The students in the Early College High School were getting what they thought was just a science lecture, on April 13, when their lesson was interrupted by an alarm. Officer Guadalupe Frias came into their class to ask them to put their “young minds” to use on a fictional murder investigation at the college. They would receive clues, information about the suspects and copies of the evidence for analysis to see if they could solve the crime. It was a bit of TV’s “CSI” meets the board game, “Clue” created by the Mathematics and Science Division.
Officer Frias presented the basic evidence in what the medical examiner related from the “crime scene,” and then the students were split into groups to examine the evidence and solve the crime. For the next three hours, students reviewed blood and soil samples, along with fingerprints and photos of a crime scene to see if they could discover the killer. They used blood typing, DNA sampling, chromatography as well as observation to follow the evidence to one of their seven suspects.
Charles “Chaz” Hafey along with other lab coordinators, Terri Canaris, Andrea Bailey, Donna Taylor, Threedanuj Ungchusri, Don Welsh and Gerald Bartz worked with the students in the science labs. In the end, the students were brought back together to see if any had uncovered which of the suspects had committed the crime. While not everyone was able to figure out “whodunit,” many did come out of the experiment with the right answer.
The entire event brought together the talents and hard work of a large number of people from several different departments. Many members of the Mathematics and Science Division took part including Doris Rousey, executive dean; Peggy Mason, biology professor; Grace Dalton, department assistant; Vicki DeFord, executive assistant to the dean; and, Evonne Clark, secretary. Ann Cortez, executive assistant to the dean of Nursing; Marilyn Kolesar-Lynch, associate vice president for Career and Program Resources helped as well along with officer
Frias, Chief Dave Reagan and Sergeant Mark Lopez from the college police department.
