Got Milk ??

[N2DFire]

Ummm - yea.


Teacher Suspended for Milk Lesson

By AARON BEARD
Associated Press Writer

SMITHFIELD, N.C. (AP) -- A high school teacher was suspended for a classroom experiment that caused several students to vomit after drinking large amounts of milk.

Jeff Ferguson, a chemistry and physics teacher at Smithfield-Selma High School, organized the experiment last week to test the body's ability to neutralize acids in milk.

It was intended to show the body can handle only so much before a natural reaction occurs and the person vomits. Out of 42 students in two classes, 13 did just that. None required medical attention, and five students chose not to participate.

Parents alerted school administrators about the Nov. 12 incident. Ferguson was sent home the next day and was suspended with pay Tuesday, pending an investigation by a law firm hired by the school district.

Superintendent Jim Causby said the district would decide on further action after the investigation, which could take "days to weeks."

On Wednesday, Ferguson failed to persuade a judge to let him return to the classroom. He wanted a temporary restraining order so that he could return to help his students prepare for end-of-semester exams, but Superior Court Judge Knox Jenkins denied his request.

"It's been rather unpleasant sitting at home and knowing nobody is teaching my class as effectively as I can," Ferguson said after the hearing. "There's not a lot positive about this situation."

The teacher's attorney, Lamar Armstrong, said students were not required to participate in the experiment, and students had receptacles in case they became ill.

"If anybody wanted to quit at any time, they could have," Armstrong said.

About 50 students packed a Johnston County courtroom for Wednesday's hearing to show their support.

Elizabeth Sthuerger, 18, said she drank about a half-gallon of milk, then felt sick. While she said the experiment "may have been a little off-the-wall," Sthuerger said she supported Ferguson.

Jacob Johnson, a 16-year-old junior, added that "it's an advanced class and students are old enough that they should be mature in making those decisions."

Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Dalmatian90]

Hey, at least he didn't blow things up...discussing the formula for gunpowder and the beauty of Acetylene in plastic bags is probably not a good exercise in discretion by a H.S. teacher (no matter how much fun either is...)


Wednesday, November 19, 2003

Teacher put on leave over bomb blast

Students head to court in Sturbridge explosion

Bill Fortier
T&G STAFF

The Southbridge High School chemistry teacher allegedly involved in an experiment gone wrong in a Sturbridge explosion has been put on administrative leave.

In addition, Sturbridge and Southbridge police are summoning several youths to court to face possible charges in the explosion.

Sturbridge police said an "open-ended" high school chemistry project, in which some honors students explored the chemical process of burning acetylene, was to blame for the explosion at Westville Lake Recreation Area. The blast about 11 p.m. Nov. 9 prompted dozens of telephone calls to Southbridge and Sturbridge police.

Southbridge Superintendent of Schools JoAnn D. Austin yesterday identified the teacher as William B. Lee, who is in his second year as a chemistry teacher at Southbridge High School.

Mrs. Austin said Mr. Lee has been placed on paid administrative leave while the School Department investigates the incident.

"That does not imply he's done anything wrong. We won't know that until the investigation is completed," Mrs. Austin said. "But we need to do that to expedite our internal investigation and move the process along as quickly as possible."

Sturbridge police are seeking complaints against six youths, while Southbridge police took out a complaint in Dudley District Court against five Southbridge High School students on charges of injury by fire, negligent use.

Southbridge Police Chief Daniel R. Charette identified those students as Andrew Gervasi, 18, of 156 Ashland Ave., Jamie Pena, 17, of 74 Hilltop Drive, Kristen Auclair, 17, of 26 Forest Ave., Phillip Dashnaw, 17, of 21 Bellevue Ave. and a 16-year-old male juvenile from Southbridge.

Police say the quintet used an explosive device to start a two-alarm brush fire off Ashland Avenue in Southbridge earlier on the weekend of the Westville explosion.

Chief Charette linked them to the Sturbridge explosion and said both on Monday and yesterday that Mr. Gervasi acknowledged throwing a lighted, gasoline-soaked sock against two 30-gallon plastic bags filled with acetylene gas.

Chief Charette said yesterday the youths will be summoned to Dudley District Court at a later date for a clerk magistrate's hearing in which a decision would be made whether to move ahead with those charges.

Sturbridge Police Chief Thomas R. Button said yesterday that Detective Alan G. Curboy went to Dudley District Court to take out an application for charges of wanton destruction of property and disturbing the peace against six youths - four Southbridge High School seniors and a junior, as well as a youth from Connecticut he described as a friend of the students.

Chief Button and a spokesman in Dudley District Court declined to identify the six. The court spokesman said their identities would not become public information until a clerk magistrate decides whether to issue the charges.

Mrs. Austin said that while the Southbridge School Department has received no official report from police, a press conference held Monday by Sturbridge police provided "some valid information" that allows the School Committee to proceed with its investigation.

"We still don't have anything in hand, though," she said yesterday.

Mrs. Austin said Chief Charette was to discuss the matter in executive session at last night's Southbridge School Committee meeting.

The committee last night issued a public statement on the matter. Chairman Lisa A. Tarantino read the statement in a telephone interview:

"First and foremost, we are thankful that no one was hurt. As a result of this incident, the superintendent has ordered an investigation relating to the school's involvement in this matter. The principal will appoint an outside investigator to conduct the investigation related to the school's involvement.

"The school district is working with its counsel, Mirick O'Connell of Worcester, to assure that this matter is properly investigated and reviewed. The school district looks forward to everyone's cooperation in the investigation and review of this matter," Ms. Tarantino said.

Southbridge High School Principal Joseph P. Bialy said yesterday, "The police have done their investigation. We will investigate what took place from our end, and whatever action we have to take, we will take."

Mr. Bialy said the school does not have specific policies governing science experiments, "although we follow the educational frameworks.

"But I would say that common sense and safety for the students certainly should be guidelines for any experiments," he said.

Chief Charette said yesterday the Southbridge Police Department was still gathering information to present to the district attorney, who would then decide whether to bring more charges.

Chief Charette said one student told him that school officials had warned them not to do what they did at Westville.

He said the investigation by his department determined that the actions at the Westville Lake Recreation Area and Ashland Avenue were not "in any way condoned or approved by Southbridge High School personnel."

"If I thought for a second that somebody was teaching them to make a bomb, I would have taken action," asserted Chief Charette, who said his first duty was to protect the community. "I don't see probable cause."

He said investigators of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives pulled out of the investigation when they realized there had been no attempt to make an explosive device that could hurt people or cause damage.

Repeating what he said Monday, Chief Charette said the actions in the two towns were the result of an experiment gone ridiculously wrong.

"To this point, no criminal activity has been uncovered," Chief Charette added.

Sturbridge Police Chief Button acknowledged it was a science experiment gone awry. He called it a serious mistake that could have seriously hurt people and damaged property.

"That can't be overlooked," he said.

When apprised of Chief Charette's assessment of the situation, Chief Button said, "Two people can look at the same set of facts and come up with two different conclusions.

"I'm not saying the teacher committed a criminal act," he said. "What I am saying is there is responsibility here."

John Dignam and Harold A. Gushue Jr. of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this report.