LearningXL

Texas Monthly recently profiled the large disparity in the cost of procuring a “hit man”, one of the major topics of criminology in modern years.  Criminology concerns the study of crime and the nature of criminals, a topic which is ever changing due to advances in technology and developments in the crime world.  One private investigator who was profiled in the article mentioned receiving offers as high as a downpayment of $200,000, and as low as an offer of Atari games, along with $2.30.  It is a crime which goes largely unpublished due to the secretive nature of its transactions, although this method of crime has been widely used. 

The FBI has additionally gone undercover to discover what the going rate for a hit man is, and have revealed that several thousand is considered a generous offer in the underground crime world, with many hit men getting paid only a few hundred dollars or receiving drugs for their services.  The undercover world of crime is truly fascinating, especially for those of us who are not criminology majors and do not work for the FBI.  While movies like The Godfather rarely resemble life in the real world, there are still many instances of mobsters trying to kill off their rivals, looking to hit men to do the job for them.  In this sense, the world of crime is actually very real to those of us who are aware of the dangers of such undercover crime groups.

It is unclear how common this type of crime is, since many of the attempted murders go largely unreported, but a recent study by the Australian Institute of Criminology indicated that over a span of thirteen years, there were 163 instances of attempted and actual contract killings.  While the crime rate in Australia is drastically different from that of the United States, it is still an indication of how common the crime is when the numbers are evened out.  Russia is another country at the opposite end of the crime spectrum that studies have indicated has a wide prevalence of hit men-type killings.  While this is no surprise for many of (the post-Soviet bloc states have been accused of a wide range of crimes), it is an indication of how relatively easy it is for criminals to earn a living. 

Criminology is about more than just the study of hit men, of course, but this is one of the more interesting subjects regarding the nature of criminals.  It is one crime that is not only underreported, but is also very easy to cover up.  As the study of criminology continues to grow, we may develop a better way to discover the true nature of this crime as well as its prevalence. 
 

Most sciences are in fields in which careers change by the year according to the newest advances in technology and new discoveries.  As a result, it is difficult to prepare for a new range of career goals without the ability to foresee what jobs may manifest themselves in years to come, but all we can do is prepare the best we can.  In the field of biochemistry, this is no different, as biochemistry careers have emerged from all aspects of the science industry.

Biochemistry entails a deeper understanding of the intricacies of chemistry and biology, literally coming together to produce the greater field of biochemistry.  Most students of biochemistry take years of schooling, even completing a doctorate program in many cases, causing the degree to be highly sought after for early students of the field.  Technically speaking, the career choices of biochemists involve complicated studies of molecular compounds which I would not even be able to fathom, but they present a promising future for many students.  Genetics is a major part of the study of biochemistry and as we have barely grazed the service of the many DNA/RNA sequences in the body, there is much research to be done in this field, which is increasing exponentially with new forms of technology.

The new decade is additionally bringing change to the science community, as scientists are now needed for jobs that would not have previously required scientists.  The forensics department in many police stations now requires the expertise of biochemists and chemists alike to test for the DNA evidence left at the scene of the crime.  Only advances in technology have allowed this career opportunity to open up (and a cool one at that!).  No longer are biochemists confined to a lab for the majority of their career, but can actually practice their knowledge in a field like crime or something similar.  These recent advances are sure to only increase as more technology is implemented in other industries, finding new spots for scientists all over the place!

Science on the whole is an ever-changing industry, complete with technology that far surpasses that of many traditional career options in other fields.  Biochemistry is especially ever-evolving as progress in the field requires scientists to uncover more about our genetics and what DNA can truly reveal about the past generations of human existence.  While most of this work is confined to labs, there are still a multitude of career options for biochemists.  From police work to environmental testing to even government contract work, the possibilities are nearly endless for students going into the biochemistry field.  It is only a matter of finding the right niche for your future in biochemistry!
 

With the discovery of billions of clonal amoebas in Texas only a few months ago, the microbiology industry seems well set on a course of further discovery and research.  This discovery of amoebas on a cow farm seems to transcend previous notions of amoeba life, and demonstrated a new social amoeba which gathered together in organized groups and even committed suicide together to help other amoebas reproduce.  This further helped provide insight into social customs of humans and how cooperation may have evolved into our current social behaviors. 

This type of discovery in Texas makes it clear that we still have much more research to do on the microbiology level, meaning that we need more and more students to become well schooled in the subject to produce top tier scientists and researchers.  Amoeba research is only one form of microbiology that seems set to expand over the next few years while revealing more about the evolution of modern humans.  However, there are many more levels to microbiology that have only been slightly touched upon, indicating that we have decades of research ahead of us.

