Social Control

French investigate comment posted online

2009-12-14T09:23:00.000-08:00

posted by: Benjamin Anello #10
source: The New York Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/13/world/europe/13paris.html

A woman, Ms. Broueilh, 50, found herself the target of police investigation after posting a comment online criticizing french leadership.

"The police said Ms. Morano, a combative politician and one of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s closest allies, had subpoenaed Ms. Broueilh’s Internet protocol address, obtained her identity and brought suit against her for “public insult toward a member of the ministry,” an offense punishable by a fine of up to $18,000."

"“The Internet is a danger for democracy,” said Jean-François Copé, parliamentary chief for the governing party, the Union for a Popular Movement, in a recent radio interview."

The internet allows for freedom of expression, but sometimes governments don't share the same views.

Jailing Juveniles

2009-12-14T08:47:00.000-08:00

posted by: Benjamin Anello #9
source: The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/13/AR2009121302444.html

This article discusses reforms to laws dealing with juveniles. The law "provides funds for those that choose to comply with the legislation's guidelines. In this way, the Justice Department, which administers the act, can provide incentives to states to comply with what it considers best practices." So the state is controlled by how it deals with juveniles and if they don't conform then they don't get money. The law also helps keep juveniles separate from the adult inmates. "Statistics show that juveniles held in adult facilities are more likely to be attacked, more likely to commit crimes once released and more likely to commit suicide than those held in facilities that house only minors."

Mentors help teens avoid crime

2009-12-14T08:35:00.001-08:00

posted by: Benjamin Anello #8
source: Augusta Chronicle

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2009/11/27/met_557249.shtml

We talked in class about how mentors in our lives help shape how we behave and view the world. They help us form stigmas and provide role models for us to follow. This article talks about a program called Men Making a Difference and pairs troubled young men with mentors who help fill a void left by their absent fathers and lower the chance of them becoming delinquents.

"Dr. Rojek, who is the author and co-author of several books on juvenile delinquency, said the rate of unwed mothers has increased since 2002 and is highest for the 20- to 24-year-old group. Single mothers have a series of disadvantages that can encourage delinquency among their children, including the difficulty in balancing care for their child and finding work that pays well enough so they can afford child care when they aren't around."

Gaps in DNA databanks have led to tragedy

2009-12-14T08:20:00.000-08:00

post by: Benjamin Anello #7
source: The Associated Press

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ivGnoKW8S6YEwg1ErNFygXEAdjkwD9CJ552O1

In prison, DNA samples are suppose to be taken of all the inmates, but Walter Ellis managed to ditch the DNA sampling by getting another inmate to pose as himself. Had investigators had access to his DNA it might have prevented him from murdering his seventh victim.

We've discussed DNA in class as a form of medical social control, but in this case DNA would have helped prevent a murder. "Crime lab supervisors, state police and prison officials blame the failure to collect samples on new and confusing laws and a lack of coordination among the many different law enforcement agencies and institutions responsible for taking DNA."
"Over the past 15 years, tough-on-crime legislators expanded laws to require DNA from more offenders. First it was sex offenders. Today, 47 states demand DNA from every convicted felon. Twenty-one take it from anyone arrested for homicide or a sex crime, according to Gordon Thomas Honeywell."

New Swedish Surveillance Draft

2009-12-14T08:05:00.000-08:00

posted by: Benjamin Anello #6
source: ZeroPaid

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/87380/new-swedish-surveillance-draft-legislation-leaks/

"The safeguards that were put in place was that police would not have direct access to the massive amounts of intercepted data flowing through the networks. The main concern back in 2008 when laws such as the Lex Orwell laws were being discussed was that a vast amount of internet traffic would flow through Swedish networks and become subject to this law."

This new law would allow police access to vast amounts of data that goes through Swedish networks.

"The legislation is aimed at giving Swedish police and domestic intelligence the power to automatically intercept internet traffic that passes through Sweden. After a heated debate, a related mass-surveillance law was passed late last year, allowing the Swedish National Radio Defense Establishment (Sweden’s “NSA”) to intercept internet traffic. About 80% of regular Russian internet traffic, as of Dec 2008, passed trough Sweden, giving Sweden a bulk intelligence exchange position with the United States and other powers."

Should the police be able to peek into internet and phone information? This is further evidence of the smaller and smaller cage of surveillance we find ourselves in.

Merced gets more video surveillance

2009-12-14T07:57:00.000-08:00

posted by: Benjamin Anello #5
source: Merced Sun-star

http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1747334.html

This is a great example of increasing social control using surveillance. The city installs a $93,000 eight-camera video system in the downtown area "meant to prevent crime". "Despite the city's efforts to increase public safety and prevent vandalism, civil liberties groups and several studies have questioned the effectiveness of surveillance cameras. The growing use of video surveillance also has raised worries about the civil rights implications of an increasingly watchful government."

Walking away from a mortgage

2009-12-14T07:38:00.000-08:00

post by: Benjamin Anello #4
source: Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/25/AR2009112504186.html

Brent T. White is pointing out that "the social control of the housing crisis" -- pressures and messages continually sent to consumers by the "social control agents," namely banks, government and the media. The mantra these agents -- all the way up to President Obama -- pound into owners' heads, White says, is that "voluntarily defaulting on a mortgage is immoral.""

"Not only is the professor urging consumers to break legally binding contracts, but if large numbers of them did so it would send home mortgage rates soaring and "tear apart the very basis" upon which mortgage lending rests -- the understanding that borrowers will honor their commitments and pay back the money they borrowed. "

Drugging unruly children is a method of social control

2009-12-14T07:23:00.000-08:00

post by: Benjamin Anello #3
source: Nature - International weekly journal of science

http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v451/n7178/full/451521a.html

1. Kids diagnosed with ADHD
2. Give children Ritalin

As we discussed in class about medical social control, this is a perfect example. Just drug the kids and it'll get them to act how we want them to. South Park makes a great commentary on this trend in their episode "Timmy 2000"
The Federal Drug Administration calls attention to the rampant use of Ritalin as an 'epidemic'. They are concerned about the results it could have on young developing brains. All in all, looks like we're medicating our way to calm and domesticated children.

No Charges In Death Of Woman Shot 9 Times

2009-12-14T07:05:00.000-08:00

post by: Benjamin Anello
source: The Denver Channel

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/21929709/detail.html

I'm not quite sure how shooting someone 9 times can be called self-defense. That seems a little excessive to me. The first shot would probably drop a person and then if they were still moving you'd have to stand over them and shoot them another 8 times. I'd be interested to know if any of the exit wounds that were present showed signs of shored exits. That would indicate if the body was pressed up against something (like the floor) instead of standing when it was shot.

Another interesting note about this article is it includes a google map street view of the location where the shooting took place. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't like my neighborhood shown off in that way. Seems like a violation of privacy for that whole neighborhood to me.

Police Arrest 65 Protesters on University of California, Berkeley Campus

2009-12-11T22:37:00.000-08:00

I got this article from FoxNews.com

In this article students are arrested for taking their protest a little to far and letting it become more of a party. Police had been in and out of the building that the protesters were in all week and had no problem with the protest then the students said they were caught off guard when the police came in while they were sleeping to arrest everyone. 65 people were arrested in this one incident but the protests continue in California because of the budget cuts and rising fees in the state. I think this is a good reason for these students to be upset. This is a form of social control because we cannot set our tuition price. we are having to pay more and more each year and with he economy the way it is it is becoming harder to do so. students are trying to get an education and as long as prices go up more and more students will not be able to afford it. This is something that effects everyone not just the State of California. This is something that is being thought about all over the country by many different institutions. some are just trying to avoid this problem as much as they can.

By: Araceli

Addiction on 2 Fronts: Work and Home (Sarah Winter Post #10

2009-12-11T22:36:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/08/science/08prof.html?ref=science

This article is from the New York Times, is discussing the personal life of Thomas McLellan who is one of the nations leading researchers on addiction. He also just accepted a nomination to be the government’s No. 2 rug-control official. Not long before he accepted this nomination his son overdosed on anti-anxiety medication at age thirty. His wife is also a recovered cocaine addict. This article also discussed how this could be change in the way the drug administration in this country is being handled. The administrations say that they are starting to consider making changes on the war on drugs and the policy changes that must be made.

I believe that this should bring good hopes to many of the problems in our criminal justice system, and the deaths that the war on drugs cause. I believe also that we should have more people like Thomas McLellan in such aspects of policy such as addiction because he is not only educated in his subject matter but he also has first hand experience through this for his life. Something as personal as addiction needs to be handled by someone that has had some sort of personal experiences that involve it.

Shell, Petronas win Iraq Oilfield contract

2009-12-11T22:27:00.000-08:00

I found this article in CNN.com
This article talks about how companies are bidding on the oilfields in Iraq and the major companies from all over the world are trying to get their hand s on these oilfields. These fields, however, are not coming very cheap. in fact they are needing to produce double what they have been producing and they must pay Iraq for each barrel that is produced. This is a form of social control because their is so much at stake with the oil companies. Countries like the United States depend on the oil in order to function. we are a society of materialistic people. every other person in America drives a car and there are enough cars for every person in America to own one but this is not the only thing that oil is used for. Oil is a dangerous commodity, everyone wants to get their hands on it because with oil comes wealth and with wealth comes power and in this world power is everything.

By: Araceli

Poor Children Likelier to Get Antipsychotics (Sarah Winter #9)

2009-12-11T21:58:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/health/12medicaid.html?ref=health

This article is about the conflict of health care and social economic status. They have found that children that have lower SES are more likely to be prescribed antipsychotic drugs because it’s what their medicate will not be accepted for the drugs that are more appropriate for their conditions. This is a huge issue because antipsychotic drugs can be very dangerous if not used appropriately.

This is an issue of social control because it is a prime example of how the poor are considered deviant and are not offered the same opportunities as people with higher social economic status. This can cause many other problems to the kids affected with these drugs that could further relate to other problems in their lives. Children using these drugs improperly could also suffer permeate damage. It just shows us time and time again that our poor in this country are a not given the same opportunities as the rich in this country. What’s even more disturbing that psychiatrists in this article that were prescribing the antipsychotic drugs actually believed that they were being used for good on their patients with such as a patient with bipolar disorder. A antipsychotic is not a drug that is recommended in most cases of a bipolar patient. Antipsychotic drugs should only be used on disorders such as schizophrenia, even in some schizophrenic patients the drugs can be too intense or actually make the disorder worse.

Drugs like this would have never be used on patients with higher social economic status.

Paul Aitken #10

2009-12-11T21:40:00.000-08:00

University, and Institution of Banking
What better way to end my blogging than talk about the system of education in the world. We essentially have built up a giant business that creates money and maeks moeny at virtually the same exact time. The university charges money to teach a certain subject or cirriculum. In return those who go to a university are pretty much guaranteed to make more money that thoses who don't go to college. Thus by spending money, we are able to make moeny in the future. Before going to college was a big deal, it meant you were smart, you actually wanted to learn, and you wanted to become better at whatever you believed would become the right thing for you to follow in life. But with this social control of making money, we are forced to join into a system in which we pay money to make more long term money.. it comes back to a circle of spending.

Hitler Is Welcomed Here

2009-12-11T21:35:00.000-08:00

Julie Parker

SOC 313

Olson

Woman Spray-Paints Hitler Comment on Own Home in Protest

A woman who was having difficulties with a neighbor, spray painted the side of her house stating that Hitler was welcomed to live next door and merry xmas (hahahaha).

The neighbor was upset because the home owner had potted plants and more than two vehicles parked in the front drive way. Because they're part of a neighborhood association she was violating rules. Also the neighborhood association president stated that she didn't belong there as she never followed the rules.

Okay, I'm biased anyhow because I have had to deal with neighborhood associations regarding house color and how much grass I can have in my front yard. It is a form of social control because ultimately you cannot have creative freedom with your personal property. BUT when you sign that loan/lease you are agreeing to hand over those creative and expressive rights. It is horrible because you are being judged for being different and of course that is the root of all social control.

More and more of these associations are controlling everything. Their argument is that different decreases value, and yes a yard with ten cars can be unattractive, but it's their yard! This ties into the chapter in Innes's textbook that discusses how planning and building is a form of social control. The neighborhood associations control aesthetics to achieve higher value and deter lower class individuals and families.

Reference:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,579883,00.html?loomia_ow=t0:s0:a16:g2:r4:c0.230112:b29286742:z10

Paul Aitken #9

2009-12-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

Facebook, a stalkers profile.
Although facebook is a great tool to find your friends, meet up with people you haven't seen in years or go out on a date with that beautiful girl you just met, it is really an opportunity for people with deviant actions in mind to stalk the crap out of you.. Obviously there are privacy settigns on facebook and the ability to block users. But when information is on the internet its practically public. it is so easy for people to hack your facebook, find out whatever they want and then use it to their advantage. So how do we stop this, get rid of facebook...Oh wait we can't do that because facebook has become so big now, that everyone has it. And if you don't have it, it will say something serious about your personality and people will begin to judge you rather quickly.
Paul

For Judges on Facebook, Friendship Has Limits (Sarah Winter Post #8

2009-12-11T21:30:00.000-08:00

The judges just had a ruling that they must limit their online use. Judges in Florida decided that when a judge befriends a lawyer that may be appearing for them it becomes a conflict of interest. They make this claim because they feel that facebook friends in many cases are not “traditional friends” They also say that lawyers could become a fan of certain judges.

This is an example of social control because it shows us the conflict between the good and bad sides of technology. Facebook holds true to this. Facebook can be a good thing to social network with people, but you have to be careful whom you network with and what you make public for the world to see. Whether or not it is a conflict of interest I’m not sure that there is enough evidence to decide either way it should be warning to everyone the dangers this site can cause to our professional and personal life if used to carelessly.

Paul Aitken #8

2009-12-11T21:26:00.000-08:00

family structures
After listening to other people in class speak about family structures and how families are supposed to work, they tend to bitch about the same thing. I asked my girlfriend, honey what would you rather do, make a crap load of money if you and i worked together, but our kid was in day care, or simply i'll work, you take care of our kid and the house? she was down to watch over the house and make sure our kids grow up properly. Which is the same thing that is going on in magazines. many women are fighting this. I don't understand why.. It is because of the social control of divorce, it has become seemingly so simple to get a divorce and people dont ever realize how important it is to get married, till death do us part! It means something, but to people now a days it doens't mean shit. This society is not founded on anything meaningful anymore, people have no reason to do, or not to do certain actions.
Paul

Paul Aitken #7

2009-12-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

Iran and Nuclear Power
should iran be able to make nuclear power supplies? I mean the media only ever says that they are trying to enrich their uranium, but how do they know that? they are not allowed in the plants, they dont' have sources inside the secure facilities and frankly it is all speculation.. But it is all to give the american people the ideaology that iran is trying to create weapons of mass destruction and that is pretty much going to turn into the next iraq. I understand why were in afganistan now, but simply i think we are waging a war bigger than ever expected. One day the united states will be trying to take over that entire region of the world to obtain the last bits of oil. Its a social game to construct theories now of these countries, then let them bomb the shit out of each other, and here come the americans to just pick it all up, start making trillions on oil, and become the next saudi arabia. The reason saudi arabia doesnn't have more presence in the world? the lack of legitmacy.

Paul Aitken #6

2009-12-11T21:03:00.000-08:00

Facebook
To be or not to be, for that is the question. To be or not to be on facebook. It is rather funny because it has become such a social thing to be on facebook and connect with all your friends and let them know what you're doing all the time, but it has set a new set of rules for everything you do. For instance on my facebook i have significantly changed the spelling of my last name. And now that i have had it like that for so long, people actually believe it is the truth. someone wrote me a check with the wrong name on it, and i said um this isn't even my name, and they said well on facebook it is. I recently met a local politician and he believed it was my last name too, even though its an accronym. Facebook has set social rules to let people know what you're doing at all times, and when you haven't been on facebook recently, it puts up suggestions on your friends pages to say something to you. Why facebook why.
Paul

Paul Aitken #5

2009-12-11T20:54:00.000-08:00

Streets in Grid Patterns
Have you ever noticed that the east side of albuquerque is very gridlike? have you ever paid attention to the fact that you can see remarkably far down the road, and that even if you turn off onto another road you can see that road for miles as well? it is one thing i noticed moving here from virginia. I honestly think its a way in which police can control traffic, flow of traffic, and people and be able to track down criminals easily. I really think its a social construction of the flow of people and how to watch over them. ever think about that?

