police work, exams, phone calls

so, some updates.

i've made 2 of my gazillion phone calls. both were painless. and enough of my flist convinced to feeling the same way about phone calls, that we could maybe start our own 12-step program or something...

the 2nd was to the police commander who e-mailed me about the consultant's job. so, some details:

the initial project was called "Neighborhood Safety Working Group" and was commissioned by the mayor when the homicide rate skyrocketed again a few years ago, to find out why, etc.

(side note: there was some significant 'gang' activity, although they weren't CALLING it that. they were called 'neighborhood disputes' in the media...)

anyway, they got a professor from a large college in the south of the state to try and work with the departments electronic police report system, collate that with court records, etc. a veritable SHITLOAD of data (and we all know my love of data, eh divanoir?) Anyway, he hit a snag when trying to get the report data into something that was of use to most statistical software. apparently it's in an SQL relational data base (which may be redundant). each report can have many actual entries, especially since there would be separate ones for each offender, victim, property, etc. Up towards 500+ data fields. apparently, this professor couldn't figure out how to do it, or something. there may be more drama than that, which i'm not yet privileged enough to know :)

now, all these records are linked by the incident number. so in THEORY, one could create a data set with a hellaciously long record length, matching things up by incident number. i know how to do it, or at least what the logic would be. the question is if it can be done realistically. my hunch is it'd have to be done in chunks (maybe all january, all february, etc.). but i need to check with IT people before we make this a formal relationship.

so that's the deal thus far. :)

now i need to write an exam for my intro sociology class so i can give them a study guide (ugh). i hate writing study guides. and there's that boatload of phone calls to do, as well. i best get to it.

today's moving lyrics

(this version has slightly different lyrics than the firestarters' version...but close enough)

O, Father dear, I ofttimes heard you talk of Erin's Isle,
Her valleys green, her lofty scene, her mountains rude and wild;
You said it was a pleasant place wherein a prince might dwell,
Why have you then forsaken her, the reason to me tell?

My son, I loved our native land with energy and pride
Until a blight fell on the land and sheep and cattle died,
The rents and taxes were to pay, I could not them redeem,
And that's the cruel reason why I left Old Skibbereen.

It's well I do remember on a bleak November's day,
The landlord and his agent came to drive us all away;
He set my house on fire with his demon yellow spleen
And that's another reason why I left Old Skibbereen.

Your mother, too, God rest her soul, lay on the snowy ground,
She fainted in her anguish of the desolation round.
She never rose, but went her way from life to death's long dream,
And found a quiet grave, my boy, in lovely Skibbereen.

It's well I do remember the year of forty-eight,
When we arose with Erin's boys to fight against our fate;
I was hunted through the mountains as a traitor to the Queen,
And that's another reason that I left Old Skibbereen.

Oh father dear, the day will come when vengeance loud will call
And we'll arise with Erin's boys and rally one and all,
I'll be tbe man to lead the van, beneath our flag of green,
And loud and high we'll raise the cry," Revenge for Skibbereen!"