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| 11/27 |
| 2007/9/21-24 [Computer/SW/Editors/Vi, Academia/OtherSchools] UID:48141 Activity:nil |
9/20 MIT student wears art to airport, almost gets shot.
http://www.thestar.com/News/article/259095
\_ I spent many winter and summer vacations in Boston, and I can
testify that Bostonians are, in general, retarded. And I'm not
talking about the MIT student here.
\_ when I first heard about this I thought it was an intentional act.
after you look at it, well, it's been spun like mad by authorities.
http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/09/21/star_simpson |
| 11/27 |
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| www.thestar.com/News/article/259095 Tag on Delicious Teen arrested at Boston's Logan Airport with mock device strapped to her chest Sep 21, 2007 05:02 PM The Associated Press BOSTON -- Troopers arrested an MIT student at gunpoint today after she walked into Logan International Airport wearing a computer circuit board and wiring on her sweatshirt. Star Simpson's attorney said the charges against her were an overreaction, but authorities expressed amazement that someone would wear such a device eight months after a similar scare in Boston, and six years after two of the jets hijacked in the Sept. "I'm shocked and appalled that somebody would wear this type of device to an airport," said State Police Maj Scott Pare, the airport's commanding officer. The terminal was not evacuated and flights were not affected, airport officials said. Simpson, 19, of Hawaii, has expertise in electronics and even received a Congressional citation for her work in robotics, according to her lawyer. She wore the white circuit board on her chest over a black hooded sweatshirt, Pare said at a news conference. The battery-powered rectangular device had nine flashing lights, and Simpson had Play-Doh in her hands, he said. Two phrases that looked hand-drawn -- "Socket to me" and "Course VI" -- were written on the back of Simpson's sweatshirt, which authorities displayed to the media. Course VI appears to refer to MIT's major of electrical engineering and computer science. "She said that it was a piece of art and she wanted to stand out on career day," Pare said. A not guilty plea was entered for her and she was released on $750 bail. During the hearing, Simpson smiled as she entered wearing a T-shirt and sandals. After she posted bail, she left in a taxi with a man who identified himself as her boyfriend, but neither would answer more questions from reporters. Prosecutor Wayne Margolis had requested $5,000 bail, saying Simpson showed a total disregard for airport security concerns. Ross Schreiber, who was appointed to represent Simpson, said she was not a risk to flee, cooperated with authorities and was a good student with no prior convictions. "I would characterize it as almost being paranoid at this point," he said of authorities' response. He said she had gone to the airport to meet her boyfriend. "She was there for legitimate purposes," Schreiber said. Simpson was arrested about 8 am outside Terminal C, home to United Airlines, Jet Blue and other carriers. A Massachusetts Port Authority staffer manning an information booth in the terminal became suspicious when Simpson -- wearing the device -- approached to ask about an incoming flight, Pare said. Simpson then walked outside, and the staffer notified a nearby trooper. The trooper, joined by others with submachine guns, confronted her at a traffic island in front of the terminal. "She was immediately told to stop, to raise her hands and not to make any movement, so we could observe all her movements to see if she was trying to trip any type of device," Pare said. Bomb squads were deployed and some transportation links were closed temporarily. They turned out to be a promotion for the Cartoon Network. Two men were charged in that incident, but prosecutors dropped the charges after they apologized and performed community service. Simpson was a member of MIT's swimming and diving team in 2006, according to the team's Web site, which lists her hometown as Kihei, Hawaii. She is the secretary of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Electrical Research Society, her lawyer said. She is a graduate of the Hawaii Preparatory Academy, a private boarding school, has won school prizes for chemistry and leadership and had received a Congressional citation for her work in robotics, Schreiber said. MIT issued a statement saying the school is cooperating with authorities. "In this day and age, the threat continues to be there," he said. |
| machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/09/21/star_simpson -> machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/09/21/star_simpson/ circuit board Photo: AP/Lisa Poole Star Simpson, a 19-year-old MIT student, was arrested at gunpoint Friday morning at Boston's Logan Airport when officers suspected that a circuit board and battery she had pinned to her sweatshirt was a bomb. Indeed, every news outlet is now referring to the thing as a "fake bomb," and Simpson has been charged with possessing a "hoax device." But pictures of the sweatshirt that officials are putting out show something quite less scary -- I have no idea what a real bomb looks like, but I don't think it's a plastic board with a 9-volt battery on it. Simpson's explanation is that the jacket was a wearable-art project she made so she could stand out at her school's career day (the plastic board lights up). All information now streaming in supports that view, and suggests that the affair could have been a misunderstanding, one that very nearly turned tragic. This is my speculation only, but it seems quite possible that rather than intending to deliberately walk into Logan with a fake bomb, Simpson might instead have rolled out of bed with an art jacket she often wore around campus and slipped it on in a rush on her way to pick up a friend -- forgetting that she was heading into the all-fear-all-the-time black hole that is US aviation. Simpson describes herself this way on the Web: In a sentence, I'm an inventor, artist, engineer, and student, I love to build things and I love crazy ideas. I'm currently studying computers and how they work at MIT I play at a student-run machine shop called MITERS. Before that, I lived for a long time in Hawaii, while traveling the world and saving the planet from evil villains with my delivered-just-in-time gadgets. com who knows Simpson tells Boing Boing that Simpson's friends at MIT "say she wears the hoodie on a regular basis -- it's just unfortunate that she had it on while trying to pick a friend up at the airport. MIT students don't really do mornings, or worry about what they're wearing, so I can't imagine she'd even think about her clothes before heading out to pick up a friend at the airport before 8 am" Cops are pointing darkly to strange text scrawled on the jacket -- "Socket To Me / COURSE VI." Guess what, "Course VI" is a reference to MIT's electrical engineering course, not an al-Qaida code name. The student looks in good spirits despite what must have been a nightmare of a morning. She pleaded not guilty and was let free on $750 bail, but if convicted of the charges she could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. a press conference state police Maj Scott Pare said that Simpson is "extremely lucky she followed the instructions or deadly force would have been used. Had it not been for the six years we've already lived through irrational, useless, annoying, psychologically defeating overeager airport security -- put in place to prevent an event that could have been solved by a single measure, locking the cockpit doors -- the prospect of a promising young student being killed by cops for wearing a battery on her back might come as a shock. What, police at a major airport were about to kill someone for the crime of wearing a circuit board? Advertisement Farhad Manjoo is a Salon staff writer covering technology and tech culture. His first book, about propaganda in the digital age, will be published by Wiley in 2008. Reproduction of material from any Salon pages without written permission is strictly prohibited. SALON is registered in the US Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark of Salon Media Group Inc. |