Microbiology jobs are not a fleeting form of the science industry, but deal with life forms on one of the smallest scales imaginable.  The presences of billions of amoebas on a simply cow farm make it clear that life is evolving all around us in ways we could never previously recognize.  The significance of this group of clonal amoeba was simply that each amoeba was genetically identical to every other amoeba, spanning a distance of 40 feet.  This is even more significant because the amoebas were able to produce exact clones of each other, resulting in the billions of amoebas which graduate students observed in the dirt and cow dung.

Microbiology is not always this easy to observe in every day life, but typically takes on the more technical laboratory studies that scientists are associated with, many findings taking years to fully research.  However, microbiology jobs help promote this basic understanding of the science behind life and life forms, furthering research through every new experiment which is made.  While amoebas can be found in many similar settings, microbiologists cannot, and it is for this reason that many specialized fields such as microbiology remain open for recent microbiology graduates. 

Whether you are for or against the death penalty, it remains a feasible option for mass murderers and other criminals who commit heinous crimes based on the public’s perception.  Many criminologists spend their time evaluating the death penalty and its methods for execution, as we have undergone a massive transition throughout the past century in our death sentence laws.  While California has recently sent mass amounts of people to sit on death row in the past few months, overall death penalty sentences are considerably down. 

Only a few years ago, many people convicted for rape in the southern states could be sentenced to the death penalty until 2008 when the Supreme Court ruled this was unconstitutional.  It is a far cry that only last year this was still a punishment option for a crime that definitely should be punished, but according to many criminologists does not come up to par with that of a serial killer.  Distinguishing between the levels of criminal intent is one job which both criminologists and legislators are forced to determine on a regular basis.  Many offenses were punished in past years far more severely than they deserved to be punished, resulting in higher prison numbers and a higher number of executions throughout the country.

Texas in particular made a name for itself in the 1990s as one of the most “execution-happy” states as it seemed to continuously rule for the death penalty in cases that other states would have ruled otherwise.  However, this decision is typically up to the states although many criminologists predict the decision will become less flexible in the upcoming years.  There is already a specified type of crime that has to be committed to earn a death penalty sentence and this box is becoming ever more closed in to only include the most heinous crimes that cannot go without punishment.  Criminologists evaluate this connection between the death penalty and crimes that are worthy of the sentence, many times concluding that states have become lax on their upholding of the policy. 

However, the death penalty has sparked countless numbers of debates around the country due to the sensitive nature of the topic.  Many states have opted to offer life sentences as a comparable option for death penalty sentences, thereby drastically cutting down on the amount of executions they have to perform, as well as the amount of research which must be done on the case.  Typically death penalty cases must have proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant has in fact committed the atrocious crime.  If there is the smallest amount of doubt with the prosecutor’s case, the sentence cannot be given despite any overarching evidence.  We do not want to commit the mistake of executing an innocent person, an issue that has recently come into light with the Todd Willingham arson case.  However, despite the controversial aspects of the death penalty, many criminologists devote much of their time to evaluating the many aspects of death sentences and their consequences. 

Biochemistry careers have infiltrated the science world like never before and have become a valuable asset in a country consumed with oil and gas revenues.  Biochemistry careers are valuable resources in the energy, oil, and gas sectors of the nation’s engineering jobs because they are one of the few professions that can evaluate the content of water, energy, and oil supplies in a way that engineers were never trained to perform.  Evaluating the content of many of these industries is an important part in ensuring that business continues to run as it should, since there are so many different chemicals that can infiltrate each system that only biochemists can detect.

While it seems that biochemists are typically confined to a laboratory, recent years have indicated that more of their possible career options involve on-site work and travel to various oil rigs.  This has expanded previous notions of biochemists and allowed them to perform on a more flexible career standard, rather than becoming confined within the walls of a lab.  The inclusion of biochemists in many of these industries have opened up new career opportunities for promising biologists and chemists around the country, although most are centered in gulf regions where oil and gas companies reign supreme. 

Biochemistry additionally equips many students to sustain flexible jobs in unheard of career fields for the degree, such as police work.  Many biochemists have worked in jobs where they have had to work with a number of small particles and chemical compounds, making them an ideal choice for crime scene investigators and other forms of law enforcement who test chemical compositions found at crime scenes. 

The flexibility of biochemistry careers has allowed the science industry to break free of preconceived notions that students will be forced to endure a lifetime of laboratory work if they earn a degree in the field.  Due to the advancements in technology in recent years, this is only an option and not a dead end for biochemistry jobs.  Many biochemists want to further their research in a lab, but now all biochemists are not confined to this future in the field.  Developing more interesting and unconventional career choices are a part of any growing industry and helps attract a larger following for most degree programs.  If more students earn degrees in the sciences and go on to perform more research in the field, advancements will take place at a much more expedient pace. 

