December 05, 2003

Bob Jones Academy Fire

Since I am the Blogosphere's Bob Jones corespondant, I feel a need to comment on this story involving the Bob Jones Academy.

At about 10:30 a.m. a teacher was showing her class how phosphorus produced the glowing hound in the Sherlock Holmes mystery "The Hound of Baskervilles," when the element reacted with the air and caught fire, said Jonathan Pait, media spokesman.

Before anyone can claim that Bob Jones Academy staff were being stupid or unsafe:

"It produced more smoke than anything else," Pait said.
Officials with the state Department of Health and Environmental Control said the teacher did not break any rules by bringing the substance into the class. The jar was marked and the phosphorus handled according to DHEC guidelines, Pait said.

Now, this story is a little different from what I heard. One of my friends, whose name I will not disclose, was told by a couple of girls in the snack shop that her sister had been holding the piece of phosphorus in English and that it had "exploded," which forced the academy to shut down for a couple of hours.

Hmm... Is this yet another example of the failures of the mainstream media, or is it just a case of exaggeration on the part of a couple of high school girls? I will email my friend and find out what really happened! Stay tuned.

Posted by Blog Jones at December 5, 2003 11:40 PM
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