Tag Archive for: dept-none-3

Place has different definitions, not everyone can define place as one specific location. Some people may see place as a specific location, others may see place as their surroundings. Personally I believe place doesn’t just include your location but your surroundings, the people you’re with are a big part of my definition of place. Since I never really thought of location as something that was relevant to who I was, being able to learn GIS has been interesting to see how so many people use GIS for just about anything. After seeing the movie Crash in class it really gave me insight on how place can be used as an excuse for their actions and in the movie most of the characters blame their neighborhoods for how they are. Their excuse was that because of the place they lived they had to change to be stronger. Specifically Anthony and Peter, they were two men who thought that because they were black and the place where they came from they were judged and cast aside. Since they were angry for being discriminated on they choose to be criminals, and ruined their own lives. What was worst was that they didn’t take any responsibilities for their actions and instead blamed the place they came from and everyone else for their problems. Instead they should’ve realized that their problems weren’t an outcome of where they lived but of their surroundings and the people they associated with, because in the end if their mind was in the right place they could’ve accomplished so many things.

I realized that so many people believe the same thing because I hear people say that if they lived somewhere else things would be different. It’s sad to think that people truly believe that place defines them.

The only time I define place as a location is when looking at data or factual information. Place defined as location has no deeper meaning other than a specific location. When thinking of location I usually think of the surroundings, meaning the environment. Geography means gathering information about the environment and about human society. A geographic information system or geographical information system (GIS) is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographical data. GIS can be used to do all types of research, but since I want to be a Pediatrician one of the things I could use GIS is to map out the places that need more medical aid. Another thing I could use GIS is to determine places that have more diseases and have children with low immunity.

While looking for information about biology and GIS I came upon two specific articles, containing information about medical aid. Health care facilities at any region can be divided into two main types that are known as primary health centers and hospitals. The former provides basic health care services and the latter provides services for specific health treatment. Health authorities have always aimed to provide health care for all residents by using a fair access policy that provides the right service at the right time in the right place. There are several issues that make it difficult for it to be successful. One of these issues is related to the relationship between distance to health services and the need for health care. The use of health services influenced also by other factors including financial status, time constrains, social inconveniences and the journey to the health services. In order to explore these issues, Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are used by health planners in several studies. These studies have concluded that GIS is a useful technology for analyzing and manipulating health data. The first article is information on how many good quality healthcare there is in low income urban neighborhoods in Columbus, Ohio.  As opposed to most of the high quality clinics that are expensive and are conveniently placed near the wealthier neighborhoods.  According to the article many residents bypass local low quality health clinics. This takes a huge effect on healthcare accessibility and because of the low quality so many people prefer to treat themselves than go with a professional medic. Low income neighborhoods seem to struggle with so many health issues. A specific solution to this issue is locating low cost but high quality health clinics. Of course not many people would agree since sadly a good part of our society are money based human beings and would immediately deny this particular solution because of how it would impact the economy. Helping neighborhoods with low quality health clinics could really help our society in general. What’s ironic is that people fail to understand that most viruses are contagious and eventually if not cured will continue to spread and infect others. Technically, if certain places can’t control viruses then eventually the virus will spread and it will cause a bigger impact on the economy. Which is why it’s more beneficial for everyone to have good quality clinics at a low cost so that low income neighborhoods can have assured access to treatment.

The second article was about mapping cancer and doing research into possible causes of cancer and how it can be prevented. Its high mortality rate, the disabilities it leaves behind and the high cost of medication are the causes of heavy loss in national economy and labor. Cancer maps can provide important clues concerning geographic variability in the incidence, mortality, or treatment of cancer. By using GIS it can work by linking data to maps, via a geographical or spatial link. This spatial link could consist of a point that could be on a map, derived by linking a patient postcode to a grid reference. Alternatively, the spatial link could be a summary of data, aggregated to a geographical area, such as a census or electoral ward. Summary data for each ward can then be linked to the appropriate ward on a map. The tremendous potential of GIS to benefit the health care industry is just now beginning to be realized. Both public and private sectors are developing innovative ways to harness the data integration and spatial visualization power of GIS. Not only can GIS work to map out cancer but also it can be used to map the chances of sick children in specific locations and it would simplify the detection of which location is has the highest probability to have sick children. With this information Pediatricians can be assigned to help children be healthier and more health clinics could be built in these locations to overall help the society.

