Wednesday, November 18, 2015

KBI building opens its doors to the public [Edited]

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation officially opened its new forensic lab on the Southeast side of Washburn’s campus Monday, Nov. 2.

The new, three-story building is 100,000 square feet and houses state-of-the-art crime labs, which were previously located in the basement of the former Crane Junior High School. The project cost $55 million to complete, and was funded by the Topeka Public Building Commission. The project is a result of a partnership between the university, KBI and the City of Topeka.

The building houses reserved areas for KBI research in biology, DNA, toxicology, chemistry, firearm/tool mark, latent prints, trace evidence and digital forensics. More importantly, for future and current Washburn students, the building is home to an expanded forensics program. KBI forensic laboratories are located on the south side, while classrooms for students are on the north side. 

Since the plans to build the lab, WU has added courses in digital forensics, forensic anthropology and forensic investigation. One hundred students have already signed up for classes in the new programs for Spring 2016.

A few spaces will be shared between Washburn students and KBI, including a crime reconstruction space and a 100-seat auditorium. Washburn faculty and staff are excited about the opportunity to have KBI scientists as guest lecturers and experts in classes to teach students real life applications. Faculty and the scientists at the KBI building hope to retain and inspire graduating students to work for KBI in the same building after graduation.

Few university campuses across the nation have working forensic labs on their campuses. It is also the only one with shared space between the students and KBI scientists. 

The opening and dedication included Governor Sam Brownback, Attorney General Derek Schmidt, KBI Director Kirk Thompson, Topeka Mayor Larry Wolgast and President Jerry Farley. 


The building welcomed guests for a public open house Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. People who did not attend the open house will not have the opportunity to view the KBI side of building at a later date.

13 comments:

  1. I don't think the "S" on southeast needs to be capitalized.
    looks good other than that! i like the headline.

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  2. Looks great! I think this was edited very well. Maybe clarify that Jerry Farley is the president of Washburn, for clarity purposes.

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  3. Edit looks good. I agree with Bree, and I would also add the specific dates for the open house instead of just saying Thursday and Friday.

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  4. Other than the suggested edit I mentioned in the original post, this looks good! Both you and Kara are strong writers. Well done!

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  5. I still believe this topic is very relevant to campus. I think the headline is straight to the point and pinpoints the direct focus of the story. I would still move the final paragraph closer to the beginning since the focus is about the grand opening.

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  6. I think that this event is very relevant to campus, as Amy mentioned. Great edit, Josh. I found this article very informative. In the fourth paragraph, spell out one hundred since it is a numeral larger than 10. Other than that, great job!

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  7. Good job with the edit! I think the headline is more like a normal sentence, not attractive enough

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  8. Great format and edit! Very easy to read.

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  9. "One hundred" I think you should not spell 100.

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  10. There are small mistakes such as replacing "people" with "those" in last paragraph and capitalize "north". Overall, good job!

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  11. Good article. Only a few small mistakes.

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  12. Nice article! There seems to be an extra spacing between the last paragraph and the one before it, but is that intentional?

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