Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Unit 3 Exploration
The main thing that I wanted to learn more about and do more extensive library research on was go into more detail about the bad effects of illegal drugs. But I came across some obstacles that made it hard for me to defend my topic that actually changed my view on the drug Marijuana.
The main question I came up with was what exactly is bad about illegal drugs other than the high they give. Everyone knows that drugs give some kind of high or what not but I wanted to know why they became illegal, because most of the illegal drugs that I want to study like Marijuana, Cocaine, Heroin, and Meth have at one time been used medically over a hundred years ago.
The next question I thought about after deciding my topic is how can I explain this topic in a researchable way and make it flow. That I think is going to be the hard part for me because until I get back this paper I’m not going to really know if what I have done is even worth anything, because it really helps me when other people tell me what they think about my writing, and make suggestions.
The last question I thought about was what are some interesting things or twist; you could say that I could put in to my paper that would make it more appealing. I was thinking like maybe scary or horror stories about drug abuser; Like what types of horrible things that recovering addicts went through while on the drug. I met a recovering Meth addict and she went through some crazy events in her life, but is now on the right track. She goes from high school to high school and explains to kids how bad drugs are and describes her story to others. I want to add stories like that with every drug I want to talk about.
The main thing that I wanted to learn more about and do more extensive library research on was go into more detail about the bad effects of illegal drugs. But I came across some obstacles that made it hard for me to defend my topic that actually changed my view on the drug Marijuana.
The main question I came up with was what exactly is bad about illegal drugs other than the high they give. Everyone knows that drugs give some kind of high or what not but I wanted to know why they became illegal, because most of the illegal drugs that I want to study like Marijuana, Cocaine, Heroin, and Meth have at one time been used medically over a hundred years ago.
The next question I thought about after deciding my topic is how can I explain this topic in a researchable way and make it flow. That I think is going to be the hard part for me because until I get back this paper I’m not going to really know if what I have done is even worth anything, because it really helps me when other people tell me what they think about my writing, and make suggestions.
The last question I thought about was what are some interesting things or twist; you could say that I could put in to my paper that would make it more appealing. I was thinking like maybe scary or horror stories about drug abuser; Like what types of horrible things that recovering addicts went through while on the drug. I met a recovering Meth addict and she went through some crazy events in her life, but is now on the right track. She goes from high school to high school and explains to kids how bad drugs are and describes her story to others. I want to add stories like that with every drug I want to talk about.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Source Annotations
1. Chuck Dederich, Grover Sales, John Maher of Delancey Street, W.W. Norton & Company Inc. New York, 1976
I like this book as it was writing by a man who went through a lot of rehabilitation because of his disease of alcohol and drug addiction. He turned his life around and became a very successful man. He has a lot of very well mad comments in his book and I have herd them over and over again. Like 10% of the offenders will take up 90% of the work, that they are never going make it.
2. "Drug court." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 29 Mar 2009, 17:56 UTC. 29 Mar 2009
This is a reference page that I found that gives some very good statistics to back up my argument that the drug court program is better that regular probation.
3. Listwan, Shelley Johnson Ph.D., Latessa, Edward J. Ph.D. The Kootenai and Ada County Drug Courts:Outcome Evaluation Findings, July 2005.
This article has a lot of information on the Idaho drug court and when they were started and also this gives a brief example of how successful they were over 6 years ago as compared to the statistics now days. It is written by the project director and principal investigator for the Center for Criminal Justice Research. They are both Ph.d’s.
4. National Association of Drug Court Professionals, web
This site has all the information I could want on drug court and there programs, from the training involved to the research on how and where they have been successful. To what they are currently doing that is new and other links that are related to this program.
5. Officer One. Personal interview March 10, 2009 and email responses March 22-28, 2009
I will be using this mans ideas and his quotes at they go hand in hand with the one previously mentioned and also he works with drug court and probation and parolee. So he has an insight on both sides of the fence so to speak. Also I find taat he seems to be kind of the leader in this group of men working the probation side of drug court.
6. Officer Two. Personal interview March 10, 2009 and email responses March 22-28, 2009
This man seems to have a very good insight to the workings of probation as far as who needs the most attention and who can be left alone and trusted to do the right thing so to speak. He seems to have the knack or experience of how to read people and trust or not to trust in what they are telling him. There seems to be a lot of reading peoples body language going on here.
7. Officer Three. Personal interview March 10, 2009 and email responses March 22-28, 2009
He has the most information on the use of tracking devices and how and when they are going to be used. It would be nice to be able to track everyone who is in trouble but there is a little more to it then just clamping it on to a person’s ankle and then sitting back and watching them. There seems to be a legal reason that they don’t do it to just anyone. There has to be a reason like hurting them selves or someone else. Then there has to be Judge’s order also. This will come with recommendations from all of the other people involved like counselors, probation officers, and fellow piers.
8. Patterson Smith, John Augustus, the first probation officer, Montclair, New Jersey, National Probation Association, 1939
This is a book about the man who started it all. I truly loved this book and the accountings of this man and what he spent the last ten years of his life doing. HE documented all his cases and checked up on the people whom he represented and most of them did very well for them selves after John helped them. He also interviewed all of them and used his best judgments to pick out people who had a very good chance of cleaning up there act and going straight. This is a practice that is still used very much in the drug court program. They call it an intake interview.
9. State List of all Drug Courts. BJA Drug Court Clearinghouse. American University. Feburary 11th 2009
This has a listing of all the drug court programs up to date and how many of them are being planned too. There are 23 counties that have drug courts in Idaho and 37 branches off them. Like juvenile and mental health courts. There using the same ideas that they started with from drug court and branching them off from there.
10. Todd R. Clear, Places not Cases?: Re-thinking the Probation Focus1, The Howard Journal Vol 44 No 2. May 2005 ISSN 0265-5527, pp. 172–184.
This makes reference to John Augustus as being the first probation officer and tell a little about his story. This is where I got the idea of looking him up here at the library. Also this article has a lot of good information on the case work that is involved with any one probation officer and how his or her case work load can have a specific relationship to how mush attention can be given to any one client of offender. That this can have a big effect on the success rates for those offenders too. Goes on to give some good statistics form other sources.