Paul

Paul Aitken #4

2009-12-11T20:49:00.000-08:00

Economy and Percieved economy

The economy as every knows is rather in the dumps as they say. But recently people have said that the economy is coming back. But if you look at the statistics of how the economy is really donig we are not getting better, in fact its getting worse. Sure some things have come up, but overall they are still down significantly from where they were 2 years ago. The way in which the media reports the economy and how the people perceive the economy is essentially how its going to be. For instance if the people think that the economy is bad, they will save their money, not go out and make sure that they are finaically stable as a family. This would then promote the discinigration of the economy even further. Spending goes down, the economy goes down, it is rather easy.
paul

Paul Aitken #3

2009-12-11T20:44:00.000-08:00

Gay rights. Crying while in a catholic university.

Catholic University in D.C. is home to many students, all of which are catholic. It is a very religion based university and tends to be very traditional. well Recently there have been a few gay people roaming campus and causing up a stir because they are gay and feel bad. They say that they get called names and are offended when their roommates parents try to move their child away from the gay kid. Honestly the catholic community does put a strong social structure of everything but on the other hand why would you put yourself in a community where gays are hated... literally... Are you trying to prove a point that you're strong? Its not going to work.

Paul

Paul Aitken #2

2009-12-11T20:36:00.000-08:00

Smoking on Campus
Is smoking on campus such a serious matter? This is the ultimate form of social control from the government/or institutions in this case to the people. This whole sanction is rediculous, UNM is just trying to be one of the first universities to go smoke free. So now some is telling me whether or not i can smoke in the fresh air outside with nothing but nature around me. What is this world coming to. The lack of freedom is compelling to say we live in a world run by the next best thing to do, whether or not its the next best thing to do. UNM frankly wanted to make headline news, well they did. NO one cares! If anything it would deter people from coming here. Some people smoke because their addicted adn others because they express themselves, dont' take away our civil liberties.
Paul

Paul Aitken #1

2009-12-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

Health Care finally passes. While many countries in the indrustrialized nations in europe have some kind of health care system in place, the united states does not. It has been argued that the ameican's have one of the best health care systems in the world. But realistically it may be argued differently. I have heard both sides, and both from americans with experience outside the country. The matter of fact is although that it is a very seriuos type of social control. This social control can give the government the power to give live, or take it away. Personally i'm agains the whole thing. There is too much political bullshit that takes place. seriously if you can't run social security and medicare is all screwed up and still privatized, (most sections) how the hell are they going to control our health care? its so jumbled, really life, liberty and the freedom of all has vanished. social control...umm yes
Paul

Red Light Cameras Effective?

2009-12-11T20:08:00.000-08:00

Julie Parker

SOC 313

Olson

Mayor Orders Independent Study Of Traffic Cam Program

The title pretty much sums up the article--the red light cameras in Albuquerque will be studied for effectiveness. The red light camera is a method of social control, where we agreed to have them to ease officer jobs, but then later changed our opinions because the technology was busting our chops left and right. Since the camera cannot be fair in catching raw footage it is only fair that we are able to appeal the process (which is what drivers were denied in the beginning).

So to dig a little deeper, we can say that we are able to create technology to record traffic violations, image what those cameras will be able to do in the near future and what kind of fines we'll be getting then. It might end up being like that movie "Demolition Man".

Of course Darren White is in charge...yay...that was sarcasm...

Reference:

http://www.koat.com/news/21946366/detail.html

Jessica Clum # 10 Civil Rights or Gay Rights?

2009-12-11T18:14:00.000-08:00

I found an article in The Washington Post from December 2, 2009. It describes the controversy that is developing over the fact that some people are equating gay marriage rights to the civil rights movement. It is an interesting article because many of those who oppose this idea are the same people who were involved in the civil rights movement itself. Their opposition does not stem from a prejudice against homosexuals but from the fact that they believe the two issues are separate and find comparing them rather offensive. Many see gay rights as the final chapter in civil rights. As long as one group is being oppressed, they see it as a civil rights issue. On the other hand some people point out that while you can choose to live your life one way or another, there is just no way to fake your skin color. I think the whole argument is rather silly. That fact that society can put so much emphasis on simple comparisons is ridiculous. That is what makes language itself such an important part of social control, by changing the phrase gay rights to civil rights you can create a very controversial issue.

Jessica Clum # 9 Pot in Michigan

2009-12-11T18:12:00.000-08:00

I found an article on the New York Times Website from November 28, 2009 that immediately caught my attention. It was titled, "At this school, It's Marijuana in Every Classroom". The article is about a school that has recently opened up in Michigan (where marijuana was recently legalized for medical use). The school teaches students all of the skills necessary to successfully grow and harvest marijuana. They see it as a product that will create a multitude of jobs and have a positive impact on their state economy but are currently working out the kinks of legal technicalities. One of the problems they have found is that in order to grow pot you either have to have a prescription or be designated a caregiver by one who has a prescription and is intending to buy it from you. The problem with this is that when someone is given a prescription they probably want to but the product immediately and will not want to wait for it to grow. I think this is a very interesting social control issue because I really like the idea of individuals being able to grow pot on a small scale and make a profit from it but how do you get the product to the consumer in a more timely manner without breaking the law or without putting the management of it into the hands of a larger company?

Jessica Clum # 8 Licensing Yoga Instructors

2009-12-11T18:08:00.000-08:00

I found an article on the Foxnews website published originally in the Associated Press on December 1, 2009 that reports that Virginia wants to make it mandatory for all yoga instructors to be licensed. Three yoga instructors are now suing the state claiming that it is unconstitutional for them to require this because it is an infringement on their freedom of speech. According to them it should not be the state who determines who can teach a yoga class, they believe that it's the students who determine who is a competent instructor siting that if people are willing to pay for their instruction they must be competent. The state feels it is their responsibility to watch out for the interests of the students and because they regulate the licensing of other kinds of vocational training, their regulations should extend to yoga as well. This kind of social control is interesting because while the arguments of the state make sense to me, I see it as going a little too far as well. When you take a karate class your instructor is given their status through the authority of the institution. I don't know if there is anything comparable in the world of yoga but I don't think this is an issue for the state. The state might be extending their grip too far. Are these yoga instructors hurting anyone?

Jessica Clum # 7 Sex Offenders on Facebook and Myspace

2009-12-11T18:03:00.000-08:00

There was an article published in the Associated Press on December 1, 2009 called, "NY sex offenders purged from Facebook, Myspace". The article describes how in New York new laws have passed to make it easier for these social networking sites to kick members off who are convicted of such crimes. Recently the state made it mandatory for all offenders to register their e-mail addresses with the state registry. Since the implementation more than 3,500 members have been removed from these sites. According to the article both Myspace and Facebook have had policies banning sex offenders from participating in their online networks and have used registries to filter these people out but it has been difficult to verify who the vast majority of these people are. This is an example of social control because obviously they are choosing who can and can not use their services. The problem I see with this is quite obvious (beyond the fact that there are major problems withe sex offender registry) e-mails are not difficult to change or acquire multiples of. If I were a sex offender determined to use a social networking site I would go on gmail or hotmail or yahoo and create a new e-mail address and use that to create a new Facebook account. There is absolutely no way for them to regulate it and this measure does not even make it difficult. To me it seems more like a public distraction then anything (which in itself is a form of social control).

Jessica Clum # 6 Mandatory PE in College for the Overweight

2009-12-11T18:00:00.000-08:00

I found an article published on Foxnews.com on November 21, 2009. It reports that Lincoln University in Pennsylvania mandated that all entering freshmen in 2006 had to have their Body Mass Index tested and fall below the line that the BMI scale considers obese in order to graduate. Those who have a BMI of 30 or higher must take a course in “fitness for life” in order to graduate. “The course involves walking aerobics, weight training and other physical activities, as well as information on nutrition, stress and sleep”. The mandate is creating a lot of controversy because many students feel it is an invasion of privacy and an infringement on their rights. The purpose of attending a university is to gain an education not have your lifestyle choices be dictated to you. To mandate what an adult individual does or does not do with their body seems not only unethical but also illegal and definitely bordering on segregation at very minimum. If this is not social control, I don’t know what is. I totally agree that obesity is a major issue in America, but does that give us the right to enforce this kind of rule?

Jessica Clum # 5 Global Warming Hacker

2009-12-11T17:57:00.000-08:00

According to an article published on Foxnews.com on November 21, 2009, a group of hackers recently hacked into the e-mails files dating back over twenty years of a British climate research center of the University of East Anglia and found some information climate change skeptics describe as a “smoking gun”. The e-mails talk about their need to “hide the decline” and describe the tricks they use to alter data and cover up the evidence that changing temperatures may not be our fault. The author of those letters claims that he had no idea what he meant in those e-mails and that they are not working to mislead people. The hacker has been traced to a Russian file-serve and a hacker who calls himself FOIA. In this example of social control there are two things that could be going on. Either the climate researchers are controlling us with fear about a hyped up problem or those against the idea of global warming are using lies and speculation to distract us. The reason that people would want to discredit it is simple, the money, but the researchers motives for deception would be similar too. Their research funding, credibility and jobs depend on their findings.

Jessica Clum # 4 Insurance Companies Using Facebook as a Tool

2009-12-11T17:51:00.000-08:00

I found this article on Yahoo News (originally from the Associated Press) on November 22, 2009. The article describes a Canadian woman who was receiving insurance benefits because she was unable to work as a result of diagnosed major depression. When she stopped receiving payment she contacted her insurance company and was told that her benefits had been cut off because of some Facebook pictures of her having a good time. The woman claims that these pictures were taken when she was engaging in activities that her doctor suggested would be beneficial for her mental health and would help her return to normalcy and do not accurately reflect her depression. Now she is taking legal action to get her benefits back. According to her story the representative who responded to her inquiry initially told her that the reason was the result of their findings on Facebook and although the insurance company would not comment directly they did state that they would not deny a claim solely because of evidence found on social networking sites. This is an interesting aspect of social control because in a way it seems like privacy invasion is going too far. The fact that you have to willingly create this window into your life seems to legitimate it being used this way though. If we could control for the fact that a picture or a comment could easily be taken out of context, it would be a tool too good to pass up. Why would anyone want to ignore such a valuable resource? We are creating this avenue of social control for ourselves.

Jessica Clum # 3 Government Healthcare Conspiracy

2009-12-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

There was segment on the Fox News show The O’Reilly Factor that I thought was a really interesting topic so I found the transcript. The interview aired October 16, 2009 and it discussed the possibility the Obama administration could be using network television to push political propaganda or more specifically healthcare reform. The government together with the entertainment industry foundation was pushing Hollywood to promote “volunteerism” and “service” within their story lines. Although this is undoubtedly a good thing, The Factor is reporting that several shows are going beyond this and advertising Healthcare propaganda. The segment then went on to a clip from CBS's "The New Adventures of Old Christine" that exemplified this. Following this was an interview where this question was discussed where it seems to be pretty well agreed upon that the government's call for “volunteerism” is a separate thing entirely form things like this show. They stated that they agreed that it is not the government pushing propaganda but the political agenda of the writers of these shows. Whether Hollywood is pushing it or the government is pushing it is still social control, the media is attempting to influence the feeble minded through propaganda. My opinion is that it is a reflection of Hollywood, but it is much more fun to believe it is a government conspiracy.

Jessica Clum # 2 Obama and The Patriot Act

2009-12-11T17:39:00.000-08:00

This article is from the Associated Press and I believe I found it on foxnews.com. It was written September 23, 2009. It talks about the Obama administration’s lack of comment on the subject of instituting further safeguards for civil liberties in the current US Patriot Act. So far there has been no comment of this or on whether or not the Patriot Act will be extended at the end of the year when it is set to expire. The Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Patrick Leahy, is proposing that that the Act be extended for another four years with revisions and with more government accountability and an increase in internal audits. With a new administration many were expecting to see changes in the way that the government dealt with civil rights but so far democrats in the senate are not impressed and contend that the Obama administration is abusing American’s rights under the Patriot Act as fully as the Bush administration did. The article makes it sound like lawmakers were surprised by these continued abuses but to me it seems perfectly logical. This is social control because the Patriot Act gives the government the right to take away our rights with no accountability. Why would our government want to hand us back our privacy when it gives them so much power?

Jessica Clum #1 Police Chases in South Carolina

2009-12-11T17:31:00.000-08:00

I found an article from the Associated Press on September 23, 2009. It addresses the danger of enacting a law without carefully considering the wording. The article describes the mayor of a small South Carolina town who banned police officers from pursuing suspects on foot after one officer was injured while chasing a suspect. It was determined by the mayor that it was more costly to society to pay the hurt officer for his injury and time away from work then letting the suspect (who was carrying crack) go. The order was only meant to apply to pursuit on foot but the language used in the mandate made it sound rather ambiguous. It states that the mayor does "not want anyone chasing any suspects whatsoever." The article suggests that the mayor became irritated with the media for dwelling on such trivial problems within the language of the order, never the less, from a legal standpoint if her intention was to exclude car chases from the ban this slip up of wording could become a legal issue for the town and the police force. Not only is this an example of social control because it exemplifies how much language controls us socially, it also shows the way that the officials in our society can way the costs of controlling deviant behavior.

Gerardo Sanchez # 10 California DUI Law – NEW DUI LAWS GO INTO EFFECT JAN 1, 2009

2009-12-11T17:30:00.000-08:00

The start of the 2009 year, drivers on probation for any DUI conviction face a zero tolerance if they drive on California highways with a blood or breath alcohol concentration of .01% or higher. The result of these could be in a suspension or revocation of the person’s privilege to operate a motor vehicle for a period of one year to three years. In order to give a dui test to a driver the officer should have reasonable cause to believe a motor vehicle in a violation he or she did. These will result in giving a preliminary alcohol screening test or other chemical test to the offenders

This law controls all the probation offenders of taking a single drop of alcohol when they drive if they get pulled over. This helps the state of California and makes the streets safer because mostly a lot of people who are in probation are probably on probation because of alcohol. This law is kind of harsh because it prevents a lot of guys who on probation the right to enjoy an alcohol beverage and drive home.

http://www.serenitygroup.com/california-dui-law-new-dui-laws-go-into-effect-jan-1-2009/

Gerardo Sanchez #8 New laws to target texting, reptiles

2009-12-11T17:06:00.000-08:00

Starting Tuesday, sending a text message or reading an e-mail while driving will become illegal for all North Carolina drivers as this and dozens of other new laws go into effect Dec. 1. Young drivers on graduated licenses are prohibited from using most features on their cell phones while at the wheel. Adult drivers are still able to talk on the phone, but texting can get you a find of $100 fine plus court laws. According to Arthur Goodwin he said when you are texting, your brain and your hand and your eyes all off the road at the same time, it’s one of the most dangerous things you can do when you are driving. Studies have shown that talking on a cell phone while driving increases the risk of having an accident nearly fourfold because it makes drivers split their concentration between the conversation and the road. The risk of an accident increases by 32 times while texting. On some studies they have mad texting drivers not only had slower reaction times to emergencies but also were more likely to cross out of their lanes or cross double-yellow center lines.
Everyone who knows how to text have text while driving and everyone is still going to try to text because if you receive a message you are so eager to want to see what is said and if it’s important they will replay. This law is to control people who text and drive and fine them for their violations.

http://www.news-record.com/content/2009/11/28/article/new_laws_to_target_texting_reptiles

Gerardo Sanchez # 8Our view on illegal immigrants: New immigration laws expose downside of getting tough

