RJA #15b: Reflection on What You Learned

This semester I learned many things on how to do better research and compile information in an organized manner to make research papers easier. I learned about a website called Knightcite which allows you to plug in the information when you cite a source in a paper and it automatically puts it into the correct format weather it be APA or MLA. I also learned the correct format for an outline when writing a persuasive paper. This outline could also be adapted a bit in order to write a number of other types of papers. This formal outline made it much easier to write a paper that needed to be lengthy, all I did was look at the outline and wrote what was necessary to fulfill that idea that was stated in the outline.
I also learned how do many useful things like how to set up and write your own blog as well as publish the blog so others who are searching for information on the topic could more easily find my blog. I learned how RSS feeds work and how to set them up in my protopage which is another useful tool I learned about. Weather it be in regular life or for research purposes I can use my new protopage to look and gather the latest information on any given topic. Furthermore I learned about some websites that could be used as search engines when conducting research.
Overall I learned a great deal of different useful techniques that can be used when doing research or just gathering information for personal use. The course definitely made subsequent research projects and papers much easier to do in the future and I almost look forward to using them in the future.

RJA #15a: Word Cloud

RJA #14: Annotated Bibliography, Part 2

Harr, Scott, and Karen Hess. Constitutional Law and the Criminal Justice System. Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth, 2008. Print.

This is a book that I use for some classes I take for research purposes. The book focuses on criminal justice issues particularly focusing on the bill of rights.

I believe Harr and Hess to be credible sources and trust what they write in their books. Furthermore their books are widely used studying in college criminal justice courses. Scott Harr is the chair of the criminal justice program at Concordia University in Minnesota. He has multiple licenses to be a law enforcement officer as well as a lawyer.

I used this source because I wanted to get a more summarized approach to the Fourth Amendment. This book not only stated the word for word lettering of the Amendment, but also cited cases like the Katz case when explaining it.


Justice Stewart, Potter. "Katz v. United States." OYEZ U.S. Supreme Court Media, 1967. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1967/1967_35/.

This website is dedicated to the cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. This page gives a summary of the case as well as the decision and why the Justices voted the way they did.

I consider this website to be trustworthy and truthful because it is run by the U.S. Supreme Court. Furthermore the opinion given was posted by one of the Justices, so there is no reason why I should not trust what they are stating.

I used this website to gather information on one of the main court cases that determined the basis of legality of wiretapping. I cited the case of Katz v. U.S.


"National Security Letters." American Civil Liberties Union N.p., 30 Nov. 2005. Web. 18 Nov. 2009. .

This website is run by the ACLU which is this countries premiere watchdog organisation. Their staffing includes more lawyers and people who know about the constitution than any other civilian organization.

I believe that the ACLU is trustworthy to an extent meaning that they have one purpose only and that is to challenge rulings that come from the Supreme Court and challenge the constitutionality of laws, acts, and bills passed by the legislatures. The goal of this source is to inform the public as to what is happening in any current legal situation.

I used this site to gain information on NSL's because it is a valuable tool that our government uses to gain intelligence and is at issue because many think that these letters violate the citizens civil liberties.


"National Security Letters." Electronic Privacy Information Center epic.org, n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2009. http://epic.org/privacy/nsl/default.html.

Epic is a website who's goal is to research privacy rights issues concerning civil liberties. It has a variety of topics but all of them deal with the constitutionality of laws enacted.

I consider this source to be valid and informative. The website publishes e-mail and newsletters and even books relating to civil liberties. The organisation has also won many awards .

The information gained from this website was used in my paper to give information on national security letters. The web page provided many articles and news stories regarding the NSL's but I declined to use them because I already got the information I sought.


Samixxx. I Hear You. Photobucket. Web. Web. 20 Nov. 2009. http://media.photobucket.com/image/wiretap/sammixxx/unwarrentedwiretap.jpg?o=37.

Photo bucket is a website where the public can post pictures and store pictures that they have taken for an extended period of time. The site allows a user to look or show their pictures to anyone using any computer.

I consider this source to be somewhat trustworthy. I am not sure that he or she in fact made the picture through photo shop or similar means but no credit is given to where they found it. Furthermore, I found the rest of the pictures that this person submitted to be pictures of various tattoos on bodies, making the belief that this person created the image even more implausible.

