James H English Blog

Hey Professor Morris! I'm doing some research on DNA and how DNA evidence has contributed to the reliability of convictions. I was thinking of turning my research into an ACURA project here at school and was wondering if you would be interested in supervising my project. I know you have extensive knowledge in this field and that you recently supervised an ACURA project dealing with forensics so let me know if this is something you'd want to do. Thanks for your consideration!

https://vimeo.com/265574712 Presentation Rubric Did Not Meet Expectations Met Expectations Exceeded Expectations Argument + Argumentation Focus on Genre+Conventions and Rhetorical Factors Use of Textual Evidence from Genre Examples slides are reader friendly and crisp Analysis researchable          Sentence-level Clarity, Mechanics, and Flow Other Comments Elevator pitches are short pitches that give someone an immediate understanding of your idea that is supposed to persuade a person of interest to you. The conventions of an elevator pitch would be proper grammar, no long explanations, and short length. Often people try to establish credibility with the person of interest before they make their pitch. It is most often the pitcher speaks first but it may be the person of interest speaks to you, then you give your pitch after an interest in you is already established . In our fir...

The journal articles I chose were Encoded Evidence: DNA in Forensic Analysis and DNA evidence in criminal law: new developments. These articles examine the reliability of DNA evidence in forensic science and have many similarities regarding their content and construction, however their arguments are essentially opposites of each other. DNA evidence in criminal law: new developments poses the argument that the statistical means by which forensic labs deduce DNA profiles is flawed while Encoded Evidence: DNA in Forensic Analysis argues that DNA in forensics is "key to the conviction or exoneration of suspects and the identification of victims of crimes, accidents and disasters." One similarity between them is the way they study this phenomenon. Both college professors must be accessing some document or article that lays out very detailed technicalities about specific cases in order to know more information regarding the forensics of the case. Another similarity in how they have...

In forensic science, how has the ability to test for DNA contributed to the reliability of convictions of homicides? Has DNA testing contributed to a decrease in homicides? How has DNA evidence transformed our criminal justice system since its implementation How have peoples perceptions of the criminal justice system changed since the implementation of DNA evidence 4 articles E ncoded evidence: DNA in forensic analysis Jobling, Mark A., and Peter Gill. "Encoded Evidence: DNA in Forensic Analysis." Nature Reviews.Genetics 2004 DNA evidence in criminal law: new developments Thompson, William C. "DNA evidence in criminal law: new developments." Trial , Aug. 1994 Dog DNA used to take a bite out of crime in Seattle McMurry, Kelly. "Dog DNA used to take a bite out of crime in Seattle." Trial , Feb. 1999 Forensic odontology, part 4. Human bite marks Hinchliffe, J. Forensic odontology, part 4. human bite marks. British Dental Journal. 2...

James Houstian PB2A Lisa Morris https://abington.psu.edu/person/lisa-morris For the past five years supervised ACURA projects. Topics include: Diverse Disciplines in Forensic Sciences, Crime Prevention Resources, Campus Recycling,  Literacy. Current research project focuses on utilizing forensic sciences in sciences and other curriculum encouraging collaborative teaching. Interesting concepts/issues: Forensic science Criminal justice Forensic methods Increase in convictions Families of prisoners Rehabilitation Wrongful convictions Dna Criminal records Judicial authority For my PB2A, I want to do research in forensic sciences. I need to find a narrow area of research so I was thinking of researching the relationship between advancing forensic technologies and the increase of criminal convictions. This would be an interesting topic for me because I'm not super knowledgeable in this area of study, however this has been sort of a side interest for m...