02-02-2007, 03:24 PM
Quote:A few years later (!?) also at my university some white powder was found ON A LABBENCH IN THE CHEMISTRY department....and security was called...which had to close the building for several hours....
I can cry if I hear these things.
At my alma mater, a briefcase was found in the men's room with "white powdery substance" on the handle. AND IT WAS ON THE MATH FLOOR!!!1!1!1!
More than campus security was called... a freakin' S.W.A.T. team or something came in, and they shut down the university for the rest of the day. Apparently some people are unaware that mathematicians are naturally covered in a protective chalk coating in much the same way that philosophers are shrouded by a shield of nonsense. (Generalizations: YMMV. Some mathematicians prefer dry-erase.)
Turns out the briefcase belonged to the then-department head, who was retired military. He was in a hurry to get to a lunch meeting after teaching a class, and he left his briefcase next to the sink after he washed the chalk off his hands.
-Lem