15 Amazing Effects of Prison Libraries

Prison libraries

Prisons have long been at the center of much social, political, and even philosophical debate. What rights prisoners should have, what works to rehabilitate them, and how much taxpayer money should go into supporting prisons have been some of the key issues in both recent years and throughout history. Prison libraries touch on all three of those issues, and in many places, what reading material prisoners have access to and whether they’re permitted to read at all has been a hot-button topic, bringing up quite a bit of fervor on both sides. While some might think access to books should be a right, many people would disagree, or would point out that libraries can be costly and could be a burden on a system that’s already struggling with the costs of providing basic care for inmates.

Yet of all the liberties afforded to prisoners, access to a library, and the materials and classes it provides, can be one of the most useful in preparing them for life outside of prison. The majority of inmates in America’s prisons have low levels of education and some can barely read, write, or use a computer. These are all skills that are necessary to make it on the outside without returning to a life of crime, and prison libraries offer inmates the chance to learn all of these things and more. While prison libraries aren’t a panacea for what ails America’s prison system, they do offer some important benefits that are well worth considering. We’ve listed a few here that just might change how you think about prison libraries.

1.    Inmates who participate in prison education programs are less likely to end up back in prison

Perhaps one of the best ways libraries benefit prisoners is by helping make it less likely that they’ll end up back in prison again. Studies have shown that education helps to reduce rates of recidivism, and libraries can play a big part in that, with access to books, educational programs, and computer training. A study of inmates in 2003 found that participation in education programs while in prison helped reduce rates of re-arrest, re-conviction, and reincarceration by significant amounts, with only 21% of those who participated in education programs ending up back in prison versus 35% of non-participants.

2.    Many library programs can also benefit inmates’ families

Prison libraries don’t just offer those who are incarcerated a chance to read; they also encourage inmates who are parents to share books with their children. For example, the Indiana State Library has a program called Read-to-Me which provides picture books and children’s readers to inmates. Inmates work with library staff and volunteers to learn to read a book of their choosing well enough to make a recording, which they can send to their children, grandchildren, or other relatives. Other programs all over the U.S. work to send out books to children of inmates or promote family literacy, helping change not only the lives of the inmates but of future generations as well.

3.    Prison inmates who read newspapers and magazines, books, or letters and notes have higher average prose and document literacy than prison inmates who never read

The library provides access to a wide range of written materials that can help inmates improve their literacy skills or keep existing skills sharp. Those who used the library to read just about anything, from books to newspapers, regardless of the frequency with which they read, were found to have higher literacy levels than their counterparts who never took advantage of the library’s collections. This may be due to inmates with higher literacy levels being more inclined to take advantage of library resources, but others may use the library to improve poor literacy levels, as overall education and reading proficiency tend to be low among prison populations.

4.    Prison inmates who use the prison library regularly have higher average literacy rates than prison inmates who don’t

Libraries are a place where people can go to expand their minds, prisoners included. A 2003 study on literacy behind bars found that prison inmates who used the library daily had higher average literacy when reading prose and documents than prison inmates who used the library less frequently, whether they went weekly, monthly, or never at all. While those who used the library daily had the biggest difference in language literacy levels, prison inmates who used the library at any rate had better literacy when it came to math than prison inmates who never used the library.

5.    Libraries provide inmates with a productive way to spend their time

Even when prisoners are participating in work programs, getting exercise, or doing other activities, there’s a lot of downtime in prison. Libraries offer prisoners a chance to use that time to read, study, and hopefully, learn. A study found that in prisons with libraries, a good portion of inmates take advantage of materials. Of those who use the library, 43% were found to read newspapers and magazines daily and 50% read books daily.

6.    Many studies report inmates feeling increased self-confidence and self-worth after gaining literacy skills

Not being able to read, or not being able to read well, is a source of shame for many adults, in prison or not. Prison libraries offer inmates a chance to get the resources they need to practice reading, and with the help of librarians, educators, and volunteers, many are able to make big strides in their reading abilities. A case study conducted in 1993 found that reading and writing while in prison, with the help of a tutor, helped inmates to better understand themselves, legitimize their voice, and feel more self-confident.

7.    Prison libraries that offer inter-library loans give inmates access to virtually any book out there

Whether inmates want to learn about law or read the classics, many find that it’s easy to do through prison library book-loaning programs. Some communities treat prison libraries like any other library in their system, and allow prisoners to request and get just about any book (though some restrictions may be in effect, depending on the state and discretion of the librarian). Since many prison libraries can’t afford to build large collections of their own, this is a cost-effective way to improve the quality of the material inmates can read and offers a freedom of information that many see as a basic human right.

 

8. Libraries are also a place where inmates can learn computer skills

For better or worse, inmates in America’s prisons can’t make use of the Internet, which can be a big problem for many when they go to look for a job after release. While they can’t take advantage of the information and training the web has to offer, there are many other opportunities to use computers in prison libraries, and many inmates take full advantage. With access to CD-ROM training programs, inmates can learn how to use computer programs, navigate the web, or may even be able to take courses that can help them in finding work. In Maryland, inmates can check out a program called Discovering the Internet, which helps to bridge the digital divide many long-term inmates may have upon release. The program is not only popular with Maryland prisoners, but has been requested at prisons all over the U.S.

9. Inmates can use the library to take an active role in their own legal matters

While it might be a stereotype that many prisoners spend hours in the library looking through law books and legal publications to wheedle their way out of jail, it’s not entirely unfounded nor a bad thing. Giving inmates a chance to learn about the law can help ensure that they’re being treated fairly and justly, which, sadly, may not always be the case if inmates are low-income or lack the education to understand the process that landed them in jail in the first place. Some inmates have even earned law degrees while in prison, and a select few have gone on to use their knowledge to successfully get their convictions overturned, neither of which they would have been able to accomplish without the help of a prison library.

10. Prison libraries can help improve inmates’ mental well-being.

While prison is a punishment, our constitution has mandated that it shouldn’t be one that’s cruel or unusual. The confinement, the threat of violence, the loneliness, the lack of purpose; these factors can all take a toll on the mental health of prisoners, but books can help. Prisoners can read to learn or as a pleasurable escape from the often monotonous and sometimes violent reality that surrounds them. Books can provide inspiration, guidance, and perspective in a way that few other things can, and for many inmates that may make all the difference when it comes to quality of life. In many prisons, even inmates who are sentenced to solitary confinement are allowed a few books to read in order to pass the time.

11. Libraries act as gateways to learning for many inmates

A study of prison education and library programs concluded that reading was not only a source of pleasure for inmates but also a “gateway to learning, information, inspiration, and relaxation.” With numerous studies drawing direct correlations between education and reduced rates of recidivism, anything that gets prisoners to be more open to the idea of learning is a good thing. Librarians who work in prisons often work hard to create collections that cater to the needs and interests of their particular population, and it’s not all just for fun. Books may start off as a source of escape for many in a figurative sense, but may lead to learning that can literally help them escape from a life of crime and future imprisonment. One inmate was quoted as saying, “My library has helped me find the courage and strength, not only to overcome my incarceration but also to strive for a more honest and productive future.”

12. Many inmates who read little on the outside become hooked on books in prison

Whether you’re young, old, or in between, there is no bad time to develop a love of reading. Many prison librarians report that some of their most reading-crazed patrons actually read little to nothing when they were free, but with little else to do, turn to books as a source of entertainment, education, and escape. You only need to read through a few of the entries on this prison book program blog to see how important libraries are to prisoners, even those who never thought they’d spend so much of their day reading. Many will take their acquired love of books, and the writing skills they’ve gained along the way, with them into life outside of prison.

13. Reading can help inmates make connections with the outside world

A prison library offers inmates several ways to stay connected to life on the outside, which can help give them a sense of stability and normalcy. Aside from the bars on the windows, prison libraries function identically to those outside and allow prisoners to make choices of their own accord, something that is virtually non-existent in many other aspects of their daily lives. Former prisoners, like Mark Knudsen, report that libraries enabled them to pursue their educational and recreational interests, make connections with the outside world through literature, and achieve “astonishing growth in learning and developing skills.” Libraries not only provide a sense of continuity with the outside world but can also help inmates stay in touch with modern life outside the prison walls and gain new understandings about human interactions, society, and themselves.