2009-12-11T16:40:00.000-08:00

When Congress gave up trying to pass a balanced immigration law last year, it opened the door for states, counties and towns to write thier own immigartion laws. The result has been a disquieting national experiment in handling illegal immigration almost solely with arrest and deportation. Several states have enacted laws that show no mercy, even for immigrants with steady jobs, deep community roots, a history of paying taxes and children who are citizens. They want all immigrants’ out with no exceptions. The law must have meaning, so if the federal government won't act against wanton law-breaking, then the states must. Oklahoma, which has one of the toughest new laws, now bars illegal immigrants from receiving state services, requires employers to verify that new workers are legal, gives people a way to sue companies that hire illegal immigrants, and makes it a felony to transport, harbor or conceal an illegal immigrant. It was meant to be harsh, and it is.
Something interesting I found inside the articles is this paragraph, Legal residents and citizens are hurt, too. When spouses, parents or children are illegal, a relative can be placed at risk for "harboring" them at home or "transporting" them to church. There are persistent reports that police in some places target Hispanic drivers for roadside stops and document checks. Some citizens have taken to carrying passports or birth certificates to avoid being jailed.
This is the states controlling the immigrants’ and having the immigrants’’ be more careful and possibly even throwing them out the country. This article seams kind of racist because they are targeting Hispanics and asking them for all their identification.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/04/our-view-on-ill.html

Caitlin Landskroener # 3

2009-12-11T16:33:00.000-08:00

In this article from CNN, they talk about Tiger Woods taking an indefinite break from golf. This relates to social control because his private life has now been taken over by the media after his infidelity. If he were any other person he would had to deal with the media digging into his life and most likely his mistresses would not have come out. I think we would as the consumers who pay attention to the media should just leave Tiger Woodsalone. Let him deal with his problem with the people who matter the most, his wife, kids, and family.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/12/11/tiger.woods.golf.break/index.html

Caitlin Landskroener # 2

2009-12-11T16:13:00.000-08:00

In this article, a ruling from Florida's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee said that Florida judges and lawyers could no longer be friends on Facebook because they are afraid that it might look like some judges might be favoring certain lawyers. This is an example of social control because our private life has now become public. What if some of those judges are actually really good friends and now they cant even share photos or other things because people are afraid they are being favored. I think you should be allowed to be friends with whom ever you want but maybe if a judge and lawyer are friends maybe they shoul set their privacy controls so that no one can friend them.http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091211/ap_on_hi_te/us_facebook_judges;_ylt=AhYGcQo_c0WGSib2QTAIo.pfVLR_;_ylu=X3oDMTM3dXExZXZjBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMjExL3VzX2ZhY2Vib29rX2p1ZGdlcwRjY29kZQNtb3N0cG9wdWxhcgRjcG9zAzUEcG9zAzUEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNmbGFqdWRnZXNsYXc-

Caitlin Landskroener # 1

2009-12-11T15:56:00.000-08:00

This article relates to social control because the law is trying to control us from not killing people. I really like these laws because studies have shown that people tend to pay less attention to the road if they are talking to people on cell phones. Meaning that it makes our roads more dangerous with the amount of people who still do this even if they have hands free laws. Text is even more dangerous but i agree that cops have a harder time catching people doing this because most hold there phones down in their laps. I agree that we should have laws banning all forms of comunication while we are driving but it is just so hard to enforce.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091211/tc_nm/us_usa_drivers_texting

Chris Mooney Article # 10

2009-12-11T15:04:00.000-08:00

(CNN) -- As a gay man in Uganda, Frank Mugisha is used to the taunts, the slurs and the daily harassment of neighbors and friends.
But if a new bill proposed in the east African country becomes law, Mugisha could be put away for life, or worse, put to death for having sex with another man.
"Right now, you can't go to places that are crowded, because the mob can attack us or even burn us. We can't walk alone. We are ostracized by relatives. But if this bill passes, it will become impossible for me to live here at all. And that part hurts the most," Mugisha said.
The Anti-Homosexuality Bill features several provisions that human rights groups say would spur a witch hunt of homosexuals in the country:

• Gays and lesbians convicted of having gay sex would be sentenced, at minimum, to life in prison

• People who test positive for HIV may be executed

• Homosexuals who have sex with a minor, or engage in homosexual sex more than once, may also receive the death penalty

• The bill forbids the "promotion of homosexuality," which in effect bans organizations working in HIV and AIDS prevention

• Anyone who knows of homosexual activity taking place but does not report it would risk up to three years in prison
"Who will go to HIV testing if he knows that he will suffer the death sentence?" Elizabeth Mataka, the U.N. Special Envoy on AIDS in Africa, told reporters last week. "The law will drive them away from seeking counseling and testing services."
Homosexuality is already illegal in Uganda under colonial-era laws. But the bill, introduced in October, is intended to put more teeth into prosecuting violators.
It applies even to Ugandans participating in same-sex acts in countries where such behavior is legal.
"They are supposed to be brought back to Uganda and convicted here. The government is putting homosexuality on the level of treason," Mugisha said.
Lawmakers have indicated that they will pass the bill before year's end.
It has the blessing of many religious leaders -- Muslim and Christian -- in a country where a July poll found 95 percent opposed to legalizing homosexuality.
The Rev. Esau Omara, a senior church leader, said over the weekend that any lawmaker opposing the bill will pay for it during the next election, according to local newspaper reports.
And a leading Muslim cleric, Sheikh Ramathan Shaban Mubajje, has called for gays to be rounded up and banished to an island until they die.
Several media outlets also have inflamed sentiments in recent months by publicly pointing out gays and lesbians.
Who will go to HIV testing if he knows that he will suffer the death sentence?
--Elizabeth Mataka
In April, the Observer newspaper published tips to help readers spot homosexuals. And over the summer, the Red Pepper tabloid outed 45 gays and lesbians.
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has not publicly stated his position on the bill, but last month blamed foreign influence in promoting and funding homosexuality.
"It is true that, if the president has said that, he must have information that European nations are promoting (homosexuality) and recruiting homosexuals," government spokesman Fred Opolot said. "You must note that the president or the legislators are responding to the concern of the citizenry of the country."
At the Commonwealth summit in Trinidad and Tobago late last month, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he pulled aside Museveni to deplore the bill.
"We find them inconsistent with, frankly, I think any reasonable understanding of human rights, and I was very clear on that with the president of Uganda," Harper told reporters.
In the United States, a coalition of Christian leaders released a statement Monday denouncing the bill.
"Regardless of the diverse theological views of our religious traditions regarding the morality of homosexuality, in our churches, communities and families, we seek to embrace our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters as God's children, worthy of respect and love," the statement read.
Human rights groups have called on Western nations to withhold aid from Uganda if the measure passes. About 40 percent of the country's budget comes from international aid.
"This draft bill is clearly an attempt to divide and weaken civil society by striking at one of its most marginalized groups," said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at the New York-based Human Rights Watch. "The government may be starting here, but who will be next?"
Opolot, the government spokesman, said consideration of the bill in parliament is merely "democracy at work."
"We as a country are engaging and debating a pertinent issue," he said. "So if a foreign country chooses to cut aid simply because Uganda is debating its destiny, then it is quite outrageous and quite wrong."
Mugisha, who now heads the group Sexual Minority of Uganda, said he is working with lawyers and other activists to change minds and defeat the measure.
"I have put a lot of effort in this struggle. I just want to live freely every day," he said. "I want to be happy knowing that if I'm going to meet someone, I'm not going to be taken to jail forever."

this article is talking about Uganda proposing a bill to make being gay illegal. the prison sentence is a minimum of life if you are gay and if you have hiv you can be executed for it. This is probably the biggest social control because it is taking sexual preference and making it illegal as well as making a disease a crime punishable by death. they are also denning any help from health organizations to try to help those with aids and hiv saying that they support being gay. this law takes away human law and is one of the harshest laws i have ever came across .

Should your kids pay for college themselves?

2009-12-11T14:51:00.001-08:00

Upon the economic hardship of today, the current issue being brought forth is whether or not its a good idea for young adults entering into colleges and universities to be on their own financially. "Some college financial aid officers say that finances alone might not explain that 21 percentage-point difference in graduation rates. Many parents cut off students who are already on their way to flunking out. David Gelinas, senior associate dean of admission and financial aid at Davidson College, says he's seen plenty of students come into his office and declare that their parents are cutting them off because they are partying, not studying. But Jean Johnson, author of the new report, says that many of those who don't get help are spending so much time working to pay rent, utilities, and other basic living costs that they don't have enough time to devote to their studies, and end up having to drop out for scheduling or financial reasons. Part of the problem, she says, is that today's parents may not realize how much things have changed. Parents may have been able to work their own way through college. But tuition prices have risen much faster than wages and financial aid in the past 20 years. Many states, in fact, are reducing the number and size of grants they hand out to students even as they raise tuition at public universities. And it is harder for students to find jobs in the midst of the worst economy since the Great Depression." The issue of social control here is based on the economic status of the individuals who are pursing their degrees. If costs of tuition and cost of living continues to rise, we begin to see that more individuals are having a hard time paying for school and paying for their daily living expenses. Thus, economic play a huge role in social control as a means of limiting individuals who seek to break free from their economic hardship by advancing in academics.

Article can be found at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20091211/ts_usnews/shouldyourkidspayforcollegethemselves

Arlinda Smith, blog post #10

Chris Mooney Article # 9

2009-12-11T14:43:00.000-08:00

BARRE, Vt. --

Morgan Weiss runs an unusual business: breeding snakes out of her home in Barre.
Weiss is worried about the future of her hobby and livelihood. She said a bill currently in the U.S. Senate could ban the sale of all pythons -- including the ball pythons she breeds.
The bill, introduced by Florida Democrat Bill Nelson, aims to make the import or sale of nine "giant constrictor snakes" illegal. Nelson drafted the bill to protect the Florida Everglades, an area he said is in danger.
But according to Weiss and others, the bill could also end up banning all of the python species, including 45 smaller species of the snakes, like ball pythons.
Weiss said ball pythons are not dangerous, and the ones in her home have never posed a problem.
"Not one has escaped, not one has hurt a person, nothing like that. And I know I'm a responsible pet owner and breeder just like millions of other people," Weiss said.
The bill was passed by a Senate committee Thursday, with an amendment that would limit the ban to just the nine big snake varieties, including Burmese pythons and Boa Constrictors. Next up is the Senate floor, where Weiss and others said they'll be watching carefully.

This article is about a bill being passed in Florida. this bill makes the breading of large snake species illegal and posing a threat to breeders. this is connected to social control because a governor that is worried about the everglades is trying to ban big snake breading. This is the lively hood of many people and the governor failed to realize that if this bill is passed it is going to say what the breeders can or cannot breed. i think this is way to harsh and they should make breeders get liciens to breed and if you don't have one then you are doing an illegal act.

Gun laws are getting looser across much of US

2009-12-11T14:39:00.000-08:00

The regulation of guns is a prominent form of social control because it can help deter crimes involving the use of firearms. "It's been the year of the gun in Tennessee. In a flurry of legislative action, handgun owners won the right to take their weapons onto sports fields and playgrounds and, at least briefly, into bars. A change in leadership at the state Capitol helped open the doors to the gun-related bills and put Tennessee at the forefront of a largely unnoticed trend: In much of the country, it is getting easier to carry guns. A nationwide review by The Associated Press found that over the last two years, 24 states, mostly in the South and West, have passed 47 new laws loosening gun restrictions. Among other things, legislatures have allowed firearms to be carried in cars, made it illegal to ask job candidates whether they own a gun, and expanded agreements that make permits to carry handguns in one state valid in another." Although many individuals affirm that it is their right to bear arms, these looser laws about posession of firearms could potentially lead to more and more crimes involving firearms. The lack of social control here will be displayed in the future, however, now we are only left with the conclusion that the social control here is lacking.

Article can be found at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091211/ap_on_bi_ge/us_looser_gun_laws

Arlinda Smith, blog post #9

Chris Mooney Article #8

2009-12-11T14:32:00.000-08:00

(CNN) -- A new policy at Tufts University prohibits students in dorms from having sex while their roommate is in the room, according to the university's 2009-2010 student handbook.
A school spokeswoman says students have expressed concerns over roommate having sex in the dorms.
The Massachusetts university's formal rule also bars so-called "sexiling" -- exiling a roommate from the room so the other roommate can engage in sexual activity.
The new policy "is really about consideration and respect for others and the need for students to be mindful of their roommates' need for privacy, study and sleep," university spokeswoman Kim Thurler told CNN.
She said while she did not have an exact number of complaints from students about their roommates' behavior, "over the last few years, the Office of Residential Life and Learning received approximately a dozen expressions of concern about this issue."
Callie Morton, a freshman at Tufts, told CNN affiliate WHDH-TV, "If someone is going to go and have sex while their roommate is in the room, I mean I think that's kind of gross. I think it's kind of funny that they would have to make a rule about it." Watch Tufts students talk about policy »
The new guidelines for students hosting overnight guests say, "You may not engage in sexual activity while your roommate is present in the room. And sexual activity within your assigned room should not ever deprive your roommate(s) of privacy, study, or sleep time."
Other students agree that the new rule is going to be difficult to implement.

"I don't think it's something that can really be enforced per se," an unidentified Tufts University student told WHDH. "I don't understand how that's going to work."
Thurler explained that if a problem is identified and brought to the attention of residence officials, the university will help the affected student have a conversation with his/her roommate to address the situation.

"In some cases, we might intervene on behalf of the student," Thurler said, "and speak with their roommate directly and explain what is expected of them while they live in the residence halls."

Thurler wouldn't comment on possible disciplinary action by the university if a student breaks the rules.

This article talks about how a school policy at Tufts University is now saying that you cannot have sex in your dorm room wile your roommate is there. this is a huge social control act. they are telling students when they can and cannot have sex. yes it is in an invasion of privacy on both parts so i can see y they want to implement it but it is still controlling when and where students should have sex. it is a form of control that i do not agree with this rule if your roommate doesn't like it then work something out the school should not have to get involved in it at all.

Chris Mooney Article 7

2009-12-11T14:14:00.000-08:00

(CNN) -- The maker of Zhu Zhu hamsters, one of the hottest-selling toys of the holiday season, defended its product after a consumer Web site said one of the toy hamsters carries high amounts of a potentially hazardous substance.
The light-brown version of the Zhu Zhu hamsters, "Mister Squiggles," has unsafe levels of antimony, according to Dara O'Rourke, co-founder of the California-based GoodGuide.
"We found levels of about 93 to 106 parts per million," O'Rourke told CNN. "The new federal standard is about 60 parts per million."
Antimony is used in textiles and plastics to prevent them from catching fire, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry. Prolonged exposure can cause lung and heart problems, ulcers and diarrhea, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
The toy manufacturer, St. Louis, Missouri-based Cepia LLC, disputed GoodGuide's findings and said its products are safe.
"All our products are subjected to several levels of rigorous safety testing conducted by our own internal teams, as well as the world's leading independent quality assurance testing organization, and also by independent labs engaged by our retail partners," Russ Hornsby, CEO of Cepia, said in a written statement. "The results of every test prove that our products are in compliance with all government and industry safety standards."
Bruce Katz, a senior vice president of Cepia, told CNN: "They do not contain high levels of antimony in any way."
"None of these tests have failed over the many months we've been producing this product," Katz said.
The toys are popular in Europe as well as in the United States. Their British distributor, Character Options, said the products, sold there as "Go Go Pets," are "fully compliant" with U.S. and European Union standards.
"In addition, as part of Character Options' standard due diligence, the toy has been further tested on three separate occasions by the company's own safety experts and found to fully comply with all EU standards," the company said in a statement issued Sunday.
GoodGuide is a "for benefit organization" that partners with for-profit businesses and addresses social and environmental problems, according to its Web site.

This article talks about the levels of antimony in it which is a chemical that prevents things from catching fire. This chemical can cause many health problems if there is too much of it present. the company said that all of their toys are safe and have never been not safe. they stand to the U.S.'s laws and test their products for hazards. This is an example of social control because companies have to watch every step of their production or someone will complain and say they they are doing something wrong. it is like they are being watched 24 7 and this is all over a cute and cuddly hamster toy. not saying that regulations for safety are bad it is just that companies are controlled by those rules.

