*August Update Blog*

It's been a really bumpy road trying to find a mentor. I really wish I had the luck, or the persuasiveness my peers have had to get the great mentors they have been able to attain. Alas' however, I have been able to come into contact with a mentor, Noreen L. Barcena, attorney at law (wooooo!)

However, now I've run into the problem of transportation. Her office is located in Los Angeles, so yet again I am on the hunt for a more convenient mentor. (I still think I want to get a interview or maybe a couple hours with her.)

On a brighter side note, during these research checks I've learned many interesting facts (and stories) on criminology, that I had never even really considered. Here are a few that I can recall.

• In Connecticut, if you sell drugs to someone, and they die (whether it be accidental or suicide) you can be sentenced to the death penalty.(Pero porque?!)
• Reports have found that men who rape married women get more time in jail than men who rape divorced women (Why?!)
• About 30 government officials raided the home of a 60 year old man and killed him in front of his wife. Why? They admitted they just wanted the land.
•  So much time and effort is spent on consensual crimes, that almost 20% of "real" crimes are left alone. Aka bad people are let off the hook because instead of prosecuting them, we're prosecuting someone else for petty parking ticket.

In other words, there's a lot of things wrong with policy in our law system now. (according to a multitude of criminologists who came together to write and argue within a book about it.)

In other news I also found a pretty rad book filled with quotes that can be useful later on. Not to mention the great voice this author has that allows me not to fall asleep when reading his book. In my opinion, whoever is able to write a book about law and pulls it off successfully, is pretty darn impressive.

In other, other news, since I've been reading up on a lot of reports and theories, I'm really lost and confused on how I'm gonna be able to edit my EQ, to fulfill the point I want to get across. Honestly I think I still have a lot of research to go through to truly get a feel for what I want.

Well there's my update, I'm not sure if this is what is really expected, but there it is.

Blog 4: Interview Preparation

Content:

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  Why?
I plan to interview a Police Sergeant in order to get maybe a more on the front-lines view crimes. I want to hear an opinion of someone who has been able to encounter happenings, something out of the norm of just reading of people who read books about situations out of the court room.

2.  You have to ask 5 questions.  What additional questions do you plan to ask?

1. What is one situation you have been that has stuck with your forever?
2. What's your view on the stop-and-frisk policy in New York?
3. Any policy in general, that if you could, would get rid of?
4. What is your opinion on whether criminals are born criminals or made criminals?
5. In one sentence, can you give me the definition of crime?

Blog 3: Topic Choice and Semester 1 ESLR Goals

1.  Criminology

2.            When it comes to being an I-poly citizen, there is always more than enough room to grow. I-poly has always put much emphasis on becoming a better part for the community. To better myself in this aspect I hope to finish my community hours, hopefully in more than one thing, to be able to learn more than I know now. I also hope to continue to be able to work in group tasks, because working with others is always found in the real world. Maybe participate, more than I have I the past, in school events, giving a helping hand for a good outcome of things that are put together.

To be a better Effective Learner I hope to be able to excel in the knowledge I already retain. Hopefully as I continue to do my hours as the year goes by, I’ll be able to get more understanding of my subject to be able to present a valuable senior project. Not only by doing hours, but by keeping up with research checks and articles because it’s not helping anybody but me.

When it comes to Technology, I’ve always been a pretty Effective User of it. But as all other matters, there is always room to excel. I’m not as a perfect as I can be in it, and I know many others on my class are more knowledgeable on all aspects of it. I hope that through the presentations of this year, I get to learn more tips and tricks, not only on my own, but with help of others around me.

Being an Effective Communicator, in my opinion is one of the simplest, but complicated ones to achieve. Simplest because I personally have learned to always respect the opinions of others, but sometimes it’s easy to forgot when not given the same respect. For this year I hope that through collaboration within groups I can retain the peace and continue to voice and hear opinions of others around me. I think when participating in Model Assembly that would be the best time to learn from mistakes and be the communicator and listener, for not only ourselves, but everybody else.

Blog 2: Summer Mentorship

Literal: 

1.       (Know) Using google doc (drive) link a log of specific hours and a description of your duties (click here for an example) to your blog post.

·       https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkBK3jsgXuaUdEJGYVBGTmpsdnF0c1U5QVE4dEcxN3c&usp=sharing

2.       What is the contact name & number of where you volunteered?   

·         Joel Rivera Vega: (909)544-3145  

3.       (Need to know) What questions were raised because of the 10 hours of experience?  List them. 

•  Is this really for me?
• When weighted against each other, is it more difficult to attain the knowledge of the cars, or to be physically capable to fix them. (I couldn’t really tell with just ten hours of service.)   
• Why must some tasks be so tedious to accomplish?

Interpretive

4.       What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

·         The most important thing that I gained was that a job involving any types of cars, requires much knowledge on the different kinds of vehicles. Each vehicle has their unique parts, much like people. I gained it because apart from the actual fixing, there were a multitude of times I couldn’t even tell what Joel was trying to explain to me. Other than that, I gained the knowledge that this subject is just not for me.

Applied

5.       How did what you did help you choose a topic?  Please explain.

·         When I had decided I wanted to do Forensic Science, I thought I was set on finding a mentor on said subject. Come the middle of the summer I realized, it would be harder than I thought, so I settled on doing auto repair. I thought it could be something interesting and new I might be able to get into.  After my two days of mentorship, I realized this wasn’t for me, and luckily I found a lawyer who would take me in later on this year.  So, long story short, my subject has changed from auto repair to now Criminology.