Writers Block

So throughout this process of writing my third paper for english, I have experienced the biggest case of writers block. I mean I know what I wanted to say but every time I went to write it down...nothing. Nothing made sense. I wrote as things came to mind which led to some of my ideas to not make sense or not "flow." See I probably did it just now. It makes sense to me but I'm sure it doesnt to other people.

I can't figure out why this happens to me. I know I have potential to be a great writer but it just doesn't click sometimes. It's like I've been given a halfway decent talent to write and can't ever seem to unleash it full force 100% awesomness. It is so frustrating to me. I hate to write but I love it at the same time. Maybe I just don't like writing in such a formal fashion. If I could just write how I wanted to it would be so much easier. I've been sick of this robotic writing style teachers implanted in me since the 5th grade.

This post probably seems random...but I wrote blogs all semester that weren't personal so I figured one of the last blogs I would write would be a little personal when it comes to my writing abilities.

Oh and by the way....I decided to totally direct my paper strictly towards eyewitness misidentification. I just felt like I was trying to cover too much info having the other things in my paper.

Outline for third paper

The Mistake that Costs Lives



I. Introduction

• Attention grabber- statistic (still looking for a nationwide average of innocent people who faced prison time)


• Mention essay from book "The Death Penalty is a Step Back" and main point I am expanding on- "the wrongfully accused"
• Three areas to talk about- Eyewitness Misidentification, Impoper Forensic Science, Government Misconduct

II. Eyewitness Misidentification

• Eyewitness misidentifications contributed to over 75% of the more than 220 wrongful convictions in the United States overturned by post-conviction DNA evidence.
• Social science researchers prove eyewitness identification as unreliable
• Types of eyewitness/victim identification of perpetrator- standard lineup, array of photos

III. Improper Forensic Science

• Some forensic techniques are improperly conducted in an investigation
• These techniques include-hair microscopy, bite mark comparisons, firearm tool mark analysis and shoe print comparisons

IV. Government Misconduct

• Corruption within the system- fraud or misconduct by prosecutors or police departments
• Things they can do that is considered to be "misconduct"- ex. deliberate suggestiveness in identification procedures, mishandling, mistreatment or destruction of evidence, etc.

V. Conclusion

This is a just a start. I might make some changes so yea.

Response to a Nonfiction Essay

So after thinking long and hard I think I know what topic I will discuss for the 'response to a nonfiction essay' paper.

I decided that I will respond to the essay we read titled "The Death Penalty Is a Step Back" by Coretta Scott King. I want to write a paper discussing one of her main points she addresses that deals with "mistakenly convicted people being put to death in the name of American criminal justice" aka the wrongfully accused.

Because I'm using King's essay does not neccessarily mean that I agree with her about being against the death penalty all together. I do however believe that someone should not be put under a death sentence unless scientifically proven guilty of the serious crime. In other words, I don't think someone should be accused and sentenced based only on an eyewitness identification process.

For example, in 1991 Tony Ford was wrongfully identified and sentenced to death for the murder of Armando Murillo. Here's the story: "On December 18, 1991, two people broke in to the home of Myra Concepcion Murillo in El Paso, Texas. Saying they needed to see “the man of the house,” and demanding to know where “the money” was, the two men became angry when their demands were met with confusion. Within moments, one of the men shot and killed Ms. Murillo’s eighteen-year-old son, Armando, then shot Ms. Murillo and her two daughters. Ms. Murillo and her daughters survived."

Apparently one of the surviving daughters was asked to look at an array of photos and identify the man who shot Armando. She chose the photo of Tony Ford. Tony and his lawyers tried to get the court to let them hire a professional to prove how unreliable the eyewitness identification was in this case but they were denied. Tony was sentenced to death. After an eyewitness identification post-trial examination done by the professional Ford's lawyers tried to get approved to help the case it turns out that Tony Ford looked very similar to the later known actual shooter named Victor Belton.

It is simply not enough to just "take someones word for it" when it comes to the death penalty. The justice system today should know that with such a punishment as death it shouldnt be given to a person based only on an eyewitness looking at an array of photos or a group of people standing in a row and picking which one looks like the familiar suspect. There should be scientific evidence that proves who is guilty as well. In most cases if the court would have taken time to dig deep and provide a thorough investigation there would be less innocent people being put to death.

Losing sight of what's important

So I was just randomly surfing the net for any interesting news stories to write about (it's what I do when I don't know what to blog about) when one article's title caught my attention.

It read as "Paying in Full As the Ticket Into Colleges". I was curious to see what this was about. As I read I felt more and more opposition building up. Then it was inevitable...I want to give my opinion on the article.

Basically the article is saying that starting this year some colleges will be considering more "financially stable" aka richer kids who do not require financial aid more than ever before. So lets hear an example of this. Timmy is an intellectually profound student but is part of a middle/low class family with limited income. He works two jobs but will still need a reasonable amount of financial aid to go to college. Bobby is an okay student whose parents went to the same high school and are big donators to the athletics etc. He has always had things given to him and he has never had to work a day in his life. Due to his parents popularity and donations he just so happens to make good grades, but not as good as Timmy's. They both apply to the same college. Who deserves to get accepted? Timmy. Who will more than likely get accepted? Bobby. Do you see what I'm getting at?

What it boils down to is this...it isn't right to base an acceptance into a college on the root of all evil..money. What hope will that give to youth? If the trend catches on and all colleges start choosing mostly, maybe only, wealthy students into their institution kids who are less fortunate will have no motivation to stay in school. There would no longer be equal opportunity. It wouldn't matter if you were a genious...if your parents didn't have the moolah you were SOL. Does anyone else see this as unconstitutional? or better yet unethical? I mean come on.

