Tucson Region

Forensics camp students learn crime-solving not TV-show easy

It looks easy on the television show, but local high school students are learning this week that no one can solve crimes as easily as the characters of the television show "CSI." A few dozen high schoolers are participating in a weeklong forensics camp sponsored by the UA's Arizona Research Laboratory and Tucson Police Department to see what solving crimes really entails. The kids have spent the week trying to solve a crime using forensic evidence. They were introduced to a crime scene Monday, and have until Friday to figure out whether the death they have been investigating was a murder or suicide. Then they'll take their evidence to a mock trial to test their theories. Students in the Forensics DNA Detectives camp said they were interested in learning more about how crimes are really solved. "You see so much more of (the process) now," said Catalina Foothills High School student Aileen Palmer, 15. "On all the shows it's done fast, but it takes a lot longer to get results." It also takes more people. "On 'CSI' one person does everything," said Sylena Jauriqui, 15, a Sunnyside High School student. She said she became interested in forensics because of the many TV shows that feature crime-solving plots, but she now realizes that a team of scientists and detectives work together in each situation. Yesterday, students spent their time at the Tucson Police Department, 270 S. Stone Ave., learning from the experts about fingerprint analysis, DNA analysis and how to figure out what gun, or type of gun, was used to fire a bullet at the scene. "You have to be a little paranoid," said Sachith Dunatunga, a 16-year-old University High School student. "Things you wouldn't normally look at, you have to and you don't know what you're going to need." Dunatunga said he came to the camp because he is interested in science and wanted to learn more about this type of biology. "Even if I don't end up doing anything with biology, this is good to know," he said. Others came because they are considering a career in forensic science, largely sparked by their interest in crime shows on TV. Michael Hejny, a 16-year-old Ironwood Ridge High School student, said he has been a "CSI" fan since the show started airing on CBS. He said he now has a different perspective on the crime-solving process the shows portray. "They just don't seem as accurate," Hejny said. At the halfway point in their week in forensics, Dunatunga said his favorite part so far had been replicating DNA through a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR. He said he had tried the technique in a high school class, but it did not work as well then as it did this week with the help of the professionals in a lab. Al Agellon, a UA researcher who organized the camp, said he hopes the students learn about careers they had not considered before. "Hopefully this will open opportunities for them, educating them little by little," said Agellon, a UA molecular biology instructor and research specialist at the Arizona Research Laboratory. "There's always room for scientists."