Uuden median murros Alma Mediassa, Sanoma Oy:ssä ja Yleisradiossa 1994-2004

This is a qualitative and multimethodological comparative study, which consists of two main parts: examining the development of new media and analysing and comparing the new media strategies of the three companies studied (Alma Media, Sanoma and the Finnish Broadcasting Company Yleisradio). The study includes the first large-scale review in Finnish of the development of new media, paying attention to the birth of the Internet as well as to mobile media, web TV and any other element of new media. It also concentrates on the function of electronic distribution channels before the age of the Internet, e.g. cable text and videotext. Answers about how the three traditional Finnish media houses began spreading their content to the Internet and wireless applications in 1994–2004 are also given. In researching the new media strategies the study pays special attention to the attitudes that the three media companies adopted towards the Internet and other forms of new media in their strategies during the years in question. By analysing and comparing, e.g., the companies’ strategies and their investments, the study ascertains whether the companies had a joint functional model in adopting new media or acted totally on their own without taking too much notice of the media field overall. The study makes extensive use of previously published material. The researcher has also interviewed almost twenty people who were involved in getting the companies’ new media functions under way. The methods for the interviews were dialogue and snowball sampling. The researcher has created a classification in which he divides the business strategies into four different categories: active strategy, careful strategy, permissive strategy, and passive strategy. In comparing and analysing the companies the researcher has used the classification devised by Allan Afuah & Christopher L. Tucci. The seven element classification consists of dominant managerial logic, competency trap, fear of cannibalisation and loss of revenue, channel conflict, political power, co-opetitor power and emotional attachment. In analysing the company strategies the researcher has also noted the classifications of convergence made by Everette E. Dennis and Graham Murdock as well as the aspects formulated by Sylvia Chan-Olmsted and Louisa Ha concerning the success of the companies in adopting the Internet into their functions. Based on all these classifications and by further developing them the researcher analyses and compares the success of the new media strategies of the three Finnish companies. The outcome of the study is a conclusion as to what kind of strategies the companies have carried out their new media functions and how they have succeeded in it.

The effects of the 2004 reduction in the price of alcohol on alcohol-related harm in Finland : A natural experiment based on register data

Changes in alcohol pricing have been documented as inversely associated with changes in consumption and alcohol-related problems. Evidence of the association between price changes and health problems is nevertheless patchy and is based to a large extent on cross-sectional state-level data, or time series of such cross-sectional analyses. Natural experimental studies have been called for. There was a substantial reduction in the price of alcohol in Finland in 2004 due to a reduction in alcohol taxes of one third, on average, and the abolition of duty-free allowances for travellers from the EU. These changes in the Finnish alcohol policy could be considered a natural experiment, which offered a good opportunity to study what happens with regard to alcohol-related problems when prices go down. The present study investigated the effects of this reduction in alcohol prices on (1) alcohol-related and all-cause mortality, and mortality due to cardiovascular diseases, (2) alcohol-related morbidity in terms of hospitalisation, (3) socioeconomic differentials in alcohol-related mortality, and (4) small-area differences in interpersonal violence in the Helsinki Metropolitan area. Differential trends in alcohol-related mortality prior to the price reduction were also analysed. A variety of population-based register data was used in the study. Time-series intervention analysis modelling was applied to monthly aggregations of deaths and hospitalisation for the period 1996-2006. These and other mortality analyses were carried out for men and women aged 15 years and over. Socioeconomic differentials in alcohol-related mortality were assessed on a before/after basis, mortality being followed up in 2001-2003 (before the price reduction) and 2004-2005 (after). Alcohol-related mortality was defined in all the studies on mortality on the basis of information on both underlying and contributory causes of death. Hospitalisation related to alcohol meant that there was a reference to alcohol in the primary diagnosis. Data on interpersonal violence was gathered from 86 administrative small-areas in the Helsinki Metropolitan area and was also assessed on a before/after basis followed up in 2002-2003 and 2004-2005. The statistical methods employed to analyse these data sets included time-series analysis, and Poisson and linear regression. The results of the study indicate that alcohol-related deaths increased substantially among men aged 40-69 years and among women aged 50-69 after the price reduction when trends and seasonal variation were taken into account. The increase was mainly attributable to chronic causes, particularly liver diseases. Mortality due to cardiovascular diseases and all-cause mortality, on the other hand, decreased considerably among the-over-69-year-olds. The increase in alcohol-related mortality in absolute terms among the 30-59-year-olds was largest among the unemployed and early-age pensioners, and those with a low level of education, social class or income. The relative differences in change between the education and social class subgroups were small. The employed and those under the age of 35 did not suffer from increased alcohol-related mortality in the two years following the price reduction. The gap between the age and education groups, which was substantial in the 1980s, thus further broadened. With regard to alcohol-related hospitalisation, there was an increase in both chronic and acute causes among men under the age of 70, and among women in the 50-69-year age group when trends and seasonal variation were taken into account. Alcohol dependence and other alcohol-related mental and behavioural disorders were the largest category in both the total number of chronic hospitalisation and in the increase. There was no increase in the rate of interpersonal violence in the Helsinki Metropolitan area, and even a decrease in domestic violence. There was a significant relationship between the measures of social disadvantage on the area level and interpersonal violence, although the differences in the effects of the price reduction between the different areas were small. The findings of the present study suggest that that a reduction in alcohol prices may lead to a substantial increase in alcohol-related mortality and morbidity. However, large population group differences were observed regarding responsiveness to the price changes. In particular, the less privileged, such as the unemployed, were most sensitive. In contrast, at least in the Finnish context, the younger generations and the employed do not appear to be adversely affected, and those in the older age groups may even benefit from cheaper alcohol in terms of decreased rates of CVD mortality. The results also suggest that reductions in alcohol prices do not necessarily affect interpersonal violence. The population group differences in the effects of the price changes on alcohol-related harm should be acknowledged, and therefore the policy actions should focus on the population subgroups that are primarily responsive to the price reduction.