I like this book as it was writing by a man who went through a lot of rehabilitation because of his disease of alcohol and drug addiction. He turned his life around and became a very successful man. He has a lot of very well mad comments in his book and I have herd them over and over again. Like 10% of the offenders will take up 90% of the work, that they are never going make it.
2. "Drug court." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 29 Mar 2009, 17:56 UTC. 29 Mar 2009
This is a reference page that I found that gives some very good statistics to back up my argument that the drug court program is better that regular probation.
3. Listwan, Shelley Johnson Ph.D., Latessa, Edward J. Ph.D. The Kootenai and Ada County Drug Courts:Outcome Evaluation Findings, July 2005.
This article has a lot of information on the Idaho drug court and when they were started and also this gives a brief example of how successful they were over 6 years ago as compared to the statistics now days. It is written by the project director and principal investigator for the Center for Criminal Justice Research. They are both Ph.d’s.
4. National Association of Drug Court Professionals, web
This site has all the information I could want on drug court and there programs, from the training involved to the research on how and where they have been successful. To what they are currently doing that is new and other links that are related to this program.
5. Officer One. Personal interview March 10, 2009 and email responses March 22-28, 2009
I will be using this mans ideas and his quotes at they go hand in hand with the one previously mentioned and also he works with drug court and probation and parolee. So he has an insight on both sides of the fence so to speak. Also I find taat he seems to be kind of the leader in this group of men working the probation side of drug court.
6. Officer Two. Personal interview March 10, 2009 and email responses March 22-28, 2009
This man seems to have a very good insight to the workings of probation as far as who needs the most attention and who can be left alone and trusted to do the right thing so to speak. He seems to have the knack or experience of how to read people and trust or not to trust in what they are telling him. There seems to be a lot of reading peoples body language going on here.
7. Officer Three. Personal interview March 10, 2009 and email responses March 22-28, 2009
He has the most information on the use of tracking devices and how and when they are going to be used. It would be nice to be able to track everyone who is in trouble but there is a little more to it then just clamping it on to a person’s ankle and then sitting back and watching them. There seems to be a legal reason that they don’t do it to just anyone. There has to be a reason like hurting them selves or someone else. Then there has to be Judge’s order also. This will come with recommendations from all of the other people involved like counselors, probation officers, and fellow piers.
8. Patterson Smith, John Augustus, the first probation officer, Montclair, New Jersey, National Probation Association, 1939
This is a book about the man who started it all. I truly loved this book and the accountings of this man and what he spent the last ten years of his life doing. HE documented all his cases and checked up on the people whom he represented and most of them did very well for them selves after John helped them. He also interviewed all of them and used his best judgments to pick out people who had a very good chance of cleaning up there act and going straight. This is a practice that is still used very much in the drug court program. They call it an intake interview.
9. State List of all Drug Courts. BJA Drug Court Clearinghouse. American University. Feburary 11th 2009
This has a listing of all the drug court programs up to date and how many of them are being planned too. There are 23 counties that have drug courts in Idaho and 37 branches off them. Like juvenile and mental health courts. There using the same ideas that they started with from drug court and branching them off from there.
10. Todd R. Clear, Places not Cases?: Re-thinking the Probation Focus1, The Howard Journal Vol 44 No 2. May 2005 ISSN 0265-5527, pp. 172–184.
This makes reference to John Augustus as being the first probation officer and tell a little about his story. This is where I got the idea of looking him up here at the library. Also this article has a lot of good information on the case work that is involved with any one probation officer and how his or her case work load can have a specific relationship to how mush attention can be given to any one client of offender. That this can have a big effect on the success rates for those offenders too. Goes on to give some good statistics form other sources.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
reading questions
1. showed the writer had spent alot of time doing research in the library but had very little first hand research it seemed like. the writer did find the problems witht the system offer solutions and ideas to fix it.
2. the headings gave the reader a heads up that the reading was going to be changing directions so the reader didn't get lost
3.the writer talked about how great the head start program is and all of it's shortcomings and how it was underserving those who needed it but it really seemed like his only solution to the problem was to just throw money at the problem until it goes away rather than maybe looking at the effiency of how the money was being handled and seeing if maybe there was more accountability as to how money was spent and things were run that the problem could be solved with out needing so much money
2. the headings gave the reader a heads up that the reading was going to be changing directions so the reader didn't get lost
3.the writer talked about how great the head start program is and all of it's shortcomings and how it was underserving those who needed it but it really seemed like his only solution to the problem was to just throw money at the problem until it goes away rather than maybe looking at the effiency of how the money was being handled and seeing if maybe there was more accountability as to how money was spent and things were run that the problem could be solved with out needing so much money
questions for unit 3
after thinking about some of the ideas that my group brought up during our writing workshop. i thought up a few questions for my next paper but i'm still having a hard time deciding what i want to do and what is researchable. one thing that i really keep thinking about is why do people think of lawyers the way that they do? theyre perfectly nice and very intelligent people and i think maybe the point to argue is against the perception that people have about lawyers and show that they're aren't what they are often portrayed as in popular culture
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
response to questions
3. Some of the evidence that is presented in this is based off of personal observations and other evidence is from research that the person has done. The evidence from the actual person that has experienced the event is a little more convincing then the other that is just stating the facts that some researcher has preformed.
4. The section headings provide a good separation of information and allows the reader to associate the information being stated with a specific meanings. These section headings also allow the the reader to look at specific information and if they want to know about just one area then the reader can read just that specific area and not have to read the entire paper.
1. In the essay "Who Deserves a Head Start" the write presents some interesting fact that are supported with great statistics. But of me the whole idea of the paper got lost in the amount of time it too the write to make its point clear. I also liked the graph that was added to the paper to break it up and to add to the validity of the papers point.
In the Essay "Pursuing an Educated Mind" the paper is shorter and to the point. This essay could have used some visual aides to support the information, but compared to the other essay this one was a lot easier to follow and it did not seem like the too much information was being presented.
