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Most parents would take exception with a summer camp where their children were looking at methamphetamine and cocaine, maybe even if they were fake. Not so, however, for parents of Camp CSI: Birmingham attendees. Last week, campers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, all of them high school students from the Birmingham area, spent five days engrossed in the real-life science behind the three CSI television series.

For the first four days, campers at the program, hosted by UAB’s Department of Justice Sciences, spent the morning being briefed by grad students and forensic science/criminal justice faculty, and working in six different teams collecting samples from different crime scenes. Then, they spent the afternoons in the lab with UAB grad students, testing blood samples, extracting DNA, and matching simulated meth and cocaine samples to a substance database. On Friday, the the teams work together on one big case. Each team collected evidence from a different part of the scene. In the afternoon, they testified about their evidence in a mock trial.

This sounds like an great opportunity for students turned on by chemistry and biology. The camp cost $199, plus a $50 registration fee, and included lunch and a snack, daily.

The camp curriculum lists the following objectives:

• Help students develop their analytical skills;
• Help students learn (by doing) the steps involved in the scientific method;
• Teach students how to collect, preserve, secure, analyze, and present evidence;
• Expose students to current generation equipment and methods used in forensic-based laboratories;
• Expose students to the reality of forensic-based investigations of crime scenes;
• Allow students to have fun while learning about such topics as DNA, fingerprints, criminalistics, and related forensic-based concepts.

Birmingham area students interested in this program for 2009, should check out the UAB Department of Justice Sciences website, especially the Camp CSI Birmingham: 2008 page.

Post from: CSI Fanatic

This is based on highly speculative leakage, based on early script drafts. So, take any details with a grain of salt. Even the title of the episode is suspect, at this point.

The episode, reportedly called Scales is expected to air Thursday, October 30, 2008.

Check out the details after the jump…

Inside a convenience store, an older man argues with the cashier about his change. The man tries to call over a police officer standing nearby. Elsewhere in the store, a teenager is watching the scene, hoping the cop will leave, as he inspects a gun under his coat.

Nick and Riley are outside the convenience store. People in costume –including a cowboy with a tomahawk in his back, and a mermaid- happen by. The mermaid comments on their “costumes” –their CSI vests- saying that she dressed up “as one”, last year.

Suddenly, the “cop” from inside storms out of the front door, carrying a bag, and his gun. The cashier screams that he was robbed. The robber knocks Nick, Riley, as well as the cowboy and the mermaid down. Nick and Riley chase him, following him down an alley. Nick and Riley stay safe, but the robber isn’t so lucky.

Elsewhere, a drug kingpin’s young daughter turns up dead in a dumpster. Catherine and Riley go to a club, where the woman had been kicked out, to speak to the owner. When Catherine discovers Lindsey in that same club, having entered using a fake ID, she’s intent on proving that he’s guilty.

Source: CSI Files.

Post from: CSI Fanatic

According to Matt Mitovich of TV Guide, the Season Nine of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation may be very different than any season that has come before. We’ve already heard that Jorja Fox’s Sara Sidle will be back for one episode, and that Gary Dourdan’s Warrick Brown will be going away, one way, or another, in that episode. (See previous CSI: Vegas spoiler and the other spoiler.)

With this second staff reduction, within the past year, other characters will be filling in to take up the slack. Wendy Simms (played by Liz Vassey) will take on more responsibility –on-screen, that is- and frequent “guest”, coroner David Phillips (played by David Berman), will become a series regular. Also, as previously reported, Mitovich affirms that Lauren Lee Smith will play Sara Sidle’s replacement, Bryce Adams.

Video Source.

Post from: CSI Fanatic

Get Grissom on the horn! Las Vegas, the hometown of the critically acclaimed, original CSI series is no longer home to a university forensic science program. Administrators at UNLV pulled the plug on the program, citing the need for budget cuts. The administration also points to the financial inability to appoint a program director and the faculty required to attain accreditation for the program.

Background Check

Creating the program was a brilliant move, actually. Build upon the mystique, and the fact that the country already associates forensic science with Las Vegas. Less than five years ago, the university began the program, hoping to build upon this association. Currently, the program, though, has a mere 80 students. Perhaps this is fewer than they would have liked.

The Mystery

Las Vegas Metro Crime Scene Analyst Daniel Holstein, who inspired one of CSI’s characters, spoke to the Las Vegas Sun. According to Holstein, Metro has hired many graduates of the program. This seems contrary to university staff claims that you need an accredited program to get a job. In fact, the Metro has no such requirement. Certainly, you would see accreditation as a positive, but Metro’s acting director of crime scene investigation Randy McLaughlin told the Sun that they would love to have locally trained potentials to select from, when hiring new analysts. “People that grew up here, people that were raised here, are more likely to stay around…”, he adds.

The Proof, The Rub, The Rebuttal

One former student, Lisa Ford, graduated in December 2007. She now has a lucrative job gathering evidence at the scene, interviewing witnesses, and writing crime scene reports. One would believe that a program that allows a graduate to land a $40,000-plus first job would be a good selling point.

That’s great for field specialists, perhaps. Is accreditation, however, necessary for laboratory analysis work? It might help, but Linda Krueger, Las Vegas Metro’s director of laboratory service, told the Sun that she looks for workers with strong science backgrounds. Accredited programs are not a requirement.

In the end, it would appear that UNLV fell into that trap of following pop culture to create buzz, but didn’t do the homework. From the evidence, it seems that the university never looked into the requirements of furthering the program, or even think about where they wanted the program to go. Perhaps, though, it’s just the harsh reality of running a university, and facing reduced enrollment and income. Either way, it seems a horrible shame.

Read the Sun article, Amid budget cuts, UNLV pronounces its CSI program dead, for more details.

What do you think about the UNLV closing of its forensic science program? Did you attend this program? Do you know anyone who has?

Post from: CSI Fanatic