| Subject: TITLE: Not Every One Can Be A Winner! |
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R&C Fan
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Date Posted: 15:32:19 04/30/01 Mon
In reply to:
Leigh
's message, "TITLE: Not Every One Can Be A Winner!" on 09:13:02 04/30/01 Mon
Most of the time things are fairly ordinary around the morgue. Ordinary in the sense that people die and it is my job as medical examiner to find the reasons and for the most part help the remaining family and friends find closure. It's not always headline grabbing murder cases that take up my time.
True, I have been involved with some murder cases in the past; some had even taken a particularly personal twist. But for the past three weeks, things had been very quiet, almost normal.
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Dr. Kay Scarpetta* was a noted criminologist of the latter 20th century. Her breakthroughs in the development of procedural guidelines in the field of forensic pathology are still in use today in laboratories across the United States. She began her career in the Virginia Medical Examiners Office and quickly rose to the position of Chief Medical Examiner. Frequently lending her expertise to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), she gained national notoriety for her tireless diligence in the tracking and apprehension of several serial killers, including Temple Gault and Carrie Grethen.
*See supplemental pamphlet: "The Roles of Women and Minorities in US History."
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"...and three or four bodies over a long holiday weekend is even less then what we normally see," I concluded to Gillian Radforth, my new lab intern. Gillian was completing her masters in anthropology. She has spent several summers working on digs across the country but this was her first exposure to anatomical studies that involved bodies that weren't buried for hundreds of years.
"I think I know why they call it gross anatomy," murmered Gillian under her breath. "It is fascinating, yet so different from what I normally deal with," she said as she struggled to settle the latex gloves on her hands. "There almost seems to be a presence about these bodies that I normally don't find at the digs."
"It can be fascinating, but there is a real purpose to this work and not everyone is suited to it long-term," I replied.
I was just positioning the body that had been stored in cooler A-17 since late Friday night when into my lab stomped my ever present co-worker, self-appointed protector and (as odd as it may seem) friend, Captain Pete Marino.
"Hey Doc, you got a minute?" grumbled Marino as he lumbered past Gillian and peered over my shoulder. "Is that the stiff from under the construction site?"
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At the dawn of the 21st century, America found itself at the beginnings of the Green War. This protracted and often bitter battle between developers and environmentalists was waged not only in the US, but throughout the world.
Developers argued that the United States was built on the concept of Manifest Destiny (see Chapter 107), that it was constantly widening its borders through exploration and settlement, and that all Americans should have the God-given right of at least one Orange Julius within a 10-mile radius. The environmentalists, although appreciative of the refreshing qualities of a cool orange drink, feared that the resulting apartment complexes and strip malls might detract from the natural beauty of the land and lead to the extinction of many important species; such as, the three-eyed dung bettle and the multi-spotted giant leech. The sheepherders branch was also concerned about the shrinking amounts of private grazing land and the resulting public scrutiny of their breeding practices.
As a result of this Green War, construction sites were the scene of many protests, both peaceful and violent. When hearing of a protest, law enforcement officials had to prepare themselves for any eventuality, from a nonviolent sit-in to a full fledged attack, sometimes at the cost of human life.
Extra Credit Opportunity -- Find, identify, and label 75 different tree leaves in your back yard. Fashion the leaves into an attractive placemat suitable for casual outdoor dining. (Good for 10 extra science points and 350 Martha Stewart points, redeemable at your local K-Mart.)
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