I used this picture in my paper because I thought it fit well with my topic and in particular the section where I was talking about wiretapping.


"Spies, Lies and FISA." Editorial. New York Times 14 Oct. 2007. Web. 6 Nov. 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/opinion/14sun1.html.

This website is run by the New York Times newspaper and the web page is from the editorial section. The organisation provides information on anything current and newsworthy.

I believe this website to be reputable for the most part. I believe they are truthful in the things they say however their information could easily be leaning to ward the liberal point of view. I believe that it is general knowledge that they only provide information that would benefit leftists. Therefore when judging the information to be valid I believe that there is truth to what they are saying but untruths as well because they are only publicizing one side of the story.

I used this newspaper to gather information on one of my subtopics, FISA. I got what I wanted which was valuable information to be used in my paper.

RJA #13b: Annotated Bibliography, Part 1

107th Congress. "H.R. 3162 In the Senate of the United States." Electronic Privacy Information Center N.p., 24 Oct. 2001. Web. 6 Nov. 2009 http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html.

This website provides a word for word copy of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001. It has an index to help guide you to the section you are looking for.

This is a website that I have used in the past to do research on a particular bill or act and found it very informative and unbiased because it states only the facts. This page is an exact copy of the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001. The reading can be somewhat difficult because the terminology used can be difficult to understand and very lengthy.

It is very long, therefore I use the option to download it in a PDF format so I could utilize the search option when searching for key words which is a must when some of these documents can be 100+ pages.


"Does the PATRIOT Act provide the government with overreaching power to conduct searches, surveillance's and wiretaps?." ProCon.org ACLU, 4 June 2008. Web. 18 Nov. 2009. http://aclu.procon.org/viewanswers.asp?questionID=718.

This website is run by the ACLU and it gives viewers the opportunity to debate current or non-current issues. This particular webpage debates the validity of wiretaps and whether or not the government is extending its rights too far.

I liked this website that was suggested by my instructor and found it very valuable in terms of getting viewpoints from both sides of the issue. I believe the website to be accurate and truthful for a couple of reasons. First of all, the sponsor of the website is the ACLU which is an organization that acts somewhat as a governmental watchdog and is populated by more lawyers than every organization other than the US Senate and House. Secondly, the people who have posted their beliefs are particularly reputable like the Director of the FBI, Robert S. Mueller and David Cole who is a professor of law at Georgetown. I believe that if these people were misquoted than something would have been done about it.

This source helped me to see the other side of my viewpoints and allowed me to rebuke the claims on that other side.


"Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA)." Electronic Privacy Information Center epic.org, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2009. http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/fisa/#Overview.

This is a website that summarizes Acts and Bills passed. This particular page covers FISA and recent actions taken regarding FISA that were in the news.

Again I cited a source from epic.org because of their factual nature of providing information. I liked this page because it provides several aspects of information on FISA. First of all it gives a summary of FISA in an outline format so it is a much easier read than the act itself. Secondly it provides information on the patriot act and how it differs from FISA and other acts regarding terrorism. Finally what I like the most is that it provides links to current news stories regarding the particular topic like what kind of reform is being sought.

I used this source to help me gather information for my paper. I also looked at the newsworthy articles that it also posted but did not use them for a source because I couldn't find any information I wanted to use.


Grey, Tully . "The History of Wiretapping." ehow.com N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. http://www.ehow.com/about_5382785_history-wiretapping.html.

This article is from a website that tells you about how things came to be and their history. Just about anything you want to learn how to do, how it became, or just more information about can be found on this website.

The author is a freelance writer and has been writing for 10 years, she has multiple college degrees from Columbia College. I consider her to be a good resource for the information I gathered from her which is the history of communicating. It seems that in writing this article she did quite a bit of research and compiled it into one page. I don't think I would look to her again for information given that her expertise is not relevant to issues I am concerned with.

I used this source just to give me some information about the background of my topic. It was helpful in doing so.

