Student causes scare at Logan with shirt 'art'

An MIT student walked into Logan International Airport yesterday morning wearing a glowing device with wires coming out of it, prompting a bomb scare and her arrest at gunpoint.

The student, Star Simpson, 19, said she had designed the device, which she called a piece of art, and had worn it for several days, hoping to attract prospective employers visiting MIT for a weeklong career fair.

But police and prosecutors said Simpson, a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering and computer science, put herself and others in danger by wearing a device that looked like a bomb to the airport.

"This is total disregard for the situation; this is an airport, post-9/11," Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Wayne Margolis told an East Boston District Court yesterday during Simpson's arraignment on charges of possessing a hoax device.

The device, made of a plastic circuit board decorated with green LED lights and wires leading to a nine-volt battery, was attached to the front of Simpson's black, hooded sweatshirt when she walked up to the information counter in Terminal C at 8 a.m. and asked about an incoming flight from Oakland, Calif., said Major Scott Pare of the State Police. He said Simpson was also carrying in her hand between 5 and 6 ounces of Play-Doh, a substance that can resemble some plastic explosives.

When Maria Moncayo, who worked at the information counter, asked Simpson what the device was, she walked away without responding, according to the police report. Moncayo then called police.

Outside the terminal, police officers surrounded Simpson. They aimed their machine guns at her and ordered her to raise her hands. The airport's explosive ordnance disposal unit approached and investigated the device.

"She said it was a piece of art, and she wanted to stand out on career day," Pare said. "Thankfully, because she followed our instructions, she ended up in our cell instead of a morgue."

Simpson was released on $750 cash bail and ordered to return to court Oct. 29. If convicted, she faces up to five years in prison.

Last winter, two Charlestown artists planted 40 blinking circuit boards around Boston, setting off a wave of bomb scares that brought the city to a halt. The packages were a marketing stunt for a show on Cartoon Network. The artists, Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens, performed community service as part of their plea deal. Criminal charges against the artists were dropped.

Simpson told police she had been wearing the sweatshirt during the weeklong career fair. The annual event, which is open to all MIT students, attracted about 300 companies, said David Opolon, employer relations director for the fair.

Simpson - who is from Lahaina, Hawaii - is a sprinter on the school's swim team, according to the MIT website. Her court-appointed lawyer, Ross Schreiber, said she was secretary of the MIT Electronics Research Society. On Simpson's personal website at MIT, she says she is studying computers and enjoys tinkering in a student-run machine shop.

Outside Simpson's dormitory yesterday, a student who identified himself as a friend of Simpson's wore a circuit board the size of a notebook around his neck.

"All tech men wear circuit boards," he said. He refused to give his name.

But some students said Simpson was not using common sense when she walked into the airport wearing her device.

"It's a time of terrorism; people are afraid," said Yoshio Perez, 18, a freshman majoring in mechanical engineering.

MIT said in a statement that "Ms. Simpson's actions were reckless and understandably created alarm at the airport."

Police reacted properly to Simpson's appearance, said Arnold Howitt, who heads the research program on domestic preparedness for terrorism at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

"It's difficult to tell what it is from a distance," Howitt said. "The officers' lives are on the line, as well as anyone's who is within range" of the potential explosive device, he added.

Simpson arrived at Logan to meet her boyfriend, Tim Anderson, a writer arriving from Oakland.

During her arraignment, Simpson stood silently in the courtroom, listening to the charges against her. When her court-appointed lawyer mentioned Anderson's name, Simpson broke into a broad smile.

Anderson, who posted bond for Simpson, refused to comment.

Ayse Kehler, who was Simpson's swim coach in Hawaii, described Simpson as "a real bright child" and a bookworm who is "a little different."

"Really nice kid, always minded her thing," Kehler said. "Always danced to a different drummer."

Brian R. Ballou of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Erin Conroy contributed to this report.