Al's Morning Meeting

The New York Times reports:

Two years ago, the nation was plagued by a severe shortage of flu shots, with huge lines at clinics and many people going without. This year it looks as if there may be a glut.

Yet, somewhat perversely, because of distribution delays earlier in the season, this year's abundant supply has not meant that everyone who wanted a flu shot has received one.

The situation underscores the fragile nature of the nation's supply system for flu vaccine, a risky and volatile business, in which the federal government has a limited role.

While experts say an excess is better than a shortage, too large a surplus could hamper the government's goal of steadily increasing the production and use of flu vaccines. Because makers, distributors, doctors and health departments lose money from vaccine they cannot sell to patients, they may be discouraged from making or ordering as much in coming years -- potentially leading to future shortages.

And there is little opportunity to stockpile for lean years, because flu vaccine is good for only a single season. The composition must be changed each year to match the strains of influenza virus in circulation.

The worst of the flu season usually begins in January, after you spend Christmas with your germy families.

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Graffiti Laws

I am interested in a new Houston law that requires the victims of graffiti to remove the symbols within 10 days of receiving a warning or be fined $500.

It sounds like punishment for businesses that have already been victimized.

The new law also restricts some of the supplies that graffiti vandals -- notice I don't call them artists -- use.

A U.S. Department of Justice study [PDF] estimates that graffiti is a $12-billion-a-year problem. It may cost even more. The feds say the vandalism often goes unreported because the victims don't think anything can be done about it.

Here are some tips for people who interact with reporters from a Web site that maps out strategies to fight graffiti:

Request that reporters avoid showing graffiti, as it only gives more fame to the person who did it.

If graffiti must be shown, ask that only one small unrecognizable area be used, or that a background of graffiti be slightly out-of-focus to distort any tags. It can also be photographed at an angle that makes it illegible.

Ask that they not only report on the problem, but the positive steps being taken to reduce graffiti in the community.

Never mention vandals by their tag names in stories.

Involve reporters in local graffiti prevention and cleanup activities.

Never refer to graffiti vandals as "artists".

The Berkeley (Calif.) Police Department has an interesting Web site explaining graffiti, which details, among other things, what tools the vandals use most often:

Spray paint is the traditional tool of [the] graffiti artist. Today's youth have been known to use paint, shoe polish rolls, etching tools, rocks, pens almost any instrument that can leave a distinctive mark on a surface. "Slap Tag" is another method of graffiti. This form entails writing out the Tag Crew's name or the individual's tag name on a sticker. The sticker is then slapped onto poles, walls, newspaper bins or any surface. The tagger will often times carry on their person sheets of stickers ready for slapping onto any surface.

The DOJ study breaks down the different types of graffiti in this way:

• gang graffiti, often used by gangs to mark turf or convey threats of violence, and sometimes copycat graffiti, which mimics gang graffiti;

• tagger graffiti, ranging from high-volume simple hits to complex street art;

• conventional graffiti, often isolated or spontaneous acts of "youthful exuberance," but sometimes malicious or vindictive; and
  

• ideological graffiti, such as political or hate graffiti, which conveys political messages or racial, religious or ethnic slurs.

In areas where graffiti is prevalent, gang and tagger graffiti are the most common types found. While other forms of graffiti may be troublesome, they typically are not as widespread. The proportion of graffiti attributable to differing motives varies widely from one jurisdiction to another.

The study also tries to identify the underlying causes of the problem:

While making graffiti does not offer material reward to offenders, contrary to public opinion, it does have meaning. Rather than being a senseless destruction of property, graffiti fulfills certain psychological needs, including providing excitement and action, a sense of control and an element of risk. The different types of graffiti are associated with different motives, although these drives may overlap. Distinguishing between types of graffiti and associated motives is a critical step for developing an effective response.

Historically, much conventional graffiti has represented a youthful "rite of passage"–part of a phase of experimental behavior. Such graffiti is usually spontaneous and not malicious in nature; indeed, spontaneous graffiti has often been characterized as play, adventure or exuberance. Spontaneous graffiti may reflect local traditions and appear on "fair targets" such as abandoned buildings or schools. Communities have often tolerated such graffiti.

The motives for some types of conventional graffiti may include anger and hostility toward society, and the vandalism thus fulfills some personal psychological need.3 The graffiti may arise from boredom, despair, resentment, failure, and/or frustration, in which case it may be vindictive or malicious.

It seems to me that this part of the DOJ study, in particular, could be worth some journalistic attention:

Graffiti locations are often characterized by the absence of anyone with direct responsibility for the area. This includes public areas, schools, vacant buildings, and buildings with absentee landlords. Offenders also target locations with poor lighting and little oversight by police or security personnel.

• Easy-to-reach targets, such as signs

• Particularly hard-to-reach locations, such as freeway overpasses;

• Highly visible locations, such as building walls;

• Locations where a wall or fence is the primary security, and where there are few windows, employees or passersby;

• Locations where oversight is cyclical during the day or week, or where people are intimidated by graffiti offenders;

• Mobile targets, such as trains or buses, which generate wide exposure for the graffiti

• Places where gang members congregate–taverns, bowling alleys, convenience store parking lots, and residential developments with many children or youth.

In addition, two types of surfaces attract graffiti:

• Light-colored surfaces. Dark surfaces do not generally attract as much graffiti but can be marred with light-colored paint.

• Large and plain surfaces. Surfaces without windows or doors may be appealing for large-scale projects. Smooth surfaces especially attract offenders who use felt-tip markers.

Goodbye Old Blue Mailboxes

NPR recently reported that the U.S. Postal Service is scrapping many of those old blue mailboxes that dot neighborhoods nationwide. It turns out that we don't mail as many letters these days, now that we have email and online bill paying services. Listen to the story here.