Common Stereotype: Good or Bad?

By: Samantha Martinez

One of the most common stereotypes about police officers is that most eat doughnuts and drink coffee throughout their day. Even in television shows like, " The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" the stereotype is portrayed. The stereotype goes way back to the 1950's because their was a lot of doughnut shops frequently visited by police officers.  I mean what is so harmful about eating doughnuts and coffee during break? I think even people who are not police officers usually have  a doughnut and coffee throughout their day, but they do not get stereotyped off it.Even some police officers may not like to eat doughnuts. In my opinion,  I wouldn't mind eating doughnuts on my break and the public judging me off it, but people should not assume thats what cops do all day.  Cops have duties to complete like protecting the people and the community.

More often,during night shifts back in the day, doughnut shops were usually opened 24 hours a day. So cops would go there to fill out paper work or any other duty.Former Seattle Chief of Police Norm Stamper stated, " They could pack lunch, pray for all night diner on their beat, or fill up on doughnuts. Doughnuts usually won out. They were, to most palates,tasty, and they were cheap and convenient." There is still a few doughnut shops that are opened 24 hours a day and are visited by police officers. A website named  The Policy Daily even posts picture of police officers with donuts or any sugary foods.There is actually some doughnut places named, " Cops and Doughnuts," in Michigan. I find that very amusing and maybe one day I will visit one. 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-doughnut-loving-cops-became-stereotype-180956730/
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/09/started-cops-eating-donuts-stereotype/

Musical Biography - Post #7

By Braden Hanks

Today, we will chronicle the history of one of the most influential band composers of all time: Gustav Holst.

Gustav Holst began his life being born in Chenltenham, England, on September 21, 1874, as the first of two children.  Through his early years, he frequently played piano, while violin bored him.  This enjoyment was then coupled with is unknown weak vision and asthma.

Holst entered the musical industry with his first organist job in 1893, which grew his knowledge of choral music and composition, which would influence his compositions all throughout his life.  It was only a few years later that Gustav would attend the Royal College of Music, where his picked up the trombone to earn money playing in orchestras and hopefully help his chest problems.

A few years later, Holst fell in love with a woman named Emily Isobel Harrison in 1901, as he began to write his most famous piece, The Planets.

After the release of his most famous work, Holst dove into the world of band music, coming up with such works as the two military band suites in both Eb and F.  It is thought he received most of his influence for wind music through the famous composer Raelph Vaughn Williams, whom he was close friends with.

Late in life, in 1930, Gustav wrote the great Hammersmith, along with taking a speaking job at Harvard in 1932.  Later, in 1934, he was given an option for a minor operation and limited life, or a major operation and a larger life.  He chose the latter.

The operation was successful in may 1934, but his heart couldn't take the strain.  He died on may 25th.

Prompt 8: Beyond the Job

By: Samantha Martinez

 

( NYP who delivered a baby on FDR drive.)

A police officer duty is to protect the community and minimize crime. Some officers have gone beyond those duties. An interesting article named " Meet the officers going beyond the call of
duty," by Ray Sanchez describes the events that some police officers are considered heroes.

 New York Highway and Emergency Service unit officers helped a woman in labor when she was in rush hour traffic.The heroic officer's names are Detective Sharpe Kevin Moran and Frank Denicola. It's amazing what officers that doesn't get as much attention as the negative things the news portrays.

In San Francisco, a heroic officer is named Officer Brian Kneuker and a couple other officers raised 400 dollars to provide a hotel and food for a homeless woman and her autistic son. It was not the duty for the police officers to raise money for no one, but they did it out of kindness. I think actions like these show that some police officers genuinely care about the people in the community. Officer Kneuker states himself, " Who knows where they could have ended up, but when we got the call, our goal was, were not going to have them end up on the street." Many more officers have gone beyond their job to help the people. The community should thank those who have. I hope to become one of these heroic officers myself.


http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/29/us/beyond-the-call-of-duty-policing-in-america/

The First Serial Killer?

