Anthony Sifuentes

A Texas State graduate student is lending a helping hand in the identification
of human remains found along the U-S-Mexico border. Anthony Sifuentes has more
in this Bobcat Update.

Graduate Research Assistant Cristina Figueroa-Soto is assisting Texas State
Anthropology Professor and Principal Investigator for Project Identification
Kate Spradley in examining human skeletons at a medical examiners office in
Arizona. Figueroa-Soto records measurements of the postcrania
(post-kray-nee-uhl). The results are stored in a database, which can later be
used to help determine a person's sex, age, ancestry and place of origin.
Spradley says that Figueroa-Soto's assistance is vital to the project:
(SB)
One purpose of the research is to identify common characteristics of Hispanics.
And being Hispanic herself, Figueroa-Soto says she feels the research, which is
grant-supported, provides an important service:
(SB)
According to Spradley, very few graduate students receive the kind of experience
that Figueroa-Soto is getting. Figueroa-Soto says she will use it to build on her
future work:
(SB)
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