I just saw this in the Washington Post about a BYU student. Further words fail me…
" When police and fire crews responded to a blaze caused by an explosion at a Brigham Young University dorm, they found that it had been caused by a resident’s homemade “experiment” — rocket fuel.
The 22-year-old was cooking up about five pounds of a volatile mixture on the stovetop — wanting to experiment after seeing something about it online — when it “suddenly exploded into a fireball,” according to the BYU Police Department. Smoke was billowing out into the hallway, and the “intense heat” from the flames triggered the sprinkler system, flooding a main floor."
I hope he’s been kicked out of the dorm. For good. Don’t care if he wasn’t planning anything “nefarious”-- that is an unforgivable level of recklessness.
I was designing (on paper) a solid rocket engine for my senior design project in college. I could not get permission from my university to actually build it. The concern was the deflagration that occurred here. Many people burn off their eyebrows doing what this student did. Even when I got an outside company to safely build the solid rocket engine that I designed, I still couldn’t get permission to store it in the school’s explosion chamber.
I know that most people will think that this student was negligent, but I do sympathize with the frustration of trying to learn about rocket engines, but not having the facilities to build them safely.
One needs to think of the greater good—can whatever I am doing endanger myself or others? If so, how can it be done safely? This is what is missing. Where are critical thinking skills? This person is in college and should have developed some—enough to realize that this could pose danger to himself and others.
While true, the criminalization of stupidity is a very slippery slope. The bar for a criminal investigation of recklessness (as opposed to deliberately seeking to harm other people) should be set pretty high. I agree that the culprit should be liable for any damages, but I think it would be a mistake for the police to be taking action here, especially as it seems noone was hurt.
True, the student was very VERY lucky no one was harmed. I do hope he and his family pay for all the damage he caused. This was a 22 year old—possibly a college SR. I’d be concerned if I was the parent about such poor judgment.
This assumes you were right and they were wrong about how problematical your device was, and that they may have been negligent in providing you with necessary resources, if (IF!) this was supposed to be part of your sanctioned program. If not, I don’t see how schools would be required or expected to provide venues for this sort of “experimentation.”
And in any case, moving it to the dorm kitchen is beyond stupid. I’m assuming you did not do that.
Back in my college days, we had students cooking up all sorts of things in the dorms, but not rocket fuel. Most of these “chemists” never made it to the graduation. If my kid was displaced from her dorm because of this, I would be p’d off.
Many BYU students are older because they’ve been on Mission for 2 years. I know at the idaho campus they are required to live in the ‘dorm’ (many are apartments on or near campus), but not sure about Provo campus.
I recall a dorm kitchen being destroyed by an exploding can of condensed milk, by someone who was trying to make banoffee pie and let the pan boil dry.
hit a sprinkler with a golf club, knocked it off and caused massive amounts of flood damage.
drunk as a skunk fell out of a window…BF was too drunk to know partner was missing…until police came and asked ‘where was partner’. Then BF noticed the missing window screen. Oh. and it was a bed lofted on bricks right next to a small window. It would have taken effort to fall out … if one were sober. Attempted to sue…didn’t work.
Left oven on…set off sprinklers…more fire damage.
turned bathroom into a sauna by installing a steamer. Had to repair down to the studs.
called the front office and asked why their bed sheets were not being changed and when the laundry service would be by. Um…you rented an individual apartment.