14. Libraries don’t rehabilitate all prisoners, but some do take away amazing lessons

In the book Reading is My Window: Books and the Art of Reading in Women’s Prisons, readers can hear from a wide range of women in prison on the role books and the libraries that provide them play in their lives. Some complain about the lack of good resources and proliferation of trashy romance novels while others feel that reading in prison has made a major difference in their lives and helped them to grow as people and perhaps even prepare themselves a bit for life outside of prison. While prison libraries may not be able to change all prisoners from career criminals into upstanding citizens, they do offer opportunities and open doors that many prisoners wouldn’t have access to otherwise.

15. There are many stories of people who turned their lives around through reading and writing in prison

While all of us hope we never end up in jail, for some, it may be the best thing that’s ever happened to them. Prison can be the wake-up call that finally gets their life on track. One famous example is Malcolm Little, better known as Malcolm X, who ended up in jail at the age of 26 after a tumultuous and troubled youth. Little only had an eighth-grade education when he entered prison and could barely read and write, a fact which frustrated him greatly. Instead of giving up, he got a dictionary and forced himself to learn the words, eventually going on to read many of the books in Norfolk Prison’s well-stocked library. While many may disagree with the politics of Malcolm X, it’s undeniable the impact having access to a library made on his life, turning him from a troubled youth into a leader in the African-American community.

*Today’s blog brought to you courtesy of www.bestcollegesonline.com

/by

15 Famous Thinkers Who Couldn’t Spell

15 thinkers that couldn't spell

Words can be tricky things, often spelled quite differently than how they sound, coming from foreign languages with different sets of rules, or being just plain weird. It’s no wonder then that so many people struggle with spelling, even those who are generally regarded as having some seriously brilliant minds. No, it’s not just grade-schoolers, college students, and the everyday man who struggles with the age old “i before e” dilemma, but also scientists, writers, and world leaders. Here, you’ll find a list of great thinkers who made great strides in their respective fields, but never could quite conquer the perils of spelling.

  1. Alfred Mosher Butts

    Unfamiliar with this name? Well, you’re probably familiar with what he created, though it might surprise you to learn that Butts was a bad speller. He created the iconic and still quite popular game Scrabble, which requires one to be adept at spelling. The inventor himself was admittedly not the best speller, often scoring only 300 points on average in a game of Scrabble.

  2. William Faulkner

    Faulkner wasn’t a truly terrible speller, but if you take a look at his original manuscripts there are some definite errors the iconic Southern author wouldn’t have wanted to see in print. Despite setting many of his famous books and short stories in the difficult to spell and pronounce Yoknapatawpha County, Faulkner’s editors confirm that despite their repeated attempts to point out his mistakes, he made spelling errors all through his career.

  3. F. Scott Fitzgerald

    Few writers are so known for their bad spelling as Fitzgerald. How bad, you say? Fitzgerald wasn’t even able to spell the name of one of his closest friends, Hemingway, often misaddressing him in correspondence and papers as “Earnest Hemminway.” The editor of his collected letters called him a “lamentable speller” who struggled with words like “definite” and “criticism.” Still, his poor spelling didn’t seem to do the author any harm, and many of his works are regarded as literary masterpieces today.

  4. Ernest Hemingway

    Ernest Hemingway may not have had much room to judge when it came to his friend Fitzgerald not spelling his name correctly. Long before the days of spell check, Hemingway had to rely on newspaper and book editors to catch his mistakes, a job which they often complained would be a lot easier if he would make an effort to spell things correctly (though Hemingway retorted that that’s what they were being paid to do).

  5. John Keats

    The brilliant Keats died quite young at only 26, so one can hardly blame him for not spending time worrying about spelling in his written works. If readers want to get a taste of his more interesting spelling choices, they only need turn to his letters. They record many odd spelling choices, including the misspelling of purple as “purplue” in a letter to his love Fanny Brawne, a misspelling which she questioned and Keats tried to cover up by saying he was creating a new combination of purple and blue.

  6. Jane Austen

    Jane Austen may have a place among the literary elites today, but when it came to spelling and grammar she wasn’t too handy with either. Research into her personal letters and manuscripts has exposed numerous errors in spelling and grammar that were corrected later by her early editor, William Gifford. One of her favorite misspellings? She often spelled “scissors” as “scissars.”

  7. Fannie Flagg

    Actress and author Fannie Flagg has had great success in her literary career, most notably with the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe which was later adapted into a highly successful film. Yet writing never came easy to Flagg, who has dyslexia. She has said she was challenged as a writer because she was “severely dyslexic and couldn’t spell, still can’t spell. So I was discouraged from writing and embarrassed.” Flagg obviously overcame her embarrassment, and has since written numerous books and screenplays.

  8. Albert Einstein

    Being bilingual, one could hardly blame Einstein for being a bad speller in English. Yet it wasn’t just in English that Einstein struggled. He also was a pretty bad speller in his native German, and got even worse when he began using English more regularly. Of course, Einstein didn’t make those same errors when it came to writing mathematical equations, a fact that helped to make his name synonymous with genius today.

  9. Winston Churchill

    While today Churchill may be regarded as a great leader and speaker, he had a rough start in his schooling, always struggling with spelling and writing. He was a notoriously bad speller throughout his life, but he never let it hold him back. He battled through his difficulties, which also included a speech impediment, to leave his mark on the world.

  10. Leonardo Da Vinci

    Leonardo helped define the term “Renaissance man,” excelling in both the arts and the sciences, but spelling may not have been his forte. He is quoted as having once said, “You should prefer a good scientist without literary abilities than a literate one without scientific skills.” Some historians believe he may have been dyslexic (there is no way to prove that, of course) as his journals and writings are riddled with spelling errors common with dyslexics.

  11. Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie penned some of the bestselling books ever created, but the author admitted once, “I, myself, was always recognized … as the “slow one” in the family. It was quite true, and I knew it and accepted it. Writing and spelling were always terribly difficult for me. My letters were without originality. I was … an extraordinarily bad speller and have remained so until this day.” Despite her struggles with spelling, Christie was an enormously successful writer, and has gone down in the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling novelist of all time.

  12. John F. Kennedy Jr.

    JFK is a figure that has fascinated the American public for decades, but what many may not know is just how bad of a speller the famous president was. He was outed for his poor spelling by his wife, Jackie, though she was a French literature major in college and would later become a book editor, so she may have been a pretty harsh critic.

  13. W.B. Yeats

    Yeats is yet another famous author who, while quite adept at writing, was pretty terrible when it came to spelling. To see examples of his spelling errors, one need only find a copy of his collected letters which contain misspellings like “feal” for “feel” and “sleap” for “sleep”. Despite his inadequacy when it came to spelling, Yeats was a prolific and very successful writer, winning a Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.

  14. John Irving

    John Irving is another author on this list whose poor spelling was the result of dyslexia. Sadly, Irving wasn’t recognized as having dyslexia until much later in his life, stating, “The diagnosis of dyslexia wasn’t available in the late fifties — bad spelling like mine was considered a psychological problem by the language therapist who evaluated my mysterious case. When the repeated courses of language therapy were judged to have had no discernible influence on me, I was turned over to the school psychiatrist.” Irving’s struggles with spelling affected him deeply, and he even reflects on them in one of his most famous novels, The World According to Garp, stating that English is such a mishmash of different languages that no one should ever feel stupid for being a bad speller.

  15. Benjamin Franklin

    Ben Franklin wasn’t a particularly good speller in his time, and actually felt that the alphabet as it stood (and still does today) was what was holding so many back from being able to spell. In a letter he once wrote, “You need not be concerned in writing to me about your bad spelling, for in my opinion as our alphabet now stands the bad spelling, or what is called so, is generally best, as conforming to the sound of the letters and of the words.” Whether you struggle with spelling or not, you have to admit he has a point, as many words are spelled quite differently than they sound.

