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Spending over twenty hours a week researching an out-of-the-ordinary topic and waking up at three in the morning every weekend is enough to make the average high school student cry, but for many students across the nation, it is an average week of debate. Debate, or forensics, contains a large variety of speaking activities and is widely recognized for being a valuable endeavor for students, but for many, it is a poorly funded or non-existent program at their high school. By cutting speech and debate programs, high schools are depriving students of the many valuable advantages the activity provides: benefits in high school, benefits in college and the work force, benefits in life overall, and preparation to be a part of society. The most recognizable …show more content…
After receiving a topic for debate, debaters must write multiple speeches, and the writing of a debate speech is comparable to writing a senior level thesis (Bratt). Students are furthering their writing skills to the level of seniors each time their write a debate case. Also, debaters are more likely to take their education into their own hands (“The Benefits of Debate”), which, and due to the independence, they learn how to further themselves in their education. The large amount of time debate needs to be successful also provides an advancement for a student. “Because debate students engage in 20 hours or more a week of preparation, they gain more experience in research in one year than in all the rest of their studies combined” (Bratt). By spending so much time in one activity researching and arguing, debaters are furthering their education. The advanced education debate provides gives students large levels of knowledge that will help them in high …show more content…
The average debate is in the top of their class after joining debate, and debate teams have an average grade point average of 3.75 (“The Benefits of Debate”). The grade point average of a debater is much higher than the average of non-debaters, and it means students are succeeding in high school. Students on a debate team will also have higher test scores than the rest of the school, especially the ACT and SAT (“The Benefits of Debate”). Test scores are especially important when comparing success. Debaters are having multiple advantages in high school, but because of the lack of debate programs in school many miss the
The five-paragraph essay is perhaps the only kind of essay many students hear about. Argumentative essays, research papers, and even book reports have a tendency to fall into that formula strictly and allow for little flexibility. This can be a tedious and boring process, as John Warner’s fervent argument insists. However, Kerri Smith demonstrates a stronger argument with her defense of the five-paragraph essay by emphasizing throughout that it is simply a building block for more elaborate essays and by using credible influencers that prove her point effectively.
As students we are taught that in order to have an effective argument, we need a claim, reasoning, and evidence. When comparing, “Two Years Are Better than Four” by Liz Addison, and “Colleges Prepare People for Life” by Freeman Hrabowski it was made obvious that the passage written by Addison had a more effective argument because of the passages claim that was clear to the readers, great reasoning and evidence that backed up her claim.
Jurors have unrealistic ideas of evidence processing. ”Such programs give the impression that forensic laboratories are fully staffed with highly trained personnel, stocked with a full complement of state-of-the-art instrumentation and rolling in the resources to close every case in a timely fashion.” (Houck 85) Forensic laboratories face funding deficits, not enough suitably trained staff and the consistent advancement of technology. University of Maryland forensic scientist Thomas Mauriello estimates that about 40 percent of the forensic science shown on CSI does not exist. Carol Henderson, director of the National Clearinghouse for Science, Technology and the Law at Stetson University College of Law, told a publication of that institution that jurors are “sometimes disappointed if some of the new technologies that they think exist are not used.” (Houck 87) Investigators often have to explain to victims that it is not possible to collect a sample of...
At least 99 percent of the time, forensic science is reliable and deem accurate. Although four experts that matched Brandon Mayfield’s fingerprint to the fingerprint on a bag at the crime scene, they in fact misidentified the evidence and Spanish police found out that the latent fingerprint actually belong to be an Algerian. This shown that forensic experts and attorneys can definitely be wrong; furthermore, it convey that not all evidence presented in the case is subjected to be infallible and there is a possibility for committed error. Leah Bartos, a UC Berkley graduate student with a Journalism degree, conducted an experiment to understand the process of becoming a certified forensic consultant. She had no prior knowledge in the forensic discipline, but became certified after she passed the open book exam and sent ACFET her bachelor degree, resume, and references. The ACFET exam have a 99 percent pass rate; therefore, it is criticized for creditability of its certified graduate and branded a diploma milling organization for-profit. Attorney can argue the weakness of the forensic evidence presented, hence forensic science call for bad science and can definitely be misuse in our adversarial legal
The definition of forensic science is any scientific research, method, or theory used to analyze evidence in an attempt to solve legal cases (Cho). In recent years, there has been growing public interest in forensic science, arguably because of the numerous television programs that glamorize its practices. This phenomenon is part of what is known as the CSI effect, or the process through which devoted fans of popular crime dramas develop unrealistic notions of forensic science methods, practices, and their applications in real life cases (Mancini 544; Stevens 37; Ley, Jankowski, and Brewer 52). The CSI effect has had more negative impacts on forensic science and society than positive impacts, especially in regards to what goes on in the minds of jurors who frequently watch television programs about crime. Studying the CSI effect also leads to tough questions about the ethics of portraying real stories to entertain the audience. The use of these true stories is justified in certain contexts, such as instances when societal issues arise, and as long as there is respect toward the privacy of family members and friends involved in such tragedies. The solution to the negative consequences of the CSI effect could be to produce television programs that are somehow informative and entertaining, but this would make it difficult to hold the interest of a viewing audience that craves drama and action.
