It just stands to reason.
When youre one of only three elite graduates, your services are naturally going to be in demand.
Which is why Alex Ramsburg was on an airplane to Arizona four years ago and not participating in spring Commencement at West Virginia University.
Ramsburg, who plans on attending the Nokia Sugar Bowl match-up Jan. 2 between WVU and the University of Georgia in Atlanta, might look ordinary, at first glance.
But hes anything but.
And in the spring of 2001, in fact, he and two other Mountaineer classmates were about as elite as they could be: They were the first-ever graduates of WVU s Forensic Identification Programwhich, coincidentally, was the first of its kind in the world.
WVU s offerings in the forensic field have since expanded to take in biometrics and homeland security, and the Universitys faculty and facilities in that area are both regarded to be the finest in the world.
Today, some 400 students take classes in the Forensic and Investigative Sciences Program, and the proud academic component of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences has been featured in media outlets from CNN and Rolling Stone to E! Entertainment and The Chronicle of Higher Education .
Back in 2001, Ramsburg and his fellow forensic grads found themselves juggling offers and prospects that were coming quicker than a lane change at Atlantas Spaghetti Junction.
By the time the caps and gowns rolled around, one had already been hired by a police department in North Carolina, and another opted for the West Virginia State Police Crime Lab in South Charleston.
While other seniors ambled across the stage of the WVU Coliseum for their diplomas, Ramsburg was checking out job opportunities in the Arizona desert. He skipped the ceremony to go on job interviews at the Scottsdale Police Department and Phoenix Crime Lab.
Ramsburg, a Romney, W.Va., native who also holds a biology degree from WVU , would end up staying closer to home. For the past four years, hes worked as a forensic scientist with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation.
That bureaus Northeast Forensic Laboratory in Richland, Ohio, handles cases in Cleveland, Akron, Youngstown and other northern locales in the Buckeye State.
His success, he said, is the WVU programs success.
I took an amazing variety of courses taught by leading professionals from the forensic community who came to WVU on the strength of the program,he said.I had a great internship. I cant even begin to put a value on it. I do know I came away well-qualified. I do know I was able to interview with confidence because of my training at WVU .
To investigate the program yourself, stop by WVU s Mountaineer Fan Center at the Atlanta Mariott Marquis (265 Peachtree Center) on Sunday and Monday, Jan. 1-2.
WVU forensic faculty and students will be there to show fans the tricks of the trade, from reading blood spatters and lifting fingerprints from a football to reading footprints left inwhat else?the contents of a spilled bowl of sugar.
Theres also awho done itcrime scene. It seems someone stole the game ball, and its up to fans to find the evidenceand the culprit.
Ramsburg plans on stopping by the Center, too.
Im just proud and thankful to be associated with this program and with WVU ,he said.And, �€~Lets go, Mountaineers.
The Fan Center also features other interactive exhibits and activities promoting the full range of WVU academics and athletics. Its open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. New Years Day and on game day, Monday, Jan. 2, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Admission is free, and any and allEers are welcome.
Game time is 8:30 p.m. in the Georgia Dome. The 2006 contest will be the 72 nd Sugar Bowl.
Fans: Call tollfree, 1-888-988-2269, for updates on fan activities while in Atlanta for the Nokia Sugar Bowl.