* Today’s article brought to you by www.onlinecollegecourses.com

/by

10 Things You Should Never Carry in Your Purse or Wallet

Things you shouldn't carry

We carry a great risk of becoming victims of identity theft every day, and it all starts in the wallet and purse. Every piece of plastic, every password, and every receipt you put in your wallet or purse could be the very thing thieves use to compromise your finances and steal your identity. The best way to protect yourself and your belongings is to use common sense and not carry the following items (click the links for more detailed information):

  1. Social Security card and number

    Your Social Security number is incredibly valuable and it can be detrimental if someone gets access to it. You may use your Social Security number for work documentation and government services, but very rarely will you have to show your Social Security card. If your card gets into the wrong hands, there’s no telling what a person will do with it. Thieves can open a credit card in your name, apply for loans, and much worse. If you can’t memorize this number for the life of you, do not write the numbers on paper and leave it in your wallet or purse. Even if you delete the dashes, a thief can figure out what number this is because all SSN have nine digits. Be smart and leave your Social Security card and number in a safe place with other important documents.

  2. Passport

    When traveling abroad, you can’t really get around carrying your passport on you. However, American travelers are advised to pack extra passport photos and a photocopy of their passport information in case it is lost or stolen. These documents and photos should be left in the hotel, preferably in a hotel safe. This will make getting a replacement easier and protect you from other identity theft dangers.

  3. Checkbook

    It might be convenient to keep your checkbook on hand, but it can be a big mess if someone gets ahold of it. One look at your checkbook and a thief will have access to your account number, routing number, and possibly your signature. If they’re really sneaky, they might be able to forge your signature and cash a check. Avoid this fiasco by keeping your checkbook at home in a safe place.

  4. Passwords

    Passwords, such as PIN numbers, e-mail passwords, and even alarm codes should not be carried around in your wallet or purse. It doesn’t take much for a thief to figure out that four digits could be your PIN number. If you cannot remember important passwords that you need to use on a regular basis, then store them on a protected computer or phone.

  5. Gift cards and certificates

    Many people carry gift cards and certificates in their wallet because they never know when they’ll end up using them. This might seem convenient, but if your wallet or purse gets stolen, you’ll be kicking yourself for not leaving these gifts at home. Gift cards and certificates are as good as money, and you don’t have to show an ID to use them. Avoid this risk by leaving gift cards and certificates at home until you’ve picked a day to use them.

  6. USB devices

    As wonderful and convenient as USBs are, they can be very problematic if a thief gets ahold of one. Many USBs contain confidential files and personal information that a thief would love to have. Not to mention, all of your hard work and important documents could be lost in an instant if someone snags your purse or wallet.

  7. Receipts

    Many people disregard receipts and leave them hanging around or stuffed into a purse or wallet, but these small pieces of paper can be quite telling, especially to a smart thief. Some receipts contain your credit card information and signature, which opens the door for identity theft and forgery. Also, if a thief has access to your address and they can see what you bought on a receipt, they may go as far as to break into your house.

  8. Unprotected cell phone

    A cell phone without a password is a dangerous thing to carry around. A thief will have full access to your e-mail and other personal information stored in your phone. Placing a password on your phone could deter a thief from taking your phone in the first place and prevent them from accessing any personal information. If your phone does not have a password option, then carry it in a pocket or on your body instead of in a bag.

  9. Too many credit cards

    Carrying all of your credit cards in your wallet can be very risky and quite the hassle if they get stolen. Not only will you have to cancel each and every credit card, but you’ll also have to use cash or write checks while you wait on new credit cards to be sent. To avoid this fiasco, only carry the cards you use on a regular basis and leave the rest at home so you’re not completely S.O.L.

  10. Large amounts of cash

    Carrying a lot of cash in your wallet or purse is risky for many obvious reasons. If you get mugged, you’ll be out a lot of money. It’s never a bad idea to keep some cash on you, especially when traveling, but be sure to bring only as much as you need and don’t flash it around for others to see.

* Today’s article brought to you by www.criminaljusticedegreesguide.com

/by

10 Common Self-Publishing Scams

10 Common Self-Publishing Scams

For many writers who’ve faced rejection after rejection from publishing houses, self-publishing can start to look like a pretty good idea. While there are writers out there who’ve managed to make self-publishing work for them, there are risks involved with self-publishing that every writer should know about. Namely that some self-publishing companies may be pretty shady and could cost you extra time and money if you’re not aware of the kinds of scams they run. Here are some of the most common scams that happen in self-publishing, a list that anyone even considering self-publication should read before entering into any kind of agreement or paying any fees associated with self-publishing.

  1. Excessively flattering offers

    Who doesn’t like to have their ego stroked now and then? While it can be a great self-esteem boost, when it’s coming from a publisher you might want to beware. Unscrupulous publishers may be using this as a method to manipulate you and are trying to butter you up in order to gain your business. While your writing may indeed by great and you may really deserve to be published, legit publishers won’t bother with all the flattery. Regard excessive flattery as a red flag and avoid companies that try to compliment you into doing business with them.

  2. Promises that are too good to be true.

    If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” is an adage that holds as true for self-publishing as it does for other aspects of life. Some self-publishers may promise you that they can get your book into every bookstore in America, which sounds great and may prompt you to pay more to go with this company. The thing is, this promise doesn’t mean much of anything. Your book won’t be stocked on the shelves of most bookstores but will merely be available to order should customers request it. Not so great now, huh?

  3. Copyrighting tricks

    Is your self-publisher harping on how hard and expensive it is to get an ISBN number for your book and a copyright? They’re probably scamming you if they offer to help you with those details for a fee. In fact, it’s actually quite simple to get both of these and shouldn’t cost more than $160 for both. You can purchase an ISBN from the agency directly (and depending on the type of book you’re writing, you may not even need an ISBN at all) and you automatically own the copyright to your work, but you can register it with the Library of Congress for a mere $35.

  4. Crazy contracts

    If you can’t understand the contract a self-publishing company is presenting you with, there’s probably a reason they don’t want to make it easy for you. Never sign anything without understanding what it is you’re doing first. You may need to get a lawyer to look it over. Additionally, never be afraid to ask how and how much you’ll be paid before signing anything.

  5. Suspect marketing

    If you’ve done any shopping around for self-publishers, you’ve probably come across a variety of all-inclusive packages that include editing, proofreading, sales, publicity, and shipping. Yet these extra materials and services may not do much for you at all and are often things you could easily do yourself for a fraction of the cost (or for free). These marketing materials very often include little other than press releases (which will likely end up in the garbage as they’re sent out en masse by just about every publisher) and a listing in a book catalog. You’d be better off contacting local papers, libraries, book clubs, and bookstores on your own and penning your own press release.

  1. Vanity publishing

    Many self-publishers are what are referred to as “vanity publishers.” They offer authors a chance to get their books in print for a fee and often advertise that they “need” more authors. Any legitimate company will never “need” more authors, as should be clear to anyone who’s ever tried to write a book. These companies charge unsuspecting authors to publish their work, often producing works that are poorly written, aren’t proofread, have terrible covers, and for all intents and purposes are virtually worthless. That is, to everyone except the publisher, who makes thousands of dollars from the author.

  2. Guaranteeing success

    There is never a way to guarantee that a book will be successful, and you can assume anyone claiming otherwise is totally full of it. There is no way to get instant success, become an overnight star, or ensure that you’ll take this book to the top. It’s a risk, and it takes a lot of hard work and determination, no matter what a publisher will tell you. Real, legitimate publishers will never promise that your book will be a best-seller or will achieve any level of success. No one can promise that, and anyone who does is just looking to take your money.

  3. Promises to make your book “available.”

    While it might sound great that your book will be listed on Amazon and will be available to distributors, this is pretty much meaningless when it comes to your success as an author. First, anyone can list a book on Amazon. Secondly, most bookstores won’t touch publish-on-demand books. Why? Because they can’t be returned if they don’t sell. Most scammy self-publishing companies won’t offer distribution services, which usually means your book is pretty much dead in the water short of a miracle. Choose a publisher that will serve you well and can actually help you to get your work into a bookstore.

