Wednesday, May 15. 2024

Today's schedule is BADC

B Block Legal Studies - Time to get to work, right? I'll have you work on questions:

1. What is the legal definition of a drug?
2. What are the elements of a charge for possession?
3. Describe two situations in which someone may be charged with possession while not physically possessing the drug.
4. What is "Intent to Possess"? Is intent necessary for a charge of possession?
5. How does the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act define trafficking?
6. What two points must the Crown prove to obtain a conviction for trafficking?
7. Who has the onus in a trial to prove that an accused person possessed a controlled drug for the purpose of trafficking? What evidence can prove this?

Then you'll be researching charges, defenses to charges, finding out punishments and beginning to write your case memo assignment. The purpose of the legal memorandum is to answer one or more legal questions in the context of a specific set of facts. It should contain a thorough analysis of the relevant law and provide a well-reasoned answer to the questions posed. For this Criminal Law project, you need to choose two of the eleven hypothetical criminal cases I will give you and provide a minimum one-page memo/letter for each. Each memo (format tomorrow) will need to address the questions or directions at the end of each of the cases you choose. Each case is a scenario and at the end of each is a question-set of questions you need to try to answer. Take case one as an example...in this case you were specifically asked to

Prepare the Crown arguments regarding whether Hoogans can be proven on these facts to have aided in the trafficking or the possession of narcotics, or both. The Crown has also asked also to identify and assess any arguments that you think defense counsel might make. In considering whether it is likely that Hoogans will be convicted, you may assume that the facts set out in the hypothetical case will be proven in court, and that no other relevant facts arise. NOTE: Please consider that the Crown has a duty to consider whether prosecution is in the public interest (having regard to the harm caused by Hoogans’ actions and her degree of moral blameworthiness) and whether there is a reasonable prospect of conviction if the matter proceeds to trial. 

So, you need to explain the reasons why Corley Hoogans could be found guilty of the charge of aiding Morgan Height in drug trafficking (remember aiding is the same as actually doing) based on the facts outlined in the story. You'll need to find out what the charge of drug trafficking in cocaine involves and what the Controlled Drug and Substances Act says possession is. Then, you'll need to determine what aiding means so look at the Parties to an offense at the Canadian Criminal Law notebook & at the Criminal Code (https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/section-21.html). You'll also need to look at the principles of sentencing, the options for sentencing, and then sentencing for Drug Offences at the Canadian Criminal Law Notebook or at Ron Jourard's chart for drug offenses. You were also asked to look at defense council's options so look at possible defenses for Hoogans.

So, using the text and the criminal code, and explain from the facts given to you if Hoogans can be found guilty. You will also need to explain how you think the defense lawyer would argue that Hoogans should be found not guilty.

Tomorrow I'll post more on the format/structure of the legal memo for you. Today you should choose two cases and research charges/defenses/exemplar cases/sentencing options and anything else you need to begin your memos.

A Block Criminology - Today we'll once again look at Mass Media Theories and Media Literacy. 

Remember the elements of Media Literacy...

1. Media are constructions - Media products are created by individuals who make conscious and unconscious choices about what to include, what to leave out and how to present what is included. 

2. Audiences negotiate meaning - The meaning of any media product is not created solely by its producers but is, instead, a collaboration between them and the audience – which means that different audiences can take away different meanings from the same product. 

 3. Media have commercial implications - Most media production is a business and must, therefore, make a profit. In addition, media industries belong to a powerful network of corporations that exert influence on content and distribution.

4. Media have social and political implications - Media convey ideological messages about values, power and authority. In media literacy, what or who is absent may be more important than what or who is included. These messages may be the result of conscious decisions, but more often they are the result of unconscious biases and unquestioned assumptions – and they can have a significant influence on what we think and believe.

5. Each medium has a unique aesthetic form - The content of media depends in part on the nature of the medium. This includes the technical, commercial and storytelling demands of each medium: for instance, the interactive nature of video games leads to different forms of storytelling – and different demands on media creators – that are found in film and TV. 

So...What Is the Media? The media encompass all communications that transmit facts or information to citizens and includes the mass media in print and on the radio, television, and Internet. We'll look at the changes in media over the last century 

So, we'll try to understand how media reports crime and try to take a theoretical perspective on what we've viewed so far in the course. The media choose what they want to discuss. This agenda setting creates a reality that affects the way people think and act...how? What crimes the media choose to cover and how they cover those crimes can influence the public’s perception of crime. 

Editors and assignment editors make complex decisions about what crime stories they will cover (or not) and what the headline will be. Journalists and reporters, in partnership with their assignment desks and producers decide what information about those crimes they will include or leave out, what experts they may go to for input, what quotes from that expert they will include, and where in the story these facts and quotes appear. The way in which the news is brought, the frame in which the news is presented, is also a choice made by journalists. So, Framing refers to the way media and media gatekeepers organize and present the events and issues they cover, and the way audiences interpret what they are provided. Frames influence the perception of the news of the audience, this form of agenda-setting not only tells what to think about, but also how to think about it, so the media can't tell us what to think but it can tell us what to think about.  Episodic framing occurs when a story focuses on isolated details or specifics rather than looking broadly at a whole issue. Thematic framing takes a broad look at an issue and skips numbers or details. It looks at how the issue has changed over a long period of time and what has led to it. Episodic frames may create more sympathy, while a thematic frame may leave the reader or viewer emotionally disconnected and less sympathetic.

Try to answer the following:

1. Think of three examples of traditional or new media. What are the advantages of each type of media? What are the disadvantages?
2. How does traditional media cover crime news and how has the Internet affected the delivery of crime news?
3. How does citizen journalism use social media to increase coverage of crime news?
4. Do you believe that new media are more successful in its coverage of crime news than traditional forms? Why or why not?

D Block Physical Geography - Let's start with yesterday's work:

1. Generalize the pattern of global net radiation. How might this pattern drive the atmospheric weather machine? (pages 10-11, 40, 42-43 in Geosystems Core text)
2. Explain the effect of altitude on air temperature. Why is air at higher altitudes lower in temperature? Why does it feel cooler standing in shadows at higher altitudes than at lower altitudes? (page 46 in Geosystems Core text)
3. Explain the difference between marine and continental temperatures. Give geographical examples of each from the text: Canada, United States and Norway, and Russia. (pages 47-49 in Geosystems Core text)
4. Describe and explain the extreme temperature range experienced in north– central Siberia between January and July. (page 53 in the Geosystems Core text)

Just consider Siberia this past December (2023)

versus Siberia last June (2023)

Siberia tends to see large monthly and yearly temperature fluctuations, but the last few decades have seen a strong warming trend. “Siberia is one of the fastest warming regions on the planet with hot extremes increasing in intensity,” Omar Baddour, chief of climate monitoring and policy services at the World Meteorological Organization

To help with Questions 1 and 2 check these videos out:

Don't forget that every day we are going to start by looking at the synoptic forecast along with weather maps.

Envrionment Canada: Weather Office Courtenay

C Block Human Geography - Time to work on your questions from Monday:

• How was Hinduism's origin different than universalizing religions? When did it originate?  Where did it originate?  What two ancient peoples’ beliefs blended to form Hinduism? 
• Complete the chart describing the origins and branches of the major universalizing religions (Christianity, Islam, and Buddhism)
• Give three explanations for the diffusion of Christianity. Identify the type of diffusion of each explanation. 
• Give three ways in which Islam spread. 
• What does the term diaspora mean in the context of the migration patterns of Jews? 

We'll look at the video I posted on Monday's post to help.

Today's Fit (It's Wednesday, and on Wednesday...)