RJA #13a: Field Research Report

For my field research I conducted a poll on what people think about the government wiretapping. I new that I needed to be as vague as possible and give as little information as possible when asking the question in order to remove any bias I may give. I started with the contacts in my phone and figured I would just text the message " wiretapping by the government, how do you feel about it?" to all and let the results pour in.
From the start it was a dead heat. I had a few people call me and ask situational information before they would answer, and I told them that I would give them all the information they needed after they answered. I had an understanding that if I told them that the majority of wiretapping cases involved suspicion of terrorism, mob activities and drug trafficking, than they would all answer in the affirmative. So at the end of the phone portion, my results tallied 18 for wiretapping and 15 against wiretapping.
The next step was to take the poll out into the field. I am a surveyor who visits an average of three active construction sites per day. From time to time people would come to me asking me to do something for them and I would reply that I would if they answered an anonymous question I had for them. They all did and my results showed that for the most part, they were for wiretapping 12-8.
All in all I think it was a successful poll in which I gathered valuable information and sparked debate amongst those who I asked in a group. I learned that those who had been convicted of a crime were much more likely to be against the issue, one in particular stated that they sometimes see the satellites tracking him in the sky.

PowerPoint presentation

http://www.slideshare.net/secret/Jb1aGZNpEvWbIb

RJA #12c: Introduction Check

http://jalves1.blogspot.com/2009/11/research-journal-assignment-11a.html#comment-form

http://stinoeng.blogspot.com/2009/11/rja-11a.html#comment-form

RJA #12b: Presentation Plan

I am planning on presenting information on FISA, USA PATRIOT Act, SAFE act focusing on some of the more controversial issues like wiretapping, detention of foreign combatants and so on. There will be a few pictures I have already saved in preparation for my presentation that I need to properly format.

RJA #12a: Progress Report

I have completed my formal outline and need to start gathering all my sources together and put them in order for which I plan to use them. I believe I have enough sources and information saved on my delicious account and books have been obtained from the downtown library. I plan on gathering everything together and starting to write the paper this weekend. I plan on breaking it up into three parts where one time I work on introducing my topic and giving a bit of background information. Second I will talk about my reasons why I feel the way I do. Thirdly, I will give all the objections I could think of and refute them as well as conclude my paper.

RJA #11c: Thesis Statement Check

http://melissacahilleng1020.blogspot.com/2009/10/rja-10a-thesis-statement.html


http://evaneetengineer.blogspot.com/2009/10/rja-10a.html?showComment=1256831114888#c1351268138240349772

RJA #11b: Visual Aids

pictures of "ground zero"
pictures of Osama bin Laden
pictures of what could be government hackers at work
pictures of suspected terrorists caught in America
pictures of federal agents in a van listening to a conversation

RJA #11a: Introduction

The events of September 11th changed things drastically for the way we think about security in the United States. Before we considered ourselves relatively safe from attack because we are separated by two oceans from the rest of the world. The post 9/11 United States has made drastic efforts to ensure safety to its citizens and one of the ways the federal government is doing so is through electronic surveillance. Technology has provided us ways to communicate faster and better than ever before, however with these advancements enemies of the U.S. have been able to use them as well in order to accomplish their goals. Therefore, with ever evolving tactics being used against America, the government needs to evolve as well sometimes spying on its own citizens in order to protect itself. Civil rights groups, mainly the ACLU, say that domestic spying is unconstitutional. However it is my position that the government should be allowed to eavesdrop on electronic transfers of information whether it be telephone, text or e-mails in order to better protect its citizens.

Research Journal Assignment #10b

Research question: Should the federal government be permitted to spy on its own citizens using wiretaps and hacking into e-mails?

Answer/thesis/claim: The Government should be permitted to eavesdrop on electronic transfers of information whether it be telephone, text or e-mails.

Ethos: Most of the information that will be presented will be of my opinion made from researching different acts and laws constructed by state and federal legislatures. I also am a Senior majoring in Criminal Justice/Criminology and have prior information obtained on the subject.

Pathos: Nobody wants to be a victim of a crime, I will explain how this benefits them as a common citizen.

Logos: If this wasn't being done, hundreds if not thousands of Americans would have been seriously injured or dead because the government wasn't allowed to eavesdrop on calls or monitor e-mails of people in this country, citizens and non-citizens.