Blog post week 8
Cassy Rymas
 The torso murders of Cleveland, Ohio. This case is very interesting and a historical case in my field since it was THE FIRST SERIAL KILLER! The killings took place in the 1930s. The first bodies were found in September of 1935, in the Kingsbury Run area. The killings were called the torso murders because the killer beheaded them and sometimes other parts of the body as well. Many of the victims were left unidentified because they were taken for lower parts of society and didn’t have a face. At this time fingerprinting and looking at dental records were impossible.

The scene at the foot of Jackass Hill, September 23, 1935: Edward Andrassy’s headless, emasculated corpse. Photo courtesy of Marjorie Merylo Dentz.

 After more victims showed up of different genders the famous Eliot Ness became involved, as he was Cleveland’s chief of Public Safety. Unfortunately, even with his work, the murders continued. As the years passed more bodies started to pile up. As the possible suspects for the killings stayed very limited. The police hit dead end after dead end. The case broke open when they got the lead on one man who was known for being in the bar often, talking to the few who were identified, and he was known for anger. After hours of questioning, he confessed to one murder. However, before he could be questioned about any other murders, he killed himself. His autopsy showed several broken ribs, that he did not have before going into custody. So his confession was believed to be worthless and thrown out. Back to another dead end, the police went. Ness later pursued a doctor. This doctor had a history of mental illness and before Ness could get anything out of him, he committed himself to a mental hospital. This doctor was now out of reach.

Eliot Ness, Cleveland Chief of Public Safety (AP Photo/The Plain Dealer, File).

Coincidentally, once the doctor was locked up, the murders stopped. The case remained unsolved, with no leads and no justice. Many people in law enforcement are hopeful to opening the cold case and solving it with the new technology available in the 21st century. Until then, we wait.

This case is so fascinating because this was the first serial killer. This makes me wonder, is this man the reason we have them today? Did he spark an idea in crazy people’s minds? Why weren’t there any before him? And if the case happened today, would it be solved? So many people died, yet few were identified, even less were suspects and in the end, no one was found guilty for this awful act.

http://www.clevelandpolicemuseum.org/collections/torso-murders/

prompt 7. Body Cameras

Cassy Rymas

In the field of law enforcement, there are many controversies. Some that get solved and some that never do. The one I'm most interested in lately is police body cameras. Should they be allowed? Are they a violation of privacy? These questions are what make this topic a hot debate.

body camera from google images

People who are against body cameras have many good, valid arguments. All of these came from my criminal justice textbook. The main ones being the fourth amendment and expense. One body camera alone cost over 1000. For a whole department, they are looking at plans of 2.1 million! That’s a lot of money, causing a raise in taxes. With this, police cars already have a camera, they're constantly rolling when they stop. Officers point their car towards the suspect, therefore catching the encounter on camera already. The only difference between the car camera and the body camera would be that the body camera would record the police officers’ actions more in depth. However, this can be seen as a violation of the 4^th amendment. The 4^th amendment protects the right to privacy. Now if the body camera always must be on, it will record every action. How would you feel if your every move was recorded? Pretty violated? Yes.

Now the main argument for having them is to stop police brutality. Many people confuse this with the use of force. The definition of use of force is the amount of force necessary to detain a suspect. This is when a cop pushes a drunk person into the back of their car and they end up falling, or when a cop shoves someone's head down to get into the car, this is completely legal. Now, police brutality is the abuse of use of force. Meaning when they pull their gun on someone who is not a threat, this is punishable by law and not legal. 

the use of force model from my textbook

Many people see the fact of an officer being on their own, with no supervision for the majority of their work day making it necessary for a camera. I can see this argument because having a camera would mean someone can watch over them, which I don’t know about you but when your parents are watching you, you probably wouldn't do the same actions you would if they weren’t. Also, the camera on the vehicle sometimes is too far away to catch the situation in good detail. Meaning that if a suspect runs and the cop chases and the suspect ends up dead. They ran out of the view of the camera, so law enforcement should take the word of the officer.  Due to the fact that they are bound by law to always uphold the truth. A body camera would record no matter what the suspect causes the officer to do. If the cop runs, the cameras coming with him/her. This could be a good thing for both the defendant and the cop. A lot of the time cops are accused of a killing being of racist factors. Whether this is true for some, it’s not true or all. A body camera would shed the light on the truth of the matter. There for showing the cop had all the right intentions in the killing. The way this helps the defendants is if the cop does something wrong and violates their rights, they now have proof. As I said before a cop is bound by the law, to tell the truth, this means in the eyes of the law a cop’s word means more than a citizen. So, if the cops say they didn’t do anything wrong, your word saying they did, isn’t gonna do much. If you had the recording then no one’s word matters, only the recording does.

