MIT student arrested at Logan, allegedly wearing a fake bomb

[sniffa]

Source: boston gLobe

State Police arrested a 19-year-old woman at Logan International Airport this morning who authorities said wearing a phony explosive device strapped to her body.

The woman, who identified herself as Star Simpson, a sophomore from MIT, went to Terminal C to meet her boyfriend when a Massport worker noticed wires and a circuit board protruding from her chest, authorities said. She was holding what appeared to be putty in her hand.

The worker notified State Police and heavily armed officers responded to the scene around 8 a.m. Simpson was arrested. The device was harmless. and the putty was determined to be Play-Doh, authorities said.




Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/city_region/breaking_news/2007/09/mit_student_arr.html

---

and i thought MIT students were smaht.

[graywarrior]

1. An MIT prank?

[parasim]

2. On her website she says she "loves crazy ideas"

Yeah, well, that is one crazy idea right there.

[Poll_Blind]

6. Quoting her out of context. Here's the FULL statement on the page:

In a word: Star.

In a sentence, I'm an inventor, artist, engineer, and student, I love to build things and I love crazy ideas.

In a paragraph; 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.

You too can fill my email lint-trap - stars at mit dot edu

I got to feel the power and speed of the Wrightspeed X1 - fastest street legal car on the planet, after Bugatti's Veyron, and entirely electric.

Geeze.

PB

[parasim]

9. I didnt' think it was out of context.

She seems like a very interesting person. All of the MIT folks I've known are very smart, artistic, inventive. All great qualities. Yet, her play-doh gag still stands as one crazy idea. That's all I was pointing out.

[Vilis Veritas]

11. She got her 15.

Perhaps, we are seeing a new trend here...why do a resume when you can get arrested and get national attention?

No Fear.

[Poll_Blind]

3. Her PIC here and speculation:

From here

Found it on the the page for the Media Lab at MIT. She's in UROPS (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme in Science). Somehow I have a feeling that, unless she's terribly unbalanced mentally, this was probably some home-made device which was not intended to be viewed as a bomb.

Look at how the Boston police interpreted Comedy Central's guerrilla advertizing for the Mooninites.

PB

[SlowDownFast]

18. She's cute.

Just sayin...

:shrug:

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[durrrty libby]

59. Saw here on the news. She sure doesn't look like that now.

Edit to add video of her arraignment. 2nd one is video 1st is story


http://machinist.salon.com/blog/2007/09/21/star_simpson/


http://wbztv.com/topstories/local_story_264104114.html

[-..__...]

67. Talk about having a bad hair day.

No wonder she set-off a panic.

It looks like she's wearing a cheap fright wig or it's a botched attempt at a "Bride of Frankenstein" hair style.

[mahina]

69. surf much?

[-..__...]

74. On the Boston shoreline!?!

As we say... knahly, dude!

[mahina]

75. She's a Maui girl, just back on the mainland for school.

[mahina]

68. She is a very sweet Hawaiian sister, innocent heart,

and I hope she's out of the news and back to endearing geekitude pronto.

[mahina]

71. I bet it never even occurred to her. It's electronic stuff,

and that's her focus. The airport cops should be embarrassed. How much do you bet the fact she is brown was at least a part of the reason for their freakout?

[Dollface]

4. Performance art?

or more student douchebaggery?

[shain from kane]

5. Those crazy college students. Studying for a Darwin Award. Was a taser used?n/t

[softwarevotingtrail]

7. I guess getting high SAT scores doesn't mean you aren't a COMPLETE IDIOT EOM

[BadgerKid]

12. We're just misunderstood. ;-) n/t

[Window]

13. She's lucky...

Per MSNBC she almost got shot.

[oldtime dfl_er]

8. A dare?

Do they have sororities at MIT?

http://www.cafepress.com/scarebaby/3125487

[jdlh8894]

10. Only those that start w/Pi NT

[lpbk2713]

14. I wonder if she was involved in the LiteBrite bomb hoax.

Link: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/US/01/31/boston.bombscare/index.html


That was also in Boston and less than a year ago.

[sniffa]

15. no she wasn't

[AndyTiedye]

16. It Probably was an Experiment to Measure the Electrical Properties of Play-Dough at High Altitudes

[sniffa]

17. separated at birth

http://img.viacomlocalnetworks.com/images_sizedimage_264105625/lg

[truthisfreedom]

19. Leave her alone. The moment they figured out that she was wearing something for "Career Day"

the "authorities" should have simply reprimanded her and asked her to remove the circuit board from her clothing. End of story.

Everything must be blown completely out of proportion in this brave new world of "zero tolerance."

I suggest that we have "zero tolderance" for lies from the bush administration.