Reason 1: Recently, there was a suspected terrorist arrested in Boston that was planning on attacking a local mall, killing as many innocent bystandards as possible.
- warrant - The government would not have known about this without information gained from reading e-mails from the alleged perpitrator.
- evidence 1 - subjects laptop was taken into custody when federal agents searched the subjects dwelling.

Reason 2: It is in the name of national security, that includes protecting you
- warrant - If you have done nothing wrong, you shouldn't have to worry.
- evidence 1 - If somehow you are are mistaken for a threat for national security, they have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt to your peers.

Research Journal Assignment #10a

Question: Should the federal or local government be allowed to eavesdrop on telephone calls and e-mails of citizens inside the United States?

Precise claim: The Government should be permitted to eavesdrop on electronic transfers of information whether it be telephone, text or e-mails.

Reasons/blueprint:
- This type of monitoring is being done in the name of national security.
- If you have nothing to hide than why should you care.

Complete thesis statement: The Government should be allowed to eavesdrop on electronic transfers of information whether it be telephone, text or e-mails in order to better protect its citizens.

RJA #9: Evaluation of Sources

- USA PATRIOT Act (full text)
http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/hr3162.html
- Website-
Written by the 107th congress' 1st session, H.R. 3162, and clerk Jeff Trandahl. I believe this source to be very credible because it is a complete copy of the Patriot act written by the United States Congress. There is no reason why this website and copy of the act is not authentic.

- Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (full text)
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/50/ch36.html
- Website-
This website has a .edu at the end, therefore it is a university of sorts. I know of Cornell from previous research assignments, particularly their law department. They publish documents pertaining to the law on a regular basis and update them as needed. I believe that they are a trustworthy source because they solely publish what the law states word for word.

- "House approves foreign wiretap bill"
http://www.usatoday.com/news/topstories/2007-08-06-251923673_x.htm
- Article-
This article was written by an associated press writer named Charles Babington who covers mostly events regarding Washington. I believe him to be credible due to his numerous news reports being picked up from many different credible news organizations. This article was published by the USA Today which is a well known news organization that is pretty trustworthy.

- "Bush accepts NSA wiretap court oversight"
http://aurarialibrary.worldcat.org/oclc/103749273&referer=brief_results
- Article-
I believe this to be a good article due to the resource in which it was found (World News Digest) which is a news magazine supported by all of the worlds top news agencies like CNN, ABC, BBC, Reuters, AP and so on. The publishers are "New York, Facts on File News Services [etc.]" who claim to be an award-winning publisher geared toward the high school, academic, and public library markets. I believe this publisher to be a reputable source for information because they are geared towards academia.

- "Legislative proposals to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) : hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Ninth Congress, second session, September 6, 2006."
-Book-
This is a book written by the members of the U.S. Congress. I believe this to be an excellent source for information as well as reliable.

- "USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 (H.R. 3199) : a brief look"
- Book-
I believe this to be a credible source for information. The authors are Brian Yeh who is a legislative attorney for the U.S. Congress. The publisher was: Washington, D.C. : Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress which I presume to be very credible.

RJA #8c: Multimedia

Resource searched or tool used - blinkx
Keywords used - wiretap patriot
Search strategies used normal

Date of search 08-08-09
Number of hits 23,000
Relevance of hits 2

RJA #8b: Social Media

Resource searched or tool used - icerocket
Keywords used - wiretap patriot
Search strategies used - normal

Date of search 08-08-09
Number of hits 321
Relevance of hits 3

RJA #8a: Websites

Resource searched or tool used - infomine
Keywords used - patriot act wiretap
Search strategies used - normal

Date of search 08-08-09
Number of hits 6
Relevance of hits 4

RJA #7c: Field Research Plan

I have a few ideas on my field research plans. The first idea I had was to interview someone at a local ACLU office however I have decided not to do this because most of my answers would be answered in a biased way and I feel that I could answer for them.

The second idea I had for conducting research is to conduct a survey through surveymonkey. I will ask a few questions regarding their comfort level with wiretapping. Then I will ask some questions regarding their general knowledge of the topic.