4. The section headings provide a good separation of information and allows the reader to associate the information being stated with a specific meanings. These section headings also allow the the reader to look at specific information and if they want to know about just one area then the reader can read just that specific area and not have to read the entire paper.
1. In the essay "Who Deserves a Head Start" the write presents some interesting fact that are supported with great statistics. But of me the whole idea of the paper got lost in the amount of time it too the write to make its point clear. I also liked the graph that was added to the paper to break it up and to add to the validity of the papers point.
In the Essay "Pursuing an Educated Mind" the paper is shorter and to the point. This essay could have used some visual aides to support the information, but compared to the other essay this one was a lot easier to follow and it did not seem like the too much information was being presented.
Exp. 1 Unit 3
I actually got a lot of info from the groups we got in to discuss our papers and what maybe to focus on more. The group gave me a lot of impute as to where I needed improvement and maybe needed to put a little more focus. There were several questions that arouse in my head as to what I can do to gain more knowledge of my community. One big question that I kept going over was that of the use of force. It’s been something that has bothered me and is misunderstood by almost everyone. When an officer uses force there is always going to be someone that is going to complain about it being too much. So what do they do, they go and tell all their friends that they saw a “pig” tackle down a kid and chuff him. Now don’t get me wrong I do feel that there should be a good check and balance system with everything. There are times that they do need us force and times when there shouldn’t be as much force used. So I guess the question that I want to really look into and talk about is, what is the use of force and when does it become excessive? I feel there is a lot to learn about it. I feel there is going to be a good amount of information to find with it. It’s an issue that, at times, can become very heated. Most people feel officers use way too much force. Think about it like this. If your mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, or even friends life is on the line would you rather the officers sit back and hope they are going to be ok, or would you rather the officer’s use a little bit of force to ensure that they are going to be able to hug you again.
Reading response
Pursuing and educated mind:
3) The essay presented a great deal of evidence that the writer had found. There was plenty of evidence showing the different ways that language is being taught in the U.S. The writer goes into great detail about how hard it could be for some students to learn English and also do well in school too.
4) The purpose of the section headings was to let the reader know a switch in direction. If it was just paragraph after paragraph a reader might be little lost as to which direction she was trying to go and what point she was trying to make.
Head Start
1) So the thing that I noticed about the head start essay is that at the end he gives his good opinion as to “What Needs to Happen” It is what his last section is about. That to me was an effect tool. In Educated Mind, she doesn’t give a good opinion as to what she felt should be done to better the situation.
3) The essay presented a great deal of evidence that the writer had found. There was plenty of evidence showing the different ways that language is being taught in the U.S. The writer goes into great detail about how hard it could be for some students to learn English and also do well in school too.
4) The purpose of the section headings was to let the reader know a switch in direction. If it was just paragraph after paragraph a reader might be little lost as to which direction she was trying to go and what point she was trying to make.
Head Start
1) So the thing that I noticed about the head start essay is that at the end he gives his good opinion as to “What Needs to Happen” It is what his last section is about. That to me was an effect tool. In Educated Mind, she doesn’t give a good opinion as to what she felt should be done to better the situation.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Question 1
1. Well, In the essay: Who deserves a head start? I think that a lot of the facts like how much money is going where, and how helpful the government is with the head start program is effective. But I feel like this essay just drug on for one to many pages. It could have been easily condensed.
In the "Pursuing the Educated Mind" I thought the most effective part was the suggestions for increased effectivness. For me it's nice to give example from Erin's point of view on how she thinks that the community could help by funding and volunteering.
In the "Pursuing the Educated Mind" I thought the most effective part was the suggestions for increased effectivness. For me it's nice to give example from Erin's point of view on how she thinks that the community could help by funding and volunteering.
Questions 3 and 4
3. The main part of evidence that is presented is some statistics about the second grade reading and mathe score being much higher after leaning a second language. Also I think the author has good, reliable sources that back up her information.
4. I think that the purpose of the headings are just to stay organized throughout her argument.
4. I think that the purpose of the headings are just to stay organized throughout her argument.
Exploration 1 unit 3
Inquires that were brought up in class with my team was they wanted more information about the ankle bracelets. How they worked? What other things that they could monitor with their use? It seems to be something I could research. It possibly could have a lot of pros and cons or agencies that favor them and some that would oppose them.
Another question was about judging people for how they look and maybe how much money they have. This would seem to be a very hard topic to work with, with lots of opinions and not too much real data to back it up.
The other thing that I didn’t get to touch on much was the training that PO’s will get as compared to a regular police officer. Would be a good comparison essay but to argue one of them would seem futile as they both are much needed and both serve the community very nicely.
The only other thing that was fascinating to me was the history of John Augustus. How he started the probation process from nothing. Would like to argue about that or maybe that probation has its place and serves a very important rule in the rehabilitation of some criminals. That without them we would be overrun by prisons and costs of taking care of them all. This is also a very goes topic that I my consider taking. It would work well with my investigations I have already done.
So it seems that I would like to write about the probation officers job and how it effects the rehabilitation of criminals, which is one of the primary reasons John started taking on drunkards so very long ago. Research would be found in statistics of people who re-offend after jail as opposed to how many re-offend after probation. How much time and money is spent on an offender while in jail as opposed to being on probation. I could also incorporate the ankle bracelet in as a part of the argument for Probation officers, especially the drug court ones. This is very important to me as they affect a group of people that I have been a part of for years. The group is drug court and they help so many people change their lives around and get out of drugs and alcohol that have ruined their lives completely, in most cases.
Another question was about judging people for how they look and maybe how much money they have. This would seem to be a very hard topic to work with, with lots of opinions and not too much real data to back it up.
The other thing that I didn’t get to touch on much was the training that PO’s will get as compared to a regular police officer. Would be a good comparison essay but to argue one of them would seem futile as they both are much needed and both serve the community very nicely.