Bibliotheca zoologica Fenniae opera annorum 1901-1930

Suomessa vuosina 1901-1930 julkaistun eläintieteellisen kirjallisuuden bibliografia.

Kerjääminen ja kaupustelu kielletty. Kerjäämisen vastustaminen Helsingissä 1930-luvun laman aikana ja kontrollin diskurssit.

Opinnäytetyössäni tarkastelen kerjuun kontrollin muotoja Helsingissä 1930-luvun laman aikana. Kontrollitoimenpiteiden lisäksi tutkin kerjuun määrittelemistä ongelmaksi ja ilmiön tuomitsemista. Poimin moniäänisestä diskurssista keskeisiä argumentteja, jotka määrittivät kerjäämistä ja sen kitkemiseksi valittuja keinoja. Diskursseja analysoimalla pyrin paljastamaan sosiaalisiin ongelmiin ja poikkeavuuden kontrolloimiseen liittyneitä pyrkimyksiä ja valtarakenteita. 1930-luvun lama saattoi Suomessa kymmenet tuhannet henkilöt työttömiksi ja köyhäinhoidon varaan. Köyhäinhoidossa ja irtolaishuollossa työnteon rooli oli ensisijainen ja tilannetta pyrittiin lievittämään varatyöjärjestelmin. Kerjuu oli tarkasteluajanjaksolla kielletty vuoden 1879 vaivaishoitoasetuksella. Kerjuu kuitenkin lisääntyi huomattavasti. Maanteillä liikkuvat kulkurit ja ovilla pyytävät kerjäläiset herättivät virkamiesten, papiston ja kansalaisten huomion ja köyhyydestä tuli paitsi sosiaalinen, myös hyvin poliittinen ongelma. Helsingissä poliisi pidätti pahimpina aikoina yhdeksän kertaa enemmän kerjäläisiä kuin normaaliaikana. Useimmiten pidätetyt lähetettiin kotipaikkakunnalleen, heille annettiin köyhäinhoitoviranomaisten varoitus tai heidät alistettiin maaherran kuulusteluihin. Kerjäämisestä myös tuomittiin yleiseen pakkotyöhön. Seurakunnat ryhtyivät valtion työttömyyskomitean sihteerin pyynnöstä organisoimaan pula-ajan avustustoimenpiteitä ja vastustamaan kerjuuta Helsingissä. Vuonna 1931 perustettiin Diakoniakeskus johtamaan tätä työtä. Propagandallaan Diakoniakeskus pyrki lopettamaan almujen antamisen ovilla, keskittämään avustustoimintaa ja saamaan myös yleisöstä kannattavia jäseniä toiminnalleen. Diakoniakeskuksen toiminta perustui hätäapuaseman ja yösuojan ylläpitämiseen ja se asettui yhteistyöhön myös köyhäinhoitoviranomaisten kanssa. Vallitsevissa diskursseissa kerjääminen esitettiin paheksuttavana ja demoralisoivana toimintana ja sen katsottiin kulkevan käsi kädessä valehtelemisen ja rikollisuuden kanssa. Myös viittaukset nälkävuosiin ja sisällissotaan nousivat esiin viranomaisten esittämissä vaatimuksissa kerjäämisen hillitsemiseksi. Diskursseista ja toiminnasta paljastui voimakkaita kerjäläisten seulomiseen ja laitostamiseen tähdänneitä pyrkimyksiä. Sopeutumattomiksi määritellyt yksilöt tuli alistaa