Film UCF festival baseball invades season Valencia, starts up, Page 14 Volume 15, Issue 5 www.ValenciaVoice.com Feb. 15, 2012 Page 19 CSI comes to Valencia Medical examiner explains job requirements Adele By Joy Inzitari they must have four years of pa- [email protected] thology residency and an anatom- ical clinical and one year of foren- sweeps A taste of real life CSI (Crime sic pathology residency, training Scene Investigation) was brought in death investigation. to Valencia students by the Valen- There are rural areas in the cia Legal Society this past Thurs- United States that have coroners Grammys day evening at the East Campus. instead of medical examiners. Guest speaker, Marie Hansen, The difference is coroners aren’t By Geoff Boucher and Randy Lewis M.D., Medical Examiner for the always required to have medi- Los Angeles Times District Nine Medical Examiner’s cal knowledge. They also may be Office, held students captivated elected officials. The requirements The 54th Grammy Awards will be remem- as she shared a great deal about may be a minimum of 18 years of bered as a story of two women with towering, how the deceased are handled in age (old enough to vote), and have timeless voices, Adele and Whitney Houston, the local morgue. no criminal record. one representing youthful triumph and bound- The lecture covered topics like A coroner is a public officer less possibility, the other a reminder of fresh who works there, requirements to whose primary function is to in- tragedy and a life unraveled. become a medical examiner, roles vestigate, by inquest, any death Adele, the 23-year-old British singer-song- of the medical examiner, what are thought to be of other than natu- writer, took home six awards including album, their responsibilities and legal ob- ral causes. “Some states require record and song of the year, a trophy bounty ligations, how they examine bod- coroners to be doctors or medi- that puts a gold-plating on a commercial and ies, and much more. cal professionals, but some places critical success story that has dramatically de- In the District Nine Medical Ex- out west, they just don’t have it,“ fied the grim gravities of today’s economically aminer’s Office they have a total of said Dr. Hansen. challenged recording industry. five medical examiners. The Chief Medical examiners are referred Adele’s other victory came when she stepped is Dr. Jan Garavaglia, also known deaths under certain circumstanc- to the microphone and sang a robust version of as “Dr. G: Medical Examiner,” es, and they are the ones that make her hit “Rolling in the Deep,” which suggests from the Discovery Health Chan- the decisions as to whether an au- that she is past the career scare of throat surgery nel, the Deputy Chief is Dr. Utz, topsy is needed. that came just after Halloween and kept her and the associates are Dr. Irrgang, The circumstances include: mute through New Year’s Day. It was her first Dr. Stephany, and Dr. Hansen. criminal violence, accidents, sui- public performance since the operation. In Florida, medical examiners cides, sudden death when in ap- Adele’s honors for her sophomore album, Allen J. Schaben , Los Angeles Times / MCTTimes Angeles Schaben , Los J. Allen must be licensed physicians. In — ’CSI comes to Valencia’ Adele with her bevy of awards at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. addition to their medical degree, continued on page 2 — ’Grammys’ on page 16 James Tutten / Valencia Voice; Bryan Levine / Valencia Voice www.ValenciaVoice.com NEWS Feb. 15, 2012 2 Medical examiner job explained — Continued from page 1 Never forget the “cut” parent good health, unattended by physician or practitioner, in any penal or prison institution, in shortcut. Because when those in police custody, criminal abortion, poison- ing, possible disease proposing a public health you try to abbreviate an threat, by disease, injury, or toxic agent resulting education, critical chapters are from employment, when a body is brought into the state without proper certification, when a body skipped. Preparedness suffers. is to be cremated and sent to a burial at sea, when they view the death certificate and it doesn’t look And ultimately, so does your kosher, or any unusual circumstance. pride. At Columbia College, Medical examiners in Florida must follow the law under Florida Statute, Title 406. The medical we don’t cut corners, and examiner’s main responsibilities are to identify neither do our students. cause of death and estimate the time of death, col- lect evidence, give cremation authorizations (the We simply open our doors death certificate comes to their office and they have to look at it and