The only other thing that was fascinating to me was the history of John Augustus. How he started the probation process from nothing. Would like to argue about that or maybe that probation has its place and serves a very important rule in the rehabilitation of some criminals. That without them we would be overrun by prisons and costs of taking care of them all. This is also a very goes topic that I my consider taking. It would work well with my investigations I have already done.
So it seems that I would like to write about the probation officers job and how it effects the rehabilitation of criminals, which is one of the primary reasons John started taking on drunkards so very long ago. Research would be found in statistics of people who re-offend after jail as opposed to how many re-offend after probation. How much time and money is spent on an offender while in jail as opposed to being on probation. I could also incorporate the ankle bracelet in as a part of the argument for Probation officers, especially the drug court ones. This is very important to me as they affect a group of people that I have been a part of for years. The group is drug court and they help so many people change their lives around and get out of drugs and alcohol that have ruined their lives completely, in most cases.
Questions for Unit Three
3 What kinds of evidence does this essay present?
Multiple resources from books and papers that people have wrote about particular aspects of this essay. I have never really read an essay like this to tell you the truth. Citations are only what they seem to be I guess. They could be merely made up or quoted from some quack who doesn’t know his head from a bowling ball. Nut having the information there if I so choose I can look it up myself and make a decision myself. Personally I tried to look up the online transcript “double talk” and didn’t find anything there. But I looked up Crawford James, bilingual education and found that it was a true form of research and seems to be creditable. Reading it the first time I truly didn’t catch it all as is the case with me. I read it the second time with the intent to find something and it seems that with a little reference here and there it sure does help make a point that the author (Elmore) is trying to make.
4 Notice Elmore’s section heading? What purpose do they serve?
Seems they have a grand purpose of explaining the paragraphs to follow. Breaking them away from the previous lines, and generally separating the whole paper up into more manageable augments.
1 page 329
Compare both essays?
Well I felt that the first essay was a little more to the point as it was talking about “bilingual education” I talked about how it effects youth in school that can’t comprehend what’s going on because they do not understand the language. To teaching those in their native language will keep them learning until they can grasp the change over from one language to another. They will still be learning the whole time not trying to catch up as it were to everyone else after they learn a new language. Seems to be a good argument.
The second essay was full of statistics and numbers and references to people living better lives because they went to head start. While I could see that education is a very important aspect of growing up it seems to be pushing the envelope a bit. Like making judgments that children without the extra education afforded by head start will be more likely to commit crimes and marry out of wed lock and are labeled at-risk children. That with head start they will became respectable people in the community and starting off on the right track early will keep them out of jail. Seems to be a very bold essay and it is more about what it might cost to send every child to head start or preschool, compared to what it will cost later down the road when they have family troubles, institutions, legal issues, and much more. Seems to put a lot of importance into the head start program.
Multiple resources from books and papers that people have wrote about particular aspects of this essay. I have never really read an essay like this to tell you the truth. Citations are only what they seem to be I guess. They could be merely made up or quoted from some quack who doesn’t know his head from a bowling ball. Nut having the information there if I so choose I can look it up myself and make a decision myself. Personally I tried to look up the online transcript “double talk” and didn’t find anything there. But I looked up Crawford James, bilingual education and found that it was a true form of research and seems to be creditable. Reading it the first time I truly didn’t catch it all as is the case with me. I read it the second time with the intent to find something and it seems that with a little reference here and there it sure does help make a point that the author (Elmore) is trying to make.
4 Notice Elmore’s section heading? What purpose do they serve?
Seems they have a grand purpose of explaining the paragraphs to follow. Breaking them away from the previous lines, and generally separating the whole paper up into more manageable augments.
1 page 329
Compare both essays?
Well I felt that the first essay was a little more to the point as it was talking about “bilingual education” I talked about how it effects youth in school that can’t comprehend what’s going on because they do not understand the language. To teaching those in their native language will keep them learning until they can grasp the change over from one language to another. They will still be learning the whole time not trying to catch up as it were to everyone else after they learn a new language. Seems to be a good argument.
The second essay was full of statistics and numbers and references to people living better lives because they went to head start. While I could see that education is a very important aspect of growing up it seems to be pushing the envelope a bit. Like making judgments that children without the extra education afforded by head start will be more likely to commit crimes and marry out of wed lock and are labeled at-risk children. That with head start they will became respectable people in the community and starting off on the right track early will keep them out of jail. Seems to be a very bold essay and it is more about what it might cost to send every child to head start or preschool, compared to what it will cost later down the road when they have family troubles, institutions, legal issues, and much more. Seems to put a lot of importance into the head start program.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Exploration 2
My second observation, which is off the first set of notes I gathered, will be another look into the same questions and interview/observation I did previously. The reason I am doing this off the same set of notes are I have not been able to get any response from the drug court P.O.s up to this time. I have left numerous messages with their office and cell phones and have not gotten any calls back as of yet. I also called Ada county probation and parole to see if there was any way I could get into an interview with anyone else. I talked to the secretary and she said that they are very busy and that I could leave a message for them. That was what I did and haven’t heard back from them as of yet. I also tried the canyon county with the same results.
So up to this point in time I am looking back with some more effort to get any more ideas from the only interaction I have with my community. So with what I have found is that they are truly very busy people or should I say P.O.’s. Looking into their job descriptions and what officer one had told me was that they do a lot of different jobs for each and every client. From being a social worker for clients that need help with their children and family’s to protection services to help with domestic violence and protection orders, to helping them find employment and doing back ground checks on people they what to hang out with or maybe even start dating. They are like a very over protective parent to each client they have. Some are very nurturing and nice and gentle while others may be like a stern almost military like parent that wants their client to follow all the rules and jump when they are told to do so. Either way the offender will most likely not like following the rules at first as they are not used to it. Officer two told me that “they are all very predictable at first,” meaning that all the clients will act the same at first by fighting the system and not following the rules.