Chris Mooney Article # 6

2009-12-11T14:01:00.000-08:00

Jerusalem (CNN) -- An Israeli high court ruled Wednesday that a female college student deported to Gaza by the Israeli military will not be allowed to return to the West Bank to finish her studies.
Berlanty Azzam, 22, was a senior studying business at Bethlehem University with two months left to graduate when she was stopped at an Israeli army checkpoint in late October. Azzam said the Israeli military blindfolded and handcuffed her before deporting her to Gaza.
At the time, the Israeli military released a statement saying Azzam was residing illegally in the West Bank and had overstayed a permit "allowing her to stay in Jerusalem for a few days in August 2005."
Azzam, who grew up in Gaza, left her home four years ago after receiving a travel permit from the Israeli government to visit Jerusalem. After her deportation, Azzam said she was "scared of something like this happening" and had not returned home to Gaza for that reason. She acknowledged that the Israeli government had issued a temporary permit, but said she went to the West Bank because it was the only way for her to attend school.
Azzam's case was taken up by Gisha, an Israeli organization that advocates for Palestinian freedom of movement, which petitioned the Israeli court to reverse the military's deportation of Azzam.
In its ruling, the court noted that while Azzam was not considered a security risk, it accepted the military's argument that Azzam had entered the West Bank illegally.
I cannot imagine why the state of Israel is so insistent on preventing Palestinian young people ... from accessing higher education.
--Yadin Elam, Gisha attorney

U.S. Department of State
Yadin Elam, a Gisha attorney, questioned the factual basis for the court's decision Wednesday and noted the lack of consistency in the decision.
"It is unfortunate that the court, which in its interim decision asked state officials to permit Berlanty to return to Bethlehem to complete her degree, refrained from ordering them to do so when they refused," Elam said. "I cannot imagine why the state of Israel is so insistent on preventing Palestinian young people, against whom it makes no security claims whatsoever, from accessing higher education."
In a statement released by Gisha, Azzam said she was disappointed by the decision and did not "understand why Israel is preventing me from continuing my studies."
The Israeli government has imposed extremely tight restrictions on Palestinians leaving Gaza in an effort to isolate the Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas, which controls Gaza. The restrictions have extended to Gaza residents who have been accepted to universities in Europe and the United States in addition to the West Bank.
The issue received notoriety last year when the U.S. State Department exerted pressure on Israel to allow some Fulbright scholarship winners to leave Gaza to attend schools in the United States

This article talked about how a girl from Gaza was deported from the west banks and is being denied access to return to finish her last two months of school to finish her degree. This relates to social control because one country is denying a girls education simply because of where she is from. This girl is no threat to the country and is being wrongfully punished. Being denied access to education simply because of the location of where you were born and live is a huge miss use of power. The power of the government is controlling this girl and not letting her do what she wants to do.

Allison Pitts Article #10

2009-12-11T13:55:00.000-08:00

This article that I found on MSNBC.com illustrates the use of extreme social control. The Brazilian government is taking control to an extreme. Brazilian police are approaching law enforcement with lethal force. This is extreme in that it is either you do what is asked of you, or lose your life. With the exertion of control this extreme, it seems to me that whatever police demand is going to be done.

Brazilian police accused of 'extrajudicial' force

Human Rights Watch says ‘lethal force’ often used in effort to combat crime

By Sandra Lilley

News producer

NBC News

updated 6:42 a.m. MT, Tues., Dec . 8, 2009

NEW YORK - Brazil has recently generated positive headlines with its 2016 Olympic bid victory, as well as its increased economic and political visibility.

Based on current economic trends, it could be one of the world’s five biggest economies — along with China, the United States, India and Japan — by the middle of this century, according to The Economist.

Yet, the evidence of progress has been marred by the nation’s troubling crime statistics — and reports of unlawful methods employed by the security forces.

A report issued Tuesday by Human Rights Watch —“Lethal Force: Police Violence and Public Scrutiny in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo” — concludes that in fighting heavily armed gangs, Brazilian police in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo routinely resort to “lethal force, often committing extrajudicial executions and exacerbating violence in both states.”

According to the report, more than 1,000 people a year are killed in Rio and Sao Paulo during confrontations with the police, more than 11,000 since 2003. The police classify these deaths as “resistance killings,” but Human Rights Watch reports that they studied 51 cases which showed that victims were not killed in shootouts; in fact, some had been killed at point blank range.

Moreover, the report alleges that police in Rio de Janeiro arrested 23 people for every person killed in police confrontations in 2008. In Sao Paulo, the number was 348 for every person killed. “By contrast,” the report said, “police in the United States arrested over 37,000 for every person they killed in alleged confrontations that year.”

The report further added that even top prosecutors in Brazil acknowledged that “extrajudicial executions” are a major problem. Human Rights Watch Americas Director, Jose Miguel Vivanco, said that “the residents of Rio and Sao Paulo need more effective policing, not more violence from the police.”

Not New
The scale of the violence isn’t new. In 2007, Philip Alston, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, issued a report that stated that Rio police recorded 694 "acts of resistance followed by death" in a six-month period. “This is very often a euphemism for extrajudicial executions by the police killings and it is a category which virtually ensures that impunity will follow,” he said.

In a follow-up report in March of 2009 Alston said, “There is no conflict between the right of all Brazilians to security and freedom from criminal violence and the right not to be arbitrarily shot by the police. Murder is not an acceptable or effective crime control technique.”

Both the Human Rights Watch report and the United Nations report have recommended that Brazil create units independent of the police to investigate the “resistance killings.” The new report also urged the establishment of a crime scene protocol that deters police officers from engaging in false “rescues” and other cover-up techniques.

Brazilian government response
Last June, in response to the United Nations report, the Permanent Representative of Brazil at the United Nations in Geneva, Ambassador Maria Nazare Farani Azevedo, outlined Brazil’s ongoing work to guarantee that “the right of every person to security and social justice, must be in full compatibility with the rule of law.”

Azevedo cited investments in areas such as police intelligence and training, as well as a commitment to increase police salaries, improve police investigations and create national guidelines on the use of force.

The ambassador also noted that the rates of homicide in Brazil have dropped, from 30.4 per 100,00 inhabitants in 2002 to 24 per 100,000 in 2007.

Don’t militarize crime?
“We are living in a very difficult period in Brazil, especially Rio de Janeiro. The police are in constant battle against the drug traffickers,” said Sandra Cavalho, co-founder of Justica Global, a Brazilian human rights organization.

Cavalho received a Human Rights First 2009 Award for her work denouncing allegations of human rights abuses in Brazil, including violence at the hands of the police.

During her recent visit to New York, Cavalho noted how incidents, including a Brazilian police helicopter shot down by drug traffickers, demonstrate the challenge in fighting powerful armed gangs.

She added, “Unfortunately many human rights violations, especially the killing of innocent people, are perpetrated in the name of fighting this war against crime. The police see the inhabitants of the “favelas” (Brazilian shantytowns) as criminals, and as an enemy that has to be contained, and at times, exterminated.”

The Brazilian government has acknowledged the problems with the favelas. Ambassador Azevedo said that the government is investing over $450 million on improving conditions in these neighborhoods.

In the meantime, human rights activists such as Cavalho think that the spotlight on Brazil should be a force for change.

“I think there is a tendency to make Brazil’s crime a ‘spectacle,’" she said. “But now that the world’s attention is focused on Brazil, we need to develop a ‘politics of security’ which is not based on combating crime as an all-out ‘militarization’ or a war. Now we have an opportunity to construct a policy of crime-prevention and safety that also safeguards human rights.”

For Judges on Facebook, Friendship Has Limits

2009-12-11T13:53:00.000-08:00

Tomas Segovia
Soc 313-003
Blog Post #10

This article was published in the New York Times which says that Judges and lawyers in Florida can no longer be Facebook friends. The state’s Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee decided it was time to set limits on judicial behavior online. When judges “friend” lawyers who may appear before them, the committee said, it creates the appearance of a conflict of interest, since it “reasonably conveys to others the impression that these lawyer ‘friends’ are in a special position to influence the judge.” The committee did recognize, however, that online friends were not the same as friends in the traditional sense. The committee emphasized that their decision was advisory and that lawyers could still have the option to declare themselves "fans" of judges.

As we discussed in class, social networking sites are growing more and more. With the potential to reach out and spread word to the online audience, its no wonder why Facebook is being used more frequently by politicians and judicial officials. It creates another front in the political campaign to get elected but with it mixes personal life with public duty. Now, Judges and lawyers are being limited on who they can and cannot befriend in order to preserve their overall credibility. This just goes to show how ideas and impressions can influence and control our actions and behavior. To go against the Committees decision would preserve an friendship but potentially destroy a career. Therefore the pressure comes from the possibility of a conflict of interest rather than an actual case, and judges and lawyers are potentially sacrificing personal relationships in order to comply with public opinion.

Daniel Balderston -- Social Control -- #10

2009-12-11T13:45:00.004-08:00

Climate activists are demanding a deal on the global warming issue, according to CNN correspond Graham Fitzgerald. "Climate Gate" is social control on a global scale. Since former Vice president Al Gore (a lawyer not a scientist) started promoting the issue that the earth was being warmed due to our fossil fuel emissions, global warming has been in the forefront of the news. many scientists have support this belief but many have also stated that this climate change is a natural function of the earth and not caused by humans. Billions of dollars have been spent and will be spent on research and other areas in order to deal with this "crisis". The recent exposure of hundreds of emails from the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University in England appeared to reveal that scientists had fudged some of the stats on climate warming by excluding evidence that the earth has been cooling for some time, has added to the controversy on global warming. Cries of conspiracy, greed, and deception are everywhere.

What a way to force us to get rid of oil as an energy source, send any fuel prices soaring, devaste the economy and cause overall confusion in the world! So, wo do you trust? There is a Climate Summit taking place this month in Copenhagen that is estimated to bring some type of global warming solution, but is this a "solution" to a problem that does not exist? Those billions of dollars have to come from somewhere...the taxpayer again?

Daniel Balderston -- Social Control -- #09

2009-12-11T13:45:00.003-08:00

Roswell Daily Record ( AP) November 29, 2009:

Boston police have offered citizens another anoynimous way to report criminal information-texting them! Heretofore, people have been hesitant to call 911 or otherwise be a witness to a crime for fear of repercussions by the criminal community. Even Crimestoppers does not seem to increase report ing as much as texting does...perhaps because the identity of a crimestopper has to be known sometime in order to pay them.

Court testimnony is not necessary since the police have to corroborate the information themselves. Texting to the police seem to be extremely popular in the schools and has led to drug arrests and possibly prevented other crimes. Being a "snitch" was always considered a negative trait but that might be changing. What the article does not mention is how to deal with false reporting. Much harm can be done from a misinformed person or a vindictive one. This form of social control can make us safer but it can also bring about a gestapo type of environment where your neighbor or best friend can turn you in by just texting.

Daniel Balderston -- Social Control -- #08

2009-12-11T13:45:00.001-08:00

Sunday's Roswell Daily Record contained a story entitled "Saudi female jounalist gets lashes for sex show". Apparently, a Saudi court sentenced a 22 year old female journalist to 60 lashes for allegedly participating in a tv show where a Saudi man spoke openly about sex. Ms. Al-Yami denies that she did not work on that show but worked as a coordinator for that program. This is the first time a female has been punished by lashes. In all fairness, the other men that participated in the show were also convicted and sentenced.

At first this appeared to be a case of double standards between the sexes but it seems to be the muslim government setting an example that this type of freedom in the media will not be tolerated. The muslims are trying desperately to keep their country ultra conservative in the wake of the liberal media of most other countries. This social control is an effort to categorize a liberal media as deviant behavior that will not be tolerated. We have seen the constraints put on muslim women but here both sexes are being restrained. The result of this case can have great impact on the religious and political status of the country.

Daniel Balderston -- Social Control -- #07

2009-12-11T13:44:00.002-08:00

AP Santa Fe: (Roswell Daily Record

“Scandals may lead to reform”

An independent Think Tank (Think New Mexico) is recommending that New Mexico ban political contributions from lobbyists and government contractors in an effort to stodp the many public scandals that involve public corruption. New Mexico has been frought with cases involving illegal acceptance of monies by political figures, note the case of former state Treasurer Robert Vigil, the article states, who accepted illegal kickbacks in the amount of $10,000. Vigil was convicted of attempted extortion. Vigil's defense was that the monies were legal campaign contributions so the Think Tank has recommended that the law ban contributions within 2 years of a contract bid or award and that the amount be limited to $5000 per election.

The hope is that this stricter law will discourage kickbacks. This attempt to curb crime might deter some but some laws exist right now and that has not been a deterrent. The greater the amount of money involved, the greater the temptation for high risk gambling. There are other incentives that lobbyists could offer that do not directly involve money that can circumvent this method of behavior control.

Daniel Balderston -- Social Control -- #06

2009-12-11T13:44:00.001-08:00

A New York Times story today focused on California's welfare-to-work program, "California's Zigzag on Welfare Rules Worries Experts". Governor Schwarzenegger has often stated that their system was to soft on the work requirement and that the benefits paid out were too high. In an effort to reduce the welfare system's budget however, he was forced to discontinue the requirement that welfare recipients look for work...This was a very surprising move but explicable when you consider the cost of staffing offices to assist the recipients in job hunting and the cost of paying for the recipient's child care when they did work.

Now, the state administration is afraid that folks will get used to the free handouts which was why the welfare-to-work program was started in the first place! This form of manipulation can perpetuate generations of "entitled" individuals who may never find a reason to better their situations.

Daniel Balderston -- Social Control -- #05

2009-12-11T13:43:00.002-08:00

Daniel Balderston -- Social Control -- #04

2009-12-11T13:43:00.001-08:00

Social control...or was it? Most of us might be uncomfortable if we see a man (he may have been in his military uniform) wearing a gun while he is a patron at a movie theatre. That is just what happened in Alamogordo (AP article in Roswell Daily Record September 30, 2009) where a sergeant was arrested after another patron complained about him wearing a gun. The Sergeant filed a lawsuit for unreasonable search and serizure, false arrest and battery. The judge found that the search was indeed unlawful but dismissed the allegations of false arrest and battery.

In New Mexico it is not illegal to wear a firearm on your person unless it is concealed and you do not have the necessary certification for carrying a concealed weapon. You may obviously have a loaded firearm in your car or in your home. Also, there are establishments, like bars, where you are precluded from entering if you are carrying a firearm unless you are a law enforcement officer. In this case the Sergeant committed no crime in wearing an exposed firearm but , I believe, exercised very poor judgment in so doing. The Court recognized that the police should be forgiven the arrest because they must protect the public and had no way of knowing if this Sergeant was who he said he was add to that the fact that he was not on duty and in a public place. A compromise must sometimes be reached.

Daniel Balderston -- Social Control -- #03

2009-12-11T13:42:00.002-08:00

An article found in last Friday's USA Today, entitled Energy Jobs touch off bidding wars” is a good example of the many efforts that can be made in order to change a society's way of living. States are competing with each other to increase the use of solar and wind power. Tax incentives (like energy credits), job training and straight out cash are being offered to consumers to urge them to go “green”. The price of “going green” has always been high, it will be easier for people to convert if the costs comes down.

Companies are investing monies even in New Mexico-Schott Solar-where sunny days abound. Almost every state is trying to get companies to start businesses in their areas and offer them great tax incentives. Already there has been an increase in renewable energy jobs and more is anticipated. New Mexico boasts an increase of 30% according to the article. It will be intersting to see if people accept this new type of energy especially during this recession.

Daniel Balderston -- Social Control -- #02

2009-12-11T13:42:00.001-08:00

Associated Press (AP) news story today (Roswell Daily Record) , reports the a federal judge rejected the deal made by the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) and the Bank of America (BofA) for 30 million dollars. The SEC had alleged that the BOA failed to make sufficient disclosures about the bonuses paid at Merrill Lynch prior to its purchase by BofA.

The judge apparently felt that this settlement was not in the best interest of the shareholders nor did it expose the truth of what actiually transpired. It is the judge's perogative to reject a settlement agreement but it also a way of manipulating the parties to agree to what the judge feels is appropriate. Settlement agreements are used to give each of the parties something rather than skewing the results one way or another and is an incentive to avoid the expense of a trial. However, the judge has the last say and most judges will accept the agreements unless they are totally unfair.