  4. Editor services and referrals.

    If a self-publisher offers to edit your book for a fee or refers you to a specific (and often very expensive) editor, then you should be quite cautious that you might be getting scammed. Often, editing services provided by unscrupulous publishers are little more than spell check, and you can likely get editing services for far less money somewhere else. If you feel like you’re being ripped off, get a second opinion.

  5. Offering discounts to authors for resale.

    It might seem great that a publisher would offer discounts on your books so that you can purchase them yourself and resell them, but this is usually a sign that a publisher is working you over for more money. Chances are pretty good that in most cases, you won’t be able to sell those books because they’ll be low quality or bookstores just won’t carry them. Additionally, these discounts aren’t available to retailers who might want to purchase the books, lowering their incentive to purchase the books as they won’t be able to make enough of a profit.

* Today’s article brought to you by www.accreditedonlinecolleges.com

/by

The 10 Most Shocking College Crimes of All Time

The 10 Most Shocking College Crimes of All Time

It takes a lot to shock us these days. Things that once appalled us as a society can now be regularly found on prime-time broadcast television. After all the trash TV and horror movies and war footage we’ve seen, we’re a pretty jaded bunch. But there’s one arena where we will never get used to seeing horrific events: the college campus. Crimes involving college students in the prime of their lives will always stun us. Here are the 10 most shocking college crimes ever perpetrated.

  1. Virginia Tech shooting


    The killing spree at Virginia Tech in 2007 shocked the country over the sheer number of casualties: 32 dead and 25 wounded. All the signs were there that Cho Seung-Hui was mentally unstable. The 23-year-old selective mute had written poems about pedophilia and high school kids who discuss murdering a teacher. On the day he snapped, he killed two people in a dorm, then two hours later he walked to four different classrooms, methodically killing as he went, causing the devastated community to wonder why the campus was not locked down before he committed the majority of the murders.

  2. University of Alabama shooting


    What amazed people most about the events at the University of Alabama on Feb. 12, 2010 was the identity of the shooter. Here was a wife and mother with a Ph.D. from Harvard and an established career in the field of biology. After she opened fire on her colleagues at a department meeting, killing three and wounding three others, a picture emerged of an odd, cold woman who had recently been denied tenure at the school and had killed her brother many years ago under suspicious circumstances.

  3. Penn State sex scandal


    It’s the only case on this list that doesn’t involve murder, and it’s still unfolding, yet it’s one of the most monstrous crimes to ever involve the collegiate world. The country has watched in horror as allegations have emerged that former football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky molested eight or more boys over a period of at least 15 years. What’s worse, the man had founded a charity for disadvantaged kids. Even revered football coach Joe Paterno has stunned the public by admitting he knew of Sandusky’s behavior as early as 2002.

  4. UT Tower Sniper


    A former Marine barricading himself into a tower and sniping 13 people would be a huge story in 2011; in 1966, such a thing was completely unheard of. “Normal” people like University of Texas student Charles Whitman didn’t kill their mothers and wives in their sleep, as he had done. Fortunately, the citizens of Austin at the time were not so shocked as to lose their heads. Well-armed civilians helped police return fire at Whitman and probably saved lives in doing so. Even still, Whitman’s case remains one of the most gruesome cases of an average-student-turned-mass-murderer.

  5. Appalachian School of Law shooting


    No one expected the tiny Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Va., could be the site of a triple homicide. Shortly after its 170 students returned to campus after winter break, Peter Odighizuwa, or “Peter O” to his classmates, also returned despite flunking out six months earlier. The Nigerian walked into the office of the dean, former U.S. Attorney General L. Anthony Sutin, and executed him at point-blank range. Then he did the same to professor Thomas Blackwell. He moved to the student lounge where he shot four students, one of whom died, before being tackled by students and police.

  6. Cal State Fullerton Massacre


    Exactly 10 years after the UT Tower shooting, another former Marine went on a killing spree at a college. Cal State Fullerton library custodian Edward Charles Allaway thought his ex-wife was being forced to appear in the porn films his coworkers were showing before work. His response was to take a .22-caliber rifle into the library and kill seven people in five minutes. A judge found Allaway not guilty due to insanity, and he remains locked away in a mental health institution to this day.

  7. Baylor Scandal


    Texans and sports fans across the country were shocked at this story that came out of the ultra-conservative halls of Baylor University in Waco, Texas in 2003. Basketball player Charles Dotson, hallucinating and psychotic, imagined teammate and friend Patrick Dennehy was going to kill him. Instead, Dotson shot and killed Dennehy in an argument. Dennehy’s six-week disappearance touched off NCAA investigations that revealed head coach Dave Bliss had paid Dennehy and a second player $40,000 in tuition and lied to cover it up, and that the staff had failed to report players’ drug use. Bliss resigned, and Dotson got 35 years.

  8. Montreal Massacre


    This one went down just north of the U.S. border in Montreal, at the École Polytechnique, in 1989. Enraged that “feminists” had ruined his life, Marc Lépine walked into a classroom with a rifle and ordered the men out of the room. He shot the nine female students who remained, killing six. After that, he moved throughout the building, killing five more women and injuring 14 more men and women before turning the gun on himself. Had it happened in the States, at the time it would have been the worst school shooting ever.

  9. The Campus Killer


    Although the majority of his murders took place off-campus, serial killer Ted Bundy is often referred to as the Campus Killer. Beginning in 1974, the homicidal maniac started attacking college women at a rate of at least one each month. Four years and 17 murders later, on the run from police in Florida, he bludgeoned five sorority members at Florida State University, raping and murdering two. By the time he was finally captured, his death toll was a confessed 28, but an estimated 100 or more. A relieved public cheered when this once well-liked, handsome young man was executed.

  10. Northern Illinois University shooting


    Less than a year after the Virginia Tech shootings and less than a week after a double murder-suicide at Louisiana Tech, the headlines again were flooded with news of a massacre on a college campus. Former grad student Steven Kazmierczak entered an oceanography class dressed in black and armed with a shotgun, three handguns, eight magazines, and a knife and opened fire on the 120 students. Terrified students tried to flee, but 25 were hit and five killed. Before police arrived, Kazmierczak committed suicide.

* Today’s post brought to you by www.onlinecolleges.net.

* Top photo – Blacksburg, Va. officers respond to the Va. Tech campus shooting, running into the danger (SFGate.com image).

/by

10 Professors Who Were Caught Dealing Drugs

10 Professors dealing drugs

While the bulk of drug use and distribution that happens on college campuses is done by students and visitors to the school, faculty can sometimes play a role as well. Whether using, selling, or both, many professors have gotten caught up in illegal activities that have played a significant role in ending their academic careers and landing them some serious jail time. Here, we’ve featured just 10 professors who ended up on the wrong side of the law for manufacturing, using, and selling drugs on campus or in their communities.

  1. Irina Kristy

    Professors Irina Kristy has been all over the news lately for her involvement in drug scandal. Kristy has been teaching math at Boston University and Suffolk University since the mid-eighties, but what her students didn’t know about her was that in recent years she was also manufacturing and selling methamphetamines with her son out of their home. Though quite old to be dealing drugs at 74, legal experts say that isn’t likely to help the senior and that she’ll likely live out the rest of her life in jail. A sad end for a woman who spent years fighting the oppressive Soviet regime before moving to the US with her son to escape the KGB. There is no word yet as to why Kristy was selling drugs.

  2. Stephen Kinzey

    The secret drug-dealing, gang-leading life of Stephen Kinzey sounds like something out of a movie script. A kinesiology professor at Cal State San Bernardino, Kinzey had taught at the school for over a decade without anyone knowing anything about his other, much darker side. Kinzey wasn’t just making money as a professor, he was also a leader of a local Devils Diciples motorcycle gang and was running a meth ring with his live-in girlfriend. Kinzey was a favorite professor of students, a devoted father, and seemed to be on the straight and narrow, but looks can be deceiving. He is now charged with drug dealing, running a street gang, and possessing illegal firearms.

