In depth with Dave !

Csi :Miami, inspired by the top-rated series "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," is a drama that follows a South Florida team of forensic investigators who use both cutting-edge scientific methods and old-fashioned police work to solve crimes. Horatio Caine, a former homicide detective, heads a group of investigators who work crimes amid the cultural crossroads of Miami. His team includes Calleigh Duquesne, a bilingual Southern with a specialty in ballistics; Eric Delko, an underwater recovery expert who knows all the twists and turns of the Florida waterways, and Ryan Wolfe, a former patrol officer who specializes in blood and trace evidence.
Rounding out the team is Alexx Woods, the coroner, and Natalia Boa Vista, the DNA specialist. Helping Horatio with cases is Det. Frank Tripp, a tough yet thorough police officer. Together, these investigators collect and analyze the evidence to solve the crimes and get the final say for the victims.

Furthermore, I personally idolize the television series and wanted to get someone else’s perspective on the show as well. As I continued to search for that someone I came across my Uncle Dave. I realize that he too enjoyed watching CSI:Miami. Although, I felt like I should have went complete opposite on the perspectives of the show I realized that he would have great input being a Forensic Scene Investigator himself.

Dave is a thirty-nine year old Forensic Scene Investigator working for the Baltimore City Police Department. When asked how often he consumed popular culture, he was not very insightful in how regularly he watched television because he is not very interested in reality television or the news. He rather watch something that is insightful or suspenseful. He admits that CSI:Miami always has a plot and never fails to bore him. “Even though the acting is kind of fake I enjoy watching the scene and all of the evidence come together and I always guess who the suspects are.” I soon realized that everything Dave did at his job interested him within in the show.

As our interview continued I asked Dave what gave him the idea of being a cop. I wanted to know if there was anything in his pass that could have engaged his want or need to enter the police force. He admitted to watching the news and wanting to find the culprits of every crime. Dave saw the way the victims took the news of their lost loved ones and wanted to become part of the search to find answers. “Evidence does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are, it is factual evidence, physical evidence it cannot be wrong.” To his response, I began to grow very curious to which character on the show was his favorite since they all seem to play different roles in the series. As I assumed, he enjoys two specific characters, Ryan Wolfe and Natalia Boa Vista. Both whom which collect physical evidence that brings the crime scene closer to finding the real suspects.

Even though Dave’s background in the police force focuses on forensics, I can understand why he was so interested in CSI:Miami from the get go. I say this because like the show he investigates crime scenes as well in search for answers. Therefore, he does not have an issue watching such shows like this. Furthermore, I went back to why he did not like reality shows and the news. He told me that it is fake and unreal. “What or who does reality television benefit? There is no purpose in watching others lives being exploited on live television.” He continued to explain that he never enjoyed the news because of all the violence. It only made him depressed that he was never able to do anything for that family.

Overall, Dave truly enjoys watching CSI:Miami because it mimics his everyday life and he is content with that. He would rather watch horrendous acting, then someone making themselves look like a fool or finding so called” love.” In conclusion, I enjoyed interviewing my uncle because I finally found out why he wanted to become a Forensic cop and how he felt about specific areas in his life that I would have never been able to ask out of no where. More and more I found out about his perspective on the series my opinion toward the show grew that more in depth.

The Future of the Internet !

On March 11th I attended a lecture that was given by Jackie Regales. The topic of interest was especially about The Future of the Internet: Utopian and Dystopian Possibilities. She started of the lecture explaining how the internet was first used by the government, under the control of the Dept. of Defense and gradually worked her way into the advancements in which technology has come to. Further into her discussion I became very intrigued with two topics she had discussed and they were the future of schooling online along with Google Health. I learned that many institutions such as MIT are thinking about creating campus education online. I say this because they have seen a greater increase in online classes which sparked their interest to make everything available on the web. Currently, as of now, there is no fee to register or sign up, but as soon as classes were to begin and tuition had to be paid, they would send you the bill. I find that online education isn’t really the best thing to do. I say this because there are so many ways to get by with cheating and not really learning the material as if you were to go to class in person. The other topic that sparked my interest was Google Health. This topic brought upon many pros and cons. First off, online medical files would be very easy to store and save a lot more time and energy, where as paper files that came day in and day out would create hassle and chaos. Patients would be able to put their own medical information on the files such as blood type, allergies, medications, etc. So, if you were to go from doctor to doctor, all they would have to do is simply pull up your medical file and look it over. Zeroing out the transfer and faxing of information. Even though this seems like a good plan for the future, there are still precautions that do not allow us to go through with this. No one is positive that personal information would be kept private. Therefore, you run into the issue of identity theft and stolen information that could cost you. Overall, I enjoyed the lecture by Jackie Regales and learned new and innovated information that we could possibly see in the near future.

Being Curious !

For my semester topic, I would like to interview my uncle, David Reaping. The main reason I would like to interview him is because his job relates to the television series CSI: Miami and I believe his input would help me tremendously. Furthermore, since he is also a fan of the series himself, this would allow me to go further in depth with my interview.

Some questions that I would consider asking would be:

1.What does popular culture mean to you and why?
2.How often would you say you consume popular culture each day?
3.Do you tend to follow the popular trends?
4.What made you become a cop within the Forensic Unit?
5.Was there anyone whom you admired that gave you this desire to become a cop?
6.Why do you watch CSI: Miami rather then the other CSI series?
7.Who is your favorite character and why?
8. If you were to write an autobiography, what would each chapter be called and why?