February 5, 2007 Aqua Teen used ploy that landed Continued from page 1 when darkness fell The men did not speak or enter their own pleas, but they appeared amused and smiled as the prosecutor talked about the device found at Sullivan Station underneath Interstate 93, looking like it had C-4 explosive. “The appearance of this device and its location are crucial,” Grossman said. “This device looks like a bomb.” gallery snickered, Outside the court! Michael Rich, a li for both of the men. the description of bomb-like devict could be used for an electronic device. “If somebody had left a VCR on the ground it would have been device with wires, electronic components and a power source,” he said. Boston officials were livid when the devices were discovered. “It is outrageous, in a post 9/11 world, that a company would use this type of marketing scheme,” Mayor Thomas Menino said Wednesday. “I am prepared to take any and all legal action against Turner Broadcasting and its affiliates for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today’s incidents.” Berdovsky, an artist, told The Boston Globe he was hired by a marketing company and said he was “kind of freaked out” by the furor. “I find it kind of ridiculous that they’re making these statements on TV that we must not be safe from terrorism, because they were up there for three weeks and no one noticed. It’s pretty commonsensical to look at them and say this is a piece of art and installation,” he said. Fans of the show mocked authorities for what they called an overreaction About a dozen fans gathered outside Charlestown District Court on Thursday morning with signs saying “1-31-07 Never Forget” and “Free Peter.” “We're the laughing stock,” said Tracy O’Connor, 34. “It’s almost too easy to be a terrorist these days,” said Photo courtesy of Google Images box on a comer and you can shut down a city.” Authorities vowed to hold Turner accountable for what Menino said was “corporate greed,” that led to at least $750,000 in police costs. As soon as Turner realized the Boston problem around 5 p.m., it said, law enforcement officials were told of their locations in 10 cities where it said the devices had been placed for two to three weeks: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Philadelphia. “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” is a cartoon with a cultish following that airs as part of a block of programs for adults on the Cartoon Network. A feature length film based on the show is slated for release Kent said the marketing company March 23. “We apologize to the citizens of Boston that part of a marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger,” said Phil Kent, chairman of Turner, a division of Time Warner Inc. THE CAPITAL TIMES in advertising advertisers that placed the signs, Interference Inc., was ordered to them immediately. New York-based Interference had no comment. A guard in the building where the firm’s offices are located would not let reporters inside, and no one answered the firm’s phones Thursday. Messages seeking additional comment from the Atlanta-based Cartoon Network were left with several publicists. ■es arc investigating ler or other companies !d be criminally arged, Attorney General Martha Coakley said. “We’re not going to let this go without looking at the further oofs of how this happened to cause the panic in this city,” Coakley said, n Seattle and several suburbs, the removal of the signs was low-key. “We haven’t had any calls to 911 regarding this,” Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said Wednesday. Police in Philadelphia said they believed their city had 56 devices. The New York Police Department removed 41 of the devices _ 38 in Manhattan and three in Brooklyn, according to spokesman Paul Browne. The NYPD had not received any complaints. But when it became aware of the situation, it contacted Interference Inc., which provided the locations so the devices could be removed. Hummer: Beyond the classroom [ail Continued from page 1 for fun and then lets them go. He even said that if he was able to transform into any animal, he would be a whale. That way he could share his home in the ocean with other fish, both of which he loves. But fish is not his favorite food. Actually, it’s pizza, and not just any pizza. It has to be the one from Italian remove Pizza and Subs. And his favorite drink to go with that is the Turkey Hill Iced Tea, which he drinks often while he is on campus. Hummer loves being in the college environment. It is this environment that snagged him into becoming a professor. He enjoys the ever changing field of criminal justice and decided that he wanted to major in it when he went to college. He has been a professor for nine years and studied justice and society in different forms during his college years. He majored in sociology and anthropology for his bachelor’s degree, administration of justice for his master’s degree and criminal justice for his doctorate degree at Michigan State University. “I like how every semester is different and we have new things to talk about,” said Hummer. Referring to the criminal justice system today, he added “And you don’t have to be a criminal justice major to figure that out.” He teaches classes on corrections, research methods and statistics. Because most students “dread” having to take a statistics class. Photo by RABYIA AHMED/Capital Times he enjoys teaching that course the most. And it’s not because he’s mean and enjoys watching students suffer. Actually, it’s because he wants to show them that they are indeed able to get through it and that it’s not as difficult as most students make it to be. In the fall, Hummer will also be teaching a class on comparative justice systems in the fall, which will compare the justice system of the United States to that of other countries. Hummer’s eyes were luminous as he talked about the class “I can’t wait!” said Hummer. “I’ve always wanted to teach a class like this,” he said with enthusiasm filling his tone One of the greatest things about the profession is that the professors are able to choose what classes they want to teach. He believes that if he’s excited about a course that he’s teaching, chances are that the students will like that course. “I can’t expect them to like something I don’t like myself,” he explained. Meetings and grading assigned work are the only aspects of being a professor that he doesn’t enjoy. Very pleased w ith his job, Hummer suggested that out of five positives, there is only one negative in this profession. Hummer is not one to set high goals for himself. He believes that goals should be set modestly. They should be things that make one happy in life. Many people think that money will make them happy, he said, but it’s not always the case. “Teaching my kids to catch a baseball will make me happy, rather than saying I want them to earn a 4.0 in school,” he said. Mellow, but driven is how this two-year Penn State Harrisburg professor describes himself. Even his students say that he’s very “laid-back.” Hummer’s list of favs: Sports: Baseball. The Philadelphia Phillies Place to travel: Norway because they have stunning fjords Music: Hard rock. Bands include Guns N’ Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Social Distortion
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