  3. Margaret Zamudio

    Drug dealing ended the career of CU-Boulder sociology professor, Margaret Zamudio. In 2000, Zamudio was arrested for suspicion of selling cocaine after she was caught in possession of illegal substances. She alleged that she had been given the drugs at a faculty party, but police found no evidence of this, but due to witness reliability issues and admissibility of evidence, Zamudio was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. Ironic, as one of her areas of study was drug policy. It may have been Zamudio’s drug addiction, however, more than her selling that led to her dismissal from the school, though she sued the university over her dismissal, claiming it was on grounds of race. Sadly, Zamudio’s drug use, in this case alcohol, led to her death in 2010, after she fell while drunk and hit her head.

  4. Dejan Kralj

    A PhD candidate and history professor at Loyola wouldn’t be your first guess for a marijuana grower and distributor, but that’s just what this Chicago-area academic found himself in hot water over after a bust by the DEA found him to be part of a small growing operation in the suburb of Berwyn. Police found 52 plants, $10,000 in cash, and 15 pounds of marijuana in Kralj’s residence, surprising to many of his students and coworkers. A husband, father, and fairly well-known musician, it’s unclear what motivation Kralj had to take such a risk, but he may soon be facing jail time for the offense.

  5. Philip Alan Barker

    If there’s ever been a professor that is the essence of the term “train wreck,” it might just be Philip Alan Barker. Barker taught psychiatry at the University of Calgary and worked at the Alberta Children’s Hospital throughout the eighties and nineties, and was at the time was doing well as an author and child psychiatrist. Unfortunately, Barker also had a serious drug problem and was in and out of rehab for almost a decade and faced serious charges ranging from drug use, to DWI, to being caught with an underage prostitute. In 2000, he was arrested for selling narcotics (crack cocaine) to an undercover police officer. Barker’s life has spiraled downward since then, as he is no longer allowed to practice medicine, he has gone bankrupt and has been accused of a long list (which you can read here) of offenses.

  6. Mr. Cha

    Perhaps to protect his privacy, no first name is given to this drug-dealing professor in any documentation we can find online, though perhaps foreign language records exist on the matter. Cha, a professor at a prestigious Korean university, was caught making and selling illegal drugs. In a real life Breaking Bad turn, this well-regarded chemistry professor had every chemical he needed to manufacture designer drugs on hand, which he then sold over the internet. Cha, who wasn’t especially well-paid as a visiting professor, said he needed the money to help his girlfriend pay for her college tuition.

  7. Edward Ritter

    In 2008, Villanova chemical engineering professor Edward Ritter was busted for selling marijuana to undercover police officers. The 48-year-old professor allegedly sold drugs to the cops on two occasions and was found to have 18 bags of marijuana in his home. The arrest shocked students and associates alike, who couldn’t believe the Catholic university professor would be involved in selling drugs.

  8. Paul Prosperino

    Generally, selling drugs doesn’t just mean jail time, it also means an end to a career as a professor. Paul Prosperino learned that the hard way after he was found to have thousands of prescription pills in his home which he was selling, as well as illegal firearms. A former professor of computer science and economics, Prosperino hoped to use his drug money to help out family members, but now faces up to 10 years in prison for his crimes.

  9. Marcello Asura

    Cancer researcher and professor of pharmacology at the University of Tennessee, Asura has a lot of knowledge about how drugs affect the body. That’s why, when he was busted in 2008 for selling meth, part of his punishment was to write an essay on the dangers of methamphetamine use. Before his criminal activities were revealed, Asura was a highly regarded professor and researcher, but as he spiraled into drug addiction and peddling he developed a violent and unpredictable alter ego known on the streets as “The Professor.” Today, Asura is serving a three year sentence for his wrongdoings.

  10. Clark Freshman

    Unlike the other professors that populate this list, Clark Freshman, a professor of law at UC Hastings, wasn’t actually selling any kind of drugs. That didn’t stop police from raiding his penthouse apartment earlier this year and placing Freshman in handcuffs, however. An expert in mediation and law, a furious Freshman tried to resolve the situation and informed police that their search was illegal, to no avail. Fortunately for Freshman, he was correct and he is currently suing the DEA and SFPD for unlawful search and seizure. The problem? The police had a warrant to search the building (they believed someone in the building was growing marijuana, which they were, but it wasn’t Freshman), but failed to distinguish between units.

* Today’s post is courtesy of www.onlinecolleges.net/

/by

11 College Campuses with Major ‘Occupy’ Movements

11 college campus's

Occupy Wall Street has been going on for months now, and although reactions to the movement are mixed, there are protest locations numbering somewhere near 1,000. Within that number are several college campuses that boast major Occupy movements, whether there’s a presence on campus, or simply very active students involved in their local Occupy chapter. There’s even an Occupy Colleges movement, formed to protest college tuition hikes amid staggering student loan debt. Like Occupy Wall Street, Occupy movements on college campuses have been met with mixed reactions, some finding great support in university administration, and others fighting an uphill battle. Read on, and we’ll take a look at the beliefs, incidents, and status of 11 college Occupy movements going on today.

1. Occupy Duke: On the Duke University campus, students are getting involved in social activism. And although there is a local Occupy movement, Occupy Durham, students at Duke have decided to strike out on their own, citing issues with the Occupy Durham group, as well as a need to focus on problems within the university. Occupy Duke has created a peaceful camp on campus, offering a space to “create a platform for discussion.” Occupy Duke member Anastasia Karklina shares, “A lot of students here are from different economic backgrounds, and this is a self expression, a way to protest and express the way you’re discontent with the way things are, so I don’t see it as occupying yourself or occupying a privileged institution.” Faculty on campus at Duke have been primarily supportive, and have formed a group, calling themselves “Faculty in Solidarity.” Duke administrators have permitted an indefinite campout, and the dean of students has praised the movement’s high level of commitment. Occupy Duke tries to have at least one faculty or staff member present at all times, and Occupy Duke member Maria Arias indicated that having a faculty member on hand helps students to better understand the arguments being made by Occupy Duke and the larger Occupy movement. “It’s a good cause, well worth supporting,” Professor of Literature Kenneth Surin said.

2. UC Berkeley: UC Berkeley’s Occupy camp has made the news recently, with an incident between protesters and police on Nov. 9. Berkeley’s Occupy demonstrators attempted to establish an encampment on campus, but it was dismantled, and protesters were pulled off the steps of the administration building, some with the use of batons. Previously, the university administration indicated that protesters could stay around the clock for a week, provided that the camp didn’t have any signs of people living there, such as tents and stoves. The protesters did not comply, and set up an Occupy Cal tent site. The resulting incident that followed as police attempted to dismantle the site has sparked a debate over whether the police reaction was acceptable, or went too far. Still, the incident and fervor that has been sparked only goes to show that Berkeley has a strong Occupy movement that is not going away any time soon.

3. Seattle Central Community College: One might expect major protest movements to be centered on large universities, but in Seattle, a small community college is providing nighttime shelter to the city’s Occupy protesters, which now number somewhere between 100 and 200 overnight. The protesters, who have been through weeks of tension with Seattle’s city hall and police, agreed to move their tents to Seattle Central Community College, spending their nights on campus and days at protests occurring at Westlake Park. The group has promised not to interfere with academic activities, but the college has already decided they’d like the movement to leave. The college estimates that the demonstration is costing $20,000 a week, with reports of vandalism, and a need for additional security and cleaning crews. Demonstrators say they have no plans to move, while college administrators are researching legal ways to remove them from campus. Still, some in the college are finding a way to make use of the Occupy presence, with some professors hosting classes right in the camp. Professors offered their knowledge and resources, teaching protesters how to get their message across with history lessons, Martin Luther King letters, and more.

4. Boston University: Students from Boston University have been an active part of the Occupy Boston movement. They typically get involved by meeting on campus at Marsh Plaza, and then marching together to join other protesters. On Nov. 8, about 30 students also set up their own overnight encampment at Marsh Plaza as a contingent of Occupy Boston, right next to the statue of Martin Luther King. They vacated the space the following morning, after police officials and the dean of students asked them to leave, citing the lack of a proper permit for protesting in the space. This is not the first bit of trouble BU students have run into with Occupy Boston. In mid-October, about a half dozen BU students were among the 141 Occupy Boston protesters arrested in a police confrontation. Originally, 100 students had marched to join the protest, and the college’s BU Occupies Boston page has more than 500 members.

