Plague of tics

When i first started reading this story I was a little confused to what the topic referred to, but once getting into the story it was very clear.  The main character in this story, a boy, has a severe case of OCD.  It is hard for him to go a minute or two without touching his nose to something or licking a random object.  For years his teachers notice these habits and ask to have a meeting with his parents.  When his teachers would come to their run down house, his mother would poke fun at his unusual habits saying he will grow out of them, meanwhile she is getting drunk and smoking cigarettes with the teachers as if they are old friends.  The parents seem to have no clue from where these habits come from but I believe they are just in denial.  In one part of the story in mentions how they have boxes and boxes of old stamps, used floor tiles and other useless piles of junk that his father has neglected to throw out.  I believe his father also probably has a slight case of OCD in the fact that he likes to hoard things and not part way with them.  On the other hand it is unsure whether or not his mother has OCD also but she sure seems to drink and smoke a lot which may be a way of covering up or treating her disease.  For years the boy in the story was able to practice his tics, or rituals alone in his room but when he went to college he was forced to lie to his roomate so he did not look like an eccentric retard.  Thoughts would fill his head, such as his roomate getting in a car crash, going to war, or just never coming back.  His brain and thoughts were controlling his every day routine and basically his social and scholastic life.  He finally finds serenity when he first experiences cigarettes.  It gives him a reason to get up and move, to use his mouth and to touch something all at the same time.  Basically all he did was trade one bad habit for another....(plague of tics).  The tics slowly begin to fade as he grows older but he still finds himself wanting to rock in his chair listening to music all night, but the urge is not as strong.  I really enjoyed this story because I have heard and watched about other cases of OCD.  I couldn't even imagine if my brain would control my actions throughout the day.  Its almost as if someone else is in your head telling you what to do.  And when you do not do it, it just consumes your whole day thinking about it.  I think this disease can be beat but it takes a lot of metal strength.  I have no room to talk because I can't even imagine the feeling or obsession.

Questions in final research paper

For my final research the question that I am trying to answer is. "Is white collar crime more detrimental to society than index crimes."  First off, for you non criminology majors, you may be thinking what is white collar crime?  White collar crime is, "A crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation."- Edwin Sutherland.  In a nutshell white collar crime is a crime that is normally not committed face to face but instead it is normally something such as fraud, embezzlement, and corporate fraud.  It also includes things such as unsafe products, environmental crime and insider trading.  When people think of crime these are not the first things that come to mind.  Many people think of rape, murder, arson and robbery.  Those four crimes are what are known as the index crimes.  Yes, they are horrible things but normally they only affect the victim and his/her family.  In white collar crime, millions can be affected.  Either by losing money, being scammed, losing faith in something, or even dying.  A case of white collar crime that has recently shocked the world is Enron.  Enron was a 65 billion dollar company and in only 24 days they lost everything and went bankrupt.  Millions lost a ton of money and that was money many planned to retire with such as a 41K.  Enron was a case of corporate fraud to the highest extent.  They lied and lied until they couldn't lie any more.  This is why I feel that white collar crime can be more detrimental to society as a whole instead of index crimes.  Many people lost their life saving in the Enron case and this is just one example.  Another form of white collar crime that is not regularly noticed is environmental crime.  A case of this happen back in the 80's know as the love canal.  A chemical company dumped a bunch of chemicals in a canal and then covered it over with dirt.  Years later it leaked out and flooded the local neighborhoods basements.  Everything from disease, birth defects, mental retardation and leukemia were symptoms due to the chemicals. These are the reasons I want this to be my topic to not only to prove a point but to also bring awareness about these crimes.  I still would like to find out a lot more information including stats, different case studies and how those affected have made it through.  My arguments include the fact that these crimes affect millions of people and not just one person or one family.  I also want to show how it can ruin someones life either monetarily or personally.  So far I have looked at many online articles, a few peer reviewed articles and my criminology books i have from my major.  Between these these different resources i have acquired a lot of information and knowledge so far.  There is always more to learn so I will continue to research and find new/compelling info.  

white collar crime

The research topic I am more than likely going to choose is about white collar crime.  The reason for choosing this is because I am already taking a white collar crime class this semester and I find it compelling and interesting.  I have been doing a lot of research already in that class therefore i believe that I am just going to take that information and turn it into a paper.  It will also benefit me in the long run because it relates to my major and never hurts to learn more about your field of interest.  I believe I can easily turn my research into a paper, I'm pretty confident that will be my topic

Annotated Bibliography

Ronald L. Akers; Marvin D. Krohn; Lonn Lanza-Kaduce; Marcia Radosevich.
American Sociological Review, Vol. 44, No. 4. (Aug., 1979), pp. 636-655.

