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I am interested in the Macro scale and the macro effects evident at a city-scale level. I remember visiting New Orleans in 2016 and vividly remember seeing several signs with a large 'No' symbol drawn and the text  "neighbors not tourists" printed on the sign. Recently, as part of my research into New Orleans, I stumbled on this piece by the Guardian on how short-term rentals through platforms such as Airbnb are leading to gentrification in New Orleans. Highlighted in the article is how several Airbnb hosts do not reside on the listed premises. I remember the place we stayed, as we were a large party, having a 617 prefix number.  The prefix stood out as I knew the code 617 represented Boston and was curious what someone with ties to Boston doing in New Orleans as a host. In a similar vein, the article also highlights the problem of absentee hosts, hosts who acquire property for the sole purpose of setting up the property as an Airbnb site.

To tackle the problem, one councilwoman passed a law that required any Airbnb hosts in residential zones to have a homestead exemption verifying they live on site. In this case, a city-wide measure was taken and passed into law affecting the micro. It is common to have one host having several properties in different residential areas in New Orleans. From a technical standpoint, it could be viewed that Airbnb as technology is developed and presented as a scalable product. With no limits to reproducibility. Meanwhile, real-life discontinuities exist in the form of such homestead laws. It is impossible to live in more than one homestead at the same time. In other words, the concept of the human is not scalable.
Likewise, neither is cultural heritage. The city of New Orleans positions its self as a city with great cultural heritage. It is through this heritage that they seek to draw more and more tourists. How do cities think of scaling up successful initiatives and how do they navigate the political, social, ecological, or economic entanglements. At what point is downscaling necessary? Is culture scalable?

[1]https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/mar/13/new-orleans-airbnb-trem…

I am currently a Ph.D. student interested in exploring the entanglements of scale, especially in the context of environmental sensing.  My primary research seeks to engage in discourse around the value of scalability that is presented as inherent in computation. While the term scale-up is almost synonymous with computation, sustainability; on the other hand, is known as a problem of scale. Take for example, the discourse on climate change where the actions required to combat climate change requires interventions at different scales. In this context, demanding changes at individual scales while no corresponding changes happen at larger scales would not yield much.

In looking at New Orleans, I came across a video on IoT cameras developed by Cisco, the networking giant. What struck me other than the apparent rise of surveillance capitalism was the narrative of one of the police officers highlighted in the video. The officer mentions that it is not feasible for the city to place police officers on every corner. In the context of scale, the police officer is implying that cameras are useful as they extend the police officer's ability to surveil the city. In other words, cameras and the networks help scale up the police officer, making it possible for them to cover a larger scale than before.

One of the police officers, in the video, also mentions that New Orleans is a tourist and hospitable town. Which brings up the question at any given period, what scale of visitors can New Orleans support without stretching the city's resources? Several other cities in the world have made efforts to limit visitors, in order not stretch city resources. The recent crisis at Mount Everest is an excellent example of what happens when resources are stretched to accommodate the increasing number of local visitors. How could something of this nature similarly impact New Orleans?

At the communication center where the video feed is analyzed, the IT manager provides reasons as to why they chose Cisco as their vendor. One of the reasons he gives was that the system is easily expandable, allowing the ability to scale out/up the network.

The program is regarded postively by the public. If education and training was no longer needed, it would no longer be provided. The systems are also updated as needed- this knowledge provides a positive lookout on continuing education for others who wish to be emergency nuclear response trained

The central argument/narrative of the film is explaining what the Fukishima nuclear meltdown was and what was done to contain the explosions and the subsquent radiation that was leaking into the atmosphere. How to restore power to the plant in order to contain the fuel rods and prevent meltdown. Indirectly the argument was to persuade the public to be more informed about nuclear power and the affects it could have on the world- to learn how to prevent nuclear disasters; make emergency nuclear response teams.

The study was not funded it was on a volunteer basis, where particpiants would be paid for their time and information gathered would be used for the study.

This study addresses vulnerable popoulations because it centers around third world countries that are affected by natural disasters. It also supports the need for preparation for natural disasters. It addresses these populations by stressing the need to see the connection of those who cannot have access to clean water, food, etc in certain situations.

"MSF argued in their essays on the Congo that one reason for not taking rape seriously was that women who had experienced sexual assualt were not ideal subjects of aid; since they could not be easily identified with images of innocence."

"It seems that MSF workers assumed that sexual violence would bring aparticular soft of share, greater than that accompanying other forms of violence or brutaility; and therefore should be kept in a quiet, confidential, in the private relm"

"The question is how exactly a humanitarian response shares what constitutes sexual vioelnce and who 'gets sick' with it, particulary when humanitarism plays an increasingly important role in governing crisis zones."

A point that I looked up to further my knowledge of the article was the stoning of the Ebola workers, if it was reported anywhere else (a hot topic) or if there was any new information available; only one other news source reported on this topic and that source does not appear to be reliable. I also looked up the possibility of Ebola workers actually transporting Ebola to others. I found that the protocals in place to prevent this is extensive and infection (the possibility of) is extremely low. I finally looked up Guiena village leaders to understand why they do not trust western medicine, to understand if it is generally like that; if they do not like outsiders invading their village or if it is a general fear of infection. In truth it is the latter.

This film best addresses audiences who do not understand the healthcare crisis in the US. It provides a first hand view on the crisis and exemplifies how it needs to be fixed.

The policy addresses matters of public health because it ensures people who were affected by 9.11 get the help and support they need. It provides money and healthcare to those who were hurt physically or mentally by the attack on the world trade center. The act itself identifies possible issues ( a braod spectrum) that could be a driect fault of the attack, it also offers a board if the issue is not listed- to be treated.