Ricin discovered in University of Texas dorm

[Merkin.Muffley]

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A substance discovered by a student in a University of Texas dormitory has tested positive for ricin, a potentially deadly poison, officials said.

The chunky powder was found at the Moore-Hill dormitory Thursday and reported to university police, officials said. Tests for ricin came back positive Friday. Officials don't know where it came from, said campus police spokeswoman Rhonda Weldon.

"We were very concerned as soon as we heard about the positive testing late this evening," Dr. Theresa Spalding of UT Health Services said Friday.

Ricin is extracted from castor beans and can be added to food or water, injected or sprayed as an aerosol. It can be in the form of a powder, mist, pellet, or it can be dissolved in water or weak acid.

Some students and staff were potentially exposed, according to a university statement, but have not shown any symptoms. Symptoms can include anything from difficulty breathing, fever, cough, nausea and sweating to severe vomiting and dehydration.

The dorm was sanitized and inspected, and students were cleared to return, the university said.

 

[boofus]

Austin, the san francisco of Texas. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Except maybe UN headquarters in New Dork City.

Strange how terrorists target the most liberal sections of the country, yet the liberals are their staunchest allies. The left = terminally stupid and determined to drag the rest of us down with them.

 

[Merkin.Muffley]

Strange how terrorists target the most liberal sections of the country, yet the liberals are their staunchest allies. The left = terminally stupid and determined to drag the rest of us down with them.

Simple reason - conservatives, for the most part are too smart to want to live in those places. I spent a couple of years living in Manhattan, I know what I'm talking about.

 

[CentralTexas]

Boofus,
You must not live here then. It's a bit conservative in my opinion. They seem to clone the green mini van driving church going Bush voting atomic famalies at the Dell plant I think. There are some colorful locals, an art and music scene but the City Council is doing their best to kill that off & make us a clone of Dallas...
CT

 

[longhorngunman]

Downtown Austin is as liberal-socialist as any part of California, the surrounding areas are quite conservative. In fact the libs are being pushed farther into Austin and then we'll be able to completely quarantine them.

 

[PATH]

Ricin is very bad stuff! No known antidote. Austin is liberal? Good to know for future reference!

 

[GEM]

Austin is a great city. Boofus, stop being a doofus. So people have diverse politic opinions and lives - so what. Go live on an island.

 

[boofus]

Austin is liberal?

Let's put it this way... The gay marriage ban amendment in Texas passed in every single county, except 1 one. Guess which one Austin is in?

 

[CentralTexas]

Is that Lberal or just fair minded? Now if you had pointed out that Travis was the only blue county for Kerry during the election...
CT

 

[tellner]

I saw another story on this over on fark.com (definitely The Low Road ) It looks like one of the girls had an old roll of quarters she'd brought from elsewhere. When she went to do her laundry a strange powder fell out. She immediately washed her hands (smart girl!) and called the health authorities. Neither she nor her roommate has shown any signs of ricin poisoning.

 

[Crosshair]

So was there any purified Ricin in the dorm or did some numbnuts powderise a bunch of Castor beans and spread it around the dorms so it would test positive?

I'm betting on the second theory. Near pure Ricin is easy enough to make, but there would be bodies by now had it be purified to lethal levels. The hardest part about purifying Ricin is trying to not poison yourself. The stuff is so dammed lethal you almost need a clean room to keep yourself safe.

 

[Dannyboy]

You guys that think Austin is too liberal need to get out more often.

 

[MatthewVanitas]

Austin is indeed a liberal hellhole:

Just last month I went to a gunshow, and purchased a no-ban WASR AK for $299, face-to-face, no tax or paperwork required.

Got it home, and to my horror discovered that it was SEMI-AUTO ONLY!!!!!

What kind of sick pinko town is this?

-MV

 

[Tim Burke]

or not.
There was some back pedalling on this story this morning on Fox News. A spokesman said follow-up tests for ricin were negative.
This story just says more tests are needed.

 

[GEM]

One of the best training outfits in TX - www.krtraining.com runs out of Austin.

Lots of good gun stores and two indoor ranges.

Good matches close to Austin from Mike Webb at Texas Tactical.

- Also, the new Whole Foods is to die for!!

Book People - great book store.

If the gay thing bothers you, there's always Brokeback mountain to live on.

 

[Euclidean]

I lived in Austin for about a year and I agree it's a very left wing place... for Texas.

The main reason for this is because it's where the State Legislature meets I think... Austin's a very political place.

And as someone who considers themselves a quasi-libertarian (small "l") whose Christian/Reason-based morals and values don't align to the "left/right" system, I'd say Texas is overall lukewarm on any political scale.

This is good and bad... it's good because it stops radical things like a state assault weapons ban from happening, and it's bad because it stops radical things like a Castle Doctrine from happening.

 

[Sleeping Dog]

Ok, maybe not exactly Ricin. Maybe powdered sugar from the morning's doughnut.

But over-reaction is a good thing, as long as it's for the children.

I wonder what shape the kid's parent's house is in, after the federal search was done (finding nothing, of course).

 

[tom barthel]

ricin

Has anyone considered the hero/victim theory? That is "I saved a lot of lives by finding this substance". Or Someone tried to hurt poor little me. It's like throwing a rock in water. Check the splash point first then, the ripples. I do hope this isn't made up. People have been known to shoot themselves so they can be a victim. Ricin is very easily made from castor beans. Is it a joke or a very dumb bad guy? Time will tell.

 

[c_yeager]

Let's put it this way... The gay marriage ban amendment in Texas passed in every single county, except 1 one. Guess which one Austin is in?

As a side note I think its interesting that it is now the conservatives that want to restrict peoples activities. You wanna talk about a victimless crime

 

[TexasRifleman]

While Austin may be a bit more liberal than other parts of Texas, I'll take "liberal" Austin over "conservative" Fresno or Bakersfield or the other so-called bastions of freedom out West. Sorry Californians, I just spent a month working in that area. It's not as "freedom loving" as was pitched to me before I went.....

 

[asknight]

Bah, this entire story was a false alarm. Why are people so paranoid?

Oh my god! There's dust on my blinds! It must be ANTHRAX!

 

[c_yeager]

Is Ricin actually a difficult substance to make? Caster beans cant be all that hard to get ahold of.

 

[drinks]

It was not ricin and millions of castor bean plants grow all over Texas, in yards and wild, just check out the arroyo between Alice and San Diego, at least hundreds of thousands just there.I know kids have been using them as missles for at least 60 years, I have been!
All the kids I grew up with had been told they were poison and not to eat them, I never knew a kid to eat one, even the stupidly daring ones.
They are like oleander's , people who live with them are not bothered.
The media are mostly ignorant and sensation seeking with no sense of responsibility, this is a good example.

 

[Crosshair]

c_yeager

Is Ricin actually a difficult substance to make?

It is incredibly easy to make in your kitchen if you know how. Bigest problem is that you stand a very good chance of poisoning youself because it is so toxic.