At Logan Airport, the art of disturbing the peace
THE PEACE at Logan Airport was disturbed last week by the appearance of a 19-year-old student who was wearing what appeared to be the elements of a bomb ("Student causes scare at Logan with shirt 'art'," Page A1, Sept. 22). We have been asked by her friends and professors at Massachusetts Institute of Technology to forgive Star Simpson as having been innocent of the potential consequences of her dress and demeanor.
While she might be innocent of intent to alarm, the reaction of our security forces is fully justified. I could understand the use of deadly force first instead of a request for surrender. We can't afford to have our security forces looking for ways to excuse what clearly looks like a threat, since those who do intend us harm could use the pretext of an innocent to cause overwhelming casualties or to gather intelligence by testing the perimeter of our airport defenses.
We have learned to live with constraints on our behavior as we travel through airports. We have also developed expectations of public behavior in refraining from inflammatory language or actions. Being ignorant of the consequences of such behavior is not an acceptable excuse.
STEPHEN P. BRAINARD
Lincoln, R.I.
THE POLICE and prosecutors need to realize that the fact that someone created a security concern doesn't mean she committed a crime. It was reasonable for the Logan Airport employee to call police when she was concerned about the electronics worn by Star Simpson. It was reasonable for the police to apprehend Simpson. However, after discovering that the electronic device she wore was a piece of art and not an explosive device, it was unreasonable to file the charge of possessing a hoax device. That should be reserved for those who are trying to pass off an innocent device as a bomb, not those who have their art mistaken for a bomb by a concerned member of the public.
Something is wrong when a person can be prosecuted not for what she did, but for the unjustified conclusion another person came to about what she was doing.
ELLEN KRANZER
Arlington
LET ME offer a simple piece of advice to our brave first responders, before they shoot an innocent: People who are trying to explode a bomb don't advertise. They're trying to blend in, not garner attention with blinking lights.
RICHARD BRAUER
Pretoria
THIS CASE of the MIT student is confusing and disturbing. Last year I passed through the San Jose airport. Within a few feet of the gate was a shop with a full array of printed circuit boards sold as billfolds, hairclips, wallets, notebooks, and clipboards. The shop there proudly displayed this technical art.
Now if this sort of art is legal in the San Jose International Airport, what makes wearing it a crime in Boston?
As a nation, we cannot applaud the folks in California for figuring out a way to recycle old computers as art and then turn around and penalize people using this art on the East Coast.
ROBERT BATZINGER
South Bend, Ind.
AS A commercial artist, I'll offer Star Simpson a deal: I won't try to design robots if she won't try passing that stuff off as art.
LOGAN SEALE
Haverhill