What do you think, should police have body cameras? Think about if you were a cop and your every move was recorded, would you like it?

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2015/01/11/police-body-cameras-five-facts-technology/21616039/
https://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/technology/pages/body-worn-cameras.aspx

Week #6 Prompt

By Braden Hanks

In my exploration of music education scholarly articles, I came across an article from the British Journal For Music Education titled "Music education - why bother", and decided to indulge and respond.

One of the largest points used throughout the text is the key differences music education has from other 'school' type activities, such as core classes and sports.  While core classes and many sports are either individually based or competition based, music is fostered around cooperation in ensembles and concert settings.  

A high school at the festival for music.

Another large key idea is the presence of unique learning and brain use.  In many different classroom settings, only half of the brain is used, while in music almost the entire brain is active at work while performing.  Also, in the jazz world, the instance of improvisation is a strong catalyst for brain activity, with jazz players having to almost instantly come up with creative melodies to fit within the music they're playing.  

In conclusion, music education is very important, encouraging cooperation in students, and keeping young minds active and working in new ways.

Do All Cops Carry Guns?

By: Samantha Martinez

Is it weird that I want to be a cop, but a little afraid of guns? It seems scary to carry one and even use it when it's necessary. I came across an article that stated that some countries police officers do not have to a  carry a gun. I thought it was a requirement for police officers to carry a weapon to protect themselves, but that's not true in every country.These countries are Norway, New Zealand, Ireland, Iceland and Britain. In Iceland, it is legal for a citizen to carry guns and they do more than police officers. Police officers only carry guns on urgent circumstances.

Even though crime is uncommon in Iceland, it is the 15th most armed country per capita in the world. According to sociologist Oddson, he says, "Iceland's low crime rates are rooted in the country's small, homogenous, egalitarian and tightly knit society. " In Ireland, only 20 to 25 percent of Irish police officers are adequate to a carry a gun. In Britain, 82 percent of police officers do not want to be armed. Rick Noack said that "In New Zealand, about a dozen of senior police have to carry a gun nation wide."

Police officers in these countries try to use the least amount of force and are trained to do so. In Norway, police officers training lasts three years. These facts are very astonishing due to the fact that in the United States our system goes about everything differently and our crime rate is much higher.

I think it's amazing that some countries do not always carry weapons and have other ways to handle crimes and violence.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/02/18/5-countries-where-police-officers-do-not-carry-firearms-and-it-works-well/?utm_term=.23bef5179d13

https://qz.com/727941/how-do-police-handle-violence-in-countries-where-officers-dont-carry-guns/

communication in law. (week 6)

Cassy Rymas

                The language in my field (law) is overwhelming. We even have our own dictionary, Black’s law Dictionary. Through my internship with the prosecutor of Macomb, I picked up on some terminology used. Such terminology consists of prelim (preliminary hearing), cps (child protective services), and a lot of other terms. When you’re in the office or the courtroom, what people say just flows, and makes sense because you know what’s going on. I remember there were a few times when I stopped and thought to myself “hmm that’s an interesting way to say that”. One term that was unique to the building I worked in was floor 4. If you were ever on floor 4, it was important. This referred to the floor which the library was on. This library was enormous, multiple episodes of crime investigation shows have been shot in the library when they’re interviewing lawyers. If you ever needed to go there, it was serious.