5. Auburn University: In early October, Occupy Wall Street found its way to Auburn University, as supporters began gathering at Ross Square on campus. The group has had good support even from the beginning, with over 200 people liking the Occupy Auburn Facebook page within its first week of existence, and by mid-October reaching more than 500 people. The group has spent time handing out leaflets at game days, discussing the movement, and gaining interest. The Occupy Auburn movement has been quick to point out that they don’t intend to be freeloaders, rather, they want to spread the wealth for others. On Oct. 28, the group gathered at Toomer’s Corner, displaying signs that shared phrases like, “I have a job and I Occupy Auburn.” Feeling misunderstood, the group wants everyone to know that they’re not looking for a handout, but a level playing field. They’ve encouraged others to engage in local banking and shopping to help discourage corporate greed and bailouts.

6. Brown University: Beginning in early October, Occupy College Hill has been a presence on the Main Green at Brown University. Initially, the group boasted about 60, and that number has held strong. One of the larger events held by the Brown University group was One Night Stand, in which Occupy College Hill and nearby Occupy Providence participants camped out the night before Brown University’s semi-annual meeting of the Corporation. The next morning, they confronted members of the Corporation, and shared discussions about grievances aimed at improving the university through teach-ins. Specifically, Occupy College Hill shared that they are concerned at the university’s lack of support for the Providence community, by not paying property taxes even though the university can afford to do so. Some of the university’s staff and faculty came out to show their support, including the chancellor, dean of the faculty, and associate dean for student life.

7. University of New Mexico: The (Un)Occupy Albuquerque group at the University of New Mexico has already had lots of run-ins in its short life. In late October, the group had several incidents with authorities, including the arrest of a man threatening protesters with a knife, and paramedics called to the area to treat someone who had collapsed, and subsequently died. The university responded by citing a difficulty to determine who exactly was a part of the (Un)Occupy protest. (Un)Occupy Albuquerque held a funeral procession for the First Amendment, citing an apparent violation of their constitutional rights by UNM. The ACLU came to the group’s rescue, and they were issued a new permit after a new agreement was facilitated. In early November, UMN hosted an Occupy Wall Streed/Unoccupy Albuquerque teach-in, focusing on the issues underlying the Occupy Wall Street movement with speakers including UNM faculty, deans, students, community activists, and even New Mexico Senator Tim Keller.

8. Oklahoma State University: At its inception, Occupy OSU identified itself as mainly a “group of people who are not afraid to go to jail,” citing the very real possibility of arrest as a protester in the Occupy movement. But they haven’t let that possibility keep them quiet, with plenty of events that have already happened, and more planned with the intent to air their disagreements about what’s going on at Wall Street. In late October, Occupy OSU joined the Occupy Your Capitol effort, staging a demonstration at the Oklahoma City capitol building. The group has focused its efforts on being a part of larger movements within the state, joining up with Occupy OKC and offering help in the form of supplies and lending their numbers to larger demonstrations. OSU’s occupation plans to take their cause to the Payne County Courthouse in Stillwater to make their movement even more prominently known in Oklahoma.

9. Humboldt State: Occupy Humboldt has found lots of support on campus, with several weeks of occupation at HSU on the Humboldt State Quad, and perhaps most interestingly, formal support from the Associated Students of Humboldt State University. On Oct. 17, a resolution from the Associated Students expressed support for the presence of Occupy Humboldt on campus, recognizing the constitutional rights of the occupiers, and calling on campus administration to allow occupiers to sleep and camp at the site. The camp on the HSU Quad has several tents, each with a purpose, including a library, first aid station, and sleeping quarters. The university has seemed to remain benign, and as of late October, reported seeing no need to confront participants or force them away. In fact, one HSU student and Occupy Humboldt organizer reports that the police have even been supportive.

10. Occupy UCLA: On Nov. 9, Occupy UCLA made a huge stir when 11 students sat at the middle of Wilshire Boulevard, shutting down the street for two and a half hours. The students were arrested, but all were bailed out. In all, 200 protesters were there to make their voices heard. These particular students were protesting as part of ReFund California, protesting tuition hikes and service cuts at public universities in California. Previously, Occupy UCLA had pitched tents on campus at Bruin Plaza, but the campout was short-lived due to missing permits. Interestingly enough, the campus has also been home to another Occupy movement, Occupy UCLA Athletics, a group that has voiced its disenchantment with the UCLA football program.

11. Occupy ISU: At Iowa State University, more than 200 people turned out to protest as part of the Occupy movement. The group has plans to make a difference at the state level, with the hope that a smaller movement can have a larger impact if applied at the right level. The Occupy ISU students made their voices heard by walking out of classes together and brandishing signs in solidarity, moving from the campus out onto the community streets. The students highlighted problems with school debt, and inability to find jobs after graduation, with one protester in particular wearing a box that shared, “My Student Debt is Boxing Me In.” Other students shared their problems, highlighting the plight of so many: working multiple jobs with a full course load and struggling to pay tuition and rent. The group has more events planned, and has worked together with the local Occupy Ames group.

* Today’s article is courtesy of www.onlineuniversities.com

 

/by

History’s 9 Most Notorious Crimes of Passion

History’s 9 Most Notorious Crimes of Passion

History is plagued by all types of crime, but crimes of passion, in particular, have caused a great deal of heartache and have left so many people asking “why?” Crimes of passion typically involve assault or murder and are fueled by rage, heartbreak, and revenge. Out of all the tragic crimes of passion that have happened, these nine are the most notorious.

  1. Murder of Phil Hartman

    On May 28, 1998, comedian Phil Hartman was shot and killed by his wife, Brynn, who committed suicide hours after the murder. The shocking murder-suicide that left the couple’s two children orphaned stunned family and friends. The Hartmans had been married for 10 years, but Brynn was deeply troubled and the marriage was suffering because of her drug use. On the night of the murder, Brynn returned home intoxicated and got into a heated argument with Phil. He threatened to leave her if she started using drugs again. While Hartman was sleeping, Brynn shot him three times with a handgun. After the shooting, Brynn drove to a friend’s house and confessed to her crime, but he did not believe her. When they returned to Brynn’s home, her friend called the police and she went into the bedroom, where she committed suicide.

  2. Dismemberment of John Wayne Bobbitt

    One of the most bizarre and unforgettable crimes of passion occurred on June 23, 1993, when Lorena Bobbitt attacked her husband and cut off approximately 2.5 cm of his penis after he allegedly raped her. According to her court testimony, Lorena left the house and threw his severed penis along the side of the highway. She realized the seriousness of the incident and called 911. Surgeons were able to reattach Bobbitt’s penis. and the jury found Lorena not guilty due to her husband’s sexual abuse — and her insanity that spurred this wild crime of passion.

  3. Attempted murder of Mary Jo Buttafuoco

    The infamous love triangle between Joey Buttafuoco, his wife Mary Jo, and his mistress Amy Fisher became one of the biggest news stories of the ’90s. Joey Buttafuoco, a New York auto body shop owner, was having an affair with 17-year-old Amy Fisher, who subsequently shot his wife, Mary Jo, in the face. On May 19, 1992, Fisher, then nicknamed the “Long Island Lolita,” had an accomplice take her to Joey’s house to confront the wife. Mary Jo answered the door and Amy told her that Joey was having an affair with her 16-year-old sister. When Mary Jo brushed her off and told her to leave, Amy came inside and shot her in the head. Mary Jo survived the shooting and suffered a loss of hearing in one ear and partial paralysis on one side of her face. Fisher’s jealousy turned deadly and she served seven years in prison for first-degree attempted murder. Joey served six months in jail for statutory rape.

  4. Steve McNair murder

    The brutal murder of Steve McNair was a crime of passion that shocked the sports world and beyond. On July 4, 2009, McNair was shot and killed by his 20-year-old girlfriend Sahel Kazemi, who immediately turned the gun on herself. Detectives said Kazemi was struggling to make ends meet and had recently been arrested for driving under the influence. She also made comments to co-workers about ending her life. Kazemi discovered that McNair was in another extramarital relationship and she decided to take his life in revenge.