Throughout this article Akers and the other criminologist try and explain how Social Learning and Deviant Behavior explain crime.  This is thought to be through association with others and learning behaviors from the ones around you.  Akers believed that if you were raised around crime and deviant behavior that you too would fall into those habits.  To this day, it is still a very popular criminology theory that many use to explain crime and deviance.  I have learned about this theory over the last two years and I believe it is a very good assessment of crime.  It is probably one of the most famous criminology theories of all time.   

Attached to technology

As we all know technology is taking over the world and is now taking over our lives.  The article by Matt Richtel is just one of many that prove this.  Today more than ever people are consumed by media and news and with more and more ways to receive this information, out lives are being taken over.  In the article they continually refer to Mr. Campbell, a self proclaimed multi tasker junkie.  I thought some peoples addiction was bad but his is on a whole different level.  Engulfed by his Iphone, Ipad, laptop, and video games, he barely can remember to put his shoes on before walking out the door.  The fact that he knows that he will be offline for 221 seconds while going through a tunnel is just unbelievable.  But he is not the only one who is a technology addict.  Even I will admit that it is an addictive thing.  As i type this blog, i have my email, facebook, and blogger in three separate tabs and I also have the television on for some background noise.  I don't know what the obsession is with checking on others "facebook status" but it has taken over our brains along with every other multimedia site.  With the introduction of the smart phone, facebook, twitter, email, and youtube will never have to leave our side.  For me personally I do catch myself just aimlessly wondering about the world wide web in search of the next entertaining headline.  Thats why when it comes time for finals, the laptop stays in the bedroom, the phone gets shut off, and you can find me on the second floor of the library.  It's the only way for me to actually learn without the temptation of my technological devices.  I have a story that can pretty much sums up how much people our addicted to facebook and other websites.  Two days ago my old basketball coach (Wayne), who I've know for 10 or so years, was called at work by his wife explaining that their dog had gotten loose and she could not catch him.  Wayne left work and arrived home to look for his dog.  As Wayne and his father searched for the dog they spotted him on the side of a steep hill.  Wayne then decided it would be a good idea to try and crawl down the hill to retrieve the dog.  Little did he know that snow is slippery and he proceeded to fall 75 down the hill where he became stuck on a cliff.  Not being able to climb back up the hill he called the police to rescue him.  During the 90 minute time span that he was stuck on the hill, you would think the last thing on his mind would be facebook.  Well your wrong.  As he waited to be rescued he left a status reading "Man's best friend my ass... stuck on a cliff trying to rescue my dog" and  "Check the news every station is flying around... I'm still on cliff as I update this."   Yes I allow you to laugh now.  And yes he's alright and so is the dog.  But if this doesn't sum up how addicted some people are to technology then I don't know what does.  This is a true story and I do know the guy.  If you don't believe me you can check out  this link.  It's pretty much on every news website.  http://www.wpxi.com/news/26681074/detail.html    Peace out blogger.

what up blogger

Well so far I'm very irritated with blogger. It took me like 30 minutes to set up my account and I had to retype the scrambled word in the box about 37 damn times.  Now that I got that off my chest, my name is Jake Christy.  I'm a sophomore here at IUP and its a pretty awesome school.  While i'm here I like to party and whatnot but also have to keep my grades up.  When i'm not here, you can find me in the town of Sarver.  About one hour from here.  Its a pretty baller ass place.  Actually its not, its normally pretty beat but I got some good friends back home that I like to chill with.  During the summer I work at a place called Weleski Transfer.  It's a furniture moving company and if you think that sounds like a shitty job, it is, trust me.  When i'm not working i enjoy skiing (obviously in the winter), hunting, sports, COD, going to the beach, and whatever else keeps my attention for more than 10 minutes.  Tonight I went bowling and scored a 129.  Here I come PBA.  Peace out blogger