Cold Case Murder of Krystal Beslanowitch, 1995
Cold Case Murder of Krystal Beslanowitch, 1995
Research Papers: Students are required to submit a six (6) page minimum research paper. The paper is to center on an investigative tool and how it helped to clarify the events in the scene. You are not required to select your research topic from The Second Murder 2 Casebook, but you certainly may. For example, the story on page 39 (Gregory Brown and Darlene Buckner) is an arson case. You may take that story, research it, and expand on it. Explain in detail how the forensic evidence in the scene solved the case. Your report is to help me better understand the who, the how, and the why. In the Brown/Buckner story, the book states that a pile of clothing in the house caught fire. It also states that an unaided fire in that environment generates approximately 176 kilowatts of energy. However, in order for the fire to be as destructive as it was, the fire had to generate approximately 1,300 kilowatts of energy. Prepare a report that explains the discrepancy between what the “victims” said had happened with the known facts on how fire actually burned. Understanding how fire responds to available fuel helps to clarify the truth of the event and can help change the victim into a suspect. The report may include a chart that compares the burn rate/energy of one product to another. However, if burn rate does not intrigue you, then perhaps burn patterns do. There is plenty of literature that explains the interpretation of a burn pattern, and, as a result, helps to tell the story on how a specific fire progresses through a building (e.g., where it started, in which direction it traveled). Some students complain that the topic range is too broad and that an assigned topic would be easier. Others, however, appreciate the opportunity to select the one that interests them most. Therefore, you choose. Research papers continued: All students are required to submit a well-constructed research paper. The 6th edition of the American Psychological Association’s Publication Manual (APA) has been adopted by the Criminal Justice department as the research format. Please invest in the purchase of this book! If your paper does not meet formatting standards, you are subject to at least a one letter grade reduction. Papers are not required to be a particular maximum, but they are required to have a minimum of six (6) complete pages of context. The six (6) pages do not include the following three: Title page, Abstract, Reference page. In the Reference page, there is to be a minimum of four references. When finished, if you are able to insert one additional sentence at the bottom of the last paragraph on the last page of text, then that last page is not a complete page. All that it means is that you have six (6) sheets of paper in the report, not six (6) pages of content. In effect, you will be one page short and one letter grade down! Because there is a great deal of information on nearly every topic, not being able to complete six (6) complete pages, with an entire semester to work on it, will be virtually impossible. By the time the paper is due and you find yourself struggling to fulfill the page requirements, it likely means you did not start the project soon enough. Begin the research early, like now! But on the other hand, if you need eight or even ten pages to adequately cover your topic, then be my guest. The research paper must be in Times New Roman, 12-point font, double-spaced in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Works, or WordPerfect document format, with a title page, Abstract page, and Reference page. All pages will be numbered in the top right hand corner and have a running head. The margins will be one-inch at the top, bottom, left, and right sides (again, APA compliant). The paper will be evaluated according to correct grammar, citation accuracy, organization, topic focus, and clear analytical thought. Side Note: Both text books in this class can be a source. Two sources that are not acceptable are Wikipedia and blogs. Wikipedia and blogs provide information. However, information from these sources does not give the reader confidence that the idea is a well-researched idea. Gather information from Wikipedia or a blog if you wish (it can get the mind thinking), but back the idea up with peer-review journals or some other college level work source. Then, use that source as your reference point, not Wikipedia. Caution: If a person cannot find an outside source that validates a claim in Wikipedia, please be dubious of the information. Therefore, do not stake a claim in it. If Wikipedia is listed in the Reference page, it will not be counted as a reference. This means that if you have four sources in the Reference page and one of them is Wikipedia, you will, in effect, have only three source—one source short of the minimum for that assignment. That specific part of the report, (the Reference page part) will become a failed section of the report.
