Life Lately

Hello? Hello out there! Figured I should stop by since we're almost halfway through February. How did that happen, by the way? 

Here are a few updates on me since I haven't blogged in like, a month. Woops...

Teaching
I have been teaching my first class this semester and it has been going really well. The class is Crime & Justice Policy and it is mostly upperclassmen. The students are really awesome and definitely can get into the class discussions, which is great. Their first exam was today and the grades turned out pretty well so I'm happy! The next unit is talking about courts and corrections, so I'm excited to delve into an area that I'm more passionate about. Also, it takes SO long to prep for one 75-min class (at least 1.5/2 days). SO much respect and gratitude for those who teach all day!

Dissertation
I defended my proposal last week and got the green light to go ahead with the analysis! Now I'm working on that aspect. I need to defend by late March, which means I have to have it to my committee by early March. So basically I have about a month to do my analyses, write up the results, and write up the discussion/conclusion chapter. Bring it on.

At my proposal defense. Hello Powerpoint.

House
So we're officially in the 'pending' stage of buying our first home! I can't wait to go into more details, but that will have to wait until we close at the end of this month. It happened way faster than we expected but God's has very clearly guided us through this whole process and (hopefully) buying this specific home.

Miscellaneous Points

•  Super bowl. We made amazing deep dish pizza, completely homemade. Matt gets all the credit for the crust and he did a great job!

• I miss running. I was recently diagnosed with plantar fasciitis in my right foot so I've been trying to do my stretches multiple times every day. I have been able to run a little bit, but no more than 2 miles. Hopefully I can start building up the mileage again soon because the weather has been amazing lately here in Texas.
• Valentine's Day is upon us and instead of going out as is the stereotypical thing, we are going to stay at home. We're planning on slow roasting lamb shanks and maybe going out for dessert afterwards. It will be my first time cooking with lamb, so I hope it goes well!

I'm sure there are other things, but that sums up a lot of the big stuff. Figured I would at least put this out there so no one thought I had stopped blogging completely!

So what are comps?

I have mentioned these things called comps a few times in my past posts and as I didn't even know what they were until I entered my Ph.D. program, I figured I would write a post detailing just what they are.

Comps: Comprehensive exams. I believe most Ph.D. programs have them, and even some masters programs, but each program does it differently and holds them at different times. For instance, some criminology programs hold them between the first and second year of classes, others hold them after classes but before dissertation, and then some others don't even have them! As you can see, there is a lot of variation so my experience with my comps are unique to my institution :) 

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My program has students take comps once all their doctoral classes are done but prior to starting the dissertation and for me that means I will sit for my comps this fall (eek!). The exact date isn't known until it gets closer but will probably be the end of October or thereabouts. 

Our comps has 3 parts: policy, theory, and research methods. The exam is held over 2 days and each part is 4 hours long. The first day you take two exams and the second day you just take one. Thankfully it is typed but it is closed book so it is a huge exercise in understanding, synthesizing, and memorizing a large body of knowledge. 

In order to prep, we are told to 'know everything' in the field. That is why I have started prep work now, more than 6 months out. I am planning on doing a large amount of reading articles and books then consolidating all of that information into outlines and flashcards as that is what works best for me. 

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You get 2 attempts at comps. If you fail 1 section but pass the other 2, then you do not have to re-take the other 2; you just have to sit for the one you failed. But if you fail any of them twice, you are out of the program so the stakes are pretty high. 

Students take the semester 'off' that they're sitting in order to study full time and that is my plan. I will still be working as a teaching/research assistant but instead of taking classes this fall, I will be studying. From what I've gathered, this is very much a mental game and is a marathon of sorts. The stress and other emotions you experience can run the gamut but that's what we signed up for to get our doctorate I guess! 

So that is a not-so-brief overview of my comprehensive exams. As it is about to be one of the few things going on in my life, I would imagine you may will be hearing more about it in the coming months. I will try to keep things relatively sane on this blog and as we have upcoming trips, I will have non-comps things to share, promise! :)

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Where I talk about guns. A lot.

This post is not meant to downplay what happened on Friday. It is absolutely tragic and my prayers are with the families and friends of the victims as well as the young students and teachers who witnessed the shooting. What is discussed in this post is not meant to belittle that.

As you may know, I am a Ph.D. student in Criminology. When I found out about the shooting I was studying for a final exam for my Guns & Violent Crime class. I do not want to get political on this blog or intentionally offend anyone. However, I have knowledge that can inform the general public as well as policymakers. If I keep quiet and let the wrong information spread, what's the point of knowledge? Having an informed conversation is what is needed at this point and that is all that I ask-- before you speak up on an issue or act on an issue, please take the time to learn about it.

