Wednesday, May 15. 2019

Today's schedule is BADC-L

9:05 am – 10:05 am Block - B
10:10 am – 11:10 am Block- A
11:10 am – 12:00 pm Lunch Break
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Block - D
1:05 pm – 2:05 pm Block- C
2:05 pm – 3:15 pm Personalized Learning

B Block Human Geography - Today we'll look at the Key Issue "Where Is Agriculture Distributed"? Geographer Derwent Whittlesey mapped the world’s agricultural regions in 1936 which helped lay the foundation for the modern division of the Earth into agriculture regions. The five agriculture regions primarily seen in developing countries are intensive subsistence, wet-rice dominant; intensive subsistence, crops other than rice dominant; pastoral nomadism; shifting cultivation; and plantation and we'll look at those today. You'll need to answer the following:

1. What is pastoral nomadism and in what type of climate is it usually found?
2. How do pastoral nomads obtain grain (several ways)?
3. What is transhumance?
4. In what way do modern governments currently threaten pastoral nomadism?
5. How is land owned in a typical village that practices shifting cultivation?
6. What percentage of the world’s land area is devoted to shifting cultivation?
7. Describe the PROS and CONS of shifting cultivation, or the arguments made for it and criticisms leveled against it on the chart in the work package.
8. Define and describe plantation farming by filling out the chart in the work package.

The Past, Present and Future of Agriculture

National Geographic Agriculture

A Block Physical Geography - Today we'll conclude our look at tropical hurricanes.
While you are working on the questions I'll show you some footage of Hurricane Ike and the damage done to Galveston Island (on the Raging Planet Hurricane episode)

Raging Planet: Hurricane (2009) - Part 1 by bigcenterprises

D Block Law - Friday we're in the library for our first day to work on our civil law tort project on line. Today, however, a bit more on social host liability. From the Canada Safety Council dealing with Social Host Liability:

It is important for every social host to consider the consequences involved with the service of alcohol because there will continue to be lawsuits. The social host could be found to have a duty of care to guests and all those who are at risk due to the intoxication of the guests for events that could be foreseeable. Further, the host has a duty to monitor and supervise the service and consumption of alcohol during a party or event. The best course is to take risk management measures. The social host should check his or her insurance to determine if there is coverage for any incident that may occur on the property or as a result of actions from the property. When hosting a party, plan appropriately. This includes:

1. Either don't drink or limit your own consumption of alcohol in order to track that of your guests. 
2. Know your guests - it is much easier to track the changes in behaviour of those you know. 
3. Try to serve all drinks yourself and avoid self-serve bars to track and monitor your guests' consumption. Consider hiring a bartender trained in alcohol service. 
4. Have plenty of non-alcoholic choices. 
5. Serve lots of food that has protein and fat - salt encourages more drinking and sugar does not mix well with alcohol. 
6. Meet, Greet and Repeat - meet and greet all your guests as they arrive in order to determine if they have had anything alcoholic to drink before arriving. If the party is an open house or cocktail format, repeat the process as guests leave. 
7. If a guest is intoxicated, encourage him or her to give you their car keys if relevant. Buddy up with a friend to assist in persuading the intoxicated person to take a cab. 
8. Keep the phone numbers of cab companies handy and tell the guest that a cab has been ordered - don't give them the option to refuse. 
9. If the guest is quite intoxicated, keep that person with you until they have sobered or can be left with a sober responsible person. 
10. Only time will sober the person, not additional fluids or food. Offering a spare bed is a good recourse. 
11. If the person refuses to give the car keys or spend the night at your house, call the police. It may seem drastic, but it could be a choice between that of an upset friend or far more tragic consequences. 

Having a plan will allow you to prevent problems from happening or a least, handle the problems in the least unpleasant way and perhaps, allow you to enjoy your own party.

C Block Criminology - Over the last two weeks we've looked at media and developed some media literacy skills. This week we'll look at Sociology - given that this section of the course ideals with "Crime, Media and Society" it makes sense to look at society and how it is structured. Today we'll spend some time looking at types of societies, norms, roles, institutions and culture. Then, I would like for you to consider how have you been shaped by society.


On a large sheet of paper you need to draw an image of you (or print off your favourite photo of yourself) and then you to create a visual map of you in society. What social forces have impacted your life? How has culture influenced you? How have social institutions affected who you are? What are the most important cultural elements of your own social group or subculture? This poster should be a visual representation of the social influences on your life...use symbols, images, words and ideas to graphically depict where you fit into society.

Tomorrow we'll look at groups and socialization and Thursday we'll examine Social Stratification, Inequality and Deviance. A really good on-line book that can help with all of these topics is Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World, Brief Edition, v. 1.0.1 by Steven E. Barkan.

Remember:

1. What do you think the purpose of the "My Kid Would Never Do That: Stranger Danger" show and what assumptions or beliefs do its creators have that are reflected in the content?
2. Who and what is shown in a positive light? In a negative light? Why might these people and things be shown this way? What conclusions might audiences draw based on these facts?
3. What techniques does the Dateline show use to get your attention and to communicate its message?

To help, we'll discuss "infotainment" (the blurring lines of entertainment and information) where shows like Dateline and 48 Hours Mystery shape the public's views on crime and crime control. Stephen A. Kohm wrote a piece that "examines the way shame and humiliation in criminal justice have become increasingly commodified, enacted, and experienced through hybrid forms of mass media that blur the boundaries of reality and entertainment". In it, he argues that, "public narratives about crime in the news media operate on a distinctly emotional level, weaving powerful messages about not only the nature and extent of crime, but also how audiences ought to feel about crime. To Catch a Predator similarly plays upon and appeals to emotions running the gamut from outrage to humiliation".

Rolling Stone had a great article on To Catch a Predator (The New American Witch Hunt) as did the Columbia Journalism Review (The Shame Game). So, what is To Catch a Predator?

To Catch a Predator is a reality television show which features a series of hidden camera investigations by the television news-magazine Dateline NBC. It is devoted to the subject of identifying and detaining those who contact people they believe to be below the age of consent (ages 12–15) over the Internet for sexual liaisons.


What is the problem with to Catch a Predator? Lots...but in the context of the course we're in what it has done is shape the public's consciousness about crime to the point that "Creep Catchers" is now a thing...This is not a "foreign" thing...in Nanaimo the RCMP is concerned about vigilante justice there and here in the Comox Valley we also had another vigilante creep catcher event as well. 

Creep Catchers is a strong example of where people see a problem (through the mediated coverage of crime) and decide to bypass law enforcement and take matters into their own hands. In this, the media has created a moral panic about pedophiles and shaped the consciousness of the public about the problem and the apparent lack of police response.

"All jurisdictions across the United States and Canada have trained officers that are on the internet and are trying to interact with these people and find out who they are" said Nanaimo RCMP Cpl. Jon Stuart but To Catch a Predator undercuts the actual detective work of the RCMP and other police services.

So, did To Catch a Predator perform a public service, or was it just another ratings-hungry reality series?


Clearly it was a cultural phenomenon that still reverberates throughout North American society today. The show was parodied on the October 3rd, 2007 episode of South Park titled “Le Petit Tourette.”

It was mocked on Arrested Development

 And on Mad TV


But Chris Hansen is back on tv...