This is a good example of how social control is exerted at all levels of government. This is a civil case but the same would apply to plea bargains in criminal cases. Law Enforcement investigates, the executive (district attorneys) prosecute or not, judicial makes findings and sentences, legislative makes the laws by which they all must abide, the people appointy the legislatures erc. All aspects have a certain amount of discretion that dictates the direction of the case.

chris mooney Article #5

2009-12-11T13:41:00.000-08:00

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (CNN) -- Cement-block walls are being built around the shantytowns of Rio de Janeiro. Authorities say it's to save rainforests. The city's poorest residents say it's an attempt to shut them out.
When Francisco de Moraes looks at the wall, it angers him. He has one of the best views of Rio, overlooking the city, its shimmering beaches and Sugarloaf Mountain jutting from the sea.
"We don't have the right to have our opinion heard," he said.
He speaks during a break from a soccer game on a makeshift cement field that's wedged in by the wall. The "eco-wall," as officials call it, runs up next to his house and around most of the Santa Marta shantytown where he and about 7,000 others live.
"The state government walled us in, so more houses wouldn't be built in the forest," de Moraes said. "But people felt imprisoned, like they were setting borders and limiting when we could come and go."
The state of Rio de Janeiro began building the wall around Santa Marta in March, and it plans to spend $17 million on similar walls around the shantytowns.
There are nearly 1,000 such favelas -- cramped poor communities built around the city. The squalid homes tilt from their shaky foundations, some built on top of others. Many are carved into the humid rainforest that cling to the hillsides.
It's estimated about 20 percent of Rio's 6 million people live in the shantytowns.
Icaro Moreno, director of Rio state's public works, says the walls are necessary because the favelas have continued to expand by 7 percent over the last decade, making them one of the biggest causes of deforestation in the state.
"The limits used to be virtual and now they're physical," he told reporters at a news conference. "The government is saying, 'If you cross them or break them, you will be violating public property.' "
Some residents feel officials are keen to rein in the expansion of Rio's chaotic slums ahead of the 2016 Olympics. The naked cement and brick homes of the shantytowns can be spotted from beaches. Locals feel the city's elite are trying to wall off an eyesore.
Blog: Postcard from Rio's 'pacified' slum
"They treat the people here like children who need to be corralled in," said Eliane Lopes, who runs her own party-organizing business in Santa Marta. "We can respect limits as well as the rich people. We don't need a wall."
Founded by squatters looking for work in the big city, shantytowns like Santa Marta are not even on most maps. Critics see the wall as a barrier between crime-ridden slums and beachside condos rather than an effort to protect the forest.
But not everyone in Santa Marta opposes the wall. Jiuzel has lived here for 34 years and he's seen the population explode in size, more than double what it was in the 1970s.
They treat the people here like children who need to be corralled in.
--Eliane Lopes
RELATED TOPICS
Nature and the Environment
Rainforest Alliance
Brazil
He says an increased police presence and investments in projects like the wall and a funicular (cable car on rails) linking the steep slum to the rest of the city shows that officials are trying to improve their standard of living.
"People are pleased because it's going to protect the Atlantic Forest. Protecting the environment is important," he said from his balcony overlooking the forest.
The Atlantic Forest blanketed much of Brazil's coast when Portuguese adventurers landed here 500 years ago. According to experts, the humid rainforest was home to more plant and animal species than the Amazon. Only 7 percent of the original forest is left.
In Rio, the plan is to build about 9 miles (14 km) of walls around 13 favelas in danger of eroding the jungle further.
Critics have drawn parallels to the Berlin Wall or the barriers that separate Israel from Palestinian territory.
Fernando Gabeira, a senator from Brazil's Green Party, disagrees.
"This wall is not a wall like the Berlin wall," he says. "Everyone may pass. There is no control trying to avoid people visiting the community or leaving the community."
But, he says, he recommended introducing a satellite tracking system to prevent the expansion of favelas, instead of building a physical barrier.
"It's the difference between soft power and hard power."

In this article it talks about how walls separating shanty town and the rain forests is just a way of preserving nature. The residents of these poor shanty towns say it is like the Berlin wall and is segregating them from the rest of the people. so which one is it an eco friendly one or a wall of segregation . For the propose of social control it really doesn't matter. Control is being exerted by saying where the people of the shanty towns can and can not live and giving them limits of expansion. it doesn't matter the reason it is what they are doing which is controlling the people.

Chris Mooney Article # 4

2009-12-11T13:35:00.000-08:00

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- Five people arrested in Pakistan had been reported missing in the United States, and police are confident they were planning terrorist acts, a Pakistani police official told CNN.
It is too soon to link the men with any terrorist organizations, said Tahir Gujjrar, deputy superintendent of police in Sargodha, Pakistan, but preliminary investigations suggest they had sought to link up with the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Jamaat ud Dawa militant organizations. Neither group showed interest, however, Gujjrar said.
The five were from Virginia and their families had contacted the FBI soon after they went missing, he said. They include two Pakistani-Americans, two Yemeni-Americans and an Egyptian-American.
The arrests came after a raid on a home in Sargodha, about 120 miles south of Islamabad, Gujjrar said.
No U.S. officials have confirmed Gujjrar's information, and there was no evidence charges had been filed. The FBI had said earlier that it was trying to determine whether a link existed between the five missing men and the arrests in Pakistan.
A U.S. law enforcement official not authorized to speak for attribution said the five missing men were all American citizens. Asked if they are the same men arrested in Pakistan, the official said, "We think it is, but we don't have it firm ... The truthful answer is, we don't know."
The State Department said it does not have confirmation of the arrested individuals' identities or whether they are Americans. The U.S. embassy in Islamabad is seeking further information.
Video: Americans arrested in Pakistan
If the individuals are Americans, the United States will be seeking consular access, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said.
"If they are American citizens, we are going to be very interested in the charges they have been detained on and the circumstances in which they are being held," he said. "That is something we would do anywhere and that is why the embassy is seeking further information."
Under the Geneva Conventions, Pakistan is required to notify the United States about any Americans arrested, Kelly said.
The U.S. law enforcement official said none of the five missing men had shown up on law enforcement's radar before they were reported missing. "These guys never surfaced with us before."
Authorities believe their intent was to wage jihad overseas rather than with terrorist acts in the United States, the official said, but "there is still a lot of uncertainty about what they were up to."
A Pakistani official said the men arrived in Karachi on November 30 and went on to Lahore and then Sargodha, where they were arrested Wednesday, the official said. The arrests came at the behest of local police. Preliminary investigations are ongoing, the official said.
If they are American citizens, we are going to be very interested in the charges they have been detained on.
--Ian Kelly, State Department spokesman

The above article is an example of social control in another country that has same interests 5 Americans were arrested in Pakistan for suspected terrorism. They are being held and interrogated not only by Pakistani officials but it is said that the FBI is also there interrogating . this just goes to show that the long arm of America trying to put a cap on terrorism is influencing other countries that we occupy as well. the five men have said that they were up there to visit and surprise one of their mothers and are being falsely accused for their accounts of terrorism.

Sociology Jessica Tollefson #9

2009-12-11T13:30:00.000-08:00

Elizabeth Lambert: Video of New Mexico’s queen of mean
November 9, 2009 11:19 am No comments
By George Tanner
UNM head coach Kit Vela announced that Lambert, a junior defender, has been suspended indefinitely. Lambert is prohibited from participating in all team practices, competition and conditioning activities.
“I am deeply and wholeheartedly regretful for my actions,” Lambert said in a statement on the school’s athletics Web site. “My actions were uncalled for. I let my emotions get the best of me in a heated situation. I take full responsibility for my actions and accept any punishment felt necessary from the coaching staff and UNM administration. This is in no way indicative of my character or the soccer player that I am. I am sorry to my coaches and teammates for any and all damages I have brought upon them. I am especially sorry to BYU and the BYU women’s soccer players that were personally affected by my actions. I have the utmost respect for the BYU women’s soccer program and its players.”
Vela said, “Liz is a quality student-athlete, but in this instance her actions clearly crossed the line of fair play and good sportsmanship.”
“Liz’s conduct on the field against BYU was completely inappropriate,” said UNM Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs. “There is no way to defend her actions.”

We all at UNM heard first about Elizabeth Lamberts bad decisions on the soccer field and after playing soccer most of my life as well, I have never let my anger or aggression get THAT bad. It is hard to keep composure in such a contact sport and I have made mistakes myself with hurting other teams because I was caught up in the moment, but the extent into which Lambert went to maliciously hurt and injure those girls was just a degradation of the sport. I do however think the media played Lambert out as a vicious soccer player and she definitly seems like it but people change and this was her wake up call. I think the media outplayed this a little much as with everything else and made this into a bigger story then what it really was. Yes it was wrong, and vicious, and dispicable, but Lambert is learning the hard way and we need to let it go.

Allison Pitts Article #9

2009-12-11T13:29:00.000-08:00

This article is from MSNBC and it talks about how some police agencies are trying to make it illegal to text message while driving. First we weren't allowed to talk on the phone while driving, and now we arent allowed to text while driving. I can see that being on the phone does pose a risk but how are cops going to prove that you are text messaging. I see this as being very controversial and another way of trying to exert control. The chances of a police officer being able to prove that one was texting while driving is going to be difficult, being that before they can even stop you, it is possible that you can just put your phone down.

Teen drivers ignore anti-texting laws

Studies suggest demographic targeted by legislation isn’t paying attention

Reuters

updated 12:49 a.m. MT, Fri., Dec . 11, 2009

LOS ANGELES - Karen Cordova, a 17-year-old high school student and part-time supermarket cashier, admits she sometimes texts friends while driving home from work late at night, lonely and bored.

The Arizona teenager knows it's illegal in Phoenix and dangerous. She once almost drifted into oncoming traffic while looking at her phone.

But would a nationwide ban stop Cordova and her friends from texting in their cars? No way, she said.

"Nobody is going to listen," Cordova said.

With momentum building in Washington for all 50 U.S. states to outlaw text messaging behind the wheel, there is evidence that the key demographic targeted by such legislation, teen drivers, will not pay much attention.

At least one major study has found that, with mobile devices now central to their lives, young people often ignore laws against using cell phones or texting in the car.

Massive increase in texts
The number of text messages is up tenfold in the past three years and Americans sent an estimated 1 trillion in 2009.

Some police agencies, while strongly in favor of such mandates, say its tough for officers to enforce them.

The California Highway Patrol has handed out nearly 163,000 tickets to drivers talking on hand-held phones since mid-2008. But it has issued only 1,400 texting citations since January in a state of 23 million drivers -- not for lack of trying.

"The handheld cell phone is relatively easy for us to spot, we can see when somebody has their phone up to their ear," CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader said.

"But with the texting it's a little bit more of a challenge to catch them in the act, because we have to see it and if they are holding it down in their lap it's going to be harder for us to see."

Already 19 states and the District of Columbia ban texting by all drivers, while 9 others prohibit it by young drivers.

Texting causes accidents
In July, Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, citing a study that found texting drivers were 23 times more likely to be in an accident, introduced a bill requiring states to prohibit the practice or risk losing federal highway funds.

Since then, Senator Jay Rockefeller has offered his own bill that would achieve the ban through grants to states.

In October, during a three-day conference in Washington on distracted driving, President Barack Obama signed an executive order barring federal employees from texting behind the wheel.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said he would seek to expand that rule to bus drivers and truckers who cross state lines and called the conference "probably the most important meeting in the history of the Department of Transportation."

But a much-cited study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that usage of cell phones for calls and texting in North Carolina actually ticked up slightly after the state banned them for drivers under the age of 18.

A study by the Automobile Club of Southern California found that texting by drivers dropped after the state's law took effect, but it did not break down the data by age.

"What I would say is that texting and cell phone devices have become such a component of life for teens and for young people that it's hard for them to differentiate between doing something normal and doing something wrong," said Steven Bloch, senior research associate for the Automobile Club.

The problem is not unique to the United States. In Britain, a public service announcement on texting while driving drew worldwide attention for its extremely graphic imagery.

The spot shows three texting teen girls in a horrific head-on collision with another car, and lingers on shots of their bloodied faces shattering the windshield as a child whose parents have been killed cries for her dead mother to wake up.

In 2007, Phoenix became one of the first U.S. cities to ban texting while driving, although Arizona still has no statewide law.

Out of a group of four high school students interviewed by Reuters in Phoenix, three admitted texting while driving and a fourth said he had stopped only after his cousin caused a serious traffic accident while sending a message.

Cordova's classmate, 17-year-old Anna Hauer, says she often texts her boyfriend when she drives and doubts she or her friends would stop because of new legislation.

"By the time they pull you over, the chances are you are going to be done with your text anyway so they can't exactly prove that you were texting," she said.

Daniel Balderston -- Social Control -- #01

2009-12-11T13:26:00.001-08:00

On September 9, 2009, the Roswell Daily Record printed an article "Baucus Proposes Fines, Fees" . This is the latest attempt by the federal government to overhaul the health care system. Under Senator Baucus' plan, however, anyone who does not buy health care coverage would be fined up to $3,800! His plan is thousands of pages long and has been floating around since last year. The assessment of fines was a new additive in an attempt to make Congress pay attention. The article states that President Obama is not in favor of fines.

The Plan includes such features as forcing insurers to accept all applicants regardless of health or age -but smokers can be charged higher premiums. 60 year olds and plus could also be charged as much as five times more for the same policy as a 20 year old; insurers, medical labs, medical equipment manufacturers and drug companies would be assessed extra fees.

Perhaps not everyone wants medical insurance...consider those who refuse any medical intervention due to their religious beliefs...under this plan they would still have to buy insurance notwithstanding the fact that they would never use it! Is it possible that this method of social control implies that not having health insurance is a deviant act to be corrected by the government?

Social Control #8 Jessica Tollefson

2009-12-11T13:26:00.000-08:00

Breaking: Berry Wants Study of Red Light Cameras

By ABQNews Staff
Friday, 11 December 2009 12:49
Albuquerque Mayor Richard J. Berry has ordered an independent study of the city's controversial traffic camera enforcement program.
Berry's office put out the following release this afternoon:

The study will examine crashes, citations, timing of yellow lights, fiscal data and contractual terms with Redflex, the company that provides the equipment for the program.
The cost of the study and completion date has yet to be determined. The city is in the process of negotiating with the University of New Mexico's Institute for Social Research to conduct the study. In the meantime, the city has extended its contract with Redflex for four months to allow time for the study to be completed.
Once the study is complete, Mayor Berry will decide whether to keep the program as is, eliminate it or narrow its scope.
"For years we have heard a variety of data about the effectiveness of the traffic camera enforcement program," Mayor Berry said. "I want an independent study. First and foremost this needs to be about safety."
The traffic camera enforcement program was launched in October 2004. There are 20 intersections in Albuquerque with cameras that send civil citations to speeders and red light runners.

This article is attempting to find the usefulness of the Red light cameras that have been put up and regulate speed limits as well. Personally I have been caught by the red light camera speeding and I hate it, but it does help me from speeding-in those areas and the people that run the red-lights have been stopping-in those areas. I really wish there was another way but it is nice not having those tickets go on your record, the question is where does the ticket money go to? These lights are definitly forms of social control.

