WRT205 Spring 2016

http://www.areavibes.com/library/top-10-highest-poverty-rates/

https://msu.edu/~jdowell/135/JGParker.html

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/26/health/zika-what-you-need-to-know/index.html

This article is about the recent outbreak of a new virus called zika. It is projected to spread to every country in the Americas and it can be spread through mosquito bites, sexual contact, or from a mother to a child. There is currently no cure or treatment for the virus which is why it is so daunting. Syracuse’s summer climate is warm enough for these mosquitos to live here.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/31/health/where-we-stand-now-e-cigarettes/index.html

This article is about electronic cigarettes. It mainly consists of a timeline that portrays all of the things that we have learned about them since their invention in 2003. It is a big concern for public health because all of the concerns of e cigarettes are not known yet. As of now, the main reason that parents are opposed to it is because it is known to lead to future use of cigarettes, and the ages of people using them are getting lower and lower.

http://www.epi.org/publication/bp370-native-americans-jobs

-Mental health is a much less considered viewpoint of public health. Socioeconomic status (poor at that) is a large determinant of overall wellbeing. In looking at the Native American populations, we can deduce that lesser education is a main cause for poverty (and the wage gap among other things). Interesting thing about the wage gap, many blame race and gender for the wage gap. You hear little about the discrimination of Native Americans in terms of employment, and I had a difficult time locating any information of the sort that didn’t predate 1900.

http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2015/10/how_the_flint_water_crisis_eme.html#30

This article is from a publication that operates downtown where I live. It is a good step-by-step breakdown of the Flint water crisis and how it came to be. The interesting thing is that the events leading up to it seemed like a good idea. The switch to the new pipeline could save the struggling city of Flint “up to 19 million dollars over 8 years. Detroit hears of the plan to switch from their water and cuts Flint off, forcing Flint to use their old pipes until the new pipe is finished in 3 years.

Growing up in the Bronx, NY I have witnessed first-hand and have even experienced what it is like to be on Welfare – specifically Medicaid. Harrington Meyer’s piece on Medicare use among the elderly, (http://gas.sagepub.com/content/8/1/8.full.pdf), examines data on what characteristics lead to Medicaid use, specifically looking at income, gender, race, class, education and marital status. I was surprised to read that elderly people in nursing homes are more 6.5 times more likely to receive Medicaid. I thought that since they lived in somewhat secluded areas, with most of their needs met, they would not need Medicaid – however, I was wrong. In contrast, I was not surprised to read that women of color are more likely to be on Welfare than their counterparts. Yet, I was surprised that this fact was true regardless of income.

Another article I looked at was Lowenstein’s “Nursing homes serving minorities offering less care than those housing white” (2015) [http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/11/17/16275/nursing-homes-serving-minorities-offering-less-care-those-housing-whites]. As the title suggests, this article zeros in on the difference between the care received by whites and people of color in nursing homes. An interesting fact pointed out by this article is that Nursing Home Compare, a source that is widely used, is reporting statistics that contradict what is actually happening in nursing homes caring to largely black and Latino populations. For one, they reported that registered nurses spent more time with patients than they actually did, which affects the quality experienced by a patient.

These articles are decades apart, yet they both demonstrate vast differences among Americans depending on their gender, race, and income levels. These texts further prove that America has a ways to go before being able to provide an equal playing field for both whites, people of color, the rich and the poor.

Being a resident of Syracuse, one of the biggest public health related issues as I was growing up was the pollution of Onondaga Lake. This article on Syracuse.com (from Oct. 9, 2015) states that, according to the EPA, the Mercury levels in the lake are lower than projected when the $451 million plan was approved in 2005. Onondaga lake is an urban lake, thus linking it directly to the topic of Syracuse’s public health.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2015/10/epa_honeywell_onondaga_lake_cleanup_dredging.html

 

 

Heroine is a public health epidemic that has been spreading on both a national level and locally in Syracuse. The annual number of deaths from heroin use in Onondaga county has increased from 1 in 2010 to 26 in 2014. This topic directly relates to our class discussion in that the heroin use can be strongly correlated to the environment of Syracuse. The astounding poverty levels often drive victims to cheap drugs such as heroin while at the same time preventing them from any treatment for using, addiction, and even overdosing. This syracuse.com article notifies of a public forum held in Syracuse to discuss one of the most serious health concerns of the community.

http://www.syracuse.com/health/index.ssf/2016/01/heroin_prescription_painkiller_epidemic_in_onondaga_county_focus_of_public_forum.html

 

This link (Health Effects of Hydrofracking) discusses possible health effects if the United States were to allow hydrofracking. It specifically cites the NYS Health Commissioner who is conducting studies with the purpose of discovering how peoples health will be affected from the various chemicals, many of which can be toxic, released during the process.

This article (How to Decimate a City) relates to our class discussion where it was brought up that the poverty in Syracuse is generational. The children being born into and growing up in poverty will not be given the same opportunities to become educated, to stay healthy or to make enough money to get out of the slums as children who are not born into poverty. This puts them at a disadvantage from birth. It also discusses the issue of race and how even when the number of white people decreased and the number of black people increased, the black residents were still unable to find decent jobs or buy homes because of racism. Little to no money and no permanent place to live also puts people, especially families, at an extreme disadvantage.

“The Poverty Problem in Syracuse: Matt’s Memo
This article points out that the thoughtless design of the city of Syracuse has been a large contributor to the prevalence of poverty. The layout of the city, especially the interstate, has divided Syracuse into sections and caused isolation and increased poverty problems. A quote that stood out to me was by Valerie Hill who said, “Poverty was designed to happen. It does not happen just because. It was written into the plan.” I thought that was a pretty powerful statement and definitely pointed fingers at the setup of the city as being one of the root causes that allowed Syracuse to get so bad.
http://cnycentral.com/news/local/the-poverty-problem-in-syracuse-matts-memo

“The Cancer Correlation”
This article postulates the correlation between radioactivity in the Colombian River and cancer rates in the Oregon counties bordering the river. Researchers noticed that starting from the Hartford Plant and continuing downstream, cancer rates were higher in the areas next to the river and highest particularly around the lower Colombian. I chose to look at Oregon because both my aunt and uncle who live in Port Land have been recently diagnosed with Cancer and the discussion in class made me wonder if the environment there led to them both having it.
http://www.intimeandplace.org/Hanford/activities/cancercorrelation.html

• http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2015/09/syracuse_has_nations_highest_poverty_concentrated_among_blacks_hispanics.html

This article above shows where Syracuse ranks among other cities in the United States based on the concentration of poverty this city encounters. It reiterates our discussion in class about Syracuse jumping to the number one spot of the most poorest city in the country. The article mentioned that the reason why Syracuse has experienced such high levels of poverty if because of suburban development that came at the expense of the central city and older suburbs.

• http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2012/06/health_care_disparities_povert.html

This article mentions how the poverty in Syracuse leads to poor health in many minority communities. Thus, poverty leads to many health issues such as obesity, asthma, etc. It also speaks about the effects it has on kids and school.

 

Examples of Public Health Writing:

• “Eating Animals” by Jonathan Safran Foer –> This books deals with big slaughterhouses in the US and the big meat companies that used to exist in the 70-80’s. This book also reminds me of the essay by Susan Hess about end of life care specifically in animals and the way companies would kill animals in a cold-hearted way just so that the public can eat meat.
• This article discusses the health issues sugar has on people’s diets. As society is becoming more advanced, people are realizing how much of an impact sugar plays in people’s health http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/01/sugar-is-the-new-public-health-enemy-1/423207/