The dictionary of my field

                One way I will continue to learn the language of my field is through my boyfriend’s mom. She is a lawyer and works from home a lot. When I am over and she is working, I will hear her on conference calls or I will be sitting next to her and she will explain to me what she’s doing. If I have a question on what anything means, she will explain it to me with no problem. Another way I can continue to learn the language is by having more internships. Being in the field helps you enormously without you even realizing it. You subconsciously pick up on little behaviors and words that have a whole other meaning outside of the office. For example, when you’re in the courtroom, the judges may say he/she calls a recess, this simply means he wants to take a break. Now you say that by someone who’s under the age of ten and they think you want to go play outside. Another example would be when the judge calls forth the counsel, he/she means he/she wants to speak to the attorneys.  Many may be lost when this is said outside the courtroom due to the fact that they don’t understand what counsel is referring to. I know personally the first time I heard it I instantly thought of a counselor.

                There are going to be many challenges within my field, even after I think I’m a pro and got a hold of things. Language isn’t something I’m too worried about because when I had my internship, there were many phrases and terms I picked up on that I can’t even think to be out of the ordinary right now. So, I know as I gain experience in the field, the language will come. I believe that I am going to have to change the terms I use all the time because I will constantly be talking to and interacting with people of all different education levels who will not understand me.  Many of these challenges I am looking forward to, however, some such as the BAR I am not.

Social Work in The Criminal Justice Field

By: Samantha Martinez

I am considering minoring in social work. The interest grew in me because I love helping people who are in need. Recently, in my intro to social work class, I learned about the role social workers play in the criminal justice field.Social work is very important in the criminal justice field. They are referred to as criminal justice social workers and forensic social workers. First of all, a social workers role is to help people, groups, and families who have financial or emotional problems. As a criminal justice social worker, they may help criminals, juveniles, victims. Some are even licensed to treat mental illnesses. According to the U.S Bureau of Statistics, social workers must have compassion and empathy for the people they work with ( Beth Greenwood).
Social workers help everyone, especially those who have mental illnesses and need extra care in prison. They also work with lawyers, judges, and prosecutors. Social workers can play a role as a probation officer, parole officer, and diversion program manager, by working with juvenile officers. They can also be therapists to prisoners.  An important role of social workers in the criminal justice field is them helping people who were victims of domestic violence. Correctional social workers work in courts, probation offices, and correctional facilities. In correctional facilities, social workers counsel and help criminals keep in contact with their family. They also involve the criminal in community service. As Armando T. Morales stated in 'Social Work,' " The social worker's involvement with the criminal justice can begin at the time of arrest and terminate at the person's release."



http://www.mswguide.org/careers/criminal-justice-social-work/
http://work.chron.com/social-workers-position-criminal-justice-23582.html
Sheafor, Bradford W., Armando Morales, and Malcolm E. Scott.  Social work: a profession of many faces/ Bradford W. Sheafor, Armando T. Morales, Malcom E. Scott. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2012. Print.

Musical Careers

By Braden Hanks

In the field of music, there are three main sub-fields: music education, music performance, and music composition.  Within each category, there are many different types of work.  Let's explore them.

When it comes to music education, there are a few options of work.  For example, you can teach a general music class in elementary or middle school, from around ages 10-14.  This then transitions to teaching either band, orchestra, and choral groups at the middle and high school level.  These then branch off to even teach music theory, piano, music technology, etc.  Past this, with higher education, one can become a professor, in which opportunities of private lessons, music theory, and ear training classes appear as well.

(Source: bju.edu)

Another very big form of a musical career is performance.  Through performance, one can become a member of a professional band, orchestra, choir, jazz groups, or even soloing with ensembles.  Professional orchestras are very popular, with many found in big cities throughout the world.  Names such as the New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra are well known.  On the smaller scale are choirs and wind bands.  Examples of wind bands are the Dallas Wind Symphony, Philadelphia Wind Symphony, and military bands.  Military choirs also are prevalent.

(Source: carngeiehall.org)

When it comes to music composition, careers are very entrepreneur-like.  Most composers just compose on their own, offer their works up for sale, and hope for the best.  Popular modern wind band composers include John Mackey, Steven Bryant, with older composers such as Gustav Holst and Dmitri Shostakovich.  Other ways composers can make a living are through teaching at higher education institutions.

(Source: artsonline.monash.edu.au)