So up to this point in time I am looking back with some more effort to get any more ideas from the only interaction I have with my community. So with what I have found is that they are truly very busy people or should I say P.O.’s. Looking into their job descriptions and what officer one had told me was that they do a lot of different jobs for each and every client. From being a social worker for clients that need help with their children and family’s to protection services to help with domestic violence and protection orders, to helping them find employment and doing back ground checks on people they what to hang out with or maybe even start dating. They are like a very over protective parent to each client they have. Some are very nurturing and nice and gentle while others may be like a stern almost military like parent that wants their client to follow all the rules and jump when they are told to do so. Either way the offender will most likely not like following the rules at first as they are not used to it. Officer two told me that “they are all very predictable at first,” meaning that all the clients will act the same at first by fighting the system and not following the rules.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Exploration 2
Danielle Valentine
Exploration 2
This round of observation was a lot like the last one. It was mainly a ride alone, but Kevin took me to his officer because he hadn’t gotten anything to eat that day so we went there. And I got to meet a few of his co-workers, which were pretty cool. While I was there they made a lot of jokes and made fun of each other, which was really funny. After a while after asking me a couple of questions about what I was doing they started making jokes about me, which made me feel a little more welcome in their office.
After that Kevin and I left with Huck, and when we got back out to the car Kevin showed me his huge gun that he has in the back of his car. I asked if it was loaded, and he looked at me funny and then I felt stupid for asking… One thing that did surprise me was where the homeless shelter was. I drive past it all the time and I didn’t know it was where it was. Also, I can’t really remember where his officer was, but I remember that It was in a part of town that I would have guessed. The building kind of looked like old house and you can’t tell it’s a police office if you didn’t see the cop cars in the back.
I was hoping to get to see some action that day but nothing really happens during the day, Kevin told me that in the future if I want to go on another ride alone that all I had to do was ask and it might be at night, when all the dealers get busted. I think I’m going to email him my paper when I’m done with it because he seemed pretty interested in the project I was doing. Kevin is a pretty cool guy. He was down for doing anything I wanted, well, for the most part. While we were waiting in his car for something to happened down the road, that was when I pulled out my interview questions. He was very helpful and answered all of my questions with great detail. Most of his answers answered some of my other questions. So that was a big help. This learning experience has been so much fun. I have had a blast getting to know all of the people in this community and it has given me a better opinion on Police officers and what they do.
Exploration 2
This round of observation was a lot like the last one. It was mainly a ride alone, but Kevin took me to his officer because he hadn’t gotten anything to eat that day so we went there. And I got to meet a few of his co-workers, which were pretty cool. While I was there they made a lot of jokes and made fun of each other, which was really funny. After a while after asking me a couple of questions about what I was doing they started making jokes about me, which made me feel a little more welcome in their office.
After that Kevin and I left with Huck, and when we got back out to the car Kevin showed me his huge gun that he has in the back of his car. I asked if it was loaded, and he looked at me funny and then I felt stupid for asking… One thing that did surprise me was where the homeless shelter was. I drive past it all the time and I didn’t know it was where it was. Also, I can’t really remember where his officer was, but I remember that It was in a part of town that I would have guessed. The building kind of looked like old house and you can’t tell it’s a police office if you didn’t see the cop cars in the back.
I was hoping to get to see some action that day but nothing really happens during the day, Kevin told me that in the future if I want to go on another ride alone that all I had to do was ask and it might be at night, when all the dealers get busted. I think I’m going to email him my paper when I’m done with it because he seemed pretty interested in the project I was doing. Kevin is a pretty cool guy. He was down for doing anything I wanted, well, for the most part. While we were waiting in his car for something to happened down the road, that was when I pulled out my interview questions. He was very helpful and answered all of my questions with great detail. Most of his answers answered some of my other questions. So that was a big help. This learning experience has been so much fun. I have had a blast getting to know all of the people in this community and it has given me a better opinion on Police officers and what they do.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Latteral move
I talked to a Man that is in drug court, will call him Dave. Dave says he has seen four different Po's during the time he has had in drug court. he also says that some of them he doesn't like much because they have their nose stuck in the air wit a Holy er then tho attitude! they are noisy and disrespect him and his family. Dave also says that ther are two that are very nice and like to talk to him. They don't disrespect him in his house when the wife and kids are around or sleeping and keep it down so as not to wake anybody. They don't treat him like a herd animal and show some interest in how he is doing. He doesn't see them as much as he used to back when He first got into drug court. they came around about once a week then and now it's about once a month.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
My Exploration
The one thing that stood out to me while I was observing/participating this last Tuesday was that I didn’t realize how many different things the officer I went with was involved it. I had no idea that little old Boise, Idaho had its own SWAT team. That is crazy to me, because you never hear anything about them on the news or in the newspapers. They kind of keep to themselves about the careers. Also a lot of the police officers on the Boise SWAT Team are involved with narcotics and drug dogs. These police officers don’t usually pull people over for speeding and they usually don’t respond to small calls, like complaints against neighbors and what not. These officers handle the big stuff!
A lot of questions come to mind when I was on my observation. A few questions I actually asked him as I thought of them. A few were, How often do you let people ride along with you? And the answer to that was none, unless for favors. I was the first people that the officer had in a really long time. Which was kind of cool that they don’t do that a lot. Other questions that I have for a future interview are, What types of dogs do you look for when you chose them to teach. How often do you get called out? How often do you train? What is the most common thing you get called out for? What kinds of things do you do for fun, and so on.
Details that seem interesting to me is all of the training they have to go through. I don’t know yet how much but I know that they have to work out all the time to be about to stay fit. Most of their equipment weights 40 to 50 pounds on top of their body weight. Also I want to know how long it takes to train a dog to do what they do. I know dogs naturally have a great sense of smell but how do you teach them to look for certain scents. Another detail is I always wonder what there personal life is like? Do there family support them, is it a hard job to keep a family with a job like this?
There are a lot of things that I want to learn about this job field, mainly because I want to go into this job field eventually. I want to know what the qualifications are of doing what all of these people do. Another thing I want to learn is what other jobs are in this area, and do women get to work in these fields.