  5. Arturo Gatti Murder

    On July 11, 2009, Canadian boxer Arturo Gatti was found dead in a Brazilian hotel while on vacation with his wife, Amanda, and their infant son. Amanda spent 10 hours in the hotel before realizing that her husband was dead, and her blood-stained purse strap led authorities to believe she murdered him. His widow vehemently denied the allegations and claimed Arturo committed suicide. Brazilian police let her go and ruled his death as suicide, but the Canadian government required further investigation. In 2011, private investigators reported Arturo’s death as a homicide, but no arrests have been made.

  6. Lisa Nowak

    In 2007, astronaut Lisa Nowak was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping, burglary, and battery of Colleen Shipman, a woman who was involved with Nowak’s love interest. In a rage of jealousy, Nowak drove from Houston to Orlando to follow Shipman from the airport and talk to her about her relationship with Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, pilot of the 2006 Discovery flight. The crazed Nowak packed a wig, trench coat, pepper spray, a BB gun, knife, and garbage bags on her trip to see Shipman. A disguised Nowak followed Shipman to her car and sprayed her with a chemical. She was caught and arrested by police and was later charged with attempted first degree murder.

  7. Marvin Gaye murder

    Famous singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye was killed by his father during a heated argument at his parents’ LA home. Marvin Jr. and his father, Marvin Sr., had a long history of conflicts that were worsened by the singer’s personal problems. Tension continued to grow between the two men, and Marvin Jr. began collecting guns to protect himself. On April 1, 1984, the two men got into a heated argument that quickly turned physical. The fight was broken up by Gaye’s mother, but Marvin Sr. returned with the .38 pistol that his son gave him and shot his son in the chest and fired again. Marvin Sr. killed his son in the heat of the moment and he was sentenced to five years of probation.

  8. Murder of Alfred T. Elliot

    Crimes of passion became more common during the Great Depression, and the murder of Alfred T. Elliot became one of the most notable cases. Bibeau murdered Elliot because he was having an affair with Elliot’s wife and he wanted him out of the picture. What further spurred this crime of passion was the fact that Elliot was handling some of Bibeau’s finances, which could have turned detrimental if Eliott found out about their secret romance.

  9. Murder of Philip Barton Key

    U.S. Congressman and Union general Daniel Sickles committed a crime of passion when he killed his wife’s lover, district attorney Philip Barton Key, son of Francis Scott Key, in 1859. Sickles shot and killed Key in Lafayette Park, which is across the street from the White House, because he was having an affair with his wife. Sickles is also famous for being the first person to use “temporary insanity” as a legal defense. Sickles’ defense told the jury that he was driven insane by his wife’s infidelities and he was later acquitted of his crime of passion.

* Today’s post courtesy of criminaljusticedegreesguide.com

/by

History’s 10 Most Famous Criminal Duos

History’s 10 Most Famous Criminal Duos

Some criminals like to work alone, while others need an accomplice to carry out their illegal acts. Criminal duos are determined to make their sadistic fantasies a reality, and it’s all the more possible with the help of a partner. Check out history’s 10 most famous criminal duos.

  1. Dick Hickock and Perry Smith

    Together, Dick Hickock and Perry Smith murdered the Clutter family and were the central characters in Truman Capote’s classic non-fiction novel, In Cold Blood. On Nov. 15, 1959, the two ex-convicts raided the Clutter family farmhouse in Holcomb, Kan., in search of a safe containing $10,000. They never found a safe and decided to kill the four family members one by one. Smith admitted to shooting the father and son, but neither one admitted to killing the two women. Hickock insisted that Smith performed all the murders, and after a great deal of story revisions, Smith finally confessed to shooting all of the Clutters. Smith and Hickock were discovered in Las Vegas and taken into custody in December 1959. The men were sentenced to death and executed by hanging on April 14, 1965.

  2. Bonnie and Clyde

    Bonnie Parker and Clyde Champion Barrow are arguably the most well-known American outlaws, who carried out one of the biggest crime sprees in U.S. history. The gun-toting couple and their gang traveled throughout the central United States, robbing dozens of banks, stores, and gas stations during the Great Depression. The lovers garnered national attention for their criminal activities that always seemed to outsmart police. Although Bonnie rode with Barrow and the gang for several years, there is no record of her ever shooting a gun or murdering anyone. Clyde and the gang reportedly killed nine police officers and several civilians. Authorities finally caught up to Bonnie and Clyde on May 23, 1934, when they ambushed the outlaws on a rural road in Bienville Parish, La., killing them instantly.

  3. The Menendez brothers

    In 1989, brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez shot their parents to death at their Beverly Hills home. The murderous duo carefully planned the attack to get rid of their strict father and end their mother’s agony. On the night of the murders, the Menendez brothers returned home to the mansion and shot their father in the back of the head and gunned down their mother. They dumped their shotguns and bought movie tickets to use as an alibi. Lyle called that night to report that his parents had been killed. The Menendez brothers began spending their inheritance money on lavish items and started fake businesses, raising suspicions that they were somehow involved in their parents’ murders. Erik eventually confessed to his psychologist about the murders, and the brothers were taken into custody. The Menendez brothers were convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

  4. The Columbine Killers

    Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were the disturbed teenagers responsible for the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. On that chilling day, the two high school seniors went on a shooting spree inside their suburban school, killing 13 people and injuring 24 others before turning the gun on themselves. Journal entries revealed that Harris and Klebold’s attack was designed to be a terrorist bombing that would kill everyone inside the school, but when their homemade bombs fizzled, the boys began shooting instead. Years after the tragic incident, researchers have discovered that Harris and Klebold hadn’t been bullied, but actually bullied others and had serious psychological problems, including depression, paranoia, and suicidal tendencies.

  5. Robert Thompson and Jon Venables

    Robert Thompson and Jon Venables are two of the youngest murderers in history. In 1993, the 10-year-olds abducted and murdered two-year-old James Bulger in Liverpool, England. The young boys lured the toddler away from a shopping mall when his mother was inside a store, and took him on a long walk across Liverpool to a railway line, where they tortured and beat him to death. Bulger suffered several blows to the head and was sexually abused by Thompson and Venables. The vicious boys left Bulger’s mutilated body on the railroad tracks to be cut in half. Police identified the two boys from mall videotapes, and later matched blood found on their shoes to Bulger. Thompson and Venables were arrested and tried in an adult court, where they were both found guilty of murder and sentenced to detainment indefinitely.

  6. Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb

    From the outside, Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold didn’t meet the profile of cold-blooded killers, but the murdering duo proved to be just that. Eighteen-year-old Loeb and his well-educated lover, 19-year-old Nathan Leopold, wanted to know what it felt like to kill someone, and that someone happened to be Loeb’s cousin, Bobby Franks. On May 21, 1924, the duo kidnapped and murdered 14-year-old Franks and dumped his body in a drain near their homes in Chicago. It seemed like a flawless killing to the men, but Leopold accidentally left his glasses at the crime scene. The men were taken into custody and confessed to the murder 10 days after the incident. Loeb and Leopold’s trial didn’t play to their favor, except that they escaped the death penalty. Loeb was killed in prison by a fellow inmate, and Leopold was released in 1958 and moved to Puerto Rico.

  7. DC Snipers

    The DC snipers, John Muhammad, 41, and John Lee Malvo, 17, were the duo responsible for shooting and killing 13 people from Washington D.C., to Rockville, Md., and Fredericksburg, Va. The DC snipers’ killing rampage lasted three weeks during October 2002. Muhammad and Malvo traveled on the Capital Beltway, causing mass fear in communities along the way, but always staying ahead of law enforcement. During their shooting sprees, the men would communicate via two-way radios and alternate between shooter and lookout man. Muhammad and Malvo were eventually found sleeping in their car at a rest stop and taken into custody for federal weapons charges. The murdering duo received life terms in prison, without the possibility of parole. Muhammad was sentenced to death and Malvo was sentenced to life in prison.