Chris Mooney Article #3 Facebook

2009-12-11T13:14:00.000-08:00

CNN) -- A large pop-up box will greet Facebook users logging on to the social-networking site on Thursday, asking them to modify their privacy settings.
The company says the changes will help streamline privacy controls that have confused many of its 350 million users and were sprawled over six separate pages.
What is getting the thumbs-down
Complaints have started flowing in, focusing on three areas:
The changes treat as "publicly available information" the following: your name, profile picture, current city, gender and networks, and the pages you're a fan of.
Until now, you had the option of restricting much of that information. That option has been removed.
The ramifications, as the nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation sees them:
"For example, you might want to join the fan page of a controversial issue (like a page that supports or condemns the legalization of gay marriage), and let all your personal friends see this on your profile, but hide it from your officemates, relatives or the public at large." You cannot do so now.
The foundation says: "These changes are especially worrisome because even something as seemingly innocuous as your list of friends can reveal a great deal about you. In September, for example, an MIT study nicknamed 'Gaydar' demonstrated that researchers could accurately predict a Facebook user's sexual orientation simply by examining the user's friends list."
Facebook counters that a user's friends list can be made nonviewable. But it is either viewable by all or by no one.
Another source of consternation is Facebook apps, such as the quizzes developed by third parties that many users are fond of taking.
Until now, Facebook provided an option so you could specify that your information not be shared with others when one of your friends adds such an app.
But now, whenever a friend adds an app, your "publicly available information" becomes accessible to the developer.
So why did Facebook undertake the changes?
The Weblog TechCrunch explains it this way: If a user retains the "Everyone" option, the information is accessible by the Web at large.
"In short, this is Facebook's answer to Twitter. ... That means Facebook can leverage it for real-time search, and can also syndicate it to other places, like Google and Bing. The feature has been available in the site's privacy settings since last summer, but most people didn't use it (and probably didn't even know it was there). The new privacy launch today puts this as the default option for many users."
The changes have met with mixed reaction. By early Thursday, more than 2,700 users had approved of the changes on the Facebook blog.
But about 700 people said they were unhappy.
"The new setting[s] are ridiculous," commented user Victoria Anne Archer. "I have less control than before and my friends are visible to everyone ... I can't hide them ... but I have no choice ... because if I select only friends ... then NO ON[E] CAN FIND ME!"
What is getting the thumbs-up
The most commended aspect of the new settings is that they allow users to micromanage who can access every bit of information on the site.
One way to do so is to separate your friends into lists and grant those lists varying levels of accessibility.
For example, if you would rather your bosses not know what you do on downtime, you can place them on a specially created list.
In addition, a user can specify accessibility post by post.
After each status update you type or photo you post, you can pick from a drop-down menu whether you want that item visible to everyone, to just your friends, or to friends of friends as well.
How to access the changes
The new controls will be available under the "Settings" link at the top right of every page, in addition to being available in the dialogue box.
For each section -- profile information, contact information, applications and search -- users will be asked to pick from three options about who can access the information: Friends, Friends of friends, or Everyone.
The changes do away with "regional networks," which let users designate themselves as residents of a geographic area. But Facebook is retaining school- and company-based networks.
It is worth noting that many users will find their privacy options set at "Recommended settings" by default. If you retain those, your information will be available to everyone.
If you would rather the site not share your information publicly, you will need to click through each section and restrict it to "Friends" only.
This applies for photos as well. A user will have to specify album by album how much access to grant others.
In addition, you will have to go under "Search" and specify whether you want Facebook to make your information available to users who look for you on Facebook and on the Web.

this article is not so much about how social control is on us but rather the people who use facebook want more privacy that way we can share the information we want to share with who we want to share it with. There have been many issues over business looking at your facebook and not giving you a job because of some of the content. Facebook had setttings to block this but they didnt let the people you wanted to see your page or find u be able to. this article adressed the issues and talked about what the people wanted and what facebook is doing to make the privacy settings better for everyone.

Allison Pitts Article #8

2009-12-11T13:12:00.000-08:00

This article from CNN illustrates social control in two different ways. The first example of social control is illustrated by the woman making a scene and having the police called. After cutting the line to check out and being accused of disturbing the peace, the clerk called police. This illustrates that if you do not act in a way that is expected, you will be reprimanded. The other example of social control that is evident in this articles is the use of CCTV. This is seen as a form of control because it was used to determine if she was deserving of the punishment that she received.
Woman to plead guilty to misdemeanors in Missouri Wal-Mart scuffle

Kennett, Missouri (CNN) -- A woman accused of cutting in line at a Wal-Mart, shoving merchandise and assaulting police officers will plead guilty to disturbing the peace and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors.

Under the agreement -- reached after the jury received the case for deliberations -- Heather Ellis will plead guilty to disturbing the peace and resisting arrest. She will serve a year of unsupervised probation, attend an anger management course and serve four days in jail before the end of the year.

The sentence stipulates that if Ellis stays out of trouble for a year, the charges will be sealed and the arrest won't be on her permanent record.

Ellis said after court was adjourned that she was "taking responsibility for her actions and [hopes] that everyone else involved in the case will take responsibility for theirs."

Earlier Friday, Ellis, 24, took the stand and denied all charges in the racially charged case.

Witnesses and police say Ellis cut in front of customers at a Wal-Mart in January 2007, pushed aside merchandise belonging to another customer to make room for hers on the conveyor belt and, after police were called to the scene, kicked one officer in the shin and split another's lip. The prosecution has also alleged the Ellis went "ballistic in a profane tirade" that continued when police officers arrived.

Ellis, now a schoolteacher, denied all accusations against her, although she acknowledged in her Friday testimony that she touched another shopper's items on the conveyor belt.

She was initially charged with assaulting police officers, resisting arrest and disturbing the peace. Had she been convicted of those charges, she could have been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

Ellis, then a college student with no criminal history, has said that some white patrons shoved and hurled racial slurs at her when she switched checkout lines. Store employees refused to give her her change and called police, she said.

She said Friday that the incident began when she joined her cousin in the checkout line and was ignored by the clerk. She did not not cut in line and did not yell or use profanity, said Ellis, who has not spoken about the case outside of court.

As she left the store, Ellis told the Dunklin County Circuit Court, a police officer told her, "Look at this stupid bitch. Take your ass back to the ghetto."

She alleged that an officer behind her forcefully grabbed her shoulder without telling her she was being arrested.

She did not resist, but said her body was "flung around" by officers. She screamed loudly for help as officers "choked" her and pulled her hair, but she did not hit or kick them, she testified.

Testimony from Ellis' cousin, who was with her at the Wal-Mart, and from her aunt, whom the cousin called as Ellis was arrested, backed up the young woman's account.

Ellis said she saw a doctor after the incident because tight handcuffs had cut her and made her bleed. She said she also had a headache and neck pain from the incident.

An emergency room doctor testified that he had seen bruises on one of Ellis' wrists, but did not see cuts or bleeding. He also said he did not see any neck or head injuries.

Surveillance tapes from the store were shown in court Thursday and released publicly, but the tapes don't show much of the alleged confrontation.

A camera from above the cash register appeared to show Ellis' arm shoving merchandise to the side on the register's conveyor belt. Another camera showed her being led out of the store by police, with her arm in the air. A third, from the parking lot, showed her being handcuffed and put into a police car. It appeared to show Ellis kicking backward at police, as authorities allege. Her defense maintains she did so after police had assaulted her.

Officials with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference have said the case is indicative of racial bias in the town, where 13 percent of the population is African-American.

Black and Hispanic residents have long complained of being unfairly profiled during traffic stops by the predominantly white police department.

When Ellis' supporters held a peaceful rally in June, officers found business cards scattered along the route that read: "You have been paid a social visit by the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The next visit will not be social."

During another rally on Monday, a handful of opponents stood on the sidelines waving Confederate flags.

Her lawyers have not brought up race as a contributing factor in the incident.

Two years ago, prosecutors offered a plea deal under which Ellis would have received probation if she dropped her complaint against the police.

"She decided not to sign it, because she was taught to never admit guilt when you're innocent," her father has said.

CNN's David Mattingly and Tristan Smith contributed to this report.

Jessica Tollefson Social control #7

2009-12-11T12:49:00.000-08:00

CNN- A 10 year old 5th grader decided to sit down during the Pledge of Allegiance because he considered the "justice for all" was something that was not true. He believes that the Pledge leaves out the rights of gays, lesbians and the racism and sexism that still occurs today. This is a young boy that is 10 years old, and he annouces he will not swear to the flag or nation when there is a lot of discrimination against homosexual couples. This a well educated boy who stood up for what he wanted, and in some reports of this it was strewn about that the boy was gay, or that he was being coached and so on. He seems genuine and wholeheartedly concernced for the well being of those who want to marry or are faced with racism, classism, sexism etc;. The video is called "Boy Won't Pledge Allegiance" on CNN.com.

S.C first lady divorces for husbands Affair

2009-12-11T12:41:00.000-08:00

Mariel Graeber #10
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34378423/ns/politics/

This article is about the S.C. Governor confessing his Affair and his wife wanting a divorce because of it. This is interesting for social control because affairs of state officials seems to be an on going item in the news. The reality is that when a person becomes of public interest, a state official, an actor or some other popular person in the media, their social lives become public debate. Maybe this is because we see their private actions as reflecting their public social standing and moral. In this case the Governor confessed on the public news, so we can either say that he is honest to confess to the public or an immoral lier that cheated on his wife. The idea here is that his private life becomes part of the public realm on a private issue. The media literally becomes the social control mechanism here where they decide how to portrait the Governor and his wife and lover, as well as reflecting on the status of the family by opting to be a focus of the public world. Does the public deserve to pass judgement on this man when a lot of people have affairs. Because he is a public official who represents the people of S.C. does it reflect on their nature or human nature as a whole as the media holds the ultimate decision on how to portrait the man and his family.

Social Networking Sites Boot Registered Sex Offenders

2009-12-11T12:14:00.000-08:00

Mariel Graeber #9
http://www.wpix.com/news/local/wpix-social-networking-sex-offenders,0,4091350.story

This article says that registered sex offenders who have registered their email address and user names with the national sex registry have been kicked off of myspace and facebook. The justification of kicking them off is that sexual predators have lurked on facebook and myspace to find victims in the past. The article has to do with social control because of the control creep. The social networking sites are private and those who are registered sexual offenders made an offense against the state. The state is using their power to influence facebook and myspace to target another way to control the population that is offenders. These individuals probably already have less rights then the rest of us and now here is one more private part of their lives that is being dug into so their freedoms to network through these popular sites are ending. I think it is good to protect children against those that are harming them in anyway, but the question is whose job is this. Is it the job of the parent or of the state. It seems this is a never ending debate as to whether the parent or government should have the ultimate power over their children. Maybe it is the parents job to protect them against the physically harmful world and the states job to save them from all things they have access to. The social control creep is coming into our everyday lives, who will be kicked off these social network sites next, and who has the ultimate right to decide?

Allison Pitts Article #7

2009-12-11T12:03:00.000-08:00

This article is from CNN. It talks about how'Jailbreakers' work to crack new iPhones, and program them to do more than intended. This allows for extra apps, creating workarounds for restrictions are often the goal. Apple regularly issues updates to disable hacked phones. I see this as a form of social control because Apple is constantly trying to tell users what can and cant be done. Apple exerts control by disabling hacked phones and issuing updates so that hacked phones no longer work. It illustrates how Apple monitors what its customers do.

Apple battles 'jailbreakers' over iPhone control

By Brian X. Chen, Wired

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

(WIRED) -- When he was 17, George Hotz poured hundreds of hours of his summer vacation into a special project: learning the iPhone's secrets. His unpaid labor eventually paid off.

With the help of a soldering iron, he was the first to unlock the iPhone, delivering the handset to international networks before Apple had a chance to.

He got some perks, too. His unlock catapulted him to internet stardom, catching the eye of an entrepreneur who traded his Nissan 350Z car for Hotz's restriction-free iPhone.

Hotz, now 20, makes a living as a "hacker for hire" of sorts -- getting paid to break into different types of gadgets. He gets to spend his free time unofficially attending a college, where he pretends to be a student just to socialize.

What's best, Hotz didn't think unlocking the iPhone was even hard.

"It did take 500 hours, but thinking back to some of the stuff I've done now, the first iPhone was incredibly easy," Hotz said in a phone interview.

But what was an easy task for a curious teen has turned into a persistent headache for Apple, one that the company has been trying to cure for over two years, with little success.

With each new version of the iPhone operating system, a small army of independent programmers and hackers get to work prying it open, removing restrictions and making their iPhones do things that Apple CEO Steve Jobs never intended.

To stay faithful to agreements with telecom partners, Jobs in September 2007 declared Apple was playing a "cat-and-mouse game" to disable unlocked iPhones. Apple regularly issues software updates to disable hacked, unlocked versions of the handset. But within a few weeks, new hacks emerge, freeing the iPhone from carrier restrictions again.

In fact, Hotz just last month released the easiest hacking solution for the iPhone to date.

Named "Blackra1n," his software can hack and unlock an iPhone in just two minutes. All the user needs to do is plug in an iPhone, launch the application and click a button.

It's safe to say this is a game where the mouse has outrun the cat, and it's unlikely Apple will catch up anytime soon. That's because Apple is up against a lot more than an individual hacker.

The iPhone and its App Store not only gave birth to a new digital frontier for mobile software, but created an entire underground ecosystem: the Jailbreak community.

In addition to multiple iPhone hacker groups pumping out different unlocking solutions on a regular basis, there are several stores hosting unauthorized iPhone apps and programmers developing software strictly for hacked iPhones.

Hackers adopted the word "jailbreak" to describe the act of overriding the iPhone's restrictions to install unauthorized software in the device. Jailbreaking is the first step an iPhone owner must take in order to later execute the hack to unlock the handset, enabling it to work with any carrier.

The original iPhone was extremely insecure and thus very easy to jailbreak, according to Hotz, and hackers almost immediately broke into the gadget after it debuted in June 2007.

Jailbreaking accelerated quickly. Soon, hackers reverse-engineered major parts of the iPhone API, and they opened doors to creating and installing third-party apps for the device.

Games, utilities and even custom themes and wallpapers enhanced the capabilities of the handset. To Apple enthusiasts, this was exciting: The iPhone at the time had no App Store, so jailbreaking was the only way to get more than the handful of basic apps provided by Apple.

In August 2007, Hotz announced he had unlocked the iPhone with the Dev Team, a group of hackers that posts jailbreak tools and instructions. Soon after, Hotz released software that anyone in the world could use to make their iPhone work with any carrier's SIM card.

When Apple in July 2008 opened its official App Store, the urge to jailbreak got less exciting. The App Store grew quickly -- with 100,000 apps to date -- making the act of jailbreaking seemingly irrelevant to the average iPhone owner, who could download Apple-sanctioned apps without risk.

Reformation

But the App Store didn't stop the Jailbreak community from proliferating. Now that the App Store exists, jailbreakers have shifted their focus to creating work-arounds for the iPhone's many restrictions. Most share an open-software philosophy, giving consumers full ownership rights over their product, or the ability to do whatever they wish with the gadget they paid for.

Jay Freeman owns Cydia, an unauthorized app store open to jailbroken iPhones, which distributes iPhone apps Apple would otherwise forbid. Before opening his store, Freeman played an instrumental role in setting up the early groundwork for the jailbreak platform.

Often referred to as "Saurik" in the Jailbreak community, Freeman admitted he was initially reluctant about the iPhone due to its stifling limitations.

"Apple seems to have spent very little time looking at previous phones, and left out many features that users, such as myself, have come to expect," said Freeman, reflecting on the original iPhone. "However, [a friend] insisted to me that jailbreaking was the future. The software it comes with doesn't matter; I can just rewrite it all to my liking."

The need for an underground app store became more clear after Apple rejected several iPhone apps. The company faced severe scrutiny when it rejected the official Google Voice app, which would enable consumers to use a single phone number to ring all their phones, send free text messages and make cheap international calls.

The move stirred so much controversy that even the Federal Communications Commission investigated the rejection.

Unauthorized app stores served as a way of circumventing Apple's censorship. And some programmers are even making money coding forbidden iPhone apps.

"People are so annoyed by Apple and their s**t, and if you give them opportunity to go around it, then they'll even pay for it," said Kim Streich, a developer whose app 3G Unrestrictor earned $19,000 in sales in just two weeks through Cydia.

With more than 10 million jailbroken iPhones registered, Freeman's Cydia store is the most popular underground app store. Icy and Installer, two previous unauthorized iPhone software distributors, have been discontinued.

Whenever Apple releases an iPhone update, the new software usually erases unauthorized apps and disables unlocked iPhones. In response, the iPhone hacker group Dev Team continues to post regular updates on its blog with instructions and new jailbreak patches for newer iPhone software. The Dev Team's main jailbreak weapon is called Pwnage Tool, which creates a custom (hacked) patch for Apple's iPhone firmware and then installs it on the device.

To further combat jailbreaks, Apple has attempted to claim to the U.S. Copyright Office that jailbreaking is illegal.

