Tag Archives: forensic science

Once again I leave it to the last minute

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I’m not feeling all that proud of myself right now. Once again, I left my uni assignment until the last minute. Worse, in fact, since our uni lecturer voluntarily offered everyone a week’s extension and I was still racing to get it in on time. Not good.

More than anything, it was a lack of motivation. I would sit and stare at the computer screen, the words wouldn’t come, so I would pack up and go to bed. Where’s my drive and desire to succeed? If I want to get a high distinction in this course then I had better get my ass moving!

There’s just under a month until my exam, so the next few weeks I will be dedicating myself to reading my text book over and over and over. My aim is for at least one hour a night, but preferrably two. I want to be so well-versed on forensic science that I’m a bore to talk to, since that’s all that comes out of my mouth. Let’s see how I go…

The worst part is that this is my second course that I’ve done for my degree and I still haven’t perfected a study routine. If I want to do maths and biology next term then I really need to get this sorted. If I struggle with one course, doing two definitely isn’t ideal. Time to pull that finger out again!

Blink and a week has passed

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Wow, just wow. I think I blinked, and a week has passed. Which means that yet again I’m behind in posting my photos of the day. Crap.

This weekend I had set aside to do my uni assignment (due this coming Friday), but I’ve already been booked in to do stuff right up until this afternoon, and tomorrow afternoon we’re meeting up with a friend for a Sunday sesh at the surf club (i.e. drinks, beach, chilling). Better get cracking on that assignment with every free moment I have then!

It’s a really interesting topic though. I have to discuss Locard’s principle (foundation principle of forensic science – “every contact leaves a trace”) and to what extent it remains a cornerstone of forensics science today. Is it outdated? Is it still relevant etc? I’ll try to spend tonight researching court cases and science journals for some great information, and then spend tomorrow and the rest of this week writing and tweaking the assignment. For the first time we’re submitting the assignment online too (no posting hardcopies here), which means I have right up until the last second to get it done. My time is quickly running out, but I’m confident in getting it done on time.

In other news, I’m still really enjoying EA Active2. I wrote about it earlier this week after I had just picked it up for the PS3. I’ve now finished my first week’s training sessions, and there was one day that I could actually feel my muscles were a bit sore! I’m only in the first phase of the 9 week training program, so it’s only going to get harder and harder from here. I’m looking forward to it. The number of exercises they have is impressive too – they actually have planks (KILLS my abs), and some fun “cardio” exercises like mountain boarding (snowboarding but on a skateboard) and mountain biking etc. It’s kept my interest, and I look forward to each session. Hopefully I’ll start getting some nice legs from it; they’re working hard enough!

So that’s me! Time now to go have a shower, and get started on today’s activities (helping Mat service some friends cars – I have to pick them up/drop them off etc). Hope you all have a great weekend!

I think I want to start uni

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My career goal is to join the police service, eventually winding up in the forensic science division. To clarify, walking the beat and arresting the baddies doesn’t interest me one bit. Nope, it’s all about the science and of discovering a story from little pieces of evidence. It has totally fascinated me since the day in grade 11 when we studied forensic science in class. I was hooked. I would take my text book home and read ahead, studying every single word over and over until it was imprinted into my brain. I’ve never been that nerdy before, and it was a first for me. I can still explain about rifling marks and blood splatter analysis, or the Locard exchange principle. It’s the only class I have ever received an A+ in.

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Should science serve only the state?

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Courtesy of digg today, I discovered this article written by Radley Balko, discussing the ramifications of an emerging view that scientists should only serve the prosecution side in criminal cases.

I have to agree with Balko when he states:

It takes an odd definition of justice to believe that state-paid scientists should only use their expertise to help win prosecutions.

Excuse my righteous view, but isn’t the point of forensic science to uncover the truth, and to use the science available to explain actions as they occured? It would be naive to think it’s not possible for the truth to be manipulated or warped to help strengthen the case of one or another. It scares me to think that the people we’re meant to look to as the front line in our war for a just society, are actually the manipulators themselves.

Think of just how dangerous a “prosecution only forensic science expert” could be. They could paint a picture using evidence that supports the prosecution’s case, and without an expert on the defence’s side who is there to ensure the accuracy or validity of the information? As stated in the article;

“the process of peer review—a fundamental component of the scientific method—actually depends on such criticism.”

I would hate to think of how many people could be in jail right now, wrongly convicted of a crime they didn’t commit, without the evidence or a defence expert to prove otherwise. Especially when you look at the situation pointed out by Balko where Dr. Steven Hayne has been conducting 80 – 90% of the state’s autopsies, when he isn’t even board certified in forensic pathology. How much could he be missing, or interpreting incorrectly?

I think Balko has raised all the important points, it just depends on whether anyone of any value is actually listening. Or more importantly, whether someone will find some moral ground in all of this.

(Selfishly, I can’t help but think “thank god the article is about America, and not Australia”).