Making of the Policies to
protect a community
from the spread of the
West Nile Virus
Epidemiology
Denise Cooper
Gompers High School
Web quest on the
West Nile Virus
West Nile Virus is threatening the
residents of New York City and the
world. The virus is being spread at an incredible rate through out the eastern
United States by mosquitoes. We have to
figure out how to stop the mosquitoes from spreading the virus throughout the
United States and the world. One major problem that we face is how can to
contain the virus without overexposing the environment to toxic chemicals. It is imperative that we destroy the
mosquitoes that are spreading The West Nile Virus and keep the pesticides at a
safe level.. We must make sure that
the lethal dose isn’t reached. How can
we solve this problem? The current
solution is to spray mosquito-bearing habits with melathion. The conflict with this idea is that we share
the habitat of the mosquito. We
coexist and in some cases compete with the mosquito in natural habits. You must
check the current public policies in place that protect citizens from
epidemics. You
must explain the epidemic policy in place and how the mayor stopped the spread
of the West Nile Virus in New York by utilizing the current policy.
Examine the current laws and decide if you would keep the policies the same or
would you change them. Do you think that the mayor used the current policies
effectively or could you do better? How would you protect New York with the
current policies?
We must constantly think about the
steps that the mayor took to control and aid the city against this
disease. We must ask ourselves if he
implemented the laws correctly. Did we
as citizens play a constructive role in maintaining the safety of our
communities? There are many questions
that we ask our neighbors and ourselves: Who decided what areas would be
sprayed? Who decided which areas would
be sprayed first? Who decided which
pesticide would be used? Who decided how
it would be administered? How could we
have helped in the decision making process? Who decided how they would notify
communities of the spraying? Why were not the residents notified sooner of the
spraying? Who decided which public
media would be the most effective to getting the information to all the
residents in the communities? It is
obvious that the community boards played a role in protecting the
communities. The community boards and
the citizens of New York bonded together to ensure that the mayor and the
current policies were followed to protect the communities.
The mayor and the community protect New York from
the west Nile virus:
The mayor with the help of community
boards activated the various networks and communities to broadcast the schedule
of sprayings. The citizens of New York took an active role in protecting their
communities from the spread of the west Nile virus and over exposure of
pesticides. How did we help? We looked for areas that the mosquitoes
might bread besides major waterways. We
added bleach to standing puddles or water bodies. We monitored the daily spraying schedules and looked to see if
certain areas were getting over exposure to pesticides. We reminded our shopkeepers to cover
produce. We watched the mayor and
educated him of the constant threat of over exposure of pesticides. The citizens alerted him to the possible
exposure of pesticides due to consumption.
The mayor’s response to the citizens of New York was to implement a schedule of
spraying so that vendors and vegetable stands could cover their
produce. Our community boards and action groups paid close attention and
monitored the line of action that the mayor took. We must look at the current laws and examine the changes that
could be made to make them more effective in controlling an epidemic spread by
a carrier host We must help our government protect our communities from the
spread of the West Nile Virus and epidemics
The inspection of birds for signs of
exposure of The West Nile Virus.
New Problems affect the making of old
policies:
The current environmental issue is Anthrax. Epidemiologists and Environmentalists are
studying the spread of Anthrax and its containment. Congress and the country is looking at possible epidemics that
may take place and are trying to institute and revise some current policies to
protect the masses from biological warfare and the spread of epidemics. The
revision of old policies helps
implement procedures to implement new policies. Then the new policies will
help defend our communities from an epidemic and make it better to execute
community defenses. We will be able to
alert communities at faster rate and the communities will have a constructive
role in policy making. The West Nile
Virus outbreak in New York may have helped
the Mayor of New Yorker help establish procedure to handle the Anthrax
epidemic.
Task
You are epidemiologists. You have studied other epidemics cases like
cholera and malaria. You will relate your knowledge from the above to the
application of the West Nile Virus epidemic. You will note the factors that you
must take in consideration while trying to create a solution that will protect
the city. Your goal is to protect your
communities from the spread of this disease and any other disease that may
cause the same fear and panic in New York City and the rest of the world. You will use the decision making process to
determine the best solution that will comply with the current policies or you
will think of ways to revise the current policies to comply with your best
solution to contain an epidemic. You can use the mayor’s model as a road map to
revise the current policies. Please
access the CDC and EPA websites and find facts to back your opinion. You will
write a report with all the below components included we will call this a web
quest. Your document must contain at least 5 web links that relate to the
current policies in place. And support your improvement of the current policies
in place. One of the links must be to the Public Policy
Analysis website.
Process
1.
You will
break into cooperative groups containing only two students to be assigned by
the teacher.
2.
You will
define the nature of the problem that has arisen by the threat of the
current policies of “West Nile Virus Extermination Plan". Define your Problem.(day
1)
3.
You will
list the possible causes of the problem that you have chosen and gather evidence
of their existence. (day 2)
4.
You will
evaluate the current policy and how your problem has been addresses or not
addressed in your current policy. Evaluate the current
policy.(day 3)
5.
You will
state several policies in place that have been executed in containing epidemics
and list their cost and the benefits
or advantages versus disadvantages. ( day 3)
6.
You will
decide whether the current solution of spraying is the best
solution or the worst solution. Think of what solutions you can develop by developing solutions.
7.
You will
state what your alternative solution to handling the West Nile Virus Epidemic.
8.
Determine
if your solution is a better alternative and identify
your causes.
9.
You will
state possible modifications of your plan and the public policies stated in the
"West Nile Virus Extermination Plan". You will select a solution and state why it is the best solution.
You will state your policy and how it can be used to modify the current policy.
10.
You will
decide if your solution is feasible based on the web quest that you have
executed. Does your solution take in
consideration the current epidemiological policies? Is your solution environmentally safe? Do your advantages outweigh your disadvantages?
11.
You will
explain how you used the decision making process to come to your conclusions.
12.
You will
use TIPS Worksheets
to aid you to make your outlines.
Evaluation
Your project will be graded on a scale
of 1 to 4:
- You
have completed a web search and have included the above steps unto number
5 and have proofread your work.
GRADE 55
- You
have completed web search, have included the above steps to number 8 and
proof read your work. GRADE 70
- Your
have completed all the steps above and has one web quest link, and has
proofread work. GRADE 85
- You
have completed all the above steps and have two web quest links, included
graphics and has proof read their work. GRADE 90.
Standards:
S5-Scientific
Thinking
ELA 1, 2, 3 (Reading,
writing and communication)
S7-Scientific communication
M7 -Mathematical
calculation
Conclusion
The goal of protecting a city or a country from an epidemic is a sophisticated job. It takes many agencies working together to implement policies that protect the masses. It is very important that we as citizens understand the intricacies of how policies are made and how they affect our communities. We also must understand our role as citizens in the policy making process. The goal of this process is for you to understand our role in the community as citizens. Don’t forget that even students as young as yourselves has representation on community boards and community groups. It’s your job as a citizen to get involved in the making of policies. Take a tip from tips and get involved!!!
