The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Issue date: 7/30/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Katie Stevens During a NLEEC demonstration, a black hawk helicopter was landed on the Lory Student Center west lawn and U.S. Marshals were dropped off in a mock mission on July 25.

Excitement spread through the crowd as the time grew closer to detonation. Hundreds of teens lined the hills of CSU's West Lawn waiting for the much-anticipated display of heavy explosives -- TNT and dynamite -- to blast off a few hundred feet in front of them.

The announcer called upon the audience to countdown to explosion time.

"Three, two, one."

At "one," a massive explosion went off on the lawn. The sound reverberated in the spectators' chests as if they were standing in front of a speaker at a rock concert. Some screamed, but most simply stared in awe.

The detonation of several large explosives began Friday's festivities celebrating the end of a weeklong conference held at CSU for members of the National Law Enforcement Exploring Program, consisting of teens interested in joining law enforcement.

Members of the program came from all over the country to CSU last Monday so they could participate in activities aimed at teaching them about law enforcement.

"[The Explorers] help out police officers," said Nikita Tietsort, a 16-year-old from Columbia, Mo. "We are an extra pair of hands for them."

Continued...

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