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<< Previous   of   Next >> Elizabeth Armstrong / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Columbia Elementary School student Grace Schroeder studies the position of her inked fingers as Lauren Taglialavore, 17, a member of Kamiak High School's forensics class, prepares to take Grace's fingerprints. Elizabeth Armstrong / The Herald  (click to enlarge) Kamiak High School forensics student Natalie Lowenstein takes the fingerprints of a Columbia Elementary School student.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Tuesday, November 13, 2007 Kamiak course teaches forensics needed by actual investigators By Eric Stevick Herald writer MUKILTEO -- Albert Borgenhede faithfully watches the popular TV drama "CSI," even when he lived in his Swedish homeland. So when the foreign exchange student enrolled at Kamiak High School in Mukilteo this fall and saw forensic science, the focus of the three "CSI" shows, offered as a class, he couldn't resist adding it to his schedule. "I wasn't expecting a class like this in high school," he said. "I am happy to have it." Several classmates agree that "CSI," whose characters use science to solve murder mysteries, piqued their interest in taking forensics, which is a new course this fall. All 66 slots in two classes filled quickly. Make no mistake, however, the class takes brains and isn't for a couch potato with a remote control. The prerequisite is at least a B in a chemistry course and many of the students have taken honors or college-level advanced-placement chemistry. The yearlong course is designed for students who are interested in majoring in science, chemistry, genetics or police and criminal science. It covers crime scenes, fingerprinting, ballistics and projectile identification, forensic entomology, blood spatter, physical anthropology, forgery, hair and fiber analysis, drug identification and DNA identification techniques. Labs will include DNA ­analysis, determining time of death and body location by examining blowfly maggots, identifying age, sex and race as well as height from skeletal remains, and analyzing documents for fingerprints and handwriting samples to determine forgery. Math skills are crucial; trigonometry is used to plot crime-scene characteristics and determine the time of death. John Anderson, who teaches the course, likes the fact that it ties together many disciplines. "It covers so many aspects of science at the same time," said Anderson, who was a lab technician at a hospital and a microbiologist before becoming a teacher. "I think they are learning some applications they can carry into the world." Last week, as part of a community service project that is part of the course, the students visited neighboring Columbia Elementary School and took fingerprints of about 130 students whose parents signed permission slips. The prints will be given to parents who can share them with police. The class had been studying fingerprints. "It's just amazing," said Adam Bossert, a senior who helped with the fingerprinting. "There are so many people in the world, but there are different aspects that can be unique and tell someone apart." Later this year, students will watch an autopsy on closed-circuit TV with a two-way feed so they can ask the pathologist questions. The course counts toward a career and technical education credit requirement. When he was trying to get the class approved to offer at the school, Anderson listed at least two dozen job possibilities. Some were obvious. Some were not, such as art and antique appraiser, insurance company investigators and bank examiners. His students are learning about those opportunities. Senior Brittany Iwata likes the fact that she is not just learning about science, she's practicing it. "Because this is more hands-on than chemistry, physics and biology, it appealed to me a lot more," she said. Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.

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