A few years ago, computer science jobs were the “it” job of the time, and degree programs took off in schools around the nation.  After this point, we experienced a dip in the computer science industry as jobs became scarce and degree programs began to trickle off.  However, since this time, the computer science industry has rebounded due to new adaptations of the degree to many different internet and computer careers that are now available.  Additionally, computer problems have plagued mankind since the onset of computers a few decades ago; computer science has provided many of us with the resources necessary to fix our computers via computer technicians. 

As computers become more heavily integrated into our society, computer science jobs become a more important part of the technological revolution.  Many computer science jobs go toward computer industries such as HP and Apple, in which their background knowledge of computers comes in hand for technical expertise.  Other computer science jobs train students of the technicalities of website building and set them up for a wide variety of career opportunities for many different companies.  Nearly every company owns a website now, and the task of manipulating the website to best inform customers of their purpose is usually left to computer science students.   

Additionally, computer science jobs no longer have to lead to traditional notions of jobs containing HTML and other programming languages, but in fact rarely involve such elements.  While computer programming languages remain a vital part of any computer science curriculum and the background knowledge, they are not as readily used in many computer science careers (at least as much as they were once used).   Computer science jobs have attained such a presence within the computer industry that nearly every university offers degree programs, even the most liberal arts schools. 

Computers are the technology of modern times and they do not appear to be going anywhere anytime soon.  As a result, computer scientists are constantly needed to help many of us out with any computer problem we may have, regardless of the extent of the problem.  Without computer scientists in many computer industries, many people would be unable to complete any work or would be unable to recover from a computer crash.  Computer science has maintained its presence in the technical world by proving its worth to the majority of society and by making great strides within the industry in general. 
 

Computer engineering has never been solely confined to discovering the intricacies of computers and the inner makeup of the technology.  Rather, computer engineering jobs have been found to exist in many unconventional industries, including the science of music. 

Starting in the early 1990s, computer engineering was used to study the exact science of making music using a bow, and the subsequent music the movement of the bow produced.  Additionally, the early ability of computers to mimic symphonies through synthetic orchestras was a feat in itself for any computer engineering professional.  These early researchers were attempting to find more than just the tone of the music, but also the “gesture”, the essence of the musical performance.  It is not easy to mimic the gesture of performance as every musician contains a slightly different bow hold or exerts slightly different pressure on the instrument.  Regardless of this fact, computer engineers have been working for years to perfect this method and produce the underlying sound of the gesture through new methods.

It seems like music is one of the farthest things from computer engineering, but many engineers have developed digitalized programs which monitor musical performance by using computers designed specifically for this task.  Other programs capture the gestures of the conductor by using a special glove that measures the nuances of every conductor’s gestures and translates them to further electronic sound.  These early computerized instruments represented a leap in the computer industry away from simple programming and onward to a new frontier in which the arts could be represented in electronic form.  The gestural form of music as recorded by these programs serve to compress the musical files, essentially creating files that contain more characters than many long novels. 

These programs spoke to the future of the computer and music industry, intending to promote future generations to become easily adept at music synthesis.  This form of computer engineering represents a new field that has opened up due to increasing technological advances on the subject.  Since this time of early research on music and gestures, science has expanded to make computers a way of life for many people around the world, analyzing complex data and compressing even larger files over the years.  As long as computers remain a vital part of our existence, computer engineering jobs will always be in high demanded by the technical world in many different fields and industries. 

Europe boasts an impressive historical foundation that the United States cannot come close to rivaling.  Although we have extensive historical remnants of the Native American population, much of the lasting monuments have long since been destroyed, while countries like England have entire cities that were built centuries ago, retaining their historical roots.  Many of their universities are several hundred years old, and were at one point the only options for prospective students.  From an era where the first born (son) of the family was expected to carry on the family business and go on to study in a major university, the colleges of England have for the most part remained intact since this point. 

We have all heard of the historical universities in England such as Oxford and Cambridge, but how much do we really know about the historical roots of these schools?  Universities came into existence well before they emerged in Europe as we know it today, stemming from Greek, Asian, and Middle Eastern roots.  These areas all had universities as early as 387 B.C., although the modern notion of a university did not emerge until the 9th century, with the University of Al Karaouine in Morocco.  This began the era of education as we know it today, and ushered in a new wave of degree-granting institutions.  The first universities in England emerged during the medieval times, with the University of Oxford created in 1167, as the third “degree-granting” university in Europe.  The University of Cambridge followed shortly thereafter (in 1209), and many sources indicate these early English schools were modeled after the Islamic institutions of the times. 

The early universities in Europe were developed under the eye of the Catholic Church, although they began to be founded by Kings, and later through various administrations.  The degrees that were offered in these early universities were quite unlike the degree programs as we know them to be today, and Oxford in particular offered an interesting amalgamation of the system of trivium and quadrivium.  The trivium involved the completion of grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic or logic, while quadrivium involved the studies of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.  Degree programs emerged from these early studies, and additionally evolved after the Middle Ages.  The end of the medieval era brought with it theories of enlightenment and revolution, thereby involving a new form of education which helped shape the research institutions which we now know as modern universities.