What surprises me about my observations was how much he shared with me and what all he let me see, like all of his drugs, he even let me smell some of the drugs. Also he showed me their department where they do all of there training. He also showed me all of the cool things his dog can do. He pulled people over (for a purpose not just for fun) I was able to see the dog search a car that could potentially have drugs in it. I almost saw some people get arrested.
I can’t wait till my next observation! It’s going to be a blast!
A lot of questions come to mind when I was on my observation. A few questions I actually asked him as I thought of them. A few were, How often do you let people ride along with you? And the answer to that was none, unless for favors. I was the first people that the officer had in a really long time. Which was kind of cool that they don’t do that a lot. Other questions that I have for a future interview are, What types of dogs do you look for when you chose them to teach. How often do you get called out? How often do you train? What is the most common thing you get called out for? What kinds of things do you do for fun, and so on.
Details that seem interesting to me is all of the training they have to go through. I don’t know yet how much but I know that they have to work out all the time to be about to stay fit. Most of their equipment weights 40 to 50 pounds on top of their body weight. Also I want to know how long it takes to train a dog to do what they do. I know dogs naturally have a great sense of smell but how do you teach them to look for certain scents. Another detail is I always wonder what there personal life is like? Do there family support them, is it a hard job to keep a family with a job like this?
There are a lot of things that I want to learn about this job field, mainly because I want to go into this job field eventually. I want to know what the qualifications are of doing what all of these people do. Another thing I want to learn is what other jobs are in this area, and do women get to work in these fields.
What surprises me about my observations was how much he shared with me and what all he let me see, like all of his drugs, he even let me smell some of the drugs. Also he showed me their department where they do all of there training. He also showed me all of the cool things his dog can do. He pulled people over (for a purpose not just for fun) I was able to see the dog search a car that could potentially have drugs in it. I almost saw some people get arrested.
I can’t wait till my next observation! It’s going to be a blast!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Artifact Sketch
The item I chose to use as an artifact for my Community is the GPS tracking bracelet.
The unit can be either a one-piece unit, looking much like an ankle bracelet, that transmits data to/from the GPS system; or it can be a two-piece electronically tethered bracelet and cell phone/GPS receiver. The ones tied to a home base that will alert authorities if the offender has left a particular area they have been assigned to typically their home. It will also monitor the offenders heart beat so the probation officers will be alerted if they cut the ankle bracelet it off. For the tracking bracelets the Officers will have a tracking monitor that will show the offenders location within a few feet and it will down load there location during the day so the probation officer can down load the travel information and see if they have been to there classes and meeting and also see if they were there the whole time that they were supposed to be there,
This monitoring system is very valuable to the officers as they don’t have to travel around to check on particular offenders that are high risk of non compliance. The PO’s can check on specific classes and meetings that the probationers have been assigned to, with a quick download off the internet.
This system right now is at about $9 dollars a day to monitor someone. It costs from $36.00 to $50,00 a day to incarcerate an offender per day. So this is a very cost effective and time affective tool that probation uses. It helps keep a leash so to speak on the high risk individuals that a few years ago would have to be watched on a constant biases where as now the officer can just look on the screen and see where they are or download there data and check it with the offenders schedule.
The item I chose to use as an artifact for my Community is the GPS tracking bracelet.
The unit can be either a one-piece unit, looking much like an ankle bracelet, that transmits data to/from the GPS system; or it can be a two-piece electronically tethered bracelet and cell phone/GPS receiver. The ones tied to a home base that will alert authorities if the offender has left a particular area they have been assigned to typically their home. It will also monitor the offenders heart beat so the probation officers will be alerted if they cut the ankle bracelet it off. For the tracking bracelets the Officers will have a tracking monitor that will show the offenders location within a few feet and it will down load there location during the day so the probation officer can down load the travel information and see if they have been to there classes and meeting and also see if they were there the whole time that they were supposed to be there,
This monitoring system is very valuable to the officers as they don’t have to travel around to check on particular offenders that are high risk of non compliance. The PO’s can check on specific classes and meetings that the probationers have been assigned to, with a quick download off the internet.
This system right now is at about $9 dollars a day to monitor someone. It costs from $36.00 to $50,00 a day to incarcerate an offender per day. So this is a very cost effective and time affective tool that probation uses. It helps keep a leash so to speak on the high risk individuals that a few years ago would have to be watched on a constant biases where as now the officer can just look on the screen and see where they are or download there data and check it with the offenders schedule.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Gloosary
PO – Parole Officer……Helps people that have been arrested for breaking the law. Like help them make good healthy decisions on work, friends, relations, and where they hangout, and keeping them accountable to the laws that are set out in our society.
Parolee…..One who has broken the law and needs help and guidance to make better decisions to keep from breaking the law. They also Help the parolee in being responsible for their actions.
Staffing…..Meetings about clients to deicide future determinations about jail, release, no contact orders, relationships and other types of counseling that a client might need. These are held with counselors, PO’s, and the Judge or judges involved with the parolee.
Pick-up…..When an Officer is going to get a future or current client who has gotten arrested for another crime somewhere else or has been breaking the rules.
Back Ground……Checking anyone’s past out that might be in contact with a parolee. See if they are appropriate to be hanging out and making contact with them.
Home checks ……Going to a parolee’s home and surprising them with an inspection of their home and surroundings to see if they are staying out of trouble.
Case load…..The number of clients or parolee’s a Parole officer has to keep track of.
Paraphernalia…..Anything illegal typically found on or around a parolee, usually associated with drugs.
Program…..Referring to a parolee’s new life style and what they are doing different from their life prior to getting into trouble with the law.
Ankle bracelet…..This is what parolee’s get when they are not doing what they are supposed to be doing. So they get a tracking bracelet that the offices track the client on a GPS system. The GPS Keeps track of then down to the nearest inch.
GPS-Global Positioning System…..It is the computer driven system the interfaces with satellites to locate a signal coming from a ankle bracelet.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Exploration #1
With my most recent observation I went and met with Tony of “A Minds Eye Tattoo”. From the first day that I met with Tony I knew that my previous perceptions of tattoo artists were very off and miss guided. Tony was very laid back and mellow guy. One thing that surprised me right off the bat was how soft his hands were. They were as soft as any girls hands I had ever felt. For the image that he portrays does not go along with how soft his hand were. That was a total shocker to me. The question that came from that was why they were so soft but that was soon answered a day later when I went back for my first observation.
