Studying the Scene
Jul. 26–TAMPA — In the world of prime-time TV, nothing is hotter than blood spatters, body fluid residue and fingerprints.
You could wear out the remote control trying to bypass the proliferation of television shows featuring forensic experts using science to help put the bad guys behind bars.
Today’s college students evidently are tuning in. Their interest is fueling an increase in the number of colleges and universities adding programs in forensic science — the analysis of crime scene evidence — and crime scene technology — the collection of evidence at crime scenes.
The popularity of shows such as “CSI” and its spinoffs is helping drive that interest, experts said.
Saint Leo University in Pasco County is adding a forensics concentration to its criminal justice administration major because of heavy student demand.
Terry Danner, who chairs Saint Leo’s criminal justice department, said the small screen is inspiring big interest.
“I think the TV shows had something to do with it,” Danner said. “It didn’t happen on its own.”
Next month, Hillsborough Community College will begin offering a certificate in crime scene technology and will add a crime scene technology track to its associate’s degree in criminal justice technology.
“A lot of people have been asking for these programs because of what they see on TV,” said Michael Reichard, program coordinator for the criminal justice technology degree program at HCC.
Keiser College, which has a campus in Sarasota, started its associate’s degree program in crime scene technology in 2004 with eight students. The program has grown to 85 students.
Karla Ballestero, 21, a criminal justice student at Hillsborough Community College, is considering becoming a crime scene technician, or perhaps a lawyer.
The Town ‘N Country resident said shows such as “CSI,” which she watches regularly, “gave me an insight into how science can be applied to crime, which I didn’t know before.”
On a recent Thursday night, Ballestero was among the students in Suzanna Ulery’s Introduction to Criminalistics class at HCC.
Ulery, a forensic analyst at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab in Tampa, showed students about blood spatters.
Student Kevin Hale held an eye dropper, loaded with fake, theatrical blood.
At Ulery’s direction, he let loose a droplet onto pieces of paper from heights ranging from 6 inches to 62 inches. As Ulery promised, the blood spatters got wider as blood fell from greater heights.
Ulery, who has worked at the FDLE lab for the past three years, received her master’s degree in 1998 from Virginia Commonwealth University, two years before “CSI” hit the air.
The demand for courses in forensics and crime scene technology isn’t confined to the Bay area.
When Hilbert College, a school of 1,100 students in Hamburg, N.Y., announced it was starting a major in forensic science/crime scene investigation in the fall, school officials expected 30 students would sign up. Instead, 52 enrolled, and both sections of the introductory class quickly filled, said Edward Qualey, who chairs the criminal justice department.
“We sense there’s a lot of people in other programs who are jumping in,” Qualey said. “If they like what they see, they’ll switch majors.”
Penn State University also is starting a bachelor’s degree program in forensic science this fall and plans to offer a master’s degree in 2006.
The interest in forensic science is filtering down to the high school level.
Hillsborough County public schools started offering a “Research in Forensic Science” elective two years ago at Riverview High School, said Nancy Marsh, the district’s supervisor for secondary science. They expanded the program to Freedom and Brandon high schools last year. This year, four more high schools were added.
Although audiences eat up these TV programs, they aren’t always accurate in their portrayal of what happens in the crime lab or at the crime scene, insiders said.
Ulery, the HCC adjunct professor, said the inaccuracies she sees on shows such as “CSI” make her cringe.
In real life, Ulery said, people don’t walk around the crime lab munching an apple — too many body fluids on lab surfaces that you wouldn’t want to touch and then put in your mouth — or open an evidence bag by slicing into the evidence seal.
“I’m sure it’s the same thing with doctors watching ‘ER’ or lawyers watching ‘Law & Order,’ ” Ulery said. “This is television. It’s drama. They have to wrap it up in a short time frame.”
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