holhouksen ja kontrollin alaisiksi, ja heidät tuli siivota arkipäivän yhteiskunnasta jopa pakkotyölaitoksiin. Diakoniakeskus, viranomaiset ja yleisö olivat kaikki osapuolia siinä kerjuun yhteiskunnalle vahingollisena määrittelevässä diskurssissa, joka heijasteli myös ajan henkeä. Diskursseista nousevatkin esiin ajan hengen mukaiset medikalisoituneen moralismin diskurssit sekä vallanpitäjien moraalinen paniikki köyhyyden äärellä. Vuonna 1937 astuivat voimaan uudet huoltolait, jolloin kerjääminen muuttui köyhäinhoidollisesta kysymyksestä järjestyskysymykseksi ja osaksi irtolaisuutta. Kerjuun vähetessä myös Diakoniakeskuksen toiminnan kannattavuus väheni ja se siirsikin propagandansa painopistettä pois kerjäämisen vastustamisesta. Tutkielman lopussa tarkastelen vielä lyhyesti 2000-luvun romanikerjäläisdiskurssia ja sen yhteneväisyyksiä 1930-luvun keskusteluun ja toimenpiteisiin. Keskeisen lähdeaineiston tutkielmalle muodostavat Helsingin seurakuntayhtymän arkistossa säilytettävät Diakoniakeskuksen lentolehtiset, pöytäkirjat, kirjeet ja lehtileikekokoelma, virallisjulkaisut sekä Huoltaja- ja Poliisimies-lehdissä sekä Suomen Kuvalehdessä julkaistu aikalaiskirjallisuus. Muun lähdeaineiston hankkimisessa olen käyttänyt aineistoja huoltoviraston arkistosta, Helsingin poliisilaitoksen arkistosta sekä Helsingin yliopiston kirjaston käsikirjoituskokoelmista.

The Impact of Cultural Factors on Post-Acquisition Integration: Domestic and Foreign Acquisitions of Finnish Companies in 1993-2004

Acquisitions are a central component of corporate strategy. They contribute to competitive advantage by offering possibilities for both cost reductions and for revenue enhancements. However, many acquisition benefits cannot be realized without a successful integration of the acquiring and the acquired firms. Previous research shows that national and organizational culture can play a major role in determining the integration outcomes. Therefore, the overall aim of the thesis is to map out and illustrate the impact mechanisms of cultural factors in post-acquisition integration in order to explain the cultural aspects of acquisitions. This study has three main contributions. First, the study shows that international and domestic acquisitions differ concerning both strategic and cultural fit. Second, the findings highlight the importance of acculturation and cultural integration in determining post-acquisition outcomes. Finally, the study uncovers several impact mechanisms that shed light to the contradictory results related to cultural differences in previous research.

