Final Reflective Post

Struggle 

At the beginning of taking this class I didn’t know whether or not I was going to succeed since it has to do with writing, and I have always felt this way about my writing classes. I have always had an up and down relationship with writing because sometimes I can be really good and other times I’m really bad. I think it has always depended on the subject I was writing about. Whenever write something that I know about and enjoy it comes really easy. I learned things that I believe have helped my writing. Hearing what my professors have had to say about a topic made me realize that I could be a better writer if I read what they had to say and also include what they said in my own papers. Using many things that I didn’t know about in high school and incorporating them in my writing now I think made me appreciate writing more and made me like to write. Through this course I have learned how to write better that I ever thought I could. I’m glad that I learned the things that I have learned about in writing because the career that I wish to have in the future will consist of writing that is clear and concise. In my career field people will judge you on your writing and writing can also make or break your career. If your writing isn’t good then it means you aren’t good. In my career field writing is very important ,and it can make or break a case. If your writing isn’t good you won’t be able to make a case, and if you can’t make cases then criminals get away. Hopefully because I have taken this class so early in my life I will always have the information and context in my head while writing. With having this information hopefully it will give me an advantage in the writing area.

Quran and Bible Class

This semester I took my level 2 theology course for my gen eds. This semester I chose to take Quran and Bible because it seemed interesting, and boy was I right. During this class we learned about the two religions that are practiced though the Bible which is Judaism and Christianity. We also learned about the religion that is practiced through the Quran which is Islam. I wanted to know more about Islam because it is something that tends to be in the news for only bad things. Through this course I learned more things about Islam and Judaism than I knew before. I am very glad that I have become more educated about the three religions that we looked at. For our final project we were supposed to find a person to interview of a different faith than ourselves. I was raised Catholic and was supposed to find someone who follows the Islamic faith. This is the video that I created with my friend Amina's help. Amina was raised and continues to follow the religion of Islam and this is her point of view about the hijab in the Islamic faith. Our videos were based on the Drake University Comparison Project.

James Eric Davis Jr.

In high school there were kids that I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the news or arrested for some reason. Many people could agree with me on this. James Eric Davis Jr was not one of those people I would have expected to see in the news for something bad. James was a quiet and polite person, and those who weren't great friends with him would tell you the same thing. James and I went to the same high school our senior year and graduated together. James' family lives down the street from me and when I heard about the shooting at Central Michigan University I didn't think anything of it. That was until I saw his face attached to one of the articles I was reading about the shooting. To say the least I was completely shocked. I got home that day and my mom had the news on when they started to talk about the shooting and that's when I told her that we went to high school together and they lived right down the street. When I told her she then told me that there had been cops in the neighborhood all day. Now we live in a neighborhood where nothing ever happens and cops are never around. Cop cars were there all day and night and when I woke up they were gone. I checked the news to see if they had found him and they did. I still cant believe what happened and most people who know James feel the same way.

School Shootings

                              
                                                                      Source: CNN 
This video gives a small detail about all the school shootings that have occurred since the start of the year. This shows that school shootings aren't just defined mass school shootings they include guns being in school property and if someone was injured. Many think that the only school shootings are the ones where many people end up dead they fail to think about how many times a gun is brought to a school. Some don't realize that there is also accidents that happen when a gun is dealt with. Kids might bring a gun to school thinking its cool and show their friends but they don't know how to handle a gun and it might go off. This video can help to get peoples attention about how often school shootings occur and help give them a sense of what a school shooting is exactly. This shows that there have been 17 school shootings since the beginning of 2018. Which as the video states an average of 1.5 shootings a week.

Is the Reid Technique as good as you think?

The Reid Technique was created in the 1940’s and officers have been trained in this technique since the 1970’s. Even though this technique is the most widely used for interrogations and interviews many scholars and scientists say this technique is based on outdated science. With this technique being based on outdated science it can produce false confessions. Currently there is no conversation about this technique and how it can lead to false confessions. One of the problems in the Reid Technique is that people thought you could see anxiety in people’s body language, and that anxiety was a giveaway for lying. But with forty years of psychological research it has shown the previous beliefs to be false.

Saul Kassin also talks about false confessions and how they aren’t something new happening. Kassin talks about how false confessions can be found all across countries and different times of history, and that false confessions can be traced to back to the Salem Witch Trails in North America. Kassin states that he frequently encounters the question “how often false confessions occur?” Kassin’s answer to this is that he doesn’t not know and that he doesn’t think there is enough information and too much missing data to give a number.

Instead of using the Reid Technique an alternative technique that can be used in its place is the PEACE technique which is used in England, Newfoundland, Wales, Denmark and New Zealand. This technique closely resembles what journalist do with gathering information and confessions aren’t sought out. It is a completely different model then the Reid Technique, and everything in the PEACE technique is very straightforward and carefully planned out. This model deals with the fact that lying and anxiety don't correlate, and also that lying and body language don't correlate either.



Beyond Good Cop/Bad Cop: A Look At Real-Life Interrogations
Kassin on False Confessions

People are Treated after Spy is Poisoned with a Nerve Agent

      
                                                               Source: CBS News
This video informs you on a former Russian spy and his daughter have been attacked and poisoned with a nerve gas. The two were attacked outside in a public space. the attacker who are unknown seemed to have no regard for others lives since they chose a public space to attack the former spy and his daughter. Also since they chose a public space and a nerve gas they wanted to make sure people knew what happened they didn't want it to be deemed and accident. I have come to this conclusion because there are far simpler and more effective ways of poisoning and killing someone. This should be of concern to people because of how someone was able to either access or make this gas without being noticed. Also because these attackers were able to get away without anyone noticing as well.

Central Michigan University Shooting

                      
                                                             Source: CNN 
This video gives new details on the shooting that occurred at Central Michigan University. The suspect is James Eric Davis Jr. He is suspected of shooting and killing his two parents , James Eric Davis Sr and Diva Davis. The shooting occurred early Friday morning after his parents were called and told that their son, James Jr, had been hospitalized. The Davis' then left their Plainfield home and went to go get their son from school in Michigan. James Jr was said to be acting erratically the night before the shooting and had an altercation with campus police which. James Jr had admitted to using drugs and that's when he was hospitalized. James Eric Davis Jr had no previous issues and the question that I ask myself is could he possibly be mentally ill? James Jr is a 19 year old, previous athlete, and a "normal" good kid. James Jr did admit to using drugs but could their be an underlying issue that lead to this killing?