Overall, there are so many other ways that GIS can be a helpful tool when trying to tie my career path with place. Even though I believe place isn’t relevant to who you are as a person place still matters and is important not only for my discipline but for others as well. Maybe if the opportunity presents itself and I’m able to make a difference and help children I might make my own project into helping children and using GIS will help me choose which place needs the most help and I’ll go there and make a difference.

Works Cited

Elebead, F. M. “Mapping Cancer Disease Using Geographical Information System (GIS) in.” Gezira State-Sudan. 08 Jan. 2012. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.

Murad, Abdulkader A. “Creating a GIS Application for Health Services at Jeddah City.” ScienceDirect. 2006. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.

Where one lives could have vast effects on a person. Elderly, adults, children, and even infants could pick up a particular trait based off of where the person lives. Often times these traits could be behavioral, physical or even both weather it be good or bad these traits to become abundant or clear. For example, where I live really did mark “its territory” on me. I lives in the city of Lawndale where its less than five minutes away from the beach and there is always noise going up and down the streets so typically there is the sound of the city all around. Living here in Camarillo I realized that I couldn’t sleep with complete silence in the middle of the night I need the sound of cars passing by or people laughing out side even just the noise of someone just walking by. Then there is the trait of the beach before moving here I typically thought that I could go without the beach because it was not a necessity to me. However- recently I discovered that I find comfort in the beach it just brings back memories of home and family. Verbally living in Los Angeles I picked up the trait of calling a freeway by saying “the ___”. I had realized that this is a trait the varies from county to county and it doesn’t always rub off on people yet I realize others say the name of the actual freeway by saying “California 1 freeway.” When discovering this I was completely applauded because not everyone specifically kept the names of the freeways short and simple. With an even bigger picture as a Californian I’ve come to discover that yes- Californians do have an accent. We as Californians have to enunciate every vowel. This accent seems ridiculous but it is surprising for one to see that a Californian could speak differently from people in other states. My personal sense of place has had gone up and down through the years. There are small objects, smells, and even phrases that take me to back home. I have said it once and will say it again the city I live in really does rub its traits off onto me and I do see them when speaking about my home.

With continuing on through university 298 research and investigations, I have recently discovered a way that Geographic information Systems (gis) applies to my major. Using past research findings through GIS I began to narrow down the various topics to one that appeals to myself. Going from a broad subject such as Biology, narrowing it down to Biology including GIS narrowed sown the search to about a third of my findings, while discovering the different topics on how they apply I narrowed it down to obesity within cities to how much a city is providing and encouraging the people living within it to be active. In the articles I have looked at the research is narrowed down to about one or two counties at most and analyzed to see how often one is active or makes use of public recreation, physical activity and even available food resources. Using the Geographic Information Systems available I would be able to further my investigations to a further degree of GIS by narrowing down from county to specific cities. Through the articles I have selected I am able to break down the obesity rates and how there opportunities are for city by age , race and gender.

Works Cited

Patterns of Walkability, Transit, and Recreation Environment for Physical Activity. Marc Adams – Michael Todd – Jonathan Kurka – Terry Conway – Kelli Cain – Lawrence Frank – James Sallis – American Journal of Preventive Medicine – 2015

Saelens, Brian E., James F. Sallis, Lawrence D. Frank, Sarah C. Couch, Chuan Zhou, Trina Colburn, Kelli L. Cain, James Chapman, and Karen Glanz. “Obesogenic Neighborhood Environments, Child and Parent Obesity.” American Journal of Preventive Medicine 42.5 (2012). Web.

Reading like a writer is being able to analyze the text and find out why the author wrote the way they did. Being able to depict what decisions they made in order for the text to come across in such manner. The one main thing that should be established in the beginning of the text is who the intended audience and what is the purpose of the piece.

I chose to write about a short story written by Corbitt Nesta titled ” Responsibility and Corruption on Elm Avenue.”  This is a story about an elderly white woman in her 80’s befriending a black 17 year old boy in high school whose intial quest was to teach her how to send emails. Like most situations it wasn’t just that it was about friendship and inevitably what happens to often in society.

