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Wednesday 1 September 2010

Common sense (a critically endangered species in some areas).

The mind boggles.
An American student whose heart stopped after he deliberately electrocuted himself in a science class is suing his teacher for not warning him it was dangerous.
Kyle Dubois, 18, is also taking legal action against the school district and the city of Dover in New Hampshire.
Dubois and his parents claim teacher Thomas Kelley did not tell him and other students of the dangers of the demonstration power cords in their electrical trades class.
Are they seriously saying that an 18 year old needs this spelled out to him?
Dubois attached an electrical clamp to one nipple...
Oh no, nononononono, don't do that.
... while another student attached another clamp to the other.
This is getting wronger by the minute.
A third student plugged in the cord.
Neither of whom, it seems, thought to suggest to Kyle that what they were doing was probably not a sensible idea, and neither of whom, we can safely bet, are being sued. Unlike the teacher who was apparently expected to say something like, 'Now then class, you'll notice these electrical clamps are spring loaded and quite grippy, so please be careful not to attach them to any part of your body, especially nipples and other erogenous zones, because they will leave a mark. And if you do do that you should certainly not get a friend to plug you in. It's not safe, see? Yes, Jennifer, I realise it's patently fucking obvious and people are generally aware of this before their age reaches double digits but we do have Kyle in the class.'

Okay, now it is reported that the teacher suggested he attach the clamps to his nipples, but for Christ's sake it doesn't take too much thinking about to realise that it's fucking dangerous. At school I had conversations with teachers that (because I was being an annoying little shit) ended with them saying something like 'Well, Exile, why don't you put your finger/hand/head/face/foot/arm/the boy next to you in it and find out?' And d'you know what? I never ever did.
'Er, no, sir. I think it's a bit dangerous.'
'No, sir, indeed. And you can write two sides on why it would be a bad idea, including equations, and bring it to me by next lesson.'
'Yes, sir.'
Dubois was critically injured and his legal team claim he has suffered permanent brain damage.
I'm amazed anyone thinks they could tell.

3 comments:

microdave said...

And that's a good reason for NOT using 115v A/C.
If the Yanks had 230 volts like the rest of us, this pillock would now be history, instead of a likely drain on the health service for the rest of his life.

And think of the savings in copper....

Anonymous said...

I thought I had read in my distant past that the American electrical system at 110-120 volts was less likely to be fatal and this was a determining factor in the choice of this voltage.

http://askville.amazon.com/difference-110-volt-220-Europe-Asia-Pro-Con/AnswerViewer.do?requestId=724312

It seems, as always, there were a number of factors determining voltage and frequency with subsequent ramifications.

However, I'm with you, and treat all electricity as dangerous and prefer not to find out what sort of tingle it can give me.

Some people are just too stupid for words.

microdave said...

I was being rather cynical - I'm in that sort of mood today...

"less likely to be fatal" - true, but as this pillock demonstrated it still depends on the path said voltage takes....

Many generators can be easily configured from 2 pole to 4 pole operation, and this is why the related voltages are in multiples of two. Centre tapped transformers also come into this.

I'm not entirely sure why 60 Hz was chosen instead of 50? It's directly related to shaft speed, and along with the 2 or 4 pole generators means engines driving them run at 1500/3000 rpm, or 1800/3600 rpm. Ever wondered why the (American) Briggs & Stratton engine on your mower is rated at 3600 rpm. Now you know!

Make the same engine/generator set work at 50Hz, and it produces less power...

"and prefer not to find out what sort of tingle it can give me." - I found that out when I was eight....

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