Campus news
CSI@CMU A realistic three-day workshop in hands-on crime scene investigation techniques was offered to Missouri high school students this summer by Teri Haack, assistant professor of criminal justice, and several of her students. To participate in the “CSI@CMU” Workshops, students had to be 15 to 18 years of age and have a cumulative high school GPA of 3.0 or above. Key workshop sessions included: Impression Casting, Crime Scene Photography, Kidnapping Case, Forensic Taphonomy, Vehicle Searches, Fingerprinting, Drug Investigation, Illegal Substances Field Testing, Homicide Investigation and CSI Staging. Students worked various crime scenes, including a “double homicide” on the final day of the workshop. Participants reacted enthusiastically, and another CSI@CMU is being planned for next summer.
High school students from across the state came to CSI@CMU this summer. Here some show President Inman that they’re “Dead Serious” about their crime work. They worked crime scenes similar to the one below set up by Teri Haack for a commercial.
Ghost hunter visits campus Chris Fleming, a ghost hunter from the Biography Channel show “Dead Famous,” visited campus on Oct.24. He first gave a presentation to more than 200 students and guests about ghosts and paranormal activity. He then went with about 75 of them and conducted a ghost hunt. During the ghost hunt, he used a video recorder and a gauge to measure electromagnetic activity. The group visited the Assembly Hall, the fifth floor of Howard Payne, and the Swinney Conservatory of Music. According to Mark Stone, director of student activities, during the tour paranormal activity was experienced. He said, “Students swore the air became cooler.” In Howard Payne Fleming said he made a connection with a ghost and set her free. In the Assembly Hall, he asked for a sign from the spirits and the doors rattled. He also said when the video from the Assembly Hall was replayed students 30
Fall 2007
could hear someone in the background saying, “Get out.” After ending the tour around 3:30 a.m., the paranormal activity did not stop. At another ghost presentation the next day at a community college in New Jersey, he shared an encounter he had in Givens Hall where he was spending the night. According to the Independent newspaper out of Holmdel, N.J., “He was awakened at 5:14 a.m. by screaming in a building that he thought he was alone in. He described hearing a man yelling at a cat and footsteps in his own room.” Central’s restless spirits have also been noticed by The Chronicle of Higher Education. In an article about haunted college buildings, the story of Fleming’s experience in Givens Hall is retold.
Chris Fleming (right) led a large group of excited and somewhat apprehensive students on a CMU ghost hunt that may have stirred up a few spirits.
The Magazine of Central Methodist University
The Talon