CRJ U709: Organizational Behavior and Policy Making in Criminal Justice
Course Assignment Schedule

The following is a listing of required and optional assignments for CRJ U709.

Task A: Basic Preparations

The student should assure that he or she has the proper equipment, supplies, and software to participate in the class. The purpose of the first task is to check this out. Students should have, but are not required to have a computer with access to the Internet. The following additional capabilities should be established:

• E-mail: Register your email address with me (Professor Benton). I will enter your email address in to directory section of this web site. If you want to maintain anonymity of your personal email address, establish a HoTMaiL address as described below. If you have a separate email address, I suggest that you establish a HoTMaiL address so that you can access your email while working the the GCC.
• Usenet News: If you have a home or office computer that you intend to use for class work, configure the browser so that you can send and receive Usenet News. A simple way to check this is to click on the following link: UCRJ Newsnet Site, which is a newsnet site established by City University to support this class. (Do not send messages to the newsgroup at this point.) If this link does not bring up the news reader window within your browser, then you should check the settings (for Netscape) under "options - mail and news preferences" to make sure that you have identified the news server provided by your internet service provider. It will be something like "news.provider.net" where provider is the name of your internet service provider.

  In the GCC, news will work immediately, but you always must specify your identity each time you bring up Netscape in order to send messages.

  AOL does not directly support CUNY newsgroups. AOL users can access the CRJU709 newsgroup by logging on to AOL and then executing Netscape (Logon to AOL, then minimize it, then execute Netscape). You can not, however, use the version of Netscape Navigator that is free to AOL users. You must get another version that includes the mail and news options.

• Books: Textbooks are identified in the home page of the course syllabus.

Task B: E-Mail Exercise

E-mail three students in the class, and reply to any e-mail that you receive. Attempt to select people who you do not know. The purpose of this exercise is to check out your e-mail and to build some relationships among students in the class. I assume that each student completes this assignment and I do not grade it. You do not have to document completion to me.

Tasks C, D, E, F, G, and H: NewsGroup Exercises The next four tasks involve use of the UCRJ Newsnet Site. In order to use the newsgroup, you should be aware of several features:

• The NewsGroup functions like a bulletin board. You can post messages and other people can reply to them. The best way to participate in a newsgroup is through the news window in your browser. Our newsgroup is one of thousands of groups, some of which are accessible to anyone, and some of which are accessible only to persons with specific access.
• You can interact with only one newsgroup at a time, but you can access a web site through your browser while at the same time accessing a newsgroup through your news window. In the assignments, you are asked to identify web sites and newsgroups and to discuss them. If you write a URL -- a world wide web address -- in a newsgroup message, it is highlighted, and a reader can click on the address and go to the site in his or her browser. Similarly, you can do the same with a newsgroup address.
• Messages are presented in a hierarchy, and the default hierarchy for most news readers is to present messages in a "chain" -- the original message, followed by responses indented underneath the original message, followed by responses to responses indented under the message they relate to, and so on. If you send a non-reply message to a news group, it is presented as an original message. If you send a "reply" it is listed under the message that you were viewing when you replied. Thus, for this assignment, when you respond to my questions, you should view that message and then select "Reply News" and respond. If you are commenting on someone else's message, then you should be viewing that message when you reply.
• Note that messages remain on the news reader from prior classes. They will remain for approximately 8 months after they are posted.
• Note that there is a big difference between "Reply Mail" and "Reply News". "Reply Mail" sends a e-mail message to me or to the author of the message that you are replying to, and not to the news group. I want you to participate in the news group, so use "Reply News".

Each assignment should be completed in relation to a single policy topic that you select as the focus of your own studies in this class. Eventually, this topic will be the focus of your term project (described below).

• Task C: Find a web page related to your topic that provides substantive original material. Identify the site (by URL) in your reply message (the reply to my Task C message in the newsgroup) and describe why you think that the page as substantive original material. Review messages submitted by other students and reply to two of them. You might use the following web pages as starting points for your searches:
  • Justice Across the World Wide Web.
  • Links to Internet Site, The Lloyd Sealy Library
• Task D: Find a web page related to your topic that provides extensive and useful links to other web sites. Identify the site in your reply message (the reply to my Task D message in the newsgroup) and describe why you think that the site has useful links. Review messages submitted by other students and reply to two of them.
• Task E: Find a web page related to your topic that provides statistics or other data. Identify the site (by URL) in your reply message (the reply to my Task E message in the newsgroup) and describe why you think that the data is useful. Identify the formats that the data is available in. Could you download and import this data into a software package on your computer? (You don't have to actually do this for this assignment.) Review messages submitted by other students and reply to two of them.
• Task F: Find a newsgroup related to your topic that provides substantive original material. To find the newsgroup I suggest that you try the following web site by clicking on it: DejaNews. Identify the newsgroup (by URL) in your reply message (the reply to my Task F message in the newsgroup) and describe why you think that the newsgroup is substantive original material. Review messages submitted by other students and reply to two of them.
• Task G: Find a journal article on the Internet that relates to your topic and describe it to the class in a message replying to Task G. I suggest that you initiate your search for internet-based articles at the following site: EJournal. This is an index to internet-based publications. Review messages and read the articles proposed by two other students and reply to their messages.

You have been assigned to summarize one or more readings which are assigned to the entire class as well. The following link contains the assignments: Reading Summary Assignments. As the summarizer, you are to create a summary and discussion of the reading and post it on the newsnet site.

Task I: Create Your Own Web Page

Create your own web page, following the instructions at the following link: Create Your Own Web Page. When you have created your home page, send me the link by email. If your internet service provider gives you personal web page space, you may complete this assignment on that server rather than on Xoom. Xoom is free.

Task I: Web Term Project

Each student will develop a web site relating to a policy issue in criminal justice. The web site will include links to relevant sites, articles, studies, and documents on the internet, as well as original material written by the student. During the course, techniques and skills necessary to complete this assignment will be presented.

Web sites will be presented by each student to the class during weeks 10 through 15. Assigned times for presentation will be determined randomly during the first few weeks of class.

At the end of the course, each student will have a personal web page for future use.