MIT student arrested for wearing circuit fashion

Once, again, Boston has been subjected to a bomb scare concerning an odd circuit board.

Star Simpson, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student, was arrested at gunpoint Friday morning at Logan Airport when authorities suspected she had a bomb strapped to her chest.

Simpson was wearing a black sweatshirt that had a circuit board with wires, green LED lights and a 9-volt battery attached to it. When an airport employee asked about her shirt, Simpson walked away without answering so the employee called the authorities, the Boston Globe has reported.

The back of Simpson's sweatshirt said "socket to me...Course VI," a reference to MIT's electrical engineering and computer science program.Simpson is a second-year student in the electrical engineering and computer science department of MIT's School of Engineering, according to the MIT Web site.

It is unclear whether Simpson was wearing the circuit board sweatshirt to intentionally provoke an incident.

Simpson was not immediately available for comment.

Last January, Boston authorities shut down several streets after people noticed circuit boards with lights throughout various parts of the city. They turned out to be part of an Aqua Teen Hunger Force guerrilla marketing campaign.

[jimmyhoops]

All the rage in 'Geek Wear'....

Truely a geeky fashion statement coupled with a degree of <br />arrogance and stupidity given the current state of affairs with <br />regard to airline travel these days.<br /><br />Perhaps this student might want to reconnect her neural network <br />and pay attention to airport security measures these days if one <br />wishes to fly without a hitch.<br /><br />And in the immortal words of Carlos Mencia...DeDeDE!

[georgiarat]

Surprised

Well, either she is a very intelligent highly education young person <br />lacking common sense (what we typically see at the MIT's, <br />Harvard's, Columbia's, etc) or she was looking to provoke an <br />incident. This may have been in concert with her boyfriend who <br />had already arrived and departed the airport. Today I expect they <br />would have spoken by cellphone as soon as he was on the <br />ground.

[Loki2012]

Intelligent highly educated?

It is nothing more than leds and resistors on a breadboard, which is NOT a circuit board! If I was a two year enginerring student at MIT I would not be strutting around wearing such a simple circuit. I am not MIT yet I was building simple circuits much more complicated than that in Jr. High.<br /><br />Sad they thought it was a bomb. Where are the fake sticks of dynamite? Shouldn't there be some kind of count down display if this was a hoax?<br /><br />Sad she is proud of that circuit. I hope it does more than just light up. There are tee shirts out there that mimic the pong game of old.

[maniac42]

Another example of TSA stupidity

If they'd paid any attention at all in school, the airport "security" goons could have seen that the gadget was harmless by simple inspection. It annoys me that we are paying to keep these unemployables off the street.

[groggyfroggy]

Agreed

I just had a run-in with TSA myself...pretty much the same response...because I "tested positive for Nitro Glycerin"...my HEART MEDICATION. Jesus Christ. I had to grab the bottle away from them just so I could survive the incident. Is there a 3 strike rule anywhere here?<br /><br />1. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Hysteria<br />2. 9V LED and Plah-Doh<br />3. Heart Medication<br /><br />That's 3 by my count. Oh...btw...I got stopped on the trip BACK for exactly the SAME REASON. Not only did they NOT have the previous incident on file - but when the kid (I swear to GOD he wasn't over 17) assigned to search me came over he asked me...I'm not kidding..."Do you know why you were pulled aside?" I said I had a metallic hip replacement that set the detector off....so he swiped the portable wand up and down my leg and I was free to go.<br /><br />You folks feeling any safer out there now??? TSA is a JOKE and don't even pretend to think otherwise.<br /><br />As for the comment "she's lucky she isn't in the morgue" - someone better lose their job over that. Murdering a 19 year old woman in cold blood for carrying toys is still illegal in this country...last time I checked anyway.

[android53]

Bostonians don't do ARTSY FOLKSY

Hey, here in Boston we have little patience for self indulging idiot savants who call themselves A-R-T-I-S-T-S. Check your facts. MZ Star went past security wearing a hoodie over her head refusing to stop for the officers. Now, we care a hell of a lot about our security specially when it comes to Logan Airport. MZ Star had plenty of other SPACES where she could have shown off her PERFORMANCE ART. The state house, city hall plaza, Museum of Fine Arts, Fenway park, the Common, the Four Seasons, Hancock Tower, and the very top of the MIT observatory. As a matter of fact, she could have pulled a Britney and wear her circuit right over her boobs. THAT would have given her a more lasting 15 minute fame moment. Unfortunately for her she now has to deal with a deries of "DATES" at the East Boston Courthouse. Unfortunately for us, tax paying stiffs of the state of Massachusetts, we get to pay for her public counsel, as little MZ Star has no money to afford her own attorney, and pay as well for all of those little court appearances that will eventually lead to her continuance without a finding, provided she complies with those little pesky conditions of probation that one of our judges will have to impose on this brainless idiot. Consider this, had you been the brazen ass walking into Logan armed with your pointless art hood over your head and all, putty in your hand, 9-volt battery on your chest, would you consider yourself lucky the police didn't shoot at you? Well, MZ Star is. Next time she wants to perform, she should probably do it in the sanctity of her room with her face stuck to a video cam for the whole world to see. How about that? Fell free to come see us in Boston any time just make sure you keep any expressionist ART to yourself, at least, until you have safely boarded your cab.<br /> Cheers!

[xmlguy--2008]

Did you see her hair?

