"She said that it was a piece of art and she wanted to stand out on career day,"

[rodeodance]

MIT coed with fake bomb `art' arrested

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070921/ap_on_re_us/fake_bomb;_ylt=AhRLoVjxxx5wZalY4CodJgas0NUE

By GLEN JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer 13 minutes ago

BOSTON - An MIT student with what police feared was a fake bomb attached to her chest was arrested at gunpoint Friday at Logan International Airport and later claimed it was artwork, officials said.


Star Simpson, 19, had a computer circuit board and wiring in plain view over a black hooded sweat shirt she was wearing, said State Police Maj. Scott Pare, the commanding officer at the airport.

"She said that it was a piece of art and she wanted to stand out on career day," Pare said at a news conference. "She claims that it was just art, and that she was proud of the art and she wanted to display it."

Simpson was charged with disturbing the peace and possessing a hoax device, and was to be arraigned in East Boston District Court later Friday.

[Orrex]

1. It was stupid of her

To break into that hotel room in Vegas to try and take back her sports memorabilia.

[Red Zelda]

2. Star Simpson?

'nuff said.

[valerief]

3. She should never have quit The View. She could have shown it on there. nt

[rodeodance]

4. "extremely lucky she followed the instructions or deadly force would have been used,"

Simpson was "extremely lucky she followed the instructions or deadly force would have been used," Pare said. "She's lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue."

[rodeodance]

7. The trooper, joined by others with submachine guns, confronted her at a traffic island in front of t

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. "Had she not followed the protocol, we might have used deadly force."

Pare said Simpson took a subway to the airport, but he was not sure if she had the device on at that time.

She told authorities she was at the airport to greet someone arriving on a flight from Oakland. Authorities verified information as to the name of the passenger she was greeting, and said he had already left the airport.

[valerief]

5. If it hadn't ticked, you must acquit! nt

[cali]

6. stupid.

And it would have been stupid before 9/11.

[Hissyspit]

8. Darn those idealistic 19-year-olds for expecting the older adult world to not be complete morons.

I guess she learned her lesson.

[Warren DeMontague]

13. She wore a FAKE BOMB to the AIRPORT.

I'm sorry, but the "complete moron" in this story is her.

[regnaD kciN]

9. So much for the notion that M.I.T. students are all geniuses...

:eyes:

Actually, this is something I'd expect more from a place like CalArts (where I got my graduate degree) -- a school with imaginative and eccentric students who weren't always long on common sense -- rather than the aspiring techies, scientists, and engineers at M.I.T.

She managed to "stand out," all right...and should probably consider herself quite lucky that none of the hired TSA guns decided to shoot first and ask questions later. Seriously, a getup like that would give every sign that she was a suicide bomber who was about to detonate her explosives at any moment, therefore lots of law enforcement types would think it better to "take her out" right away, before she had a chance to kill everyone around her.

Ironically, what probably saved her was her sex -- in this country, people probably still have trouble imagining women carrying out terrorist bombings. Had she been a male (and especially, as Peggy Loonan puts it, a "swarthy male"), I have little doubt that she'd be in the city morgue by now.

[AnotherGreenWorld]

17. I think you're right. A male, by himself, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with

something that looks like an explosive device attached to it would be shot at once.

[Igel]

21. They're geniuses, where it counts.

Where it doesn't count for academics, well, sometimes they're idiots.

I knew an electrical engineering PhD student that graduated with his undergrad degree from MIT, and he could discuss the finer points of French existentialism with gusto after 5 beers.

But he had no idea how to tap the beer keg when sober (and insisted on giving bad advice to the guy who was doing a good job), and once it was tapped he couldn't figure out how to get beer out of it. When it was time for the party to end, he couldn't get the door to the stairs open, either; he blamed the beer, but I'm not sure about that.

[Nailzberg]

25. She is lucky, but it's the cops, not TSA that have the guns

Unless a Federal Air Marshal happened to be around. TSA screeners are not armed. It's city or state cops that are gonna do the shooting.

[lpbk2713]

10. Come on, give the kid a break.

Haven't we all gone to an airport wearing a faux bomb as a clothing accessory at one time or another?

:sarcasm:

[LisaM]

11. Since when is a computer board and some wires "art"?

Seriously. It takes very little imagination and no artistic talent to do something like that. I had a friend who was defending kids who try to intimidate others as being "artistic". I beg to differ. I can't imagine a true artist going around trying to physically intimidate other people.

I really can't believe she would do something like that after the incident in January, too, which got plenty of airplay around the country at large, so I'm guessing was all over the news in Boston, too!

[AnotherGreenWorld]

15. And Play-Doh fashioned to look like plastic explosives. And a battery...

[LisaM]

19. LOL, when is the gallery opening going to be?

I can't wait!

[Hissyspit]

23. You don't know much about contemporary art.

And have you seen a photo of it?

[rusty quoin]

12. Someone raised a very foolish daughter.

[Totally Committed]

14. Considering who they allow to operate weapons these days,

she's lucky she's still alive.

TC

[ecstatic]

16. New points: She was waiting outside. Just went to the counter to ask for info

and returned to wait on the island where pickups usually occur.

[Warren DeMontague]

18. Was she waiting for the "I'm a complete fucking imbecile" bus, perchance? nt

[krispos42]

20. Yeah, well, these are works of art, too

Doesn't mean it's smart to wander around a prime terrorism target full of nervous, gun-toting policemen.

[Bluebear]

22. Well, she certainly stood out, now, didn't she?

:crazy:

[Hissyspit]

24. Here's a photo of what everyone overreacted to:

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

[ManiacJoe]

26. At a distance, that will look a lot like

a brick of C4 with wires and a battery hanging off it.

[Nailzberg]

27. I wouldn't call it overreacting.

The police response was appropriate. I'm looking at that thing and I don't know what the hell it is. Bombs aren't really my forte, but that looks like it could be part of a crude explosive device. I don't think it's overreacting for the cops to stop her and determine what she is doing at the airport with a science project on her sweatshirt.

However, I'm sure we'll see overreacting when we find out what they end up charging her with.