is how much a small, very poor country like Haiti is responsible with having a lot of influence on the US movie industry. Which has spread over the globe.

Impersonal Statements in Spanish Subjunctive Mood

Impersonal expressions of the type es adjective que are almost always followed by a verb in the subjunctive mood. This is because such expressions usually indicate either a value judgment or a desire. Some Examples Es importante que estemos en la misma pà ¡gina. It is important that we be on the same page.Es sorprendente que nadie haya ido a la cà ¡rcel. Its surprising no one has gone to jail.No es bueno que el hombre està © sà ³lo. It is not good for the man to be alone.Es posible que algunos sitios web no se muestren o funcionen correctamente en ese navegador. Its possible that some websites dont display or function properly in that browser.Es necesario que cierren las escuelas. Its necessary for them to close the schools.Es prohibido que la familia anfitriona aloje otros estudiantes. The host family is prohibited from lodging other students.Es interesante que el equipo gane. Its interesting that the team is winning.Es natural que yo està © enamorado de ti. Its natural that Im in love with you. As you might expect, the same holds true in other tenses: Era urgente que llegara a la ciudad. It was urgent for him to arrive at the city.Serà ¡ preciso que vayas a Buenos Aires. It will be necessary for you to go to Buenos Aires. Impersonal verbs with similar meanings and followed by que also are followed by a verb in the subjunctive: No me interesa que el equipo gane. It doesnt interest me that the team is winning.Importa que la familia reciba el dinero. It is important that the family receives the money. The main exception to using the subjunctive after expressions of the type es adjective que occurs when the impersonal expression explicitly states that what follows is factual: Es obvio que estoy preocupado. Its obvious Im worried.Es cierto que la familia està ¡ en crisis. It is certain that the family is in crisis.