RJA #7b: Internet Research Tool Test

Resource searched: Culi.com
Keywords used: patriot act, wiretap
Search strategies used +patriot act +wiretap
Date of search 10-04-09
Number of hits 16,080
Relevance of hits 3

RJA #7a: Internet Research Tools

When conducting research for a topic on the internet I use a few websites. Google, Yahoo and ask.com are the ones I use to do general research on but to get more academic and reliable information I use the Auraria Library Online to find articles, books and so on.

What I like the most about Google, Yahoo and ask is that they give me a general idea about my topic and what information is out there. Generally if I get allot of hits on my topic on one of these sites than I know that I should not have a problem conducting more intensive research. What I don't like about these websites is that sometimes the information they give out is untrustworthy and biased.

What I like about searching the Auraria Library Online is that you can search multiple databases for information and generally trust what you are finding is reliable. What I don't like about it is that sometimes it is that the databases are so vast that information you are looking for is buried in similar articles or books. Another thing I don't like is that searching itself can be complicated but the more I use it, the better I am at finding the pertinent information.

RJA #6c: Protopage

http://www.protopage.com/matt_t_eng#Untitled/eng1020

RJA #6b: Search Strings

Boolean

(late* or current*) and (law* or government) and (wiretap*)

(current* or action*) and (patriot act of fisa) and (electronic next surveillance)

Search engine math

+patriot act -football +electronic surveillance

+wiretap +government +FISA

RJA #6a: Periodical Articles

Name of author - NA
Title of article - Bush accepts NSA wiretap court oversight
Title of periodical - Facts on file : weekly world news digest with cumulative index
Volume and issue number - vol 67 issue 3449
Date - 2007
Pages on which article appears - NA

Resource searched - worldcat.org
Keywords used - wiretap
Search strategies used - normal
Date of search 09-24-09
Number of hits - 133
Relevance of hits - 3

Name of author -NA
Title of article - The FBI seeks broad wiretap rights
Title of periodical - PC Magazine - American edition
Volume and issue number - vol 23, part 8
Date - May 4, 2004
Pages on which article appears - NA

Resource searched - worldcat.org
Keywords used - wiretap
Search strategies used - normal
Date of search 09-24-09
Number of hits - 133
Relevance of hits - 3

RJA #5c: Search String Check

http://melissacahilleng1020.blogspot.com/

http://kpacheco1020.blogspot.com/

RJA #5b: Finding Books

Name of author, editor, translator, and compiler: United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.

Title and subtitle of the book: Legislative proposals to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) : hearing before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred Ninth Congress, second session, September 6, 2006.

Edition number or information: Book

Place of publication: Washington, U.S.

Name of publisher: U.S. G.P.O

Date of publication: 2006

Resource searched: WorldCat at Auraria Library

Keywords used: FISA Surveillance

Search strategies: normal

Date of search: 09-17-09

Number of hits: 119

Relevance of hits: 4

RJA #5a: Finding Reference Articles

Author : Sonia Benson, Daniel E. Brannen, Jr., and Rebecca Valentine. Ed. Lawrence W. Baker and Sarah Hermsen

Title: Civil Liberties vs. Civil Defense

Title of reference work: U*X*L Encyclopedia of U.S. History

Place of publication: Detroit

Name of publisher: Gale, Cengage Learning

Date of publication: 2009

Page Numbers: 291-297

Web site :http://0-go.galegroup.com.skyline.cudenver.edu/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL&userGroupName=auraria_main&tabID=T003&searchId=R1&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=7&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3048900118&&docId=GALE|CX3048900118&docType=GALE&role=

Found on: 09-17-09

Started off in the auraria online library, went to gale virtual reference library and found the article there.

Author: Sonia Benson, Daniel E. Brannen, Jr., and Rebecca Valentine. Ed. Lawrence W. Baker and Sarah Hermsen

Title: USA PATRIOT Act

Title of reference work: U*X*L Encyclopedia of U.S. History

Place of publication: Detroit

Name of publisher: Gale, Cengage Learning

Date of publication: 2009

Page Numbers: 1618-1622

I found a list of linked articles at the bottom of the civil liberties vs civil defense page for this article.