Oh this was my favorite part of the article.."Colleges say they are not backing away from their desire to serve less affluent students; if anything, they say, taking more students who can afford to pay full price or close to it allows them to better afford those who cannot." You won't have any "less affluent" students if you don't accept them. What are you planning to do? Just have a generation of only rich kids go to college and then expect the others to start applying later? Geez.

Anyways just read the article and decide what you think. I think this would be a killer topic for a debate.

*Lightbulb*...Pop Rocks!

I have to do write and give an informative speech for my COM 110 class. I have thought so hard these past couple of days of what topic I should choose for my speech. I thought about global warming but I'm kind of tired of hearing about global warming and I'm sure my classmates would feel the same way. I was going to do the process of making an animation film but I honestly don't think I could explain that whole process in only 6 minutes. So many ideas crossed my mind but nothing was clicking. I didn't want to do something too terribly serious because a lot of people are doing serious topics. I wanted to so something fun and interesting to research.

It was only until just now that I think I finally came up with the topic I am going to do. I had a random craving and started looking in my room for something to satisfy it. I found a pack of pop rocks and they did the trick. Then it dawned on me...Pop Rocks! I think I should give my speech on the history, production process, and urban legends of pop rocks. Idk it sounds fun to me.

So to get me started I thought about brainstorming with some info on here.

History: Pop rocks were founded in 1956 by William A. Mitchell (General Foods research scientist). They weren't put on the shelves to sell until 1975. They sold for $0.15 a pack.

"Tiny air pockets of carbonation (CO2) are released when melted in your mouth and has a mild 'crackling' sensation and 'popping' noise. The original flavors were Orange, Cherry and Grape."

Urban legends: The main urban legend is that if you eat pop rocks and then drink soda you will explode. This is false. This makes me laugh because I remember hearing about that legend and even though I knew it sounded crazy I was always too scared to eat pop rocks and drink a soda..haha.

There was an urban legend that Mikey (you know the little kid for the Life cereal commercial) ate a pack of pop rocks and then drank a can of soda right behind them. Supposedly this sparked a dangerous chemical reaction and caused Mikey to explode. Obviously this legend is false.

Another interesting myth/real issue has to do with some kind of meth that looks and smells like strawberry pop rocks. You can read it about it here.

Why it pops: The ingredients (sugar, lactose [milk sugar] corn syrup and flavoring) are processed with Carbon Dioxcide. "The ingredients are heated together and boiled. The hot sugar mixture is mixed with carbon dioxide gas at about 600 PSI. The carbon dioxide gas forms tiny, 600 PSI bubbles in the candy."

UNCW Football?

So to be honest, it was hard for me to choose a side to the argument of whether or not UNCW should have a football team/program. It was hard because I don't play football so I don't really feel that I have a say or passion behind the decision. But for argument sake I suppose I will say that no I don't think UNCW should have an official football team. I do however think that an intramural team would be ok.

I did some research and it turns out that one of the main things that holds UNCW back from starting a football program is money. In order to get financial support the school would have to double or even triple the student athletic fee ($389 to like $800). Yikes. Some students said they would be willing to pay, but for most that is a big difference and too much.

Another issue that was brought up was the fact that UNCW already has 19 sports and the athletic department says that money is tight enough already. In 2007 during a football debate/forum (this was the only evidence I found) a student pointed out "I wanted to talk to students about supporting UNCW athletics now. How can we expect to fill a football stadium when we can't fill Trask during basketball season? We need to support the sports we already have established." I think he had a good point.

Now whether you agree with me or not..I'm going to give my opinion. First, honestly since UNCW has never had a football team we have not had the ability to gain any kind of reputation of being a good school for football. In other words why would a star football player want to come play for a team that no one even knows exist? There are plenty of other colleges that are known for their football program. Second, we do have one of the relatively popular college sports (basketball) and we all see how well that is going. We suck! Would football be any better? I can't really say much more because I am no expert when it comes to sports. The only other thing I will say is that I think the university should first just try to have an intramural football team and then see how good the players are. There is no need to build a stadium for an intramural team or anything. You just need a football and a coned zone on the intramural field. If people really want to play then they will. It would be up to players to get their uniform and pads.

I don't know...I guess overall if people want it bad enough they will "hand over the checks" according to the chancellor.

Newborn baby found in "rubbish bin?"

How about "No Giving Birth in Toilet"?

What is wrong with people in the world today? You will be asking this same question if you watch this news story from CNN.com.

Apparently, a woman had a baby...on a plane...in the toilet...and abandoned the newborn in the "rubbish bin". Ok so first of all, I agree with one of the passengers that were on the plane when they mentioned the fact that it is hard to believe that no one noticed that she was having the baby. I mean I personally witnessed my mom give birth to my little sister and she was not quiet about it. There is no way that that woman gave birth that quietly. Second of all, how could anyone in their right mind purposely leave a baby in a trash can??? Geeeeeeeez

The kicker of the story is that the woman, who gave birth and was trying to abandon the baby, while getting off the plane had to report to authorities to report a missing passport. The authorities noticed that she was pale and her clothes were stained in blood. This woman is not very smart at all. If you are trying to abandon the baby why would you draw attention to yourself like that? Wait hold on...the woman shouldn't be abandoning the baby in the first place.

I guess it never ceases to amaze me what crazy stuff goes on in the world today. Before you know it abandoning babies in trash cans will be considered more politically correct than abortion.
Anyways, I am going to get back to editing my paper for english. So far so good...for the most part. I guess I can only do what I think is right and hope for the best.