However, the Dev Team skirts around copyright issues by not copying and providing Apple's software, according to Eric McDonald, a member of the Dev Team. Instead, the Pwnage Tool requires iPhone users to download Apple's legitimate firmware, and the Pwnage Tool patches it with jailbreak code.

Hotz, who was kicked out of the Dev Team after prematurely publishing information on iPhone hacks, still hacks away the iPhone on his own. Hotz doesn't demand money for his work, though he does accept donations.

He isn't shy about showing his face to Apple or the world, either: When running Blackra1n, the iPhone temporarily displays a photo of Hotz styled as an angel from a Caravaggio painting (above).

"Blackra1n is only 600K, and 200k of it is my picture," Hotz said, laughing.

Though the Jailbreak community persistently issues new hacks for iPhone updates, Apple is continuing to fight. A recent Apple job listing reveals the company is seeking an iPhone OS security manager to help prevent exploits, which could block future jailbreak solutions.

Hotz doubted a security expert could block his efforts. In fact, he said he's already discovered a brand new exploit that will jailbreak and unlock Apple's fourth-generation iPhone -- presumably due in stores summer of 2010 -- even though he hasn't touched it.

"Personally I love that Apple keeps the iPhone closed," Hotz said. "This is a personal hobby; it'd be no fun if Apple didn't have it closed anymore. Get a Jailbreak cop and then I'll show them what I can really do."

Blackwater Guards Tied to CIA raids

2009-12-11T11:58:00.000-08:00

Mariel Graeber #8
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121333662

This article is about the group Blackwater being involved in CIA raids in Iraq and Afghanistan. The issue in this article seems to be that the CIA and Blackwater is being linked together in their missions. Blackwater is hired by the U.S. government and the CIA is part of the government, so I do not see why this seems to be such a surprise. It seems that the issue in this article is that Blackwater is a private corporation who does not subscribe to the laws of any country. So if the CIA is blaming Blackwater for the immoral things that happened during these raids then they are being let off the hook for being involved, and Blackwater cannot be prosecuted by anyone because they are not controlled by anyone. The social control here is that Blackwater can say they did all of the 'immoral things' and the CIA can agree. Therefore the CIA will not be prosecuted and they can renew their contract with Blackwater who will of course receive money for taking the blame, whether or not they were involved. These organizations, the CIA and Blackwater are tied together whether through receiving funding from the same country or working hand in hand on the field. If we as Americans want social control over those involved we must understand that they must be responsible for their actions. When people are making money off of war they will never fess up to the 'immoral' implications of their actions or dealings with those who actually take the offense. Therefore we must make each individual responsible for their actions in every facet of life.

Jury Weighs Death Penalty

2009-12-11T11:49:00.000-08:00

Mariel Graeber #7
http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/12/11/illinois.serial.killer/index.html

This article is about a man who is convicted of 11 murders, 7 of which have substantial DNA evidence to link him to the crimes. He is also linked to several sexual assaults on women police said. The Chicago jury in the man's case will decide whether the man deserves the death penalty and the judge of the case will either accept or deny their recommendation.
This has to do with social control because the man will either spend the rest of his life in prison, where he is already withdrawn from society, or he will be murdered by the state for his crimes against humanity. I believe that his crime was not against humanity and that is only a function of the state to make the man into an example to society. If he is killed by the state, by gagging to death, it may stop others from committing the same acts as he did in his life. Individuals who kill that many people probably either have a mental problem that will not be solved by being murdered or with time spent in prison. The question is whether the death penalty actually stops others from committing the same acts as those who were killed for the same crime, or if it is just a show of the power of the state. I do not see how it helps to punish those with murder for murdering them. It seems like a hypocritical punishment!

Allison Pitts Article #6

2009-12-11T11:47:00.000-08:00

Dora the Explorer dolls get controversial new look

This article is from the New York Daily News and it talks about how Dora the Explorer is getting a new look. Her new look will be more fashionable and grown up. This new look is becoming controversial because parent fear that it will try to define what girls should be like. I see this as a form of informal control in that it is suggesting what girls should look like. The new Dora will wear a skirt, have long hair and wear ballet pumps. This new look suggests that all girls should have a certain look, which reinforces stereotypes. I think that instead of trying to change her look to be more "fashionable" and "girly", her creators should continue to focus on teaching children meaningful things.

Dora the Explorer is getting a makeover.

The cutsie cartoon character is ditching her shorts and the neat little backpack for what her creators are calling a "new
fashionable look."

Although the new Dora will not be officially unveiled until fall, Nickelodeon and Mattel released a silhouette of the revamped figure that shows her with long locks, a short skirt and pointed ballet pumps.

And it has some parents up in arms.

"What next? Dora the Cheerleader? Dora the fashionista with stylish purse and stilettos? Dora the Pop Star with Hoppin' Dance Club and "Juice" Bar?" says an online petition started by two moms, Lyn Mikel Brown andSharon Lamb, who coauthored the book Packaging Girlhood.

"We can expect it all, because that's what passes as "tween" in the toy department these days."

Creators of Dora the Explorer, a favorite character among preschoolers that teaches kids English and Spanish, say they are just making her move with the times.

The tweenage Dora will live in the big city, attend middle school and have a new wardrobe and accessories.

"For nearly ten years, Dora the Explorer has had such a strong following among preschoolers, catapulting it into the number one preschool show on commercial television," said Gina Sirard, Mattel's vice president of marketing.

"Girls really identify with Dora and we knew that girls would love to have their friend Dora grow up with them, and experience the new things that they were going through themselves.

"The brand captures girls' existing love of Dora and marries it with the fashion doll play and online experiences older girls enjoy."
Critics say they would prefer Dora to grow up true to the character she is as a child.

"If the Dora we knew grew up, she wouldn't be a fashion icon or a shopaholic. She'd develop her map reading skills and imagine the places she could go," the petition says.

"It's such a sell out of Dora, of all girls."

Gerardo Sanchez #7 Report: Microsoft bans 1 million Xbox Live players

2009-12-11T11:16:00.000-08:00

The new Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 game came out and Millions of Xbox Live users got banned by Microsoft for playing the game in pirated version. This means they could of downloaded for free and used it before the game came out in stores. Even if someone has been banned, their Xbox will still play offline games But it's not at all clear if the bans are permanent or if Microsoft will allow those who have been booted from Xbox Live to return at some point down the line. These people who did download it or received this game before it was in stores violated the Xbox Live terms of use.
The control here is that Microsoft is controlling those who try to download the game and take away their gamer tag. This game is supposed to be the game of the decade and over 20 million people have this game. When a Gamer tag comes up as violating the policies for online behavior, the person who owns that Game tag is punished by being banned from the service. This isn't just a ban on a particular game. This is a ban on the Xbox Live service as a whole, so you won't be able to go online at all during your ban. Initially, you may be banned for a day, a week, or depending on severity.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/12/cnet.xbox.live.ban/

Desiree Sandoval Article #7 "More Digging for Bodies"

2009-12-11T11:04:00.001-08:00

The article I have chosen is titled "More Digging for Bodies to Come in Cleveland Slayings Case?" and is from CNN.com. The article follows the story about a man, Anthony Sowell, who is suspected of killing many women. The remains of 11 women have been found inside and outside of Sowell's home. This article focusses on how authorities have begun to use different types of technology in order to help them with the case. For instance they have used thermal-imaging equipment and ground-penetrating radar to search outside of Sowell's home. The technology they were using helped them to do things such as see if there were any more remains or anything unusual hidden beneath the ground surrounding Sowell's house or even inside his home.

This article relates to social control because we spoke about how police are starting to use new technology in order to help them with criminals. In this case they were using the technology to try to find more evidence, more charges (more bodies found would equal more charges), and any clues to help aid the investigation. We have seen this use of new technology throughout history and Parenti describes the use of photographs and cameras that were used in policing when the technology first came out as a way to identify and organize criminals.

Corruption cases in U.S. law agencies rise

2009-12-11T09:41:00.000-08:00

I got this article fort he El Paso Times
This article talks about all of the corruption that is going on with Law enforcement. 129 open cases are being investigated in El Paso alone. This corruption is on the rise in bordering towns. Since Homeland security has come into effect many drug cartels are having trouble smuggling drugs into the United States but this doe not mean that they have stopped. They are using more desperate measures and employing members of law enforcement to help smuggle these drugs into the country. So what is this saying for the men and women that are supposed to be protecting our streets. this is one of the worst kind of social control. these are the people who are living a double standard. I think it is a shame that we really don't know who to turn to anymore. we are finding more and more corrupt cops so what does this mean for the people in society. are many of us going to turn the other way and stop trusting the police. are we going to take extreme measures and attempt to fight crime on our own. these are all things that seem far fetched but can happen if we cannot get a handle on the corruption in our law enforcement.

By: Araceli

Metro Jail Opens Space for Family Time

2009-12-11T09:32:00.000-08:00

Tomas Segovia
Soc 313-003
Blog Post #9

This article is a good example on how control measures are being reduced in order to promote parent/child interaction. We spoke in great length in class about prison systems and how they have grow and transformed into its own industry. When people do wrong we take away their rights and privileges but not their humanity, not their relational bonds. This could be a chance for inmates to see the consequences of their actions. Perhaps this notion of allowing children to see their parents can change into a type of reformation for the inmate as well.

Job Cut's, Furloughs Possible at UNM

2009-12-11T09:25:00.000-08:00

I found this article in the Albuquerque Journal. In this article the president of UNM David Schmidly is talking to the Board of Regents about possible cuts in the administration In order to cope with the cuts from the states in their budget. Up until now the University have been finding alternative ways to cut spending but they are know needing to come up with alternatives. The regents want Schmidly to cut back on his staff. Many people are starting to retire and the board is urging Shmidly to do internal changes and not do nation wide searches that will cost the university more money they are also asking him to eliminate some of his 21 VP position because they feel they are not all crucial to the functioning of the school. The hiring freeze will remain for all administrative positions but this does not include faculty because as teacher are leaving new ones need to be replaced. This is a form of social control because the Board has more say in the school administration then many would like to think. Also these cuts that are happening all over the state are affecting the education sector very much. these cuts that are occurring are making the cost of tuition go up and the fight to keep Good faculty on staff harder and harder.

By: Araceli

Desiree Sandoval Article #6 "Stores' holiday-time hazard: Shoplifters"

2009-12-11T09:19:00.000-08:00

The article I chose is titled "Stores' holiday-time hazard: Shoplifters" and is from CNNMoney.com. This article describes how the past year brought about an increase in shoplifting around the holiday season that hasn't been seen in a long time. They also say how the stores this year also face the growing threat of shoplifting. The article notes that the holiday season, November- December is typically the most critical sales period for merchants as that is when their sales can account for as much as 50% of their sales for the whole year. The merchants are fearful of shoplifters. The article describes that the reason for the increase in shoplifters is the decrease in workers in stores. With less workers in stores there is less people to monitor potential shoplifters. The reason stores may not have enough workers could be for reasons due to the economy, making them unable to hire more workers for the holiday season.

This article relates to social control because it relates to reasons that criminals may be more prone to steal. We talked about how if a certain place, such as a house, store, or car, doesn't have capable guardians then it makes it easier and less riskier for criminals to rob whatever it is that doesn't have a capable guardian that may have caused their capture if they were present at the time. In the article these capable guardians that are absent are the workers in the store since the stores have less workers and they cannot possible watch over every corner of the store.

Feds Say They Won't Let ID Law Disrupt Air Travel

2009-12-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

Tomas Segovia
Soc 313-003
Blog Post #8

This article comes from the Albuquerque Journal and it discusses the

Delayed Va. Tech alert 'inexcusable'

2009-12-11T09:08:00.001-08:00

I found this article at MSNBC.com
In this article members of the alert team at Virgina Tech called their own family members before sending out the mass alert to the members of the school. The president of the school also had his building locked down about thirty minutes before the alert went out. this means that more people could have been saved from this tragedy that occurred. They also found that a student that was found still alive had no contact with her parents they were not notified until after she had died. The only excuse that is being given by the University is that two different policies were in place at the time of the shootings and that is why they waited two hours before notifying the campus of what was going on. also officials are being blamed as well as they police for not paying more attention to Cho's mental state before the shootings occurred even with his frightening writing and his behavior. This is social control because some of the killings could have probably been prevented but the school officials acted in their own best interest and not in the best interest of the students and their faculty. family is important and i understand that but the well being of your students is important too especially when you could have helped to prevent some of the deaths that occurred.

By: Araceli

Desiree Sandoval Article #5 "Amanda Knox 'incapable of killing'"

2009-12-11T09:03:00.000-08:00

The article I chose is Sollecito: Amanda Knox 'incapable of killing'. The article comes from CNN.com and is about how the other person who was convicted for the murder of a student in Italy, Sollecito, Amanda Knox's one time boyfriend, gives his outlook of what happened with the case and why they were found guilty. Sollecito defines Knox as a "sweet girl" and that the idea that she could be involved in an act such as murder is ridiculous. He denies that he had anything to do with the murder and fears going to prison for such a long time even though he is innocent. He believes that the reason himself and Knox were convicted of murder was because of the "media campaign" against them. Right off the bat it did seem like the media had convicted them long before an actual court of law did.

This article relates to social control because it reminds me of how we place certain stigmas on criminals and start to define them, even if those definitions come from stereotypes. Right away criminals are seen as evil and unfit to be kept in society. The media in Amanda Knox's and Sollecito's case were labeling them as criminals and so, as Sollecito argues, it was only a matter of time until people actually started to believe they were criminals and disregarded other facts.

Gay Candidates Among Choices for New Episcopal Clergy in Los Angeles

2009-12-11T08:54:00.000-08:00

This article comes from Fox News.com In this article to men in the Episcopal church are running for two assistant bishop spots and are being ridiculed for it. If they were to be voted into this new position they would be only the second and third members to be openly gay and be a member of high status within the Episcopal Church. The only problem is that in the United States is already for from being a Conservative group in the church and would rather not have more gay men be apart of the Church because they are trying to keep their ties to the rest of the communion. I think this is a from of social control because many times we are looking at what others think of us and not what we think as a community. These two gay men are less likely to be elected because they are gay and the church is not willing to break away from its core or to make any type of decisions for its own community. The world is constantly changing and it seems as if religion is unwilling to change with the times. These two men are already leaders int he Church so why are they having to remain in the positions they are in without being able to advance? I think they should have a fair shot at the new position and we should not worry what other members of the church think especially if they are not even in this country.

BY: Araceli

Social Control & Advertising

2009-12-11T08:47:00.000-08:00

Julie Parker
SOC 313
Olson

Is this the time to buy into the Woods brand?

This article states that the major brands that Tiger Woods endorse (Gatorade, etc) are eager to drop him becuase of the recent headlines.

This is social control in that the public disfavors the products becuase they are associate with Tiger Woods name. The article argues that as long as Tiger Woods were to remain a wholesome father figure/family then his produycts would soar and would be able to endore more brand name products. So now he is looking at a serious financial hit becuase his private life is being aired out in public. Most sports figures earn good salaries, but endorsements with brand names make just as much money if not more.

It goes to show that the public controls what the advertisers choose to market. And on the opposing side how the public socially controls how the popular figures are to behave in private and in public.

Gerardo Sanchez post #6 UNM Parking to Restrict Access to Lomas Structure, Pedestrian Walkover

2009-12-11T08:38:00.001-08:00

UNM Parking to Restrict Access to Lomas Structure, Pedestrian Walkover

On January 4th 2010 the Lomas parking structure and pedestrian walkover between the structure and UNM Hospital will be accessible only to designated student, staff and faculty permit holders who have a security card known as a Prox-Card. The Lomas structure will future state of the art closed circuit television monitoring and prox card access control to ensure optimum security at all times. This will grant you access to the structure and Lomas walk over for 24 hours a day 7 days a week. From 8 pm to 6 am there will be a high security roll down gate at the structure entrance grants access for users with the use of their prox cards to provide additional security.
The Control issue here is people who want to park here need to have a prox card. If you don’t have one you cannot park there. Not only here but many places around compass charge for parking. This controls students and everyone else where to park and needing a pass or pay at a meter in order for you not to get towed. UNM has a variety of parking permits and you are being controlled by parking where ever your ticket says you parked.

http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/004600.html#more

RE:Mountainair Police Chief Keeps Job

2009-12-11T08:35:00.000-08:00

This is an unfortunate case as the grandmother and son were close to our family. The mother of the child was co-worker of mine when I worked for the federal prison out there. The family are also police officers so that is why it was so heated. My husband and myself are confused why they are mad at the officer, but it is a child.