However, England has held strong to their historical roots, as Oxford and Cambridge continue to be two of the most recognizable schools in the world.  Oxford itself remains the world’s oldest surviving university in the English-speaking world and has evolved with the times to become a leading research institution.  The school continues to draw students from all realms of the world due to its vast historical roots and architecture.  There is nothing like it in the United States or in other Western nations.  Cambridge is only a few years younger than Oxford, and is complete with a history of its own, with its foundation based on the exile of several Oxford scholars.  These two schools have set the tide for continuing education in England and have paved the way for many students to earn their degrees through historical and academically superior institutions. 

Marine biology is a degree many of us would like to earn after watching Planet Earth, Flipper, and especially after gaining a glimpse of the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Australia.  Understanding the intricacies of the ocean and the nearly endless array of life that has evolved and continues to form at the bottom of the sea is an intriguing aspect for any child, and even college student, making it a rising degree choice.  The many marine biology camps that now exist, serve to attract middle school and high school students to a future in academia or in the field today, introducing them to the wonders of the sea.  Catching kids at a younger age peaks their interest in the field and in the end provides ample room for more job opportunities in the future.  

The amount of marine biology camps that attract younger students has grown in the past years, so that now there are more than 50 around the states, mostly near the ocean.  More than simply introducing students to the wonders of the ocean, these programs also help students discover the fun aspects of marine biology, such as the everyday interaction with the creatures of the ocean and the perks of the job (closeness to the ocean!).  Additionally, these programs that originated decades ago have proven to be useful, attracting a multitude of students strong enough to increase the demand for marine biologists in recent years.  The camps begin by simply introducing students to the many different marine life forms, allowing them to touch and feel crabs, lobsters, and sea stars, later working up to dissecting other animals like squids.  Older students are additionally allowed to don wet suits and go deep sea scuba diving, allowing them the opportunity to view these animals first hand.

This is a great way to promote any program and it has definitely had positive repercussions in the marine biology world.  Many current marine biologists had their first introduction to the ocean world as a child, through similar programs, that have grown in momentum since those early days.  The jobs have opened up much more for past students of these camps, and many more colleges now offer expansive degree programs for marine biology students.  These universities are typically located in ideal areas (such as Hawaii), where students have the opportunity to participate in field work from the start.  While these early camps are more focused about the animal life, rather than the physics and chemistry that the career entails, it exists as an eye-opener into the career, brining the potential for a slew of new jobs.  
 

Only a few years ago, many thought that computer programming careers were dead along with the advancement of the internet and other types of software.  It seemed we had discovered all we could about computers and had moved on from discovery and onto tweaking the advancements in other technical fields.  However, the past few years have indicated that the computer industry is not done and is not even close; instead, there has been a boom in production as people around the world have discovered the useful properties of computers and now vie for the opportunity to own the latest software.  Computer engineering as a result has overtaken many computer programming jobs, but involves the same education and procedures as the previous degree.

Engineering jobs have remained some of the most sought after careers for recent graduates, especially in an economy that paints an uncertain future for many graduates.  Computer engineering in particular has attracted a large following of students as the industry is constantly advancing, requiring a great need for fresh minds that can contribute to the new advancements in technology.  The revival in the computer industry is significant as previous statistics of computer engineering students indicated a downturn when compared to the rest of the world.  This change of heart in the computer science industry is due to a great many factors including the rise in technology, the rise in schools that offer computer engineering programs, and higher competitive salaries.

Students of computer engineering no longer have to worry about the prospect of a future career, but can revel in the fact that they will have a seemingly “set” career, regardless of the turn computer technology takes.  The current reliance on computers and the internet has indicated a new fascination with technology that goes unmatched throughout the world.  While the dot com collapse brought about a downturn in many computer science programs due to a hesitation about the staying power of computers and the internet, a new revival is just what the economy has needed in this field.  The new increase in computer engineering degrees has led to a new number of career offerings that are directed solely at students who have earned these high-level degrees.  Ph.D. production in the industry has grown enormously as well in the past few years, indicating a new focus on this type of graduate study. 

The upturn in computer engineering indicates a new shift toward the computer industry and a new perception on careers in computing.  Gone is the previous notion that computer science careers involve a “boring” future of sitting mindlessly in front of a computer screen (reminiscent of “Office Space”), and we now consider computer engineering jobs to be among the top rated career choices for new computer students.  The modern trend of computer engineering trains students to be more flexible in a modern era that is reliant on computers as well as an era that has placed a great deal of money on the success of the computer industry.