Resource searched: Gail virtual reference library

Keywords used: patriot act

Search strategies used: none
Date of search: 09-17-09

Number of hits: 118

Relevance of hits: 3

RJA #4c: Checking Research Questions

http://melissacahilleng1020.blogspot.com/

http://kpacheco1020.blogspot.com/

RJA# 4b: Writing Search Strings

Boolean
(late* or current*) and (law* or government) and (wiretap*)
(current* or action*) and (patriot act of fisa) and (electronic next surveillance)

Search engine math
+patriot act -football +electronic surveillance
+wiretap +government +FISA

RJA #4a: Generating Keywords

What is currently being done regarding the PATRIOT ACT/FISA and Wiretapping?

FO - currently, patriot act, FISA, wiretapping
RE, ST - latest, happening, lately, going, intelligence, government, law(s), 4th amendment, privacy, phone, electronic intrusion, wiretap

LOG - government, law, 4th amendment, patriot act, wiretapping

RJA #3c: Developing Research Question

What is the patriot act and FISA?

What does the patriot act and FISA say about wiretapping? How do domestic wiretapping and international wiretapping rules differ?

How can the US government hold enemy combatants for an indefinite amount of time without charging them, is this legal?

What are the latest developments regarding the legality of the patriot act, FISA and the SAFE Act?

RJA #3b: Narrowing Research Topic

I believe that either of my topics are narrow enough for my paper. I need to do some research on both topics to decide which direction I should go. I feel that there is enough information on both topics but I want to pick the one that that is most recent and debated.

RJA #3a: Exploring Research Topic

I started my research with a wikipedia search for partiot act. I went to the bottom of the page and found several websites that could help further my research. Included in the websites that I bookmarked into my delecious account were a website that had the full text of the patriot act and I found the full text for the FISA Act as well. I then went to google and searched for blogs using the keyword "patriot act" and came across several blogs that suit my topic. I entered one and began reading only to find new information that I was unaware of previously. The government had created an act to modify the patriot act in 2003 called the SAFE Act which could give me more information on my eventual topic. It is clear to me that most of these blogs I have found via Blogger concerning the patriot act are several years old but do have some value still with links to other websites that could aid in my research. I stumbled upon a website called epic.org and found recent news reports covering the patriot and fisa acts. I am happy that I found somewhere where I can find current information regarding the issues in the patriot act. Reading through some of the informaton on the epic website I learned that there was a relatively recent update to the FISA act which is called the Protect America Act of 2007 that will need to be researched as well.

Patriot Act

I plan to write my paper on the section of the patriot act that deals with the detentions of foreign and domestic "terrorists" and the legality of wiretaps. I chose this topic because I am interested in the intelligence field and how they operate. I am also thinking about including how FISA plays a part in this. I want to include information on she special judges that make up the judicial part of FISA. Another section of the patriot act that interests me is the ability to spy on anyone they want, however they want.

I know that the patriot act was established to further enable our government to gather critical intelligence regarding possible threats to the United States. I also know that it was intended to extend and cover some areas of FISA that were not previously covered due to technological changes as well as the changes of types of threats. I know that FISA preceded the patriot act by a few decades and was geared to suit a much different threat than the one posed today.

There is much I don't know about the patriot act, particularly about the detentions of enemy combatants. I don't know what the latest rules are regarding wiretapping international calls. I am not sure when the FISA act was passed or if it has been updated since 9/11 or if legislatures just wrote everything they wanted to update in FISA into the patriot act. I believe that it is possible that through my research my general topic could go off into another direction or just focus more on one particular idea.

Delicious account

http://delicious.com/mthornock

Research Journal Assignment #1: Areas of Academic Interest

Criminal Justice field.

Patriot act, areas of the patriot act that are under scrutiny like the section that allows the federal government to detain someone for any reason for an indefinite amount of time. I can talk about how the PATRIOT Act and FISA, the foreign intelligence surveillance act are and have been used in the name of national security.

Illegal immigration, how it effects the country. Is it good or bad for the country? What can be done about it? What is being done about it currently. What is planned for the future?

I can write about well known killers and the category they belong to whether it be serial killers, mass murders, spree killers and so on.