The Finnish Leadership Style in Transition - A Study of Leadership Criteria in the Insurance Business, 1997-2004 (summary section only)

The aim of the study was to explore the importance of evaluating leadership criteria in Finland at leader/subordinate levels of the insurance industry. The overall purpose of the thesis is tackled and analyzed from two different perspectives: - by examining the importance of the leadership criteria and style of Finnish insurance business leaders and their subordinates - by examining the opinions of insurance business leaders regarding leadership criteria in two culturally different countries: the US and Finland. This thesis consists of three published articles that scrutinise the focal phenomena both theoretically and empirically. The main results of the study do not lend support to the existence of a universal model of leadership criteria in the insurance business. As a matter of fact, the possible model seems to be based more on the special organizational and cultural circumstances of the country in question. The leadership criteria seem to be quite stable irrespective of the comparatively short research time period (3–5 years) and hierarchical level (subordinate/leader). Leaders have major difficulties in changing their leadership style. In fact, in order to bring about an efficient organizational change in the company you have to alternate the leader. The cultural dimensions (cooperation and monitoring) identified by Finnish subordinates were mostly in line with those of their managers, whilst emphasizing more the aspect of monitoring employees, which could be seen from their point of view as another element of managers’ optimizing/efficiency requirements. In Finnish surveys the strong emphasis on cooperation and mutual trust become apparent by both subordinates and managers. The basic problem is still how to emphasize and balance them in real life in such a way that both parties are happy to work together on a common basis. The American surveys suggests hypothetically that in a soft market period (buyer’s market) managers employ a more relationship-oriented leadership style and correspondingly adapt their leadership style to a more task-oriented approach in a hard market phase (seller’s market). In making business better Finnish insurance managers could probably concentrate more on task-oriented items such as reviewing, budgeting, monitoring and goal-orientation. The study also suggests that the social safety net of the European welfare state ideology has so far shielded the culture-specific sense of social responsibility of Finnish managers from the hazards of free competition and globalization.

Nuorten mielenterveyden häiriöiden aiheuttamat sairauspoissaolot ja työkyvyttömyys vuosina 2004-2009

9 s.

Variation i kvinnors namnfraser i officiella dokument i Helsingfors 1780-1930 : Socioonomastiska synvinklar på makt och identitet

This dissertation is an onomastic study of variation in women s name phrases in official documents in Finland during the period 1780−1930. The aim is to discuss from a socio-onomastic perspective both the changeover from patronymics to inherited family names and the use of surnames after marriage (i.e. whether women adopted their husbands family names or retained their maiden names), before new laws in this area entered into force in Finland in the early 20th century. In 1920, a law on family names that required fixed names put an end to the use of the patronymic as a person s only surname. After 1929, it was no longer possible for a married woman to retain her maiden name. Methodologically, to explain this development from a socio-onomastic perspective, I have based my study on a syntactic-semantic analysis of the actual name phrases. To be able to demonstrate the extensive material, I have elaborated a scheme to divide the 115 different types of name phrases into 13 main categories. The analysis of the material for Helsinki is based on frequency calculations of the different types of name phrases every thirtieth year, as well as on describing variation in the structure and semantic content of the name phrases, e.g. social variation in the use of titles and epithets. In addition to this, by applying a biographic-genealogical method, I have conducted two case studies of the usage of women s name phrases in the two chosen families. The study is based on parish registers from the period 1780−1929, estate inventory documents from the period 1780−1928, registration forms for liberty of trade from the period 1880−1908, family announcements on newspapers from the period 1829−1888, gravestones from the period 1796−1929 and diaries from the periods 1799−1801 and 1818−1820 providing a corpus of 5 950 name phrases. The syntactic-semantic analysis has revealed the overall picture of various ways of denoting women in official documents. In Helsinki, towards the end of the 19th century, the use of inherited family names seems to be almost fully developed in official contexts. At the late 19th century, a patronymic still appears as the only surname of some working-class women whereas in the early 20th century patronymics were only entered in the parish register as a kind of middle name. In the beginning of the 19th century, most married women were still registered under their maiden names, with a few exceptions among the bourgeoisie and upper class. The comparative analysis of name phrases in diaries, however, indicates that the use of the husband s family name by married women was a much earlier phenomenon in private contexts than in official documents. Keywords: socio-onomastics, syntactic-semantic analysis, name phrase, patronymic, maiden name, husband s family name