Just from the beginning of the story, I was able to make the assumption that piece would address the issues on race. Secondly, I had to figure out who the audience was, based on the information that was given and how it was given I would say this short story is intended for an educational purpose.  Lastly what you need to ask yourself is why did the author decide to write this, was it because she wanted to bring light to friendship, the struggle of black youth in society, or to live out the old lady’s story.

It is now once you have an answer to these question that you can begin to understand why Corbitt Nesta constructed the story the way she did. She began by introducing the situation in why Helen the elder lady would need Arsenius the boys help; to be able to send emails. Then how their friendship developed; her need with computers and his love of her ’57 chevy. It is then that Nesta began to explore the friendship they developed and how Helen began to care about what happened to Arsenius. It was then that story began to develop fully and when it takes a drastic turn. It is now that the author decided to show that not everything works out. The story continues by explaining how Helen and the Arsenius get into an argument because she feels that he is beginning to make the wrong decision by who he is associating with. It in now that the story takes a turn for the worst. With the next part the author decided to leave the ending to your own interpretation. What happen next after their argument is that they no longer spoke; but a day after the words “racist bitch” had been written across her garage. Then Helen was informed a week later that Arsenius had been in a fight and was badly injured. She was the only one who had been the hospital when he passed away a day after.  It is now that Corbitt Nesta left you to decide what is that happened.  I will share my opinion but it’s what I believe to happen. Was is that the crowd that Arsenius was hanging out with got upset about the argument he had gotten in and wrote those things. Then that Arsenius got into the fight to defend Helen from his associates.

Based on the story you can see why the author decided to write it the way she did and the purpose for it. It’s only after closely reading and understanding the concept of the story do you realize who it is intended for and what the purpose behind it was.  Learning to read like a writer is learning to analyze the concept behind the story and build from it in your own writing.

Throughout the course so far, I have developed a much greater understanding of how place can impact people and how place matters. I still believe that where people come from is not a tell-all of who they will become in their future life, but rather, place gives people a jumping off point from which they can grow and become their own person. In this regard, while place does give influence, I would not say that it is the primary variable that matters. Having said that, I am now much more able to comprehend how place can impact us in different ways.

Place can play a great role in culture and worldview. I found that, when we were sharing where we came from as a class, that some people have a personality that bodes well with the neighborhood that they came from. Similarly, with Rosalba’s activity regarding the prices and sizes of housing in Oxnard, it is easy to see how even within a relatively small area there can be a great deal of variation in the community demographics. One house was located in La Colonia, which is historically Latino/a ethnicially, while the other was only a short distance away in a much wealthier beach neighborhood of Oxnard. It used to be difficult for me to think of such great variety in place on such a small small scale, believing that cities were mostly homogenous in their ethnic and financial demographics. This was also shown in our work with the Social Explorer system in how between census tracts that are immediately adjacent to one another there can be variance in the percentage of low income families or of ethnic diversity.

We have also discussed how place can influence health, which does fall into my area of study. In the video comparing the neighborhoods of High Point and Richmond, we could see a great deal of difference by the time High Point was renovated. High Point incorporated sidewalks and community gardens, as well as parks, all of which promote healthy living and safety in the community. Richmond, however, is a food desert. Its residents do not have access to grocery stores that supply healthy and fresh food; in turn, they wind up consuming primarily fast food or other snack foods from convenience and liquor stores. The limited amount of fresh food that they do have access to is often out of their price range due to the “poverty tax” that puts a premium on these goods. This is the sort of thing that, because of where I grew up, I never had to worry about, since the closest grocery store was never any further than a mile away.

The first article that I chose to analyze focuses less on treating place as a cause, and instead treats place as a result of other socio-demographic factors. The article examines place of death across Switzerland, particularly in regards to whether the elderly move to a nursing home prior to time of death or whether they die at home. Some of the factors contributing to home deaths were socio-economic position (SEP) and number of children, as it was predicted that those with a higher SEP were more likely to be in better general health and thus not be admitted to hospitals or nursing homes, and those with children had more family members to take care of them and did not require as much attention from a nursing staff (Hedinger et. al 7-8). I found this article interesting primarily in its treatment of place as the dependent rather than independent variable, which parallels my individual perspective on the relationship between people and place. In regards to my discipline, since I plan on working with the elder population, gaining knowledge of the reasons older individuals seek care in a nursing home or hospital is extremely significant to my field of study.