I began this year considering a career in forensics. After delving into the field in detail however, I see that it is a very delicate science and easily open to misinterpretation. There are many variables within forensics, the first and foremost being that of the CSI effect and how it influences our expectations of the capabilities of forensic science. While it's true that great advances have been made in the area of forensic science, it's unrealistic to expect a crime scene to be processed, evidence analyzed and a conclusive forensics report to be completed in a short time and be completely accurate 100% of the time. Forensic science has a lot of room for improvement, and understanding if, how, and why shows like CSI affect the field is of high priority. After all, this is real life and not a TV show.
In this case, when individuals argue about events from the past, they make use of judicial rhetoric and forensic argument assists individuals in determining who did something rather than what individuals are supposed to do (Sheard, 1996).
“The ‘CSI Effect’; Forensic Science.” The Economist. 24 April 2010: 77 (US). Student Resources In
In recent years, however, such programs as CSI that follows detectives at the Las Vegas Police Department Crime Scene Investigations Bureau as they solve puzzles and catch criminals. Perhaps one of the most well known shows with a forensic psychology theme, CSI has a large impact on viewers perceptions of forensic psychology. On one hand, the increased popularity of forensic psychology because of the show is good and more people are taking an interest in forensic psychology as a career. On the other hand, the forensic psychology that viewers see every week on television may not be exactly the same as forensic psychology in reality. Particularly programs such as CSI also overstate the ability of “hard” evidence (also known as forensic evidence), such as fingerprints and DNA, to provide evidence of definite innocence or guilt (Trask, 2007). They often disregard other components of the investigative process, such as police questioning, despite these being equally valid to establishing guilt (Nolan, 2006). This over-reliance on forensic evidence, due to the importance of forensic science being dramatized by television crime dramas, is also known as the CSI
The 'Secondary'. Welcome to the fascinating world of forensic science! Retrieved from www.aafs.org/how-do-i-become-forensic-scientist. McKay, D. (2012). The 'Standard'.
In the First Year Seminar (FYS) we learned a multitude of essential skills that we can use to apply for the rest of our college experience, and years down the road. Throughout the first week of class we learned about Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs), essentially they are skills that the students are suppose to know thoroughly by the end of the semester. The six major SLOs that were presented in a majority of FYS classes the first one is access to diverse information through focused research, active discussion and collaboration with peers, this skill is important for college and professional life because it is important that one is able to converse appropriately and knowledgably amongst peers. It is a great skill to have because it shows that a person can work well in a team. The second skill from the SLOs is the ability to separate facts from inferences and relevant from irrelevant information, and explain the limitations of information. This skill is essential to build upon because gaining problem-solving skills one can work through sticky situations. Problem solving skills are great for college and professional life because one can get through tough problems quickly and efficiently, without this skill time is wasted. The third skill from SLO’s is evaluating the credibility, accuracy, and reliability of conclusions drawn from information. This skill is valuable among college and professional life due to the fact that it allows a person to back up their arguments for papers with reliable sources that are credible and accurate that supports the information. Otherwise the argument doesn’t have any supporting evidence to continue their argument to get their point across, if not gained correctly the argument becomes irrelevant in the ...
The topic I find such fascinating is Forensic Science and how forensic science has significantly changed over the years. “The area of forensic science has grown considerably over the last 150 years and more so since the mid 1980’s.” (Lyman, 2016) Forensic science has gone from taking basic information, and fingerprints to DNA and blood splatter. During a crime scene investigation evidence is collected, analyzed in a crime laboratory and then if needed are presented to the court. However, today the crime laboratory is becoming mobile and can go to the scene to analyze the evidence. Each crime scene and investigation is unique and distinctive, with the help of forensics it can help solve a case.
The purpose of this reflective essay on the debate is to analyse my team and my own personal learning style and experience of participating in the debate and in the preparation period - that started in week 7 with the mock debate - by structured and based on Honey and Mumford’s Learning Styles theory, and examine some ideas for my future practice.
“The word ‘forensics’ means “connected with the courtroom”; so forensic science is, therefore, concerned with gathering hard evidence that can be presented in a trial” (Innes 9). Forensic science is a science that is applied specifically to legal matters, whether criminal or civil. “Few areas in the realm of science are as widespread and important as forensic science” (Hunter 12). Forensics is the one science that is most commonly used in everyday life. It is also a branch of science that incorporates other branches of science such as biology, chemistry, and etc. Since it is used almost every day “No one can dispute the importance of the contributions to society made by forensic science; the ability to solve crime is undeniably important” (Hunter 13). Forensic science has given criminal investigation a new edge. “Advances in science have opened the door for more effective evidence discovery, howev...
Over the years I have been a faithful fan of anything crime related; the anatomy of a crime, from the crime itself, to the investigation, and finally the court for trial and sentencing. I enjoyed the process. The internet became an interesting tool for me to learn all the different things I wanted to know about the subject of crime. I would see something in the media or on television but kept a neutral point of view about technology that was used on a program. Logically speaking, if a crime could be solved in 47 minutes and DNA results took weeks or months, not minutes to process than would it not make sense that real life crimes would be solved far quicker in the name of swift justice. This is the reason why I enjoy learning in a real world environment about different aspects of criminology. I must admit I did feel as though I had a good basic grasp of what forensic science is, but this class helped to put some missing pieces in place.