Oikeusvaltion paradoksin äärellä. Tasavallan suojelulakiesityksistä käyty eduskuntakeskustelu vuosina 1930 ja 1936

Tutkimuksessa lähestytään oikeusvaltion paradoksia tarkastelemalla sen ilmenemistä valtiopäiväkeskusteluissa, joita käytiin hallituksen esityksistä tasavallan suojelulaiksi vuosina 1930 ja 1936. Oikeusvaltion paradoksin ytimessä on kysymys siitä, miten yksityisen oikeussubjektin myös valtion harjoittamalta mielivallalta nauttima suoja voidaan taata, kun eduskunta on ylin lainsäätäjä ja voi muuttaa myös perustuslakia, jossa tuo suoja taataan. Tämä kysymys korostuu etenkin poikkeusoloissa, jolloin toimeenpanovallalla tulisi olla riittävät valtuudet vaikean tilanteen ratkaisemiseksi. Oikeusvaltion paradoksin kannalta keskeisiä ovat muodollinen, laillisuutta ja muotoja painottava sekä materiaalinen, oikeusjärjestyksen sisällöllisiä periaatteita, kuten perusoikeuksia painottava oikeusvaltiotulkinta. Nämä kaksi tulkintaa ovat vaikeissa tilanteissa toistensa kanssa ristiriidassa ja päättäjät joutuvat tasapainoilemaan niiden välillä: toimiako tehokkaasti yhteiskuntajärjestyksen turvaamiseksi, jolloin on riski valtion sisältä käsin tapahtuvasta oikeusvaltion murenemisesta, vai kunnioittaako perusoikeuksia ja altistaa valtakunta ulkoiselle vallankaappaukselle tai muille järjestyshäiriöille. Tutkimuskysymystä tarkastellaan vuosina 1930 ja 1936 eduskunnalle annettujen hallituksen tasavallan suojelulakiesitysten myötä. Esitykset tasavallan suojelulaiksi antoivat presidentille oikeuden, mikäli valtakuntaa uhkasi vaara tai yleinen järjestys ja turvallisuus olivat uhattuina, rajoittaa tiettyjä hallitusmuodon toisessa luvussa taattuja perusoikeuksia. Vuonna 1930 lapuanliikkeen aiheuttama vallankaappauksen uhka oli todellinen ja hallituksen oli pakko antaa sen vaatimia säädöksiä kommunistisen toiminnan tukahduttamiseksi. Paradoksaalisesti laki oli samanaikaisesti lapuanliikkeen painostuksen tulos että yritys ottaa tilanne haltuun poikkeuslailla. Vuonna 1936 tilanne oli huomattavasti rauhallisempi. Lakia perusteltiin sekä maailmanpoliittisen tilanteen epävakaudella että tarpeella säätää poikkeustilanteista etukäteen osana pysyvää lainsäädäntöä. Valtuuksia ei kuitenkaan haluttu säätää osaksi valtiosääntöä, vaan säädös annettiin erillisenä poikkeuslakina. Eduskuntakeskustelussa kannat jakautuivat yleisesti ottaen siten, että lakien vastustajat esittivät materiaaliseen oikeusvaltiotulkintaan ja kannattajat muodolliseen oikeusvaltiotulkintaan lukeutuvia argumentteja. Vastustajien mielestä oli tärkeää kunnioittaa kansalaisten perusoikeuksia ja perustuslakien pysyvyyttä. He myös pelkäsivät lakien mahdollistamaa hallinnollista mielivaltaa. Lakien kannattajat puolestaan korostivat demokratian itsepuolustuksen tärkeyttä: oli yksilön kannalta parasta oikeusturvaa, että kumoukselliset voimat voitiin pitää kurissa. Vuoden 1930 laki jätettiin lepäämään yli vaalien ja hyväksyttiin lopullisesti syksyllä 1930. Se oli osa kommunistilakipakettia, mutta sitä käytettiin lapuanliikkeen hillitsemiseksi ja Mäntsälän kapinan kukistamiseksi vuonna 1932. Vuoden 1936 laki hylättiin eduskunnassa. Vuonna 1939 annettiin vielä kolmas hallituksen esitys tasavallan suojelulaiksi. Se jätettiin lepäämään yli vaalien ja hyväksyttiin syksyllä 1939. Hallituksen laajennettuja valtuuksia tarvittiin tällä kertaa sellaisia henkilöitä vastaan, joista voisi olla uhkaa Suomen ulkoiselle turvallisuudelle. Lain nojalla tehtiin satoja poliittiseen vasemmistoon kohdistuneita turvasäilöpidätyksiä sodan aikana. Tämä laki on kuitenkin rajattu tutkimuksen ulkopuolelle.