make sure it is legitimate). They every single day and help you have to verify the identity of a person which will Go For Greater. affect whether proper claims are made on life insur- ance policies. For identification of the deceased, they try to use family members to identify photos, finger- prints, dental records, DNA , tattoos, jewelry, and Voice Valencia Rose / Brittany circumstantial evidence. They have the authority to declare that something is an accident. They are the Dr. Marie Hansen explains the benefits of her job investigators of the actual death. audience members during her speech at Valencia. In 2011 they did 1,151 autopsies, 337 inspection/ external exams, and 1,681 CRNAs (cases reviewed up in the morning died of heart attacks. It is all con- not accepted) called in to their investigator to verify text,” said Dr. Hansen. if a case should or should not be accepted. Students attending were drawn into her presen- The 2011 statistics for the manner of deaths in tation with photos of real wound patterns made by Orange and Osceola counties were as follows: nat- various weapons or tools to see what differentiat- Offering Associate, ural (most common) 563, accident (motor vehicle ing markings are made with each. Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees. and non motor vehicle), non-vehicular drug-relat- Photos of different gunshot wounds were Online. On campus. Or both. ed 611, homicide 125, suicide 169, undetermined shown in comparison to one another with images (877) 999-9876 • GoForGreater.org 45, and pending 45. showing soot, powder, and the bullet hole. When medical examiners are figuring out what When asked what the benefits are in working happened, “It is sort of like a working algorithm,” as a medical examiner instead of a regular practic- 2600 Technology Dr. • Orlando, FL said Hansen. They speak to family and friends. ing physician, Hansen replied, “It is the most inter- They find out what symptoms the person experi- esting job. I am able to get stories and answers for enced before death. “Seventy to eighty percent of families. There is a sense of adventure and I never people who suffered indigestion and didn’t wake know what the schedule will bring.” 56396 • Columbia College - Ad 1Tyka • 8.5” x 11” • 4C • lb • V1-1/16/12 www.ValenciaVoice.com NEWS Feb. 15, 2012 3 Singer dies on eve of Grammy Awards Whitney Houston, 48, cause of death unknown By Malcolm X Abram Houston, the Guinness World record Akron Beacon Journal holder as the most awarded female artist of all time, was a pop music, pop culture The death of Whitney Houston, and African-American icon who influ- whose public life and career traversed enced two generations of singers in many the highest high to very public lows, genres. Her surprising death on the eve has devastated her family and left fans of Sunday's telecast of the Grammys, of saddened and awaiting the comeback which she owned six, greatly impacted the that will never come. show's tone and tenor. The cause of death is still unknown, so But when someone of Houston's stat- speculation is irresponsible and callous. ure dies surprisingly, fans and regular But whatever the cause, didn't we all think folks are often inspired to assess their it would end better than this? personal and pop culture's collective re- lationship with the deceased. Houston's long and public profes- sional and personal rise and fall saw her go from exulted icon to running gag. But fans and most caring folks hoped she would pull herself back together, show us her trademark toothy smile and allow us to lift her back up to the pedestal she so easily commanded for so long. When Houston hit the music scene in 1985, she seemed to have all the ele- / MCT Press Abaca ments one could want in a superstar. Whitney Houston performs at the She had an undeniably prodigious vo- O2-Arena in Berlin, Germany, in May 12, 2010. cal talent and a good musical pedigree as the daughter of gospel singer Cissy Hous- basking in the glow of our stars, especial- ton and cousin of Dionne Warwick. She ly one whose public veneer appears so her to J Records and got her out of the driven drama "Sparkle," but now that, was lovely but known as a good girl who pristine for so long, we also revel when spotlight and into the studio. too, will never happen. didn't lean on her sexuality, and she had the cracks and holes appear. Fans hoped for the classic American We don't have the right to expect the skill to apply her gospel-based style to Houston's 15-year marriage to Bobby comeback, someone in which they could anything from the people we celebrate big pop and R&B hooks. Brown and subsequent and much-too- once again believe.