Set your DVRs: Mediate, Gulbis, Waldorf on CSI January 21

[Clambake]

Is this a nationwide thing or a California thing? Some of the people you mention I understand printing and filing, but not all. It is interesting that this many people have prints on file.

I think a lot of it is nationwide. Certainly the civliian government employees and armed forces members apply nathionwide, and my understanding is that nearly all law enforcement agencies require it is well (some of this is just for practical reasons so they can easily eliminate potential suspects at a crime scene. The California State Bar requires it's applicants to be printed, and I know that many other states do as well although not al of them require this. I also understand that larger health care organizations require it as part of their background checks, and a lot of major financial institutions such as Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and similar large bank and brokerage firms also require this as part of their background investigations of all employees. I used to run a little company based in San Diego but with operations in Korea, China, Taiwan, and Sweden, and even though we only had a few hundred employees I required print checks as part of the background checks - we had gotten burned previously with a troublesome CFO, so we went "better safe than sorry".

In general, it is becoming pretty common in industry as part of the background check process - "fill out this form, pee in a cup, and fill out this card wtih your prints". These all typically go into the IAFIS system, so it is more likely than not that one's prints are on file. While I do love CSI, we all certainly know that the do stretch a lot of the science in the name of good television, and one of those stretches is that they can query the IAFIS system and get a response in a few seconds. In reality the justice wheels turn a bit slower than that. But I still think it is an enjoyable show, and I really like that they make the science geeks the heros most of the time - hopefully it helps encourage more kids to get interested in science.