You might want to keep your hoodie over your head if you had her hairstyle, which would certainly attract more attention. This device looked nothing like a bomb. Bare electronics doesn't equal bomb. Wires do not explode. 9v batteries do not explode. LEDs do not explode. Breadboards do not explode. You should be far more concerned about a 2 liter bottle of soda, or pipe, or anything large enough to contain actual explosives. Now of course the police need to follow a safe protocol to allow the person to be searched - but they should have easily recognized in about one minute that this was no bomb hoax or trial run.

[Will_Smith29]

Dangerous game

Really surprised at how desperate for attention she is. If i saw her with play dough in her hand and a board would have been a head shot, dangerous game she played

[Please choose another-2195957]

Common sense

Does anyone doubt the old saying, your 1st 3 years in college is spent removing your common sense.

[tacit]

Apparently, these days...

...it's more like "your first three years working for the Federal <br />government removes your common sense."<br /><br />In the real world, where actual bomb-makers build real-life <br />bombs that are intended to kill people, bombs don't have wires <br />sticking out of them and little blinking lights. It's only in B <br />Hollywood movies that bombs have wires sticking out of them <br />and blinking lights. In the real world--you know, the one where <br />the Feds are trying to catch real criminals--bombs do not look <br />like Hollywood special effects. They look like nondescript boxes <br />or backpacks.<br /><br />Common sense says that a bomb actually has to have an <br />explosive attached to it--you know, a part that goes "boom." <br />Wires and blinking lights, by themselves, don't go "boom."<br /><br />If the TSA can't actually recognize what a real bomb looks like, I <br />fear for all our safety. Were these people trained by watching the <br />James Bond movie "Goldfinger" over and over again?

[jpnoz]

They watch too many movies

First rule of real world bomb design: don't make it have blinking <br />lights and beepers.<br /><br />Of course, this girl was a fool for not simply dealing with it when <br />they asked her what the deal was, but still, the fact that her <br />blinking shirt caused such great concern that they arrested her is a <br />sad indication that these counter-terrorist folks are a little too <br />eager to do their jobs.

[xmlguy--2008]

Unjustified Paranoia

Did you see a photo of the "hoax device"?<br /><br />It was merely a breadboard with LEDs and a 9V battery. There was nothing to give any indication whatsoever that this device was a bomb. No pipes, nothing large enough to be a charge, no sticks of dynamite (real or fake), or any trigger device. They should be far more concerned about the potential of a hidden bomb in a backpack, suitcase, or box, in which you can see no wires. These airport staff and police officials need to be given more training so that they can recognize the difference between a real bomb, a hoax bomb, and what this student was carrying - which appears to be exactly what she said it was - electronic art. These charges are ridiculous.

[heavyrunner]

Monty Python

The Knights that Say Nikh should be called in immediately!!! Only they could properly defend the brave city of Boston!!!

[ChrisSpence]

More bad security decisions...

Reminds me of an article I read yesterday...<br /><a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.martialdevelopment.com/blog/minimize-the-risk-of-a-personal-security-failure/" target="_newWindow">http://www.martialdevelopment.com/blog/minimize-the-risk-of-a-personal-security-failure/</a><br /><br />It's CYA, not security that motivates this kind of abuse.

[nhidealist]

Monday morning QBs...

Amazing how many people here whine when a security guard pulls over an idiot. You would be the first ones in line to whine when something bad *does* happen. Get over yourselves - none of you are psych war or explosives experts.<br /><br />Just because something does not have a large, stereotypical chunk of gray putty hanging from it does not mean it's not dangerous. From a split-second decision required standpoint, how was a security guard supposed to know if she had wires going through her shirt to something hidden somewhere under her clothes? How about if a radio transmitter was part of her rig? (IEDs are routinely triggered with cell phones or other transmitter gear).<br /><br />Whether you like it or not - and I don't - even joking about bombs is punishable in airports now. What she did was at least that, or she is so benighted about the state of the world, esp. security in our airports, that it's scary to think of people like that driving. Or voting.<br /><br />You also whine because security guards are "unemployable" or aren't electronics and explosives experts. Guess what, you Starbucks elitist whiners: we have a lot of airports to secure, and when hundreds of people are waiting to get on a plane, it's not a security guard's job to know that those resistors and LEDs are just a stupid kid's pathetic bid for attention; their job is to get that person aside, determine whether a threat exists, apply relevant regulations and rules, and in parallel to keep smart, innocent travelers moving onto airplanes. Speaking as a traveler, I wish they would take MORE people out of line immediately; one moron who can't read simple instructions holds everyone else up all the time.<br /><br />Yeah, so maybe the terrorists are smarter than your TSA guard. Then again, Richard Reid was no genius; and your average terrorist - think FL idiots some months ago - isn't either. So, since like most whiners the supercilious ones here only complain rather than actually offering a solution, what *should* we do? Remove all security checks since duh, that guard can't even distinguish an inductor from a capacitor at 100 feet? After all, security is soooo 2001 when it comes to the Crackberry I'm-so-important set. Frankly, my opinion of the security guards rose after reading these comments, because they probably have to deal with jerks like this all day long.

[Dr_Zinj]

What I'd REALLY like to do...

Is walk into every airport in the U.S. and fire everyone wearing a TSA uniform.<br />Then I'd like to convict everyone in the Department of Homeland Security for felony criminal malfeasance and lock them away for life in maximum security.<br />And I'd do the same for all the supporters of the so-called Patriot Act which was anything but.