UNMARKED FOR LIFE EX-GANGSTERS GET RID OF TATTOOS.Byline: Eugene Tong tong 1 tr.v. tonged, tong·ing, tongs To seize, hold, or manipulate with tongs. [Back-formation from tongs. Staff Writer VALENCIA - A laser beam crackles crackles a small, sharp sound heard on auscultation. Caused by dry, bristly hair and insufficient pressure on the stethoscope head. Also characteristic of emphysema, especially when it is subcutaneous. over an ink mark at Dr. Bernard Raskin's cosmetic-surgery office, and another piece of his young patient's gang-afflicted past fades. For more than a decade, Raskin has performed free tattoo tattoo, the marking of the skin with punctures into which pigment is rubbed. The word originates from the Tahitian tattau [to mark]. The term is sometimes extended to scarification, which consists of skin incisions into which irritants may be rubbed to produce removals for former gang members under a program sponsored by the city of Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, . ``You're really offering them a fresh start,'' he said. ``A lot of these tattoos are in very obvious places. A lot of people put them on the face and the neck. (They) are inappropriate socially.'' A visit to Raskin's office at Advanced Dermatology dermatology (dûrmətŏl`əjē), branch of medicine concerned with diagnosis and treatment of diseases and disorders of the skin. and Cosmetic Care in Valencia is the prize each year for three to four teens Four Teens is a Barbershop quartet that won the 1952 SPEBSQSA international competition. Preceded by Schmitt Brothers SPEBSQSA International Quartet Champions 1952 Succeeded by Vikings and young adults passing from gang life back to the mainstream in a program founded in 1991 by the city's Anti-Gang Task Force. ``They're tired of their lifestyle,'' said Cynthia Llerenas, the city's youth outreach Outreach is an effort by an organization or group to connect its ideas or practices to the efforts of other organizations, groups, specific audiences or the general public. supervisor. ``Their lifestyle leads them nowhere. It doesn't lead them to opportunities of career or family. They settle for minimum-wage jobs because of appearance. ``We want them to get back to the community again.'' Each qualifying applicant must perform 32 hours of community service or education within six months, Llerenas said. ``Say they're a single parent. They'll benefit more from taking parenting classes than community service work,'' she said. ``Anything that's going to better them. ``Some of the young adults tell me they appreciate doing the community-service work,'' she said. ``They're helping out these kids that could be potential gang members - where they were at one point.'' As the candidates progress, they earn treatments from Raskin. Only gang- related tattoos - ranging from teardrops and swastikas to the slogan ``Mi vida loca'' or ``My crazy life'' - that appear on the hands, wrists, forearms, neck and face qualify for free treatment, which would otherwise cost about $350. ``They fit a stereotype stereotype (stĕr`ĕətīp'), plate from which printing is done, made by casting metal in a mold, usually of paper pulp. The process was patented in 1725 by the Scottish inventor William Ged. , and they can't get an interview because of the way they look,'' Llerenas said. ``If the tattoos are removed, they don't have that identity anymore.'' Raskin, who has practiced in the city for more than 20 years, is the only cosmetic surgeon in town working in the anti-gang program. ``I think you have to not mind sometimes having people who look like gang members walking through your waiting room,'' he said. ``That's why not a lot of others do it. ``By in large, everybody's pretty well-behaved. They're getting a service, and they appreciate it.'' It could take up to eight laser treatments to remove a tattoo completely, depending on the depth of the ink under the skin, Raskin said. Some colors, such as greens, are more resistant. ``(The beam) penetrates through the skin, and when it hits a tattoo particle, it heats it up,'' he said. ``It begins to dissolve A Web site design technique borrowed from the film and video industry in which the transition between two Web pages is represented visually by one page fading into another. Also known as a "soft cut," the result is achieved in the HTML coding of the images to gradual pre-determined and melt away.'' Eugene Tong, (661) 257-5253 eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Dr. Bernard Raskin, who donates his work, uses a laser beam to remove a tattoo from a former gang member. (2 -- color) Part of a tattoo is fading fading fading skin coloring. See Arabian fading syndrome (below). Declining in body condition, general health, activity and productivity. Arabian fading syndrome general health is unimpaired. after a laser treatment by Dr. Bernard Raskin. Total removal can require eight sessions. (3) In Santa Clarita, three to four ex-gang members, such as this one, get signs of the past removed for free each year. David Sprague/Staff Photographer |
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