In my resent observations I have notice that my previous ideas and thought of a tattoo parlor have been drastically wrong and have been misguided by T.V. and the movies. My ideas going into this project have been that these places would be a bit more run down, dark rooms, they would have pictures and drawings all over every inch of the walls, the rooms would be filled with smoke and hard heavy metal music would be blaring over the speakers. In very contrast what I found was the shop was very clean, with the entrance seeming to be like entering an office building with a front waiting room and a desk. As you enter the back room there was two soft padded leather chairs that were up right but could be also reclined depending on the tattoo that was to be was given. The walls had a nice read paint that went well with the Asian theme of art and statues that were placed all around the room with a few Volcom stars around the room as well. The room was also very lightly lit so that Tony could see what he was doing without the assistance of a lap or light. The music playing over the speaker was some rock music but not too heavy and over bearing that one could not have a conversation in the room. What it added was some back ground music to the constant noise from the tattoo gun.
As I sat there watching Tony give a man a tattoo I was just flooded with questions that I would like to ask Toney in an interview later on in the process. A question that has come to mind is why has Tony chosen to give the parlor an Asian them? Is there any significance to the Asian statues and if so what kind? Is there a reason why he picked to be in the particular location the he is in right now? After seeing him do some work on the man that Tony was giving the tattoo to the thought came to my mind was who was it that gave him his tattoos? I would have been too difficult for him to give them to himself. The man that was getting the tattoo seemed to be very relaxed and enjoying the process which brought up the question; Do people fall asleep while getting tattoo and if so do you continues and are there any rules on what kind of condition a person must be in to receive a tattoo? Some of my best question came when I observed Tony’s apprentice prepare to give a lady a tattoo in the shoulder. These ranged from what kind of training does it take to allow someone to give a tattoo to another person? Then towards the end a whole load of question came surround the ink that is used to give tattoos. Like what makes it different form ink in a pen? Where do they get it and is it expensive and many more questions.
In my resent observations I have notice that my previous ideas and thought of a tattoo parlor have been drastically wrong and have been misguided by T.V. and the movies. My ideas going into this project have been that these places would be a bit more run down, dark rooms, they would have pictures and drawings all over every inch of the walls, the rooms would be filled with smoke and hard heavy metal music would be blaring over the speakers. In very contrast what I found was the shop was very clean, with the entrance seeming to be like entering an office building with a front waiting room and a desk. As you enter the back room there was two soft padded leather chairs that were up right but could be also reclined depending on the tattoo that was to be was given. The walls had a nice read paint that went well with the Asian theme of art and statues that were placed all around the room with a few Volcom stars around the room as well. The room was also very lightly lit so that Tony could see what he was doing without the assistance of a lap or light. The music playing over the speaker was some rock music but not too heavy and over bearing that one could not have a conversation in the room. What it added was some back ground music to the constant noise from the tattoo gun.
As I sat there watching Tony give a man a tattoo I was just flooded with questions that I would like to ask Toney in an interview later on in the process. A question that has come to mind is why has Tony chosen to give the parlor an Asian them? Is there any significance to the Asian statues and if so what kind? Is there a reason why he picked to be in the particular location the he is in right now? After seeing him do some work on the man that Tony was giving the tattoo to the thought came to my mind was who was it that gave him his tattoos? I would have been too difficult for him to give them to himself. The man that was getting the tattoo seemed to be very relaxed and enjoying the process which brought up the question; Do people fall asleep while getting tattoo and if so do you continues and are there any rules on what kind of condition a person must be in to receive a tattoo? Some of my best question came when I observed Tony’s apprentice prepare to give a lady a tattoo in the shoulder. These ranged from what kind of training does it take to allow someone to give a tattoo to another person? Then towards the end a whole load of question came surround the ink that is used to give tattoos. Like what makes it different form ink in a pen? Where do they get it and is it expensive and many more questions.
Exp. 1
So the first observation that I did was at the POST academy out in Meridian. This is the academy that the officers to be are trained. The instructor that was teaching the cadets was very helpful and actually thought it was a pretty cool thing for me to be doing. For the fact that it was explained to him that I has a student at Boise State, getting my degree into Criminal Justice, and wanted to learn and obverse the community of police officers. So he was very helpful. One thing I didn’t anticipate was that he was going to have be participate in the class. By this I mean, before the class started he had me get up in front of the cadets and introduce myself and let them know what I was doing. After doing so, I noticed that several of the cadets straightened up in their seats, as if I were doing an evaluation of them as cadets and that it was going to affect their graduating from the academy. SO right off the bat I figured that they weren’t going to act in a normal manner and the observation was going to be slightly watered down because they were going to be acting in a normal manner. After about 15 minutes this was not the case. They seemed to have forgotten that I was there and were much more focused. The course that they were going over was proper procedure in common scenarios that they were going to come across on a regular basis such as, domestic dispute, disturbance, etc…
During one of the breaks I was able to talk to a couple of the cadets and got some really good info on their back grounds, what made them enter into law enforcement, were they wanted it to take them, and if they wanted to go federal or even thought about it. SO I got little interviews with some of them. The answers to most of the question really surprised me because it wasn’t the answers that I expected, or maybe they weren’t the answers that I would have given to the same questions. The Instructor also said that he would be more than willing to set a time for an interview.
As I was talking to the instructor, another instructor approached and joined the conversation. He turned out to be the Sergeant in charge of operations. He too was very intrigued about my assignment and wanted to help also. With that being said, and long story short, he offered to allow me to observe some instructional videos that the DEA had sent them about drug bust. Which has actual footage from a camera crew that fallowed the team. It was a good day of observation. Next time I get to observe field course work.
