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| Chief adds twist to
freshman class |
Sam Calhoun
Academic Affairs Beat
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Investigating
unsolved murders with a State Bureau of Investigation detective
and being taught by the chief of police does not fit the norm for
a Freshman Seminar class at many schools, but that’s the case
here at Appalachian State University.
Furthering this university’s mission to provide quality orientation
programs, University Police Chief Gunther E. Doerr made his teaching
debut in fall 2002, acting as the freshman seminar leader as part
of the Forensic Science Learning Community.
“Ever since I’ve been here, I’ve always been looking
for ways to reach out more to the students in terms of what we do
as a police department,” Doerr said Friday. “I thought
one of the best ways to do that would be to find out more about
students, and how better to do that then get involved with Freshman
Seminar?”
The Forensic Science Learning Community is composed of four courses:
Criminal Justice 1100, taught by Dr. Barbara H. Zaitzow; two chemistry
courses taught by Dr. Dale E. Wheeler and the Freshman Seminar component,
which is taught by Doerr.
Facing 24 students on Doerr’s first day in the classroom was
admittedly “a little nerve racking,” but with a little
innovation it became a semester never to forget.
“The first half of the semester I stayed with the curriculum
that was laid out,” Doerr said. “At the midterm I gave
them a survey and asked them to tell me some things they would really
like to do.”
The class already had the chance to complete the Myers-Briggs Personality
Identifier, participate in the Alpine Tower Group Interactive Course
and attend many local cultural events thanks to Doerr, yet they
wanted more hands-on forensic/criminal justice activities.
With this in mind, Doerr called on his good friend Charlie Whitman,
who had just retired from his position as investigator with the
State Bureau of Investigation.
Doerr asked Whitman if he’d be interested in taking an unsolved
murder investigation to Doerr’s class, making it a group project
and then have the students report back their findings in individual
papers. Whitman agreed and they chose the case to be studied.
“There was a murder that happened in 1972 in Boone where a
family of three was murdered in their home,” Doerr said. “It’s
never been solved, and [Whitman] was the lead agent in the case.”
Whitman was able to provide first-hand information and articles
about the case, which Doerr said he believes sparked the class’s
interest greatly. The students were told to develop their own theories,
and they had to write a paper describing “who done it.”
“It was great to get closer to the feeling of solving a crime,”
class member and freshman chemistry major Matthew I. Garber said
Saturday. “We got a good feel of how you need to think, and
we got to look at the investigative methods they used then in comparison
to what they have now.”
But Doerr and Whitman didn’t expect the level of enthusiasm
that came next.
“We didn’t encourage this, but some students actually
went to the house [of the murders],” Doerr said.
“We had one group go by the house, knock on the door, meet
the owners, set up a meeting, tour the house and get local folklore
from people in the neighborhood on what they thought,” Doerr
said.
Although the students did not close the case, it was a great learning
experience for the class.
“Having [Doerr] was more beneficial than having the best Freshman
Seminar teacher in the world,” sophmore chemistry major Sarah
E. Royce said Monday.
Doerr furthered the excitement of the course by introducing another
scenario activity that dealt with surviving on a life raft in the
middle of the Pacific Ocean. Students were asked to prioritize different
items in order of importance so they would know what to keep to
survive.
“[This activity] is designed to open up communication, team
building and to get students to realize that you as an individual
have certain information and knowledge,” Doerr said. “If
you can work with a group then your knowledge and information pool
expands, and you should be able to do better.”
In addition to these unique activities, Doerr brought in a local
toxicologist forensic scientist to speak about what he does and
how that compares to the expectations of the students.
“Sometimes you really think [forensics/criminal justice] is
what you want to do, but then you talk to someone who’s doing
it, and it may not be as exciting and glamorous as you think it
is,” Doerr said.
“Since most students in the class were interested in forensics
or criminal justice, the experience of being taught by someone who
knows what they’re doing and has been doing it for a long time
was great,” Royce said.
Overall, Doerr’s effort reached far beyond his call of duty,
and his students realized that.
“He’s a great role model,” Garber said. “He’s
someone to respect as a teacher and for what he does as a job. He’s
a leader in the community, and that’s an admirable quality.” |
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