VOLUME XXI. NUMBER 2
NORTH CAROLINA WESLEYAN COLLEGE, RO( KY MOUNT, N.C.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1. 1982
Students Learn Truth Behind Forensic Medicine
By MARTIE BARBOUR
Telegram Staff Writer
When you think of forensic
medicine, is murder in
vestigation the first thing
that enters your mind? If so,
you’ve got it all wrong,
according to Dr. David Paul,
chief coroner for the City of
London.
“Murder investigation is
the most dramatic,” he said
to a group of North Carolina
Wesleyan College students
and faculty last week during
a lecture on the truth behind
forensic medicine.
“The whole object of this
talk is to point out that
modern death investigation
doesn’t just involve mur
der,” he commented.
“Environmental problems
and problems of everyday
life are just as dangerous.”
Dr. Paul explained that all
unexpected, unexplained,
unnatural and traumatic
deaths, deaths in custody
(those involving inmates in
prisons and mental
hospitals), and deaths
caused by industrial disease
must be reported to the
coroner in London.
Traumatic Deaths
In the investigation of
traumatic deaths, he said,
“it doesn’t take a genious to
determine the cause of death
of a motorist.” In such cases,
he continued, “it is not our
job to ^tablish the cause of
death; but to see how the
deaths can be prevented.”
Dr. Paul related a story
about one area in his London
jurisdiction which created an
incredible traffic hazard. He
explained that on one side of
the highway where the speed
limit was 70 mph, there was
a walkway. On the other side
there was a shopping center.
“Little old ladies used to
run across the highway to get
to the shopping center,” he
said. “This was one of the
more fruitful sources of
supply for me.”
This rash of accident
victims diminished when a
walkway was constructed
across the highway.
Dr. Paul also explained the
importance of performing
autopsies on those who have
died in custody. In discussing
the deaths of citizens who
have been deprived of their
liberty, “perhaps we are
getting down to the nitty
gritty,” he said.
Even though these people
have been labled as
“naughty little boys” and
those who are “nuttie as a
fruit cake” it is our job “to
make sure that they do not
die of brutality,” he said.
Suspicious Deaths
In discussing the in
vestigation of suspicious
deaths — homicides and
suicides — Dr. Paul related
another story. This one in
volved the rumors that often
accompany
deaths.
suspicious
“Pity she died. Of course
she died of a massive
overdose,” he began. “You
know that she was three
months pregnant. And of
course you heard about the
gonorrhea.”
“This is the kind of rumor
that allows reports to go
unchallenged,” he said.
He added that on the
judicial side of suspicious
death investigations, in the
case of suicide, which is
refered to as “killing
oneself in London, there
must be proof of intent. “I
try to encourage suicide
victims to write notes,” he
said. “It helps if they leave a
note.”
“In the case of massive
overdose, we do look at it as
suicide, because there is an
implied intent, he explained.
“You can’t acqidentally take
50 pills.”
Three Obj actives
Dr. Paul told listeners
Tuesday that there were
three objectives of a death
investigation. These are to
determine who is dead,
establish a medical cause of
death, and establish the
circumstances of the death.
“Visual identification is
one system of identifying a
body,” he said. “But
sometimes you can’t tell.” In
mass disasters, considering
the trauma factor involved
for the friends and. family
members called on to
identify the bodies, “we
never put up more than one
Energy Conservation
Committee Formed
By Kathy Bragg
Decree Staff
N.C. Wesleyan has a new
program in development that
affects every person
associated with the college.
This new Energy
Conservation Program is the
most major physical plant
change in Wesleyan’s history
and has high promises for
success.
Wesleyan’s Energy
Conservation Program is
being developed and is being
overseen by President
Pettaway’s appointed Energy
Conservation Committee.
William Garlow (Dean of
Student Affairs) chairs the
committee with Ray Kirkland
acting as a special consulting
member from the Business
Department. The other
committee members consist
of campus building managers
who are responsible for
efficient enerjgy usage of their
specified buildings. These
members include Cliff
Sullivan (Classroom
Complex), William Garlow
(Student Union), Ann Wilgus
(Library), Rick Davis
(Spruill), Laura Ferrel
(Gymnasium), Nancy Smith
(North Hall), Jerry Deringer
(South Hall), Lois Howell
(Edgecomb Hall), and Ed
Nixon (Nash Hall).
The new Energy Program
focuses around the change
from one central heating
system to a decentralized
system that involves separate
heating units for each
building. The old system of
one central heating and hot
water unit for the entire
campus (a single gas-fired
boiler) proved inefficient in
many areas. However, the
new system of individual
heating and hot water units is
much more cost efficient and
provides greater flexibility.