During one of the breaks I was able to talk to a couple of the cadets and got some really good info on their back grounds, what made them enter into law enforcement, were they wanted it to take them, and if they wanted to go federal or even thought about it. SO I got little interviews with some of them. The answers to most of the question really surprised me because it wasn’t the answers that I expected, or maybe they weren’t the answers that I would have given to the same questions. The Instructor also said that he would be more than willing to set a time for an interview.
As I was talking to the instructor, another instructor approached and joined the conversation. He turned out to be the Sergeant in charge of operations. He too was very intrigued about my assignment and wanted to help also. With that being said, and long story short, he offered to allow me to observe some instructional videos that the DEA had sent them about drug bust. Which has actual footage from a camera crew that fallowed the team. It was a good day of observation. Next time I get to observe field course work.
Exploration 1
I did my observations with this group and find it hard to just watch them as they had lots of questions and really wanted me to know a lot about their job and what it entails as they told me what their days mainly consisted of right from the start like they really wanted me to know. Not like they were complaining but maybe because of who I am I’m thinking.
The thing that stands out the most about my observations is that the PO’s do a lot of work on the computer. Mainly in the form of doing paper work on everything that they do, from just talking to a client to even talking to me in there office. Everything has to be documented in their job as I observed in the hour I was there and from what they told me.
I find that I want to know what it feels like to walk into a house that my or my not have any illegal activities going on inside. I would think it would be very exciting to say the least. I also would like to know more about their personal lives and what they do when they are not at work. This is kind of a personal thing for me. Other details I liked were the GPS tracking systems. How they have evolved and where they think that they are going to go in the future.
I need to learn more about how their case loads effect how much time they get to spend on each client. What do they do with each client? How they split up the work between themselves. What kind of things they find on home checks. I think it would also be kind of cool to hear some of the funnies things that they have run into while working there at drug court
The things that they talked about the most after they got over me being there and wanting to tell me everything I wanted to know was about client’s information. Like one PO was making calls to inform clients that they needed to call back and check in. Seems that nobody answered the re phone to him but some of them would call back after the listened to the message. Guess they don’t answer to unavailable numbers. So he would say stuff about different peoples answering messages. Another PO was very quiet and was watching a GPS tracking device and then doing paperwork, back and forth. The PO I thought was the leader of the three was doing phone calls to California tracking someone down. So he would give an update on every step closer he came. Up until he found out the guy was in town again.
What surprises me the most about these guys was how slow they worked and how hard it is for them to get information about people. When you have to do back ground checks on people it seems that they were getting more info by just talking to people on the phone rather than internet searches or what was on the system to begin with.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Identify an artifact Pleasant
An artifact that could be used is the flyers that he talks about on page 139. This would give and idea of the styles and ideas that punk rockers use.
I think on would be the leather jacket which would have been adorn by multiple patches of things like the DK Dead kennedys, Anarchy, Butt hoole surfers, and spikes. From the first page of the reading 137.
The significants of this artifact was that everyone had them back then and they really ook lots of time to make them and personalize them.
The significants of this artifact was that everyone had them back then and they really ook lots of time to make them and personalize them.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Question #1. The artifact that I thoughthe could have collected from his research was a potition sign that they used on election day. Pg. 104.
Question #2. This is significant because it is a big part in his story. talking about elections etc...
Question out of the book. #3. Kiddler's perspective shapes his writing because he cares alot about what other people think, so he was trying to be sympethetic in all areas, I thought. For my communtiy, I know there is a big ethnic difference around where I live and my attitude shapes the way I think about it fanominaly, because of all the illegal imigration going on. I just don't like it, and I could go on about it forever but i'm leaving it to that.
Punk artifact
I thought a good artifact would be one of the sleeves from the albums that they talked about listoning to and learning the lyrics, from pg 142. They said it was a major source of thier learning of the punk world.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
A moral Place
I liked the reading and thought all the changes that took place in it were very intersting especially considering the picture that is initially painted by the author for the reader. when I was reading I thought that the writer presented a very unbiased picture of the town and the evolution of the demographics of the town and what was socially and morally acceptable by the town as time changed
question 3
I thought that the writing was not very interesting to me. I had a hard time reading it. It seemed to be all over to me from the rich and poor and then to the gay and homosexuals. To how everyone was concerned about the way everyone else voted. But I guess it does paint a very big picture of the whole event and leading up to it. Some history about the area and the changes that have come about over the years. then it also had some after math with the consequences from the vote. It seems to cover a lot of information and you can see that they were very thoughtful and observant of the subject they were writing about.
When it come to my community that I have chosen I have some ideas of how they treat people and especially how they treat probationers. Like with little to no respect and also the people around the probationers that get affected by the way they treat them. There is also the fact that they have big case loads and see many people that are doing bad and some that are doing good and seem to judge a lot on that information.
When it come to my community that I have chosen I have some ideas of how they treat people and especially how they treat probationers. Like with little to no respect and also the people around the probationers that get affected by the way they treat them. There is also the fact that they have big case loads and see many people that are doing bad and some that are doing good and seem to judge a lot on that information.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Q 3 from reading
SO I felt that the writer didn't take to one side or the other. I felt like he was the commentator of the vote telling both sides of the tale. As for my own community, my wife considers me to be an introvert and I stay to myself. She on the other hand is very outgoing and likes to talk to and help everyone in our neighborhood. So for me I describe it as nice and quiet but she would take up your whole day explain how and why it's nice and quiet.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
People that I know that are within the community that I chose are my Criminal Justice professor, and two police officers that help out with the athletic department here at Boise State. That is pretty much who all I know right now at the moment. But I'm sure talking to the people that I know right now, I will have no problem finding more people to talk to about my community!
Insiders
The insiders that know are few but the connections that I have are a bit more. My good friend Jeff has told me that he would put me in contact with the person that does his tattoos. I also have another buddy that said he would do the same. I have also talked over the phone with Dave Stone the owner and tattoo artist of Broadway Tattoo and Body. There are also a few others people that said they could get me in contact with others artists.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Starting our blog
My first contacts are Janet day who is the head counselor at Drug Court and who I have all ready talked to about this and the other is Marrien Baker Who it head of the whole Ada County Drug Court.
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