[hedgehog]

23. Sorry - there's no free pass for a stupid stunt like this,

Gripe all you want to, but the fact is that if we had had decent security on 9/11, the Trade Center would still be standing and 19 fools would be in prison.
What next, someone carrying a toy AK-47 through an airport and complaining when they get stopped? This is akin to calling in a false fire alarm.

[depakid]

27. I think you're missing the point

It's not about being stopped and checked out, it's about an over-reaction, arrest and probable prosecution.

It may have been a stupid stunt- but kids throughout the ages have been known to do stupid things. A good scare and kick in the arse should be sufficient under the circumstances.

[Gormy Cuss]

63. Yes.

I don't think the police overreacted by checking out the device. Arresting her may have been overboard (depends on the outcome) and the resulting media circus was fearmongering for ratings.

What she did wasn't very smart. I hope that the woman just wasn't thinking about it rather than doing it to make a statement. The former, easy to understand. The latter, puerile and dangerous these days.

[midnight]

65. Hedgehog what have you been reading for the last six years.....

Someone help me with finding an article that was posted here. It stated that the top security warned bush repeatedly, and even went to his vacation land to let him know we were in for some bombing. It doesn't get more visible than that, and bush told this high level person to leave-you did your job. If this women said it was career day, and that the device in question was considered not lethal-end of subject. Too many homeless children, not enough jobs, and way to many people fighting a fake war.

[chelsea0011]

20. We need to see just what this "device" looked like

to see what caused this rumpus. CNN was reporting that see cooperated which kept the authorities from using deadly force!

[Ian David]

22. Hey, if Charles Alfred Dreyling, Jr. can try to carry a real pipe bomb on to a plane...

and then return TO FLIGHT SCHOOL....

Then surely someone who does NOT have a former Republican Mayor testify on their behalf should be able to walk away from this.

[KamaAina]

24. There's a local angle to this. She's from Maui!

http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=6223

BOSTON >> An MIT student from Maui, wearing what turned out to be a fake bomb, was arrested at gunpoint today at Logan International Airport and later claimed it was artwork, officials said....

Simpson is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology sophomore from Hawaii, officials said....

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. MIT spokeswoman Patti Richards said aside from confirming she was a student, the school did not have any comment.

I think there might be an internship at the Cartoon Network in her future -- assuming she gets a really good lawyer...

[shain from kane]

26. Apparently, she smoked a little too much Maui Wowee. n/t

[insleeforprez]

25. I guess cops have never seen a course 6 major before

I have the privilege of going to this fine institution in question. It is said that one of the main lecture halls (10-250) smells different after a lecture to course 6 students, because course 6 students don't shower. Maybe that gives you an idea of this persona.

And generally, MIT hacks do not result in someone getting arrested at gunpoint...

[arendt]

28. mit student arrested with fake bomb - PHOTOS

Source: WCVB - the boston channel

just pictures

Read more: http://www.thebostonchannel.com/slideshow/news/14173047/detail.html

---

Being in Boston, this thing is all over everything.

Apparently she made this gadget for "Career Day". It lights up and spells out her name, like a neon sign.
Its not clear if only the lights were visible (I.e., the battery and BREAD-BOARD might have been under her
jacket, with only the lights visible.

From pictures 2 and 3, it is clear there is nothing but a few LEDs stuck into a standard, garden variety,
breadboard - the kind of thing that has been in college science labs for FORTY YEARS.

You have to be a total moron to figure that a breadboard and some LEDs is a bomb. We are definitely in
Mooninite territory here.

Whether or not the student is a total moron depends on how much of this contraption was visible from the
outside.

arendt

[jobycom]

29. With bomb photos. Or, with bomb. Photos?

[arendt]

30. ...bomb. PHOTOS. sorry - i fixed it. n/t

[sinkingfeeling]

31. Looks like a cribbage board to me!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

43. Yep, one that's been on a field trip to Radio Shack.

If she really did consider it art, which she may have for all I know, it proves once again that art is subjective.

[Richard Steele]

32. Yup- it's the Mooninites all over again. nm

[durrrty libby]

33. But she went to the airport wearing it. She IS a moron

Just because you go to MIT, doesn't mean you have common sense.

One of my "brilliant" uncles graduated from there, and he was nuttier than a payday

She sure screwed up her life in one fell swoop.

[budibudinski]

38. Absolutely. These guys go into combat mode over a paper bag

suspiciously unmarked, until closer inspection by the fulldressed bomb squad reveals the letter M, next to two suspicious golden arches stamped on the outside of the bag.

Maybe she should read DU. Current events can be useful nowadays, and there are plenty of bright minds ready to offer an answer as to any questions she may have regarding the proper whereabouts to display her science project.

Was she truely NOT aware of the possibility of arrest?

[arendt]

40. She's from the Media Lab. Did you ever meet Steve Mann - the guy with the IMPLANTED computer?

Talk about whacked out!

