Personal Narrative- Crickets
I’ve never liked bugs. Grasshoppers are gruesome, and wasps are menacing. Even butterflies seem to flaunt their grace by fluttering in your face. Recently, however, I’ve realized that one insect cowers below the others as the most scheming of the six-legged world. I’ve discovered that I hate crickets.
These bugs are way too happy for their own good. Not only black, smaller versions of the grasshopper, crickets are masters of hide and seek. The inky bodies blend flawlessly into the shadows beneath a bush or inside the garage. Each crunchy creature also must have a shrinking ability. Squeezing into cracks and crannies in walls, even the cockroach is shamed by the cricket. Once hiding within thirty feet of my presence, the despicable beast begins to sing its wretched, repetitive tune. Echoing in my ears, magnified by the silence between chirps, the song rattles in my head.
Forget studying, forget writing and solving problems, forget sleeping, because I am irritated. Each shrill note pierces my skull, drumming inside my head as though pressuring my brain. "Find me," it taunts, "if you can." Concentrating becomes isolated, like a special filter is funneling only the vibrato-filled song into my mind. Eyes wide and furious, I hunt, following the gnawing chirp. Listening with ears attuned only to the shriek, I creep so slowly, so focused my muscles ache with the strain.
Zoning in on a tiny area, suddenly repulsed by the thought of cricket skin brushing my delicate fingertips, I seize a sandal from the step. I can hear it. I know it’s only a few inches away.
Spergel, I., Chance, R., Ehrensaft, K., Regulus, T., Cane, K., Laseter, R., . . . Alexander, A. (1994, October). Gang Suppression and Intervention: Community Models Research Summary. Retrieved March 23, 2014, from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/gangcorr.pdf
The first chapter of Policing Gangs in America is entitled, “Studying the Police Response to Gangs.” The primary purpose of the chapter is to establish how police agencies; Inglewood, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and Phoenix in specific, respond to gang problems in their respective areas. This chapter served as an introduction, giving a brief history of gang-related policing, how the public and media see the gang problem, research studies done regarding gangs and the recent declaration to shift away from suppression-oriented strategies as a result of overly aggressive actions toward citizens. Examples of this misconduct are given in the forms of gang units from Las Vegas, Chicago and Houston.
Spergel and Curry (1993) discuss suppression and the activities under as, “arrest, special prosecution, incarceration, intensive supervision, gang intelligence, and networking” (p. 374). The implications of Thornberry et al.’s (1993) models illustrate increased criminal behavior during gang membership, thus suppression techniques could potentially reduce crime. These suppression efforts are an approach used against gangs in general, rather than preventing membership, which is the primary goal of community organization programs. Curry et al. (2014) explain the suppression efforts in detail as including, “prosecution, specialized enforcement efforts, specialized probation, targeting of gang members by the California Youth Authority, summer projects, and the use of gang injunctions” (p. 179). While these suppression efforts are extreme, they attempt to answer the issue of gangs and their criminal behavior. This in turn may lower crime and decrease gang expansion. Ultimately, programs that focus on gang membership prevention have the potential to inhibit increased delinquent behavior caused by gangs, while suppression strategies attempt to interrupt criminal behavior in gangs as a
Schmidt, L. M., & O'Reilly, J. T. (2007). Gangs and Law Enforcement: A Guide for Dealing with Gang-Related Violence. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher, LTD.
Background Information: Pillbugs are terrestrial Isopods which belong to the Class Crustacea. Appearance: flattened or rounded back, seven pairs of legs, sharp – angled antennae. Pillbugs have a set of overlapping gills on their underside. There are 12 different species of pillbugs found in the northern and central United States. However, there are nearly 4000 described species of pillbugs. They are fund in humid areas, compost piles, and leaf litter. They feed on dead vegetation such as wood and leaf litter. They cannot survive below -6.0 C, so they burrow 60 cm below the ground surface to reach safe temperatures. They reproduce during the months of May through September. If the pillbugs are irritated they will frequently exude a thick glue which serves to entangle predators, such as ground beetles, centipedes, and spiders.
The American headlines of any large city will site killings on street corners, robberies, assaults, intimidation, and drug interaction. While not all-criminal activity is associated with gangs, the 780,000 strong members do account for a large majority of the problems that are plaguing America. There is no one-way to stop gang activity in one single swipe, but through a combination of cooperation, education, and training techniques law enforcement can minimize the gang’s movements and even stop a crime before it is committed.
U.S. Department of Justice. Best Practices to Address Community Gang Problems: OJJDP’s Comprehensive Gang Model. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2008.
One reason I would not be able to survive in the wilderness is because of bugs. Whenever Brian’s plane crashed he was beginning to be eaten up by mosquitoes. Brian’s face was starting to get swollen after all the bugs had attacked him. A quote from this is on page 34, “Mosquitos and some small black flies he had never seen before. All biting, chewing, taking him.” Ever since I was little I have never liked bugs. I never like the thought of how slimy and nasty bugs are. I don’t think I can handle bugs being on
Schwalbe, F. H. (1953). Of Bugs and Bombs. Retrieved 05 21, 2014, from University of Missouri, St Louis: http://www.umsl.edu/~thomaskp/schwab.htm
Gang involvement has been quite higher than past years. The 2008 National Youth Gang Survey estimates that about 32.4 percent of all cities, suburban areas, towns, and rural counties had a gang problem (Egley et al., 2010). This represented a 15 percent increase from the year 2002. The total number of gangs has also increased by 28 percent and total gang members have increased by 6 percent (Egley et al., 2010). This shows how relevant gang related activity is in today’s society. More locations are beginning to experience gang activity for the first time. Gang crime has also been on the rise in the past...
Merchant, M. Insects in the City. Texas A&M Agrlife, 14 Aug. 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
A great wave of fear filters through the body at the thought of creatures that slither and crawl. Of all the bugs, snakes, and spiders in this vast universe the appearance, feel, and behavior of the tree roach can induce a panic as intense as a heart attack.
The streets of Philadelphia are rapidly becoming a home to violent acts and random homicides. Innocent lives are taken every day due to the strong presence of gangs, and the streets are run by unruly groups of fearless young adults. Gang violence in Philadelphia is a major issue, and the citizens will never be safe until gang prevention occurs. Gang prevention is not a simple task, but with the right resources available, it is possible. Gang violence is a problem that will contribute to the collapse of Philadelphia, and it has yet to be solved throughout many generations. With gang violence on the rise, the best solution to gang violence is to educate the youth and parents about gangs and use family support to prevent the creation of gang members from the problem’s core.
In the next essay, "On societies as organisms," Thomas points out that the writers of books on insect behavior go to great lengths to distinguish the uniqueness of insect life.
Gang violence is a growing problem in this world. No parent would like to imagine their kids dealing with weapons or being threatened by them. These violence’s affects each child individually and their families as well. These gangs recruit multiple different individuals for many reasons such as bribery, family traditions, or even threatening. Although, many kids feel like they have to be a part of it but there are many resources out in this world to prevent them from believing so. Gang violence has been a problem in society for several of years and is a growing problem each and every day.