The new system came
about because of a
government grant that
Wesleyan was able to match
dollar for dollar. The total
project cost $270,000 with the
grant providing $115,000 and
the college provi^ng $155,00.
This is a substantial amount of
money, however, the savings
which will surface make the
project extremely cost
efficient. Savings should
range from $10,000 - $50,000
annually. This, of course, is
dependent on a number of
factors such as: the severity
of winter and the cooperation
of students and staff to
conserve. But, because of
automatic timers placed on
the circulation pumps and
frequent energy audits, the
committee feels the college
will place in the middle to
upper end of the savings scale.
The Energy Conservation
Committee is responsible for
four basic functions: 1)
develop and implement
campus awareness (as the
chairman stated, “To keep
conservation in front of people
all the time”; 2) develop
standard energy conservation
procedures as a whole and
within each building (i.e.
policies for classroom and
resident hall lighting) and; 3)
receive ideas and suggestions
from everyone (report your
findings to the building
manager who will take it to
the committee for review).
The functions of the
building managers are to see
that these three points are
carried out within their
assigned building, plus they
are responsible for onsight
inspection of their building for
energy deficiencies. When a
problem is found, it is the
building manager’s duty to
insure maintenance fixes the
deficiency.
The Energy Conservation
Committee is working hard
for a successful program, but
they realize “(They) can’t
save any more energy than
just the ten people on the
committee.” It is each
individual’s responsibility to
conserve. The committee is
promoting awareness,
however, if a student leaves
his window up, door propped
open or the shower dripping,
then the committee’s efforts
are wiped out. The savings
obtained from this new
heating and hot water system
has a direct bearing on college
cost. So, it does affect students
directly in relation to tuition,
room and board, try to remain
aware of the importance of
energy conservation. It can
save us all a lot of money in
the long run.
body_ at a time for iden
tification,” he stated.
“The greatest horror is to
wrongly identify a victim,”
he add^.
Fingerprints are very
important in the in-
dentification process. “We
can often determine the
identity of a body that has
decomposed through this
means,” he said.
Tattoos, scars and birth
marks are also an important
part of the investigation, he
added.
A new procedure being
used in this aspect of death
investigation is dental
identification. “With this
procedure we can determine
both race and age of the
victim.”
Looking for old fractures
through X-ray can also be
helpful to the coroner. As a
last resort only, victims can
be identified by^ personal
property and jewelry. “It is
easy to wrongly identify in
this case,” he explained.
The autopsy itself can
determine sex, age, natural
disease and previous
surgeries of a victim. “All of
this is to establish the
‘who’,” said Dr. Paul.
“There is only one way to
establish a precise cause of
death,” he continued, “This
is autopsy.”
“Autopsy is the essential,”
he noted. “It is not a coroners
responsibility to perform an
autopsy, but his duty.”
Final Step
The final step involved is
the inquest to determine the
circumstances of the death.
Dr. Paul explained that in his
position, he is responsible not
only for determining the
cause of death, but also for
determining the cir
cumstances behind it.
“We all become com
pletely psychotic,” he
commented. “We investigate
and then we sit in as a
judiciary in some cases. It’s
a different tightrope to walk
on sometimes.”
He explained that all of
these aspects of the medico
legal system in London have
gradually come about. “No
medico-legal system has
ever been born complete. It
starts as an embryo,” he
stated. “Public needs change
the system.”
English Coroners
“The English, coroner
evolved very gradually,” he
continued. The system was
' first established in 1198. “1
was not around then, con
trary to popular belief,’’.said
the coroner.
Knighthood and land-
ownership were two of the
early requirements for the
coroner, explained Dr. Paul.
At that time they were
elected officials.
“In 1926 the Coroners
Amendment Act required
that coroners be qualified in
law, medicine or both,” he
said. Coroners were then
appointee oy the Crown.
“They constantly changed
coroner's rules because of
the demand by the com
munity,” he stated. “I
developed (into a coroner)
like the system,” said Dr.
Paul. “It just sort of hap
pened.”
In 1963 he becanne deputy
coroner and was appointed to
the city in 1966. In 1968 his
jurisdiction was expanded to
include the Northern District
(Continued on Page 8)
Dr. David Paul, chief coroner for the City of London, explains
where incisions aremade in the autopsy process to preserve facial
characteristics at last week’s N.C. Wesleyan College lecture.
(Barbour photo)