  8. Frank and Jesse James

    Frank and Jesse James are the notorious outlaws of the Wild West. The James brothers were Confederate guerrillas in the Civil War, where they engaged in a wide range of criminal activity. The men held up and robbed trains, killing 22 of the 23 Union soldiers on board and scalping many of them. Following the war, Frank and Jesse started robbing banks, trains, and shops around Iowa, Alabama, and Texas. In 1866, the dangerous duo pulled off the very first daytime bank robbery, where they killed a bystander and stole $58,000. The American outlaws’ crime spree came to an end when Jesse was killed by gang member Robert Ford.

  9. The Lonely Hearts Killers

    Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck are the infamous Lonely Hearts Killers, who teamed up to woo lonely, single women and subsequently rob and even kill the ones who fell for their scam. Using Fernandez’s theft experience, the duo began targeting single women by writing letters to wanted ads. He would woo them, then take their money and run. It wasn’t long before Beck grew jealous of Fernandez’s conquests and the couple decided to start killing their victims, as well. Following the murder of a widow and her child, Fernandez and Beck were arrested and convicted of nearly 20 murders. In 1951, the couple was executed by electric chair.

  10. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

    Butch Cassidy was a notorious Old West outlaw who had a talent for robbing trains and banks. Between 1896 and the early 1900s, Cassidy and his accomplice Harry Longabaugh, better known as the “Sundance Kid,” held up dozens of trains, robbed passengers, and broke into safes, collecting thousands of dollars. The duo and other members from their gang, the Wild Bunch, took up more robbery activities, including the infamous Union Pacific overland flyer robbery that lead to a serious man hunt. With authorities on the lookout, Cassidy and Sundance escaped to South America, where the duo was allegedly killed in a shootout.

*Today’s post brought to you by http://www.criminaljusticedegreesguide.com/

 

/by

Linda McCabe: Greetings From a Lab Rat

Linda McCabe: Lab Rat

Greetings from a lab rat and fellow writer.

I have been working as a clinical laboratory scientist (also known as a medical technologist) for over twenty years. Just as Lee cringes when he sees police procedures misrepresented in fiction, I grit my teeth when I see laboratory medicine mishandled in books, movies or television.

My profession also suffers from an inferiority complex. Labs are generally tucked away in a hidden part of the hospital and so it is easy to make the invisible department a convenient scapegoat. Or at least that is what it feels like when you work at a large hospital and physicians don’t even know where the lab is located.

On the other side of the spectrum is the representation in fiction where someone can stroll down to the lab and have something instantly analyzed. It doesn’t matter what it is because this lab is magic and the techs do not have to worry about instrumentation or procedures; they can look at anything and give an immediate answer.

Riiiight.

I wanted to include a few examples of errors I have noticed in recent novels, but without embarrassing the authors by mentioning the titles. Just let these examples serve as what you should avoid doing with your writing.

A few years ago I read a debut novel set in current day. It was a wonderfully emotional novel and I would have recommended it, except for the fact that the climax of the book included bad logic about blood banking genetics. A character explained how realized his paternity due to his blood typing and that of a child. Except that explanation was too neat and tidy and it doesn’t necessarily work that way.

I felt bad for her. I also felt bad for her readers who might then pass on this inaccurate information to others at some point in the future.

Sigh. This is not a subject that editors will flag since it is beyond their skill set. It is likely they will assume the author has done the research and that the information is correct.

I recognize it is human nature for writers to ask their friends questions to assist them in their writing. Unless you have a friend who is a laboratory scientist, I would not rely on advice from other medical professionals regarding laboratory medicine. Your friends might be wonderful nurses, physicians, Xray technicians, respiratory therapists or pharmacists, but they are not trained in laboratory medicine. A nod and a “sounds reasonable to me,” will not absolve you if they are answering out of ignorance about another field of medicine.

If you do not know any laboratory scientists, try calling your local hospital laboratory and ask if there is a tech who likes teaching and has time to answer theory questions. You might be calling at a bad time, and if so ask when it would be good to call back. Generally there are predictable busy times and lulls during a workday. Try to ask your questions during a lull when the tech has time to think clearly and elaborate their answers.

This will help you understand the current practice of laboratory medicine, but if you want to know about medical practices in the past I would recommend joining this list serv on the history of science and medicine.

In regard to the history and evolution of blood transfusions, here is a link to a dandy timeline created by the American Association of Blood Banks and it starts with the year 1628.

Medicine has changed dramatically over time and some procedures we would consider barbaric today were standard practice in the past, such as blood letting. This was considered to be a therapeutic method of restoring balance of the four humours. The humours were: black bile, yellow bile, blood and phlegm.

Mmmm, phlegm.

People were sometimes thought to have an imbalance of their humours and could thus be described as: melancholic, sanguine, choleric or phlegmatic.

Mmmm, phlegmatic.

I mention this because a few years ago I read a novel set in the thirteenth century. I was engaged in the story about a Welsh king and his court until one of the characters was described as coughing so hard he produced sputum. I stopped dead in my tracks.

Sputum?

“Ha!” I said aloud. “It should have been phlegm instead.”

Seriously, I think I may have said that aloud. Which is never a good sign when your readers are taken out of the narrative and start uttering criticisms aloud.

The author could have gotten away with using the word spit, but certainly not sputum. Sputum is the nasty loogies you produce from your lungs and was not a term used in the thirteenth century.

This is also not something an editor will find and flag for you. It probably would pass most critique groups as well. That is unless you had someone like me in your critique group who knew medicine and history and was bold enough to question your word choice and not just look for spelling/grammar mistakes.

To leave you with on a nicer note than blood and phlegn, I wanted to share a few photographs from a trip to France I took while researching my novel Quest of the Warrior Maid. The story is an epic historic fantasy set in the time of Charlemagne. I sought out historical monuments and museums housing artifacts that dated back to the ninth century and before.

One of the places we visited was Hotel Dieu in Paris. It is a hospital with origins that date back to the seventh century.

Hotel Dieu

The current building was constructed in the 19th century during the time of Baron Haussman’s massive renovation project in Paris. Over the centuries, previous versions of the hospital suffered from fires and floods. There are historical woodcuts along their corridors depicting some of the history of this hospital.

The next woodcut is from the 16th century and shows King Louis XII visiting patients at Hotel Dieu.

Besides being an active working hospital, it also has hotel rooms available on their sixth floor. They have private baths, room service in the morning and wifi access. If you are as lucky as we were, you might have this as your view from a skylight.

If you are not sure what it was being seen, here is an unobstructed view of that famous building.

We enjoyed walking outside of our hotel and seeing seeing Notre Dame Cathedrale first thing in the morning.

Although the cathedral was built after the time my story took place, it holds a special Parisian magic that inspired my writing. I also adored seeing the statue of Charlemagne in front of Notre Dame.

Good luck with your writing and if you have any specific laboratory questions, I would be happy to try and answer them for you.

***

A love foretold between sworn enemies will determine the fate of Christendom. Bradamante, the niece of Charlemagne, and Ruggiero, a Saracen knight descended from Hector of Troy, are renowned warriors who meet and fall in love on a battlefield before being separated. This tale of impossible love is set against the backdrop of a holy war between Islamic and Christian armies shown in bloody sieges in Marseille and Paris. Other legendary heroes such as Orlando and Renaud de Montauban are featured in this saga of chivalry, secret romances, betrayal, revenge, and magic. The story is adapted from the classic, but largely forgotten, epic poems “Orlando innamorato” and “Orlando furioso” written during the Italian Renaissance. Quest of the Warrior Maid should appeal to fans of Arthurian legend, medievalists, Francophiles and Italianophiles. )

Quest of the Warrior Maid is available as an ebook and a trade paperback and is available on a global basis. Please visit Linda’s website at www.LindaCMcCabe.com for more information or to schedule an author chat for your reading club via speakerphone or Skype.

Author’s bio:

Linda C. McCabe spent a month in France scouring museums and trekking through medieval hilltop villages in the Midi-Pyrenees researching her novel Quest of the Warrior Maid. She is a past-president of Redwood Writers and has had essays published in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, the Los Angeles Times and Redwood Writers’ anthologies as well as the Centennial Edition of the California Writers Club Anthology West Winds. She lives in Northern California with her husband and teenaged son.

/by