11/30/2008
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Staff Photo by David Leamingfrom the Kennebec Journal
BUDGET CUTS ORDERED
Many happy returns in Richmond
Tax woes land on Whitefield
Rapist denied new trial
AUGUSTA MINDING A MINE
SPORT OF KINGS Falconry a blend of dedication and commitment
COLLEGE HOCKEY: Maine rallies but falls short against Boston College
COLLEGE ROUNDUP: Colby women win season opener at home tournament
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from the Morning Sentinel
WEDDING BURGLAR JAILED
Youths talk Turkey Day
Plenty of free Thanksgiving meals available
Turkey prices make for happier holiday
Kennebec County Superior Court
POLICE
COLLEGE HOCKEY: Maine rallies but falls short against Boston College
COLLEGE ROUNDUP: Colby women win season opener at home tournament
All of today's:
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from the Morning Sentinel
Students in Trey Frisbie's class dusted fingerprints and determined some of the characteristics of serial killers. For Freeman, who will study forensics and criminal justice at Bay Path College in Longmeadow, Mass., it's a perfect curriculum.
"This course was the No. 1 course I wanted to take," said Freeman, from Montville. "It's like a calling, almost."
Freeman said the hands-on experience of Frisbie's class has motivated her, right from that initial study of serial killers.
"We look at their backgrounds and what would provoke them," she said. "It's getting down and dirty. I guess it's that gut feeling that you're meant to do something like that."
Anita Bernhardt, science-and-technology specialist with the state Department of Education, said forensics is a specialty elective that she rarely hears about.
It's been ongoing for several years, however, at Mount View. Recently, Frisbie's class conducted an exercise on paper chromatography, or testing for drugs.
The students had samples of simulated drugs and other substances, and the goal was to determine which samples were really drugs. They sampled for positives, in other words.
"It's both science and it also has applications to criminal investigations," Frisbie said. "We're using criminal investigation as a guise, basically, to teach sciences. It's a hook. It's just another way to teach science."
Frisbie, who also teaches chemistry and biology, said his students study a hypothesis and how it works out.
"You develop a hypothesis, and then you test it," he said. "That's the basics behind the whole course."
Frisbie has the right stuff to teach this particular course. He once worked as a medical technologist at a federal facility, conducting therapeutic-drug monitoring and testing.
He said that some of his students were drawn to the class because they are fascinated by the popular television show "CSI," short for "Crime Scene Investigation." But there's a big difference in the classroom.
"They're doing what they see on TV, but they're also seeing that TV is not realistic," Frisbie said. "On TV, it all goes perfect. The same technician does everything. But everything doesn't take place in 30 to 40 minutes."
Juniors Jon Anderson, of Unity, and Nick Knight, of Troy, both said the applied science in the forensics class keeps them interested. The "CSI" application seems apparent with both.
"I studied forensics at Wiscasset High last year, but it was all reading," said Anderson, who wants to study either criminal justice or forensic science in college. "Here, you're able to get a feeling for what forensic scientists actually do."
Anderson said he enjoys the psychology of forensics -- trying to figure out how a criminal thinks and what he or she is going to do next.
"Is he going to repeat the crime?" he asked. "I like the mystery of it all -- finding out what's going on."
Knight said that he, too, likes to apply science in solving mysteries.
"To tell who did what from just a footprint or a tire track, it's very interesting to me," Knight said. "It helps to have hands-on material, rather than just a book. It makes you learn a little bit more."
Knight said he wants to study chemical engineering, and perhaps apply it to criminal justice. Frisbie's class has him on the right track, Knight said.
"Everything we do, everyone's into it," he said. "We actually had to go outside and get a footprint of someone."
Larry Grard -- 861-9239
lgrard@centralmaine.com
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