This person is normal by Media Lab standards.

arendt

[arendt]

39. Agreed about MIT. But, it does depend on how much was visible. If only the LEDs,...

I've seen cell phone covers with more blinking lights.

arendt

[insleeforprez]

42. Let me correct that.

Just because you're *course 6 at MIT* doesn't mean you have common sense. Those guys can write great code, but it is said that their lecture halls smell worse because they don't shower.

(Course 6=electrical engineering, including computer science, etc).

[durrrty libby]

51. One of my son's is a 3rd year engineering student at a state U

We live down the street from it so he can walk there

I received an application for him to apply to MIT for a graduate degree scholarship.

He didn't seem enthused about it. I was contemplating on my plan

to convince him to give it a go, but after viewing that lame "bomb-shirt" and

stinky lecture halls aside,I will have to reconsider if this is even a good idea.

[C_U_L8R]

34. its not a bomb at all

not even a hoax of a bomb

one day these trigger happy homeland thugs are gonna hurt somebody.

[arendt]

35. They'll be shutting down PlayDoh next...

http://www.puttyworld.com/

One man's stress toy is another man's fake bomb.

arendt

[PittPoliSci]

55. you can't be serious!

she's wearing an LED board with wires and lights exposed and holding a substance that looks like plastic explosive in an airport.

[arendt]

58. First, there is a question if ONLY the LEDs were visible (as a lighted T-shirt)...

second, anyone with half a brain could see that there is NOTHING on the board
except LEDs and capacitors. I haven't seen how big the "substance that looks
like plastic explosive" is. The speculation here is that it was to tack the
wires down. Might be as small as the tip of your thumb. If so, that isn't
enough to hurt anyone but the wearer.

All I'm saying is:

1) Get ALL the facts (size, exposure) before drawing conclusions.

2) Ask why, if this was such a threat, they LET HER LEAVE the airport BEFORE
arresting her at the subway station, which is over a mile away.

3) Ask why, given the fact that it is obviously mutually reinforcing idiocy
(student and cops), the media is going so ballistic on this.

Just another day in the land of phony Terra,terra,terra.

arendt

[PittPoliSci]

66. fair enough

i was under the impression she was arrested at the airport.

but i'm still under the impression it was a stupid prank to pull, knowing full well how paranoid law enforcement is in this country (perhaps rightly so).

[Trillo]

36. I see no photos.

In fact, I see no story at the link.

I'm not going to turn scripting on to see them, either, might get some unwanted OS changes.

[arendt]

37. There is no story. As the link's URL says: /slideshow/ n.t.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

44. It's a flash slide show n/t

[Name removed]

41. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Catherine Vincent]

45. ...

:eyes:

[BushOut06]

46. What an incredible stupid, sexist thing to say

I seriously hope that you've never done anything stupid in your entire life. Because she made a mistake, you think she is a stupid bitch, and should be locked up?

If you were one of those cops, would you have filled her full of lead? Would she have deserved it if she had been shot to death?

[PittPoliSci]

53. a mistake?

i believe "mistake" indicates that she accidentally wore this contraption to the airport.

[chelsea0011]

70. she did. she has been wearing it for days at MIT with no problem, so

it is completely plausible she wasn't paying any attention to it when she went to the airport.

[PittPoliSci]

76. bullshit!

she may have been wearing it for days, but that doesn't mean it doesn't look like a bomb.

[chelsea0011]

80. MIT didn't seem to pay her any attention

[PittPoliSci]

84. that doesn't make it alright.

the security situation on a college campus and an international airport are quite different.

[slackmaster]

48. I suggest you read the cited article before reacting

[arendt]

49. Fine, as long as you lock up the reporters who are making this into a "fake bomb" scare. n/t

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

57. Did you...

Get lost on the way to the comments section at Liveleak and end up here?

Jeebus.

[slackmaster]

47. Would these be the same Boston cops who freaked out over some LiteBrites?

[budibudinski]

54. LOL lite brites...ummm probably the same ones.

had forgotten about THAT bomb scare.
Well she did get attention. Wonder what her classmates have to say about this.

Its probably become a betting match to see who can build a simple device, which may remotely appear to be a bomb, by the simplest of minds. But by any intelligent human, it is an obvious joke.

This thing she built has GOT to be one of the best .

-------------
But I really think she should have chosen another location, Unless it was a race to see who could get arrested first. Maybe they do that at MIT.

[ohio2007]

82. no, I think these were the LOGAN airport guys that watch people come and go

every day.
Nothing bad ever got past them
/sarc

[goodgd_yall]

50. Silly girl

Of course the contraption is going to spook everybody. Did she have so much confidence in our cops that she didn't see she could have been blown away?

[durrrty libby]

52. The news report said cops had assault weapons drawn

She is very lucky that she didn't get riddled

I bet her parents want to strangle her

[goodgd_yall]

60. Yea, I bet

She'll get a chewing out.

