Monday, June 4. 2018

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

A Block Law 12 - Today I have the library/learning commons booked for you to continue your work on the major civil law project that is due three weeks from now. You have Eight (8) library blocks left to finish this assignment...no pressure really. And don't forget if you're choosing to do three cases with a video for your law firm...you had better start script writing and planning your production dates ASAP.

B Block Introduction to Law 10 - Today we will continue our look at criminal forensics by looking

at how fingerprints are "lifted" at a crime scene (including what AFIS is), what the "Four T's" are for marks at a scene, how fibres are used, and what ballistics is. We'll practice a bit by getting fingerprinted. We will all get one set of fingers (and thumb) on one hand fingerprinted (our non dominant hand) by using graphite pencils and scotch tape. You will need to identify whether or not your prints are loops, arches, or whorls and then place them up on the blackboard. You will need to identify the total number of loops, arches, and whorls for each finger (and thumb) for the class (for everyone's sets of prints) and then graph the data. The graph is a comparative bar graph. For each finger (thumb, index, middle, ring & pinky) count up the total number of loops, arches, and whorls and graph that out next to each other.

C Block Criminology 12 - Today we are in the Learning Commons/Library for out next blog: "Outlaw Folk Hero" or "Punk Kid Criminal"?

Every society creates its own heroes and villains and has the option to frame them in a way that says something about it. So what does the "outlaw folk-hero" status that Colt Harris-Moore has gained say about who we hold up as heroes or villains in our modern crime-media saturated society?
In an article by Paul Ibbetson he states:

Juan McCartney and Mike Melia of the Associated Press say that Harris-Moore has built his reputation as a 21st-century folk hero. Of course thieves don’t “build” as they have no time for such labors. They are too busy stealing what others have built. Even with the factual terminology in place, one cannot say that Harris-Moore even managed steal a reputation as a 21st-century folk hero. No, to be factual it must be said that this young man’s celebrity status was a gift from the media, paid for by modern society.

So you watched the 48 Hour Mystery episode on the "Barefoot Bandit"; take a read of this NPR article on Harris-Moore and take a read of this interview with Colton Harris-Moore then answer the following:

Is Colton Harris-Moore an outlaw folk-hero or is he simply a punk kid criminal?

You will need to justify your position but when you do, seriously consider why it is that you think the way you do.

• Ask yourself "Did Colton create an outlaw folk hero status/image on his own or did the media fabricate his new found identity"?
• Ask yourself "Am I attracted to the Barefoot Bandit because he's rebellious and you as teenagers can identify with rebellion against parents, me, police, or authority in general"?
• Ask yourself "What would it be like to be one of the victims of Colton Harris-Moore? Was he some mythical 'Robin Hood' who only took from wealthy families or was that the story he or the media presented to you"?
• Ask yourself "did people become aware of Colton Harris-Moore because of the Internet?  The internet sensationalized and glorified Moore through blogs, Facebook, a fan site and because the general public seemed either unaware or uninterested in Moore, the Internet became the means of his fame. So if there was no Internet would Colton Harris-Moore have been the Barefoot Bandit

Next you have a project to work on. Your task will be to watch, read, investigate, and then report on the coverage of a specific type of crime in multiple media formats. So, what do you need to report on?

1. You need to choose a specific type of crime: Homicide (murder); Assault; Sexual Assault; Robbery; Theft; Motor Vehicle Theft; Fraud; Embezzlement; White Collar Crime; Crime inside prisons; Impared Driving; Drug Offenses; Gang Offenses; Terrorism; Computer Crimes; Prostitution; or another offense not listed here. 
2. You then need to look at crime subtopics which will serve as the major issues you are to investigate. What is a crime subtopic? What about age, gender, class, race, or any of the other sociological topics we looked at throughout the course. 

Your presentation should use the subtopics as the main points of discussion and use the media sources as descriptive data for discussion and comparison. Tables or charts summarizing your findings can be included.  I am not looking for comprehensive plot lines, however these should be included when they are essential to discussing the subtopics. However, facts and direct quotes from your media sources are what get used to illustrate your main points.

So, find a crime, look at some subcategories (demographic characteristics of depicted individuals, criminological motivations offered and patterns or techniques used) and explain how they are presented in at least five of the following media formats:

1. Television news broadcasts (or Internet news sites connected to the network); network news shows (CTV, CBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN)
2. A newspaper (local, regional, or national) or print or Internet based news magazine (MacLeans, Canadian edition of TIME);
3. A prime-time crime drama currently being broadcast or in syndication (Gotham, NCIS, Scorpion, Lethal Weapon, Chicago P.D., Criminal Minds, Law & Order SVU, Hawaii 5-0 etc...);
4. TV True Crime documentaries (48 hours: Mystery, America's Most Wanted, Cops, Dateline);
5. A series of crime movies that deal with a particular theme (juvenile delinquency, organized crime, police corruption, deviance in women's prisons);
6. Streaming Media crime stories (Netflix, FX, HBO etc... - Making a Murderer, Narcos, American Crime Story the People v OJ Simpson, Mindhunter, True Detective, Mr. Robot, Sherlock, Fargo, etc...)
7. talk radio programs (CKNW, CBC, XM or Sirius satellite radio); or
8. Crime literature (magazines, comics, short stories, or novels).

You will present your project to me on your blogsite.

D Block Human Geography 11 - This week we begin our last topic for Human Geography - urbanization. Our focus this week will be on the services we find in rural and urban communities. Services account for more than two-thirds of GDP in most developed countries, compared to less than one-half in most developing countries. Services cluster in developed countries because more people who can buy services live there. The service sector of the economy is subdivided into three types: consumer services, business services, and public services and each of these sectors is divided into several major sub sectors. So our key issue for the day is "Where Are Services Distributed"? You'll have a few questions to answer for me:

1. Define consumer services
2. What are the four main types of consumer services, and provide an example of each
3. Define business services
4. What are the three types of business services, and provide an example of each
5. Explain how the service sector contributed to the 2008 Recession. and...
6. In most communities, the largest employers other than the local government are consumer services. What are the largest consumer services in the Comox Valley? (You can Google “largest employers Courtenay or Comox Valley” to find out.)