Thursday, April 30, 2009

Today's schedule is C-D-Lunch-B-A

C - Criminology 12 - Today we will take the whole block to work on the letter to the editor activity that I introduced to you yesterday. To remind you...

You are a criminologist who works at Simon Fraser University and have become alarmed at the media's (in your view) alarmist and irresponsible misrepresentation of violent crime in the city. The over simplification of news reports and the finger pointing have got you steamed (it's the judges, no it's the R.C.M.P., no it's the Solicitor General and the provincial government, no it's the justice department and the federal government, no it's the criminals, no it's the media, no it's.....fill in name here). So you're fed up and it's about time someone with brains educated the media about the nature and extent of crime in Canada and in Vancouver.

Write a thoughtful and polite letter to the editor of the Vancouver Sun outlining the current trends in crime (age, economy, social problems, firearms availability, gangs, drug use and justice policy - p.37-8 in Criminology: The Core) and crime patterns (ecology, social class, age, gender, and race p.42-9 in Criminology: The Core). You'll probably want to conclude your letter with a suggestion or two on how to deal with the "chronic offender" who is typical of those involved with the spate of recent gang shootings. You may want to throw in a reason or two why you think that violence is over reported in the media and maybe consider explaining why that hurts rather than helps deal with crime.

This activity will be due for next Monday's class and I'd like you to post it to your blog site. Some of you asked for the 1998-2007 BC crime trends pdf that I showed you this week. You can find this document at this website HERE.

B- Social Studies 10 - Today with Mr. Lux you'll start with current events and then shift into an exploration of the Klondike Gold Rush, using what you discovered yesterday about Barkerville and the Cariboo Gold Rush in BC.

A - Social Studies 11 - Today with Mr. Lux you'll start with current events and then shift into your next topic; the technology of war. We will recap the main events of the two WWII theaters, summarize the main campaigns, then relate these campaigns back to the outcomes of the two main theaters. This should take no more than the first 1/2 of class since it is a shortened school day again. In the remainder of the lesson we will look at the technologies of WWII and how these shaped the WWII's outcomes.