My second article of choice examines the relationship between place of residence and stroke hospitalization and death, particularly across the state of Florida. The team used ArcGIS software in order to link the data regarding mortality and hospitalization rates to the individual county geographic data that they received from the US Census Bureau (Robertson et. al 3). In their results, it was found that while there was no significant evidence of risk of hospitalization for stroke based on place, there was a much greater risk of stroke mortality in the northern part of the state. Based on the demographics for this region, there is a possibility that the cause of the greater mortality rate lies in the fact that northern Florida is much more rural than southern Florida. Part of the issue could be lack of timely emergency care in these areas (Robertson et. al 7-8). This study particularly increased my confidence in the idea that within my discipline it is possible to study spatial discrepancies between less populated areas and their overall access to proper health care and facilities.

Throughout our time in University 298, I have found that location can extraordinarily crucial in the examination of health care, whether it be because of an environmental factor affecting the quality of life of residents in a particular city, or whether it be because of lack of access to basic necessities for healthy living such as fresh food or hospitals. I am now confident in my abilities to apply what we have been practicing in class with the Social Explorer data, as well the techniques that I have been learning in my Social Statistics course in order to produce an individual research project to present at SAGE this May.

Works Cited

Hedinger, Damian, Julia Braun, Ueli Zellweger, Vladimir Kaplan, and Matthias Bopp. “Moving to and Dying in a Nursing Home Depends Not Only on Health- An Analysis of Socio-Demographic Determinants of Place of Death in Switzerland.” PLoS ONE 9.11 (2014). Web.

Roberson, Shamarial, Matthew Dutton, Megan Macdonald, and Agricola Odoi. “Does Place of Residence or Time of Year Affect the Risk of Stroke Hospitalization and Death? A Descriptive Spatial and Temporal Epidemiologic Study.” PLoS ONE 11.1 (2016). Web.

Place, what an obscure topic such a simple word can be. The technical definition of place is any particular point or position in space, but place can be anything someone makes it out to be. Just like “home is where year heart is” place can follow in the same footsteps. With a definition as vague as place it is no wonder why it cannot be quantified to its’ full extent, because where would a person begin to start? Well for the sake of this argument and for this essay, place will be defined as the specific area, city, state, and in greater terms the country in which a particular test and or study is being conducted. Now place actually matters a great deal in any specific situation, in blatant terms knowing ones specific place can be the difference between being alive or dead. Luckily for us college students, we do not have to be faced with such a dramatic decision, and the only place we need to be concerned about is the place within our own disciplines.

Although us college kids enjoy pressing our luck most of the time and explore “sketchy” places because we have that invincible mentality that comes with young adult hood. Those atmospheres in which we judge whether a police officer will come or not are not the sole reason why place is a concern of ours. Place has always been brought to us on an open platter we just never fully taken the time to ask ourselves why is it there and how it is important. As we were growing up every adult one time or another would always ask “what do you want to do with your life” and we for the most part never knew how to answer their questions. At the time we were unable to answer their questions because we did not fully know how to attack it. Well what we didn’t know or failed to realize was they were really asking us which metaphoric “place” in our lives do we want to reach. Now when I mean metaphoric place I do not mean the actual place we are in the point of time. What I actually mean is the destination at the end of our lives that we want to be at and or reach. Now as humans with our complexed minds it is almost impossible to stay stationary we are always on the move constantly looking for opportunities to express our complexed needs. Now with that nomadic mentality we people are constantly traveling from place to place whether it is literally or metaphorically.

As for me, my literal place right here right now is in the dorms of California State Channel islands and the metaphoric place I am seeking out to go is a career as an Environmental lawyer. Well as that is my desired place for now, it is not an easy task. In being so difficult my first step is getting a degree in Environmental Science and Resource Management while I study here at Channel Islands. Well thanks to this wonderful place I now call home this idea of place has finally been brought to my attention through the various course I have taken here. Place to me is far beyond the given space in time I am in, place is the exact position in which an event occurs and how that particular event reflects the span of all the other things in a given sequence. Well as I feel that a given place is an important point in the sequence, I also feel that any place is an important point of reference in any discipline. Especially one such as Environmental Science where the field itself practically has a monopoly on Geographic Information Systems, a system which utilizes the idea of place. To demonstrate not only the importance of place within my field, but in general as well I will be utilizing two case studies conducted in regards to environmental science and the real world.