I know I may not change anyone's opinion with this post. It is meant for those who are genuinely interested in the best research behind the impact of guns on crime. It is not meant to be a debate or to argue that guns are good/guns are bad, etc. 

Most of my information comes from a book by Dr. Gary Kleck titled Targeting Guns. If you are interested at all in this topic and want more detail, I highly recommend you check it out. It is based off of the best research on the topic and is not sponsored by any gun-related lobby. Due to space limitations I won't be able to go into all aspects of guns, but I will discuss some major facts.

First and foremost, there is no difference in guns that are referred to as assault weapons vs. those that are another type of semi-automatic firearm. See these scary guns?

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They are no more lethal than these.

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The term 'assault weapon' carries with it no special technical definition and just refers to its cosmetic, superficial appearance. In fact the term was developed by someone in the media. It refers to a semi-automatic long gun or handgun that looks scary with its black matte, military-like appearance. So, banning any type of assault weapon is just picking specific brands of guns that look scary but are NOT more dangerous than other guns.

Second, automatic weapons are banned in the US. There are a few in the US right now owned by collectors and are very tightly regulated, but they are NOT owned by criminals and are NOT used in crimes. Even the military does not like to use automatic weapons as they are a waste of ammo and are hard to shoot accurately.  

Another important point is to look at the overall use of guns in the US. According to the National Victimization Survey, guns are used in about 500,000-700,000 crimes in the US/year. That's a lot, yes. However, there are approximately 2.5 million defensive use of guns/year. This is where someone defends themselves using a gun (either through threatening with it or shooting it) when someone is committing a crime against them. This defensive gun use is not only more common than criminal gun use, but those who defend themselves are less likely to be injured and less likely to lose property. 

Less than 1% of all guns in the US are used to commit a crime. Think about that. There are over 280 million guns in the US today in the hands of citizens, but fewer than 1% of those will ever be used to commit a crime. This is a primary reason why completely banning guns is unrealistic.

There is a lot more that I could go into when discussing firearms and their impact on crime. Most of this information came from Kleck's book that I referenced earlier, so if you have any interest in learning more about guns and gun control, I highly recommend it. There is without a doubt a lot of information about guns out there, both correct, slightly misleading, and completely wrong. It is thus very important to look at the issue, like any issue, from both sides and gather the best research together possible to formulate a position. 

My intention for this post was to help inform you of some lesser-known facts about firearms and their policies. I do not want to start a debate about legislation. I will leave comments on in case you have a question. If there are any comments that are rude, mean-spirited, or otherwise unnecessary, they will be deleted. If you read all of this- go you! I hope it was somewhat interesting and informative. 

Chicago Recap!

I cannot believe Thanksgiving is two days away! We will be spending it this year with my family in Houston, but before we leave I wanted to write up some thoughts on my Chicago trip.

What Chicago trip? Well, funny you should ask. Last Tuesday I left to go to the American Society of Criminology's (ASC) annual meeting which was being held in Chicago. I presented my research first thing Wednesday morning at 8 AM, and then had the rest of the time to relax, go to some interesting sessions, and hang out with my grad student friends before returning home Friday. 

I didn't get to do many touristy-things, but I did walk around the area a little so I thought I would share some of those pictures.

Inside Millennium Park

The bean!

 

Outside our hotel- The Palmer House, a Hilton Hotel

Had to try Chicago deep dish pizza!

Overlooking the huge lobby

Navy Pier (I think)

I presented part of my findings from my thesis and it went well. As with most young grad students, I was terrified someone would ask me this mean question that I wouldn't know the answer to, but thankfully that didn't happen so I was a happy girl! 

Unfortunately, I started coming down with a bad cold Thursday night and Friday, so I was very happy to get home Friday evening. I spent most of Saturday and Sunday in bed resting and drinking a lot of hot tea/gatorade/water/soup. It was very exciting for my husband (poor guy), but he was such a good nurse! 

I have all of this week off from classes for the holiday so I have spent the past two days writing and editing papers. I am very much looking forward to taking a couple days off to spend with family and really focus on all I have to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

What a month

Wow where did time go? It really does move fast the older you get and I cannot believe how different life is than 12 months ago. This time last year, I was finishing up my undergraduate degree, graduating, getting married, and then moving. Now I am married, still studying for finals, dealing with insurance companies, and for the first time in 5 years I will not be moving at the end of the spring semester. 


