FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications (304) 696-7153
 

Five Criminal Justice students place second in state-wide competition

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Five Marshall University Criminal Justice students who took part in the West Virginia Criminal Justice Educators Association’s recent annual conference placed second in the state-wide crime scene competition.

The students included undergraduates Michelle Cunningham, Patrick Hernandez and William “Andy” Walker, and graduate students Lauren Copley and Pallavi Samariya.

In addition, Marshall University Criminal Justice majors won two of the four awards for the student paper competition.  Copley, of Ona, W.Va., took first place in the graduate student competition and Hernandez, of Ashland, Ky., placed first in the undergraduate competition. Each received a $100 award.

“The Criminal Justice Department is pleased that once again our students have taken a lead at the state level,” said Kimberly DeTardo-Bora, associate professor of Criminal Justice. “They continue to prove that our program is not about handcuffs and high-speed chases; instead, our students have the solid ability to present research and write effectively.”

Five Marshall graduate students along with two undergraduates presented papers during the conference, which took place Nov. 6-7 at Fairmont State University. Graduate papers included, Copley, “Medillin v. Dretke: The United States’ Judicial response to Avena and Other Mexican Nationals;” Jonathan Clemins, “Playing with Fire:  The Juvenile Weapon of Choice as Explained by Hirschi’s (1969) Social Control Theory;” Krystal Mayville, “Firearms Trafficking:  A Rational Choice;” Jessica Napier, “Plagiarism Among Criminal Justice Students and the Utility of Turnitin.com;” and Samariya, “Explaining Domestic Violence through Marxist Feminism Theory.”

Undergraduate students presenting papers were Hernandez, “Techniques of Neutralization and Arson;” and Katheryne Staats, “The Transition from Barbie Dolls and Tonka Trucks to Juvenile Delinquent:  Peer Deviance as Examined by Sutherland’s Differential Association Theory.”  

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