Crime House Hosts Open House

The campus community and the general public are invited to attend an Open House at Fairmont State's Crime House next week and to help students solve a mock murder.

The Crime House Open House will be held from 1-4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 8. Tours will begin every half-hour and will start at the Erickson Alumni Center across Locust Avenue from the Squibb Wilson Boulevard campus entrance. Refreshments will be served.

The Crime House gives Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College students the hands-on experience they need to prepare them for careers in areas such as forensics, criminal justice and homeland security.

"Not only will there be tours of the Crime House, but a mock murder can be solved using simple evidence processing techniques," said Mark Flood, Professor of Biology and Forensic Science Program Coordinator in the FSU College of Science and Technology.

A hands-on latent fingerprinting session will also be part of the Open House. "Anyone who wants to can be fingerprinted that day," said Dean Van Bibber, Pierpont C&TC Associate Professor of Criminal Justice.

FSU and Pierpont C&TC students will also be scrutinizing a van for clues as part of their crime-solving effort. The students will be graded on their efforts, but visitors can help, too, or stand back and watch as they use fingerprints, blood-typing, fiber and ballistics analysis to solve the mock murder.

"Really, any age can participate in this. It should be fairly easy and straightforward and it doesn't require any in-depth forensic knowledge," Flood said. "We really want to let people know they can participate or they can just take the tour if they want."

Faculty and students from FSU's Forensic Science program, which includes criminal justice, chemistry and biology, and students from Pierpont C&TC's Criminal Justice program will participate.

"I think the benefit to the public is that they will be able to see what programs are available at Fairmont State," Flood said. "This is an opportunity to let people know what is being offered in terms of forensics, right here in Fairmont, and this is information they may not receive otherwise."

Van Bibber, who played a key role in establishing the Crime House a year ago, has used the three-bedroom house to teach crime scene investigation and criminalistics courses.

"We selected the location for the house so that students don't have to drive to get to it. It's been a great asset because, in crime scene processing, you learn by doing," Van Bibber said.