I have so many different thoughts swimming around my mind that I can foresee a few blog posts about them in the next week or so. First I have to finish finals. My first final was Tuesday, followed by a take-home final that's mostly completed, and then a Saturday final. Yup. I have a final on Saturday from 4-6:45 PM. If that's not cruel, I don't know what is. 


Anyway, I know I need to take the time for myself to just sit and reflect on these changes, if only for my sanity. I also want to share it with you, because I know all of my readers are in different places in life, so I will be interested to hear your insights. 


But just a preview of what's to come-- Jessica's thoughts on:

• 1 year of marriage (What? How?)
• The life of a criminology Ph.D. student (more nerdy than 'Criminal Minds,' I assure you)
• Grading undergrads' papers (I don't know where to begin)
• Being more adult-y and independent (But I'm not old enough for this yet)
• Moving and establishing myself in this new area (Or maybe ourselves, since Matt and I are a collective unit and all)

So that's where this blog will be heading in the next few weeks. Along with whatever else strikes my fancy :)

Have a great Wednesday! 

The Trip to Huntsville

**Disclaimer: this is not intended to be a post with any type of political/ideological leanings. If I receive any offensive/negative comments, I will delete them. I don't want to block the comment feature on this post as if someone wants to reflect/comment on the experience in a thoughtful/polite/rational manner, I want to allow them to do so. It is an interesting experience I had, one that I don't think a lot of people do have, so I thought I would share it.**


So not sure if you caught it in my previous post, but on Friday Matt and I traveled down to Huntsville, TX, to go on a field trip of the Walls Unit.

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Because I couldn't resist, here's a little bit of background on this prison for you. It is the oldest prison in Texas and though it is a maximum security prison, it houses lower custody offenders, meaning they are not as volatile as higher custody offenders. They are all males and are typically older. It is also where prisoners are released when they are released on probation or when they have served their entire sentence.

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You are probably aware that this is also where death row is. To be clear, this is NOT where the death row inmates are housed in the years between their conviction and their execution. Males on death row are housed in the Polunsky unit and females are housed in the Mountain View unit. The offender arrives at the Walls unit on the day of the execution.


The assistant warden was our tour guide that day, and he showed us the original cells that were used (sorry, couldn't bring a camera and I couldn't find pictures online), the yard, the chapel, and of course death row. 


I've been to the Dachau Concentration Camp outside of Munich, so I'm not a stranger to visiting places known for death. Visiting that camp is something I'll never forget, nor will I forget this trip. 


That evening prior to our visit, the state of Texas executed Beunka Adams. I was not aware of this until we had arrived at the prison. Going into a room where less than 24 hours before someone had been put to death... honestly there are no words to describe it. Our tour guide walked us through the entire process, minute-by-minute, including his role, all while we are standing in the room. 

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And that was only part of the tour. It is of course the most solemn, the most serious, the most intense. The room looks precisely the way it does in that picture. The reason why the walls are painted that color? The color paint was the cheapest. At first the warden tried to pull our leg and say that the green/blue color was found to be the most relaxing in studies (which it has), but then he saw my gullible expression and told us the truth.


Other random facts about the prison, not related to death row:

• The church service every Sunday is filled to capacity
• They have a turtle inside the yard. He lives in his little habitat called Jurassic Park and even has a TDCJ number. Some offenders are given the responsibility of caring for him.
• It's like a zoo being in there as the visitors are staring at the prisoners and they are staring right back.
• Apparently the old cell block is haunted. Prisoners and guards alike tell of several ghost stories; some say they refuse to ever go in there again.
• This is one of only 2 units in Texas where prisoners are allowed TVs in their cells. The prisoners for this reason prefer the Walls unit and they are generally better behaved than other units.

And there you have it- a first-hand encounter with the infamous Walls unit in Huntsville. If you get a chance to go to Huntsville, there is a really good prison museum that you should check out. Of course you can go on a driving tour of various other units in the area and go see the cemetery where prisoners who died but did not families to claim their bodies are buried. 


I will again remind everyone that this is not meant to start any kind of political debate about the death penalty. As I said above, if I receive any offensive/negative comments, I will delete them. I don't want to block the comment feature on this post as if someone wants to reflect/comment on the experience in a thoughtful/polite/rational manner, I want to allow them to do so. It is an interesting experience I had, one that I don't think a lot of people do have, so I thought I would share it.