Fingerprints

Tougher entry requirements for visitors to the United States are making sweeping changes in the way visitors from Europe, Japan, Australia and other industrialized nations are being received at American airports. Starting late last month, travelers from 27 nations -- including Britain, Germany and Japan, which are the three biggest sources of overseas visitors to the United States -- were to be photographed and fingerprinted for the first time at American airports. On Oct. 26, passengers from 21 countries, most of them in Europe, will have to carry machine-readable passports to visit this country without visas.

Poor old Henry Faulds. In 1880 he had a great idea, but no one would pay attention, even after he published it in a scientific journal. With plenty of evidence to support him, Faulds believed that by making an inked impression of people's fingertips you could establish proof of their identity, a biological name tag that was virtually indestructible. Half a century later, with his health failing and the roof of his house in danger of collapse, the dying Faulds still could find no one who would listen, although scientists and detectives around the world had long since begun using fingerprints for identification.

No fingerprints matching the two Mexican immigrants charged in last year's slaying of three children in Northwest Baltimore were found at the crime scene, a city police employee testified during the suspects' trial yesterday. Prosecutors have said they believe the killers were wearing gloves when they cut the throats of an 8-year-old girl, her 9-year-old brother and their 10-year-old male cousin, though police did find what appeared to be bloody fingerprints on the interior sill of a window in the apartment where the children were killed.

Good morning -- Matt Holliday -- Instant replay? Maybe the umpires should have dusted the plate for fingerprints.

The door of Terri Bradford's classroom at River Hill High School was surrounded by yellow tape carrying an alarming notice: "Crime Scene - Do Not Enter." Inside, busy investigators were using the latest techniques to look for fingerprints. But this was no nefarious incident of unlawful deeds. Instead, the investigators were River Hill forensics students engaged in a novel type of science lab, one that teaches the type of investigative techniques that the students have seen on popular TV shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Suspect sought in 7-Eleven robberyCounty police are searching for a Severn man wanted in the May 12 robbery of a 7-Eleven store in the 500 block of Donaldson Ave.Two men were caught at the scene, while a third man escaped. Police recovered the gun and lifted fingerprints from it and from the cash register. The fingerprints matched those of the suspect who remains at large.The suspect, Roland Leroy Jones, 37, of the 1800 block of Circle Road, is being sought on charges of armed robbery, police said.

Like columnist Dan Rodricks , I have no problem at all with collecting the DNA and the fingerprints of everyone ("DNA: Why wait for an arrest?" May 3). The only people who should disagree are those who intend to commit some kind of crime. Since I have no intention of breaking the law, the only reason police for the courts would to use my DNA or fingerprints would be to exonerate me of a crime of which I had been falsely accused. As Dan points out, police and court time would be reduced considerably.

I was astonished to see bare hands on the pages of a 400-year-old King James Bible in a photograph on The Sun's front page ("Stevenson to house first edition of King James Bible," April 3). I was then stunned by the photo on the inside page of this article showing that the bare hands flipping pages belonged to the director of the Maryland Bible Society and Stevenson University's "archivist. " Isn't it standard archival practice to use gloves when handling documentary artifacts?

The door of Terri Bradford's classroom at River Hill High School was surrounded by yellow tape carrying an alarming notice: "Crime Scene - Do Not Enter." Inside, busy investigators were using the latest techniques to look for fingerprints. But this was no nefarious incident of unlawful deeds. Instead, the investigators were River Hill forensics students engaged in a novel type of science lab, one that teaches the type of investigative techniques that the students have seen on popular TV shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Just what Baltimore always needed most: football regalia modeled on a biker gang's.NTC Everyone knows the FBI has Hillary Clinton's fingerprints and no one understands on what.The problems of Medicare, both parties agree, are the other's fault, about which nothing should be done before an election.The Russian election turns on old voters' anxiety for security and young voters' craving for opportunity. Sound familiar?Pub Date: 6/07/96