[Canuckistanian]

56. When I was studying electronics

I used to wire my lab projects on a breadboard while riding on the bus. I quite enjoyed doing it. I had a long amount of time to kill and the wiring was quite complex sometimes.

But if someone ever noticed what I was doing, they'd invariably ask, "What is that, a bomb?" The first few times, I'd explain patiently what it I was doing but then get the statement, "Well, it still looks like a bomb".

After that, I'd just say, "Yeah, it's a bomb". Mind you, that was over 15 years ago. I doubt whether I'd get the same blank stares if I tried that today. I'd probably be surrounded by the ATF within 20 minutes.

[Tian Zhuangzhuang]

77. that's one thing I don't understand.

People do realize that bombs require at the very least explosives. I mean by all means I'm glad that the cops checked her out (IE asked the question) but if it's not a bomb it's not a bomb. There isn't a half a bomb scenario. (A fake bomb charge is generally restricted to a device that is used in a commission of a crime. Otherwise all those dynamite alarm clocks would be felonies.

[Trillo]

61. This is a better link. Thanks.

Can't cell phones be made into bomb tripping devices? Why allow them in public, but arrest a electrical design student with her electrical project?

[Poll_Blind]

62. Yeah, I was thinking something similar. n/t

PB

[Blue_Tires]

64. ignorant....

[tranche]

72. Where's the Play Dough Pic

I've already posted this question on another thread:

"Not trying to be a smart alek but I see the picture of the sweatshirt, the picture of the circuit board, and the picture of the girl, but I'd like to take a look at the play dough she reportedly was holding. Was this verified by either the girl and/or the lawyer? or was this coming from the initial police/press report?"

I've been looking around news reports on this and can't find anything. I'd really like to see that play dough! It just seems that this element of the story adds just enough to the incident for many to justify the shooting of this person. I'd like to see a debate on the issue with a verification of the existence or non-existence of this play dough.

[The Animator]

73. This is just another clear case of severe over reation.

I'm watching the news, and every jackass on the TV is trying to tell me that it a "fake bomb" that it was a college prank by someone trying to make a statement.

Bullshit.

Here is what I think is the more plausible explanation, but the more plausible explanation doesn't make for a sexy news story.

She made this completely harmless harmless little gadget. Something that spells her name out in lights. It's a gut little attention getter and conversation piece if your going to a social/networking function like say... I don't know, a career day. When it's not activated it just looks like a jumble of wires on a circuit board. At least that what it looks like to anyone who knows anything about electronics.. to the professionally paranoid it looks like a bomb. She, knowing about electronics, recognizes it for what it is. However she fails to realize what it might look like to other people. She probably forgot she was even wearing the fricken' thing when she went to the airport.

Geniuses can be and often are absentminded. Case in point, Albert Einstein was once so focused on prepping for a speech he was about to give, that he forgot to put on his freaking pants. He went out on stage, much to the shock of his audience, and dismay of his colleagues, and delivered his speech in naught but his boxer shorts.

This was clearly a misunderstanding that got blown way the hell out of proportion. Every news show I've seen has been denouncing this chick for pulling a prank. For making a "Fake Bomb" and scaring the hell out of everyone. No one seems to be asking whether she intended the device to be perceived as a bomb. If she did, that one thing. If she didn't, there is absolutely no call for the kind of verbal abuse she's been getting for this. In fact I think the only reason she's being prosecuted, and the only reason the media is running with this "prank,stunt,fake bomb" angle is to save face for being to stupid to recognize the device for what it was.

We as a society have gone way over the fucking line with our constant overreaction to things. This and that recent story of a kid who got expelled for simply drawing a picture of a gun. I mean, seriously. How can you, unless you're Bugs fricken Bunny, hurt someone with a picture of a gun?

[tigereye]

86. good post...

[Tian Zhuangzhuang]

78. Maybe they should have this sign at the airport

[mainer]

79. She didn't try to board a plane. It was a non-secure area.

It was the equivalent of walking down the street with a silly costume. How can she be prosecuted for this?

[ohio2007]

81. but did they TASER her ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xzkd_m4ivmc&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Econservativeunderground%2Ecom%2Fforum%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D107480%26page%3D5

It's what people come to expect these days
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmZblY9go78&NR=1

[IDemo]

83. As an electronics tech, I gotta say that is one ugly breadboarding job

complete with scotch tape, an ESD no-no. Don't think I would trust her to patch together a real bomb if I were hiring terraists.

[ohio2007]

85. yet they are calling it "art" nt

[rayofreason]

87. Definitely a Simpson...

D'oh!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

88. "and i thought MIT students were smaht."

Well, this just goes to show you. There are different kinds of "smart." Some people have book smarts, and some people have street smarts.

There's no way I could have been accepted at MIT, and I'm sure those kids are scary bright. Some of them, may have trouble dealing with the real world.