Interesting fact is that APD will not train officers to shoot out tires becuase it is ineffective (most of the time). But Moutianair has to send the officers away to train (Santa Fe) and rely heavily on the state police to patrol those areas.

Transfer request reluctantly granted

2009-12-11T08:25:00.000-08:00

Gerardo Sanchez # 5

Adam Watson is trying to get his transfer release from the Lobo football team. The former UNM freshman wide receiver, which redshirted this year, was earlier reported to be transferring to play football at another school. He wants to transfer to Southern Methodist University, a school that is located to hours from his mother’s home. His mother tried to explain it to Coach Locksley but was not successful in convincing him. Under NCAA bylaws, Locksley isn’t required to grant players permission to attend a school he doesn’t sign off on, but usually coaches don’t hold players to commitments should they not want to remain with a program. Locksley said that he was apprehensive to release Watson to SMU for the reasons Frazier detailed, and that it’s not uncommon for coaches to refuse to release former players to prospective opponents.
You signing a letter of Intent to go to a school, then you are committed in staying to that team, the only way out is if you get a release and your head coach has the control of releasing you or not. So if he doesn’t release you cannot play at any school. You can leave but you cannot be involved in any sports. That’s why you signed your Letter of Intent to commit to the team and school that you will be there.

http://www.dailylobo.com/index.php/article/2009/12/transferrequestreluctantly_granted

Facebook's journey into the East

2009-12-11T07:52:00.000-08:00

For most of us facebook is just another distraction and a way to contact those long lost elementary school friends, but to countries like China it is a threat. "While other Asian nations such as Indonesia and Vietnam are seeing phenomneal growth of over 2,000 percent, Facebook's year-on-year growth in China is negative," said Jessica Lee of Silicon Valley-based blog Inside Facebook. The obvious explanation is political censorship. Facebook was added to the growing number of foreign web services banned after political unrest in the western region of the Xinjiang province in China." Although there are clone sites available, they have only begun to gain the momentum of facebook. The issue of social control in this article is the regulation of access to this particular social networking site to individuals in China. By censoring individuals the country, China is able to preserve their culture and takes away a venue for individuals to speak out about injustices in their country.

Article can be found at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8256997.stm

Arlinda Smith, blog post #8

Mountainair Police Chief Keeps Job

2009-12-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

Anna Lam Post #10

http://www.koat.com/news/19246266/detail.html

Mountainair Police Chief Ed Von Klutleben is goint to keep his job even though he is in deep trouble for a high speed chase that cost the life of a grandmother and her 10 year old grandson. During a traffic stop, the man tried running away and therefore the chief fired at the man's tires during the chase. The man ran through a stop signed and killed the grandma and child. The mayor will not fire him because state police investigators said the chief did not do anything wrong. The debate was heated and after the incident a police officer put down his badge and left his job. Mountainair has 3 officers, and one chief and now its only down to 2 officers and a cheif. Some beileve it was the officers fault for quote by a "Now you got cops acting like gang members when they should be doing their jobs," and racing down the streets shooting at the man is what many believed caused the crash. But in the end, the only criminal in this case was the man running away. He was the one who killed the two innocent people, not the chief. The chief was doing his job in trying to catch the guy running. And he should not have run in the first place. I do not understand how societal social control can be as so. The guy shouldn't have run, and the cheif probably shouldn't be shooting (but nothing says he can't) and therefore the man was already running anyways, so what if Chief was not shooting at his tires, HE IS STILL AS LIKELY TO CRASH INTO THOSE TWO INNOCENT PEOPLE BECAUSE HE IS SPEEDING AND RUNNING AWAY FROM A COP. Its not like he is only going to blow a stop sign just because he's getting shot at he was already driving like a maniac!!!

Red-Light Camera Fines Capped At $100

2009-12-11T07:16:00.000-08:00

Anna Lam Post #9

http://www.koat.com/news/19099547/detail.html

Gov. Signs Bill Capping Fines

SANTA FE, N.M. -- Gov. Bill Richardson has signed a bill that standardizes the use of red-light cameras throughout New Mexico and gives proceeds from fines to the state.
The bill became law Saturday with Richardson's signature.
The measure caps fines at $100. Half the proceeds from fines will go to the state for a driving while intoxicated court and other judicial costs. The other half goes to cities for traffic safety programs and to pay the costs of operating the cameras.
Richardson said he signed the bill to ensure all communities in New Mexico are treated fairly and municipalities aren't hitting drivers with excessive fines.
Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces have authorized red-light cameras.

This is an example of how social control can work at a downwards spiral. I do believe that it is a good thing that the fines go to courts and traffic safety program, but $100! oh my god do they really need that much money from every retard that decides to run a red light at a intersection. But the worst part of all is the red light cameras cause more accidents than help. Therefore this is just causeing chaos instead of order. This is a aspect of social control where dumb officals thinks they know what's best for the city by using putting up cameras to get money from them, but at the same time causing more harm to the citizens by causing more accident. You have the old lady who is dead scared of running the red light so she slams on her breaks cause she does not have enough money to pay. And then you have the citizen who is dead scared of not being able to make it past that yellow and slams on his gas and hits the little old lady. And then the courts and program gets money from this? all I can say is Wow! Social Chaos at its best

Inmate hanging attempt thwarted

2009-12-11T07:08:00.000-08:00

Anna Lam Post #8

The Intelligence
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/the_intelligencer/the_intelligencer_news_details/article/27/2009/december/09/inmate-hanging-attempt-thwarted.html

By: MARGARET GIBBONS
The Intelligencer
Sheriff deputies, who spotted the attempt on closed-circuit TV, raced into the holding cell at the Montco courthouse.

A Norristown man attempted to hang himself Tuesday in a holding cell at the Montgomery County Courthouse.

Jerry Walker, 40, was listed in good condition after being transported to the University of Pennsylvania, according to Sheriff John P. Durante.

Walker was taken into custody Monday on a bench warrant for failing to appear for a court appearance. He had been charged with burglary.

He spent the night in jail and on Tuesday was brought to the courthouse from the prison by sheriff deputies.

A judge subsequently revoked the bench warrant and Walker was placed in the holding cell, waiting for transport back to the prison until he could post $3,500 bail, said Durante.

While in the holding cell, Walker threaded shoe laces he had tied together through a vent in the ceiling, placed the loop around his neck and jumped from the toilet, according to Durante.

Advertisement Deputies, who spotted the attempt on closed-circuit television, raced into the holding cell at the same time that another defendant in the cell grabbed hold of Walker, said Durante.

"Everything happened in just a matter of seconds," the sheriff said.

Durante said the holding cells, where suspects in custody are kept while they await court appearances, were constructed in accordance with all security guidelines and requirements.

"But we will take a look at this and find appropriate solutions so something like this does not happen again," said Durante.

This is a story of closed circut television. a 40 year old man booked on failing to appear in front of a judge was in good condition when transported. But when the judge decided to put him back in jail it was too much for this man. Within secondes he put his shoelace together and was getting ready to hang himself when sheriffs spotted him doing that on closed circut tv. closed circit television is in use as survillence social control wise. Used as a deterrant to crime and victimization. Though studies show that it really doesn't deter crime because like Innes said in Chapter 9 it does not reduce the risk of the actual person. But this sucide attempt happened within seconds, and if it was not caught on closed circut television he would have died. Survillence in social control have its goods, but comes with the bad, at least this guy is still alive.

Police Play Wii Bowling During Drug Raid

2009-12-11T06:50:00.000-08:00

Anna Lam Post #7

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94902-Police-Play-Wii-Bowling-During-Drug-Raid

flordia police was playing Wii Bowling while drug raid. they are a part of the drug trafficking task force raiding a known drug dealers home. They had a search warrant, but once this lunkhead started playing the Wii, according to the law the search have already become illegal. their actions were posted online by a security camera in the home and therefore everything has been sabatoged. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said he doesn't agree that this incident was what made impacted this case, but he was also not pleased at all whatsoever with the officers gaming. As a police officer, it is lunkheads like them who make all officers, especially those who are full of integrity and respect look like lunkheads too. As a officer they are held to the highest standards by society becasue their job is to ensure order in society. they are to be the ones ensuring the social control, not the other way around where other sheriffs have babysit these guys. This is a aspect of social control too with the media. Becasue lunkheads like these makes great news. Also the fact the law is like a manual book which states word for word specifically what is allowed or not, the control in that aspect is any sort of miscoduct of disorder within that context will become illegal, once a lunkheads decides to play the Wii.

DWI Suspect's Smiiling Photo Subbed

2009-12-11T06:36:00.000-08:00

Anna Lam Post #6

Albuquerque Journal July 8,2009 (C1)

In Santa Fe, Scott Owens is a man who was driving 2 times over the legal limit and plowed into a car full of teenagers, killing three of them a severly wounding the driver. What caused alot of pain, was the fact that this man's mug shot was him with a wonderful nice smile. He said that the person who took his mug was the one who told hime to smile. Therefore they recently replaced the photo with origingzal booking photo which was completly different from his photo of him smiling. Many issues people had with that was the fact that his just killed 3 teenagers becasue he decided to drive drunk, yet what is he smiling about. even though someone told him to smile, how could you even do it after killing three teenagers? A picture can say a thousand words. This man have run into the laws many times which was alcahol realted with him having priors. This is the idea of the media being able to create an image and create feelings for viewer simply through a picture. Maybe this guy is a good guy who just made a horrible mistake and now everyone hates him cause of his smiling picture. But in my opinion I don't buy it. Having done something similar before he is a grown a** man who should be able to know that drinking and driving kills. If he still cannot grasp that concept like a majority of lunkheads out there who do that, then this man deserves what he gets. A grown a** man whos actions cost the lives of 3 16 year old and one 15 year old to never have a chance at life ever again.

Teen Pleads Not Guilty In Nun's Murder

2009-12-11T06:26:00.000-08:00

Anna Lam post#5

http://www.koat.com/news/21925855/detail.html

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman says an 18-year-old man accused of murdering a nun on the Navajo reservation pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and burglary charges.

Norm Cairns said Reehahlio Carroll of Navajo appeared in federal court in Albuquerque on Thursday.

Carroll entered pleas to the murder and burglary charges, but Cairns said the judge entered a not guilty plea for Carroll on a charge of transporting a stolen vehicle in interstate commerce.

Carroll's defense attorney did not return a message seeking comment.

Carroll is accused of killing 64-year-old Sister Marguerite Bartz while burglarizing her home in Navajo. Bartz was found dead Nov. 1.

Authorities say Carroll took a mini-SUV that had been used by Bartz. The vehicle was recovered in Arizona. (copyright Associated Press)

This teenager is 18 years old and was also dealing with alot of drug problems. 18 year old is shy of still being a child, and he is facing murder charges, and will be charged as an adult possibly. There is no excuse for what he did, but this story reminds me the aspect of social control by crime and punishment and racial inequailty within that context. This young man is from the Navajo reservation which is very impoverished, he is a minority who is the product of the grief stricken reservaction and this is also linked to the history of how these reservations were carved out and how they are on land that is not able to flourish. Another aspect of this is the fact that he killed a nun. By law he is of age to be charged by adult, sneaking into there and killing her is unexcusable. He pleads not gulity, but there is evidence against him since he does have her car. I see this problem as a result of what was created by officials in history that made the surroundings around him in the reservation so horrible that drives him to go down this route. He is his own person with his own thoughts and responsiblity for his own actions, but any race put in the context he was put in would have possibly react the same way he did. But he is still his own person.

APS Cracks Down On Cell Phone Use

2009-12-11T05:49:00.000-08:00

Anna Lam Post #4

http://www.koat.com/news/21926173/detail.html

APS is now trying to make the problem or cell phone use into a proposed policy. Something along the lines of no texting between 7:30am-2:30pm. They say it is a huge distraction to students and others around them as well. They want to enforce it in the the student behavior handbook and make it into a policy by Febuary to actually elimantate now created problems by sexting and cyber bullying in grades K-12. What doesn't surprise me is the different trends that schools always have to combat. When we were growing up pogs and marbles were a big deal for kids and the teachers always had to find a way to control those trendy things, and make sure it is not a distraction. Then comes the pokemon cards and then the hair dyeing by the time we got to middles school. Those things were just trendy things, but cell phones are not going to go away anytime soon. So therefore they feel like in order to control the students behavior and performance in school is to actually make it into public policy. Cell phones are only advanceing because it is a technology which have controlled our lives, but marbles, pogs, and cards were nothing but a trend, not a tedchnology at all whatsoever.

Buying, Selling and Twittering All the Way

2009-12-11T02:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/28/technology/28twitter.html?scp=4&sq=&st=nyt
Joelyn Timoner blog #10

This article is about retailers and customers using social networks to communicate what the customer wants and the deals the retailers are offering in order to maximize profits on Black Friday. There were instances of malls updating their website about which part of their parking lot was full and where it would be easiest to park. Increasingly, corporations are beginning to see Twitter and Facebook as a tool to promote their sales. It has also given an outlet for consumers to rate or complain about a service of the business. Some offer their site as an opportunity to talk to the Geek Squad at Best Buy or promote special one-day sales.

This is an example of social control in media because of the impact that consumers will use these websites to get the latest news of the best deals. It is starting to become another way for the economy to drive through socializations of society. Businesses are using these sites to control their clientele and their neverending search to find the better, cheaper deal. Instead of using newspapers, businesses are using websites. This could progress into a less expensive way that advertisements are fed to the consumers.

Andrea Baca Soc 313 Blog #6

2009-12-11T00:50:00.001-08:00

Name of Article: High school student is punished for making a funny face in her school photo from CNN.COM
Written on 12/1/09

Article Summary: I read this article last week and found this article extremely interesting so I thought I would write a blog on it. The article is about a 15 year old girl attending James Madison High School who was punished for making a funny face in her yearbook picture. The school is not allowing her picture to be in the year book. They are even going as far as comparing the innocent girl's picture to gang signs to see if it was gang related. All this young girl did was try to make people laugh by making a complete innocent funny face. School officals responded to the incident by saying "Since the yearbook represents the school and the students, the goal is to have every student presented in the best light... Students who make inappropriate faces or gestures or who do not follow the school dress code in their yearbook photos are asked to retake their photo free of charge." However, the school never did ask the 15 year old to retake her picture.

Connection to Social Control: This has to do with social control because the school is trying to regulate how kids smile for their school pictures. Now this is social control gone crazy. The school is blowing this way out of porportion. They are turning what was an innocent look into a gang sign. Schools are trying to control their students every move and it is getting ridiculous. This poor girl got in trouble for no reason.

Cold turkey for a Facebook addict

2009-12-11T00:46:00.000-08:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8299362.stm
Joelyn Timoner blog #9

This is a feature piece about a woman who deleted her facebook account after a couple years of frenzied facebooking such as uploading countless pictures, posting a crazy amount of status updates and wrangling up online friends in hopes of useful networking. She states that Facebook caters to the lazy because it is so conveinent to communicate with more than one person. After ten days, she reactivated her account because it became an addiction for her.

This is related to social control because of the huge impact that social networking sites have made in everyone's lives. People have become addicted to these websites and have in a way controlled a part of their lives. There is not one computer I pass in Dane Smith, that doesn't have Myspace or Facebook on it. It goes for my classes as well, there is always one person in that class that has logged on to chat or look at pointless, sometimes drunked pictures of people. Even when people de-activate their account, eventually they go back to the site. These websites have put people into a situation in which they are socialized through the internet and no human contact at all. In some arguments, it could be considered a type of surveillance. Your Facebook friends can see every move you make, who you are friends with and what you're doing with your time on the website. People can look up who you're dating, what you're interested in, and personal information like what school you go to, where you live and where you work. It is slowly becoming the yellow pages of people's lives.