By Katie Scarvey Salisbury Post The people who showed up to hear Tabelech Shipp talk about forensic science last Thursday at the Salisbury Civic Center had something in common: they love television crime dramas. And while they're familiar with investigative terminology -- luminol, blood spatter, ballistics, DNA -- they wanted to learn more. "I watch 'CSI' (Crime Scene Investigations) all the time," said Donna Vanhoy, who had brought her 12-year-old grandson, Tyson Cline. She also likes "Criminal Minds," a show about FBI profilers. Shari Broyles is also a CSI fan and a mystery buff and loved the movie "Silence of the Lambs." Her favorite television crime series is "Forensic Files," but she also likes "Cold Case." If she could go back to school, Broyles said, she'd love to study forensic science. Alma Marshall was there with her daughter Cara, 15. They like television dramas with a focus on investigation, whether criminal or medical -- shows like "Bones," "Crossing Jordan," and "House." Shipp, who teaches chemistry at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, said that while some of what is presented on these shows is true, the shows suggest that forensic investigations proceed much more quickly than they do in real life. Shipp offered participants a little hands-on experience in forensic science. She talked briefly about forensic entomology, the study of insects as they apply to forensics. "Remains talk," said Shipp, who discussed how insects attack dead bodies in predictable ways, which gives investigators information about when a murder was committed. Another fun fact: the bodies of pigs break down the same way that human bodies do, so decomposition research that applies to humans is often done on pigs. Shipp emphasized the importance of observation -- being attentive to detail, and knowing what's out of the ordinary. Participants were given a fake dollar bill and asked to use what they remembered of a real dollar bill (without looking at one) to identify what was different. Would you know, without looking, which side of the bill the pyramid is on? (The back.) Participants got a chance to do a little simulated lab work, determining the Rh factor of samples of "blood" that might be found at a crime scene. With the application of certain chemicals (simulated anti-serums) blood cells will either "agglutinate" (clump together) or not, Shipp told the class. When class members got slightly different results for the same samples, Shipp made the point that this might also happen in real laboratories, in which case further testing would have to be done. Then, it was time for a little taste of forensic anthropology -- which concerns itself with what bones can tell us about a victim. Anthropologists can estimate the height of a person from measuring a shin bone (tibia) or thigh bone (femur). Participants were given the formula to determine height based on the length of these bones -- which would give investigators information about an unidentified victim. Finally, Shipp talked about handwriting analysis and how difficult it is to forge someone's handwriting Everyone has certain characteristics in their writing that will give them away, try as they might to copy someone else's handwriting. Shipp's program was done through Salisbury Parks and Recreation. Contact Katie Scarvey at 704-797-4270 or kscarvey@salisburypost.com.
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