Now we all live in a city, and that city was formulated from the ground up with carful thought and consideration in all aspects. A city or even a building cannot even begin development until it compiles an environmental impact statement. A statement which explains the consequences it would cause to the environment and or to the people who would be living in such an atmosphere. Well as we know there are tons of cities all around the world and each one has underwent its urban development. All types of countries and even societies regardless of wealth carefully puts thought into their productions of building a cities. They utilize all sorts of resources they have to not only take into account the environmental consequences, but the economic, and social consequences as well.  With a system such as GIS which can virtually map out all sorts of situations it is almost impossible not to take into account the places and areas in which a particular event is taking place. Now since I am specifically talking about the environment and societal up bring and development those will be the only two main subject I will touch upon.

As I had mentioned before, a city’s development and or improvements take serious and diligent consideration in all regards especially in the safety of its citizens. For if the foundations of a city are built under let’s say an old radioactive wasteland its population would face many unintended consequences. With having the formation of a city being so dire such studies as the water quality of a main water source is an important test to compile before development. Luckily for environmentalist the system of GIS could help point and map out the potential contaminated water areas that would be undesirable for people of a highly polluted country such as China. With regards to China and its highly polluted country Yan et al. was able to conceptualize and visualize the spatial pollution characteristics and identify potential polluted risky regions of the Honghe River Watershed. Which due to the hustle and bustle of a rapid economy such as Chia nonpoint source pollutants tend to runoff into vital societal utilities. Now with such a study the scientist had used space and GIS to map out these non-point polluted surface waters and warn it the citizens of the Honghe watershed not to drink its waters from specific sources. Bring this back to home and using the same tactics and agenda Yan et al. were trying to accomplish with the help of GIS scientist could warn us of the potential water contaminations. If hypothetically in the local area fertilizer run off became a problem, where if it was an issue they would be able to map out which farms and or crop lands these pollutants were coming from so we could do something about them and resolve the issue of pollutants entering a system.

Well to further piggybacking off the idea that urban development has a vital role in our everyday lives, another case study has been conducted in another part of the world to demonstrate the importance of environmental science and its development planning. In Tehran the capital of Iran the problem of urban sprawling has been getting out of control and creating obnoxious noise pollution leaving its citizens to experience nervous system damage and mental behavior alterations. With the help of the GIS system scientist were able to assess the spatial changes in traffic noise pollution so they could identify critical noise pollutions, where they could then install noise barriers that would limit the decibel levels being expelled. Well thanks to the study Mohammad et al. conducted the material of a surface was determined to be a factor that could and would limit the noise pollution levels. As though this may not be a major issue to us city folk who are used to the constant noises of cars and other materials, others that are not so use to such a chaotic life style it could experience negative consequences. Well to demonstrate a real world example map layers and surveyors could utilize the GIS system to do what Mohammad et al. did and see where the nosiest places are and help them map out desired places to live for like real-estate. Where if noise pollution is a problem propriety values could drop and vacancy rates may rise causing issues within the house market.

As demonstrated with the small case studies I have presented, place is a vital part to any equation whether if it is something big as picking out a place to live or something as small as which seat one should sit in class. Place is an important utility that most of us take for granite and fail to be credited when credit is due. If place had no relevance we or even I would not even being writing this essay as I speak because Channel Islands would have never existed. Instead the CSU system decided to utilize this place the once Camarillo State Mental Hospital and turn it into the CI we know and love. Place and GIS in general can and does place a crucial role in all aspects and failing to recognize and utilize such as system is a disadvantage to our own self.

Works Cited

MONAZZAM, MOHAMMAD REZA, et al. “Spatial Traffic Noise Pollution Assessment – A Case Study.” International Journal Of Occupational Medicine & Environmental Health 28.3 (2015): 625-634. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Feb. 2016

Yan, Chang-An, et al. “Assessment Of Water Quality And Identification Of Polluted Risky Regions Based On Field Observations & GIS In The Honghe River Watershed, China.” Plos ONE 10.3 (2015): 1-13. Academic Search Premier. Web. 25 Feb. 2016.