Dental identification and aspects of medico-legal investigations of the Finnish victims of the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake on 26 December 2004

Tsunami waves of the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake on 26 December 2004 claimed approximately 230 000 lives and started the biggest identification operation in Interpol's history. The aim of this study was to resolve methods of the identification and results received. The viewpoint is mainly that of forensic odontology, but also includes other means of identification and results of the medico-legal examination performed in Finland. Of the 5395 victims in Thailand, approximately 2 400 were foreigners from 36 nations including 177 Finnish nationals. Additionally, a Finnish woman perished in Sri Lanka and a severely injured man after the evacuation in a hospital. The final numbers of missing persons and dead bodies registered in the Information Management Centre in Phuket,Thailand, were 3 574 ante-mortem (AM) and 3 681 post-mortem (PM) files. The number of identifications by December 2006 was 3 271 or 89% of the victims registered. Of Finnish victims, 172 have been identified in Thailand and 163 repatriated to Finland. One adult and four children are still missing. For AM data, a list of Finnish missing persons including 178 names was published on 30 December 2004. By February 2005 all useful dental AM data were available. Five persons on the list living in Finland lacked records. Based on the AM database, for the children under age 18 years (n=60) dental identification could be established for 12 (20%). The estimated number for adults (n=112) was 96 (86%). The final identification rate, based on PM examinations in Finland, was 14 (25%) for children (n= 56) and 98 (90%) for adults (n= 109). The number of Finnish victims identified by dental methods, 112 (68%), was high compared to all examined in Thailand (43%). DNA was applied for 26 Finnish children and for 6 adults, fingerprints for 24 and 7, respectively. In 12 cases two methods were applied. Every victim (n=165) underwent in Finland a medico-legal investigation including an autopsy with sampling specimens for DNA, the toxicological and histological investigation. Digital radiographs and computed tomography were taken of the whole body to verify autopsy findings and bring out changes caused by trauma, autolysis, and sampling for DNA in Thailand. Data for identification purposes were also noted. Submersion was the cause of death for 101 of 109 adults (92.7%), and trauma for 8 (7.3%). Injuries were 33 times contributing factors for submersion and 3 times for trauma-based death. Submersion was the cause of death for 51 (92.7%) children and trauma for 4 (7.3%). Injuries were in 3 cases contributing factors in submersion and once in trauma-based death. The success of the dental identification of Finnish victims is mainly based on careful registration of dental records, and on an education program from 1999 in forensic odontology.

