Volume 92, Issue 8 | November 9, 2011
the
Charger Bulletin The official student newspaper of the University of New Haven since 1938.
www.ChargerBulletin.com
#10 Chargers Shine on Senior Day, Win Big Over Pace, 63-6
The Setters dropped to 1-8 over–––––––––––––––––––––––––– all and 0-7 in the NE-10. The game was all New Haven right from the start as sophoWEST HAVEN, Conn. - The more running back Mike DeCanationally ranked No. 10 Uni- ro (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay versity of New Haven football ) returned the opening kickoff team honored 10 senior class 80-yards untouched for the first members on Saturday before score of the game. After a Pace going off for a season-high 63 drive that lasted 3:35 minutes, A CHARGER ATHLETICS PRESS RELEASE
14-0 lead with 10:22 to play in the first quarter. After a Setters three-and-out, the Chargers found the endzone once again on a one-yard run from Osiecki. The touchdown was set-up by a 30-yard pass to Chris Ruffin (New York, N.Y./ Phillip Randolph) who stepped out of bounds inches before the
Over-reliance on DNA Evidence May Hinder Criminal Investigations, Study Shows
By KAREN GRAVA
DIRECTOR OF MEDIA RELATIONS
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WEST HAVEN, CONN. --When police rely solely on DNA and other scientific evidence to solve homicide cases, the number of cases they solve goes down. When they collect DNA and other scientific evidence and don’t analyze it, however, they close more cases than under any other circumstances. That is according to a recent study of New York City homicide cases conducted by David Schroeder, assistant professor of criminal justice in the Henry C. Lee School of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences at the University of New Haven. His research shows that an overreliance on scientific evidence may be a contributing factor in explaining why New York homicide cases are not solved as frequently as they used to be. “This research shows that rather than confirm a suspect’s guilt, the DNA analysis failed to provide the police with someA JOHN KRITZMAN PHOTO thing useful,” Schroeder says. points on 485 yards of total of- the Chargers regained possesSince the overwhelming majorfense. The Chargers claimed sion and scored two plays later pylon. The Chargers drive fea- ity of people who are murdered their seventh straight win by de- on a 34-yard touchdown pass tured 46 yards on just four plays know the person who killed feating Pace, 63-6 in the team’s from Ryan Osiecki (Seymour, in 1:05. them, the presence of DNA from final regular season game at Del- Conn./Seymour / Univ. of LouNew Haven was well on its their friends and family often laCamera Stadium. isville) to Chris Higgins (Cum- way of scoring the team’s fourth contributes very little in an inWith the win, New Haven berland, Maine/Bridgton Acad- touchdown in the first quarter vestigation, he says. improved to 9-1 overall and 7-0 emy ). In less than five minutes but a Charger’s fumble cut the If police rely too heavily on in the Northeast-10 Conference of play, New Haven had already drive short at the Pace nine-yard scientific evidence, they often to remain perfect in league play. scored two touchdowns to take a See SENIOR DAY page 12 fail to solve the case, Schroeder says. Police often wait for the
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Storm Knocks Out UNH’s Online Services
By BRANDON T. BISCEGLIA STAFF WRITER
–––––––––––––––––––––––––– Students and staff were temporarily left without access to UNH’s online resources by the unprecedented Oct. 29 snowstorm that swept across Connecticut. The power to Echlin Hall, where UNH’s Data Center is housed, went out at approximately 3:00 p.m. Saturday, according to Associate Vice President of the Department of Information Technology Vincent P. Mangiacapra. The servers were not completely restored until Monday morning. When the outage was discovered, Mangiacapra said his office immediately called United Illuminating to make sure that repairs to Echlin were given high priority by the utility company. The department sent an email to the students through the Windows Live email service at 4:59 p.m. notifying them that they would not be able to access Matrix, Blackboard, faculty and staff email, insideUNH and other programs. Students who were off-campus or accessing their email via mobile devices were still able to use the Windows Live service
because it is operated separately by Microsoft. Professors, including those off campus, could not access their email, because their accounts are part of the network handled by the university’s servers. Mangiacapra said he received an email around 3:00 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 31 notifying him that UI had restored power to Echlin Hall. The Data Center took several more hours to get running again, however. The power breakers had to be checked to avoid a surge of electricity that could destroy the computer equipment, according to Mangiacapra. “We wanted to make sure the servers came on in an orderly fashion,” he said. By 8:30 a.m., the Data Center was fully online. Blackboard continued to have intermittent problems over the following days, but Mangiapra was unsure if it had any relation to the storm. Some students were barely affected by the outage. Michael Torgersen, a forensic science major, said he did not have any problems. “It was mostly chance, though,” he said. “I didn’t have anything due.” Other students did experience setbacks in their schoolwork. See ONLINE SERVICES page 6
results of DNA tests and they neglect to use other investigative tools such as interrogation, witness statements and identifications, according to Schroeder. Often by the time the scientific results come back, it is nearly impossible to solve the case. Suspects have disappeared and by the time the police discover that the test results do not point to the suspect they had in mind originally, it is difficult to find or use other forms of evidence effectively. Now Schroeder is planning to see if the New York City results apply in Connecticut and if they apply not only to homicides but also to assaults, burglaries, sexual assaults and robbery cases. Schroeder has been awarded a three-year, $174,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant to study the impact of forensic evidence on arrest and prosecution of criminal cases. “There is no existing research which specifically examines how the threat (real or perceived) of analyzing collected forensic evidence may have affected the use of more traditional forms of evidence, for example. suspect interrogations, witness statements and identifications,” Schroeder said. The study will look at whether a reported crime incident, in which forensic evidence is a factor, resulted in an arrest; whether the case was referred to the district attorney for prosecution; See DNA EVIDENCE page 5
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Herman Cain Spends His Day in the Spotlight, but Can’t Keep His Story Straight By KATHERINE LAVOIE STAFF WRITER
–––––––––––––––––––––––––– Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain declared Monday that he was falsely accused of inappropriate sexual behavior in the 1990’s while he
was head of the National Restaurant Association, but spent the rest of the day contradicting the details of the story. Cain was responding to the Sunday Politico report that stated that in the 1990’s two female employees of the trade compa-
ny had pressed charges against him for inappropriate sexual behavior and left the company. Records state that the company had given financial settlements to both of the women involved, and they agreed to not discuss why they left. Cain, a surprising leader in the
an electrified border fence, prisoner exchange involving terrorism suspects, and his 9-9-9 plan, which he had revised following the criticism. At an appearance at the National Press Club that afternoon, Cain said that he was unaware that the company had given any kind of settlement and refused to detail the specifics of the accusations stating, “I am unaware of any sort of settlement. I hope it wasn’t for much, because I didn’t do anything.” Later that day, however, in an interview with Fox News and PBS News Hour, Cain acknowledged that there had been a settlement reached, even detailing that the amount was about three months salary and that he had discussed the amount AP PHOTO with his general counsel polls so at the time. far, spent an entire day in the For those who question Cain’s media dealing with an issue that uncertain answers, he told concould possibly make or break his servative radio host Laura Incampaign. Even before these al- graham Tuesday morning that legations had surfaced, Cain was he wasn’t trying to fabricate the already given a reputation of story, but rather fill in as many being inconsistent on abortion, details as he could recall.