Page 7 - The Malvernian - July 2022

THE MALVERNIAN
Forensic Fun
The Forensic workshop on the death of John F. Kennedy was an intriguing and thought-provoking event to give pupils an idea of forensic opportunities considering law and other careers alike, and to keep students aware of history, and its conspiracy theories. The science workshop consisted of several interactive activities including a fingerprinting station, to analyse the unexplained fingerprint left by Malcolm Wallace, an explanation of Lee Harvey Oswald’s role in JFK's death through several activities involving a board game and a virtual reality version of the Zapruder film (a film capturing the president’s assassination).
From the event, my understanding of the incident has increased significantly. A brief explanation would be that Oswald (who was known to be on friendly terms with the Soviet Union at the time) was arrested for the apparent shooting of J. D. Tippit and was then killed by Jack Ruby before it could be completely proved he had assassinated President J. F. Kennedy. He was found with a revolver and had apparently fired three bullets, containing the ‘magic bullet’, which supposedly was an FMJ ('full metal jacket') that made its way through two bodies unscathed. Many conspiracy theories considering Russia, Lyndon B Johnson (the Deputy who took over as President after the death of JFK), the Mafia, and the CIA have arisen from this inexplicable situation.
Many activities throughout the event were fascinating, but my favourite was either the experiment to find gun shot residue, or the matching of the ‘magic bullet’ to striations of Carcano and Mauser guns. The gun shot residue activity was to investigate the evidence that Oswald fired the revolver, and how that contrasted to where he was at the time. The workshop was easy to get invested in and extremely informative on the occurrence it covered.
The John F. Kennedy workshop left me speculating on the subject afterwards, and the engaging activities made the experience memorable. The worksheets provided ensured that we could carry on any research after the allotted time period and gave links to forensic careers. The workshop was a riveting event that kept pupils involved and captivated.
Rosie Winstanley (FY, House No.8)
THE MALVERNIAN
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