Tietokone ikäihmisen arjessa

The aged people in the target group of my study belong to generation, which has experienced the shift from agricultural society via industrial society up to the society which has been described as information society. They have grown up concurrently with the technological development, but during the recent years the technological development has accelerated. One can say that the older the target study group has come the more information technological skills they need to possess to be equal actors in our society. However, especially in case of aged people the learning and maintaining of skills in information technology has mainly been left dependent on their personal motivation. The purpose of this report is to study the use of computers in the life of the aged people. The report studies the will and ability of the aged people to learn the skill of using computers, and the new possibilities which this brings into their lives. The study questions are the following: 1) Why the aged people start to use computers? 2) How the aged people benefit information technology in their own life? 3) How computers have extended the environment of the aged people? 4) What kind of problems the aged people have experienced in use of computers? The research material consists of group interviews and individual interviews (total of 23 people). The interview material has been collected among the participants on information technology courses of the Senior University of Helsinki University during years 2004-2005. The research method used is theme interviewing. In addition, the material of opinions about information technology of people born in decades of 1920 and 1930, gathered as part of the Ikihyvä Päijät-Häme 2002 -research has been used. On basis of this research one can say that the aged people do have motivation to study the use of computers, although many interviewees commented that they also have met problems in use of computers. The motivation has grown also because the fear that without the skills to use computers they could drift into outsiders of the society, whereas instead as skilled computer users they felt to be equal citizens compared with the younger age groups, and that they can maintain their independence and autonomy. Especially, the independent use of banking routines over the Internet and use of emails seem to give them a position as modern actors. Many interview statements also underline that computers will bring both joy and benefit to the users. Studying the use of computers is a new and interesting hobby, which can fill the hole left in the life after leaving the working life. Using skills of text processing and processing of pictures one can, for example, record the traditional knowledge of the family and ancestry to the younger generations, and write articles or even books on the professional area of ones own. Single people emphasize that computers can even act as companionship substitutes. One can use Internet for virtual traveling, which provides a new dimension in use of computers. Internet can also be used to maintain family relationships, especially between grandparents and remote grandchildren. Typical problems in use of computers appeared to be that reaching the right professional helpdesk advisers of the service providers is difficult and requires lots of time and patience. However, the interviewees were not willing to give up their computers, because they had already used to these. Keywords: digital divide, aging, Internet, usability, motivation, information technology, information society.

Kaupunkipurot Helsingissä - Veden laatu vuonna 2004

In recent years urban hydrology and individual urban streams have been in focus and subjects to research also in Helsinki. However, until now there has been lack of research covering simultaneously the whole area of the city of Helsinki. The aim of this study was to find out the general state of water quality in small urban streams in the city of Helsinki. 21 streams were studied: Mätäjoki, Korppaanoja, Mätäpuro, Näsinoja-Tuomarinkylänoja, Tuomarinkartanonpuro, Kumpulanpuro, Tapaninkylänpuro, Tapaninvainionpuro, Puistolanpuro, Longinoja, Säynäslahdenpuro, Viikinoja, Porolahdenpuro, Mustapuro, Marjaniemenpuro, Mellunkylänpuro, Vuosaarenpuro, Rastilanpuro, Ramsinkannaksenpuro, Skatanpuro and Yliskylänpuro. Water samples were collected from 48 sampling points, each stream having at least one point. Four water samples were collected from each point, sampling periods being 9.-11.2., 26.-28.4., 29.6.-1.7. and 25.-27.10.2004. Field measurements associated with water sampling included water temperature, oxygen concentration, pH and electrical conductivity. Water samples were analysed in the Laboratory of Physical Geography in the University of Helsinki and in the Environmental Laboratory of the City of Helsinki Environment Centre for following properties: suspended solids, dissolved substances, alkalinity, principal anions and cations (Na+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, F-, Cl-, NO3-, PO43- and SO42-), colour, turbidity, biological and chemical oxygen demand (BOD7 and CODMn-values), nutrient concentrations and bacterial indicators of hygienic quality. The main water quality issues found in this study were low oxygen levels in many streams and poor hygienic quality at least occasionally. E.g. in summer oxygen levels were under 60 % in every stream. Amount of total dissolved substances and nutrients were high in some of the streams studied. Compared to other Finnish streams the values of alkalinity and pH were higher. Although these problems were common, the variation between different streams and sampling points was significant. This was probably due to local conditions. Best overall water quality was found in Mätäpuro and Tuomarinkartanonpuro streams. Seasonal variation was evident in almost all water quality properties. For example the total amount of dissolved substances was largest in winter and decreased during the year. Colour and turbidity were smallest in winter and increased towards the end of the year. The same was true for suspended solids, which had smallest concentration in winter and greatest in autumn. It must be kept in mind that the spring samples were collected after the spring flood otherwise the largest suspended solid concentrations would have been expected in spring. Finnish general water quality classification was used to assess the quality of urban stream waters. Its suitability for small urban streams is not, however, completely trouble-free. This classification does not take into account the quick changes in such small streams but evaluates only the yearly mean values. This can oversimplify the picture of the water quality situation in the streams. Also in order to better reflect the urban environment the analysed water quality properties should also include total dissolved substances and e.g. concentrations of chloride and sodium.