View Full Version : Student arrested for making a map of his school? WTF?
SL4IN
05-02-2007, 06:53 PM
In a joystiq article posted today:
Student arrested for making map of his school
A Chinese student was removed from Clements High School in Fort Bend, Texas after parents complained he had re-created the school grounds in a game and uploaded the map for his friends to play. The boy was placed in the district's alternate education school and later arrested, as the police considered him a "terroristic threat". The Chinese community and the boy's mother have rallied behind him, saying the school has acted too harshly in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings. No charges were filed, though the boy won't be allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies.
We don't have to point out how ridiculous this is to our Joystiq readers. How many people have created familiar surroundings using in-game editors? We once made a partial re-creation of our college in Dr. Lunatic Supreme With Cheese. Good thing nobody found out, otherwise we'd be blogging from a soft and squishy padded room right now.
All I have to say is wow. A bit paranoid much? I mean in reality, was this kid even considered a threat before he even did this? and besides, if he got in trouble for making it, wouldn't the other kids get in trouble too for participating in it by playing on the map? This is a bit obsurd to me.
Link to the actual article here. (http://www.gametab.com/news/891804/)
PyroGamer
05-02-2007, 07:10 PM
Holy fucking shit.
I remember playing those "school shooting spree" games for StarCraft.
What game did he make this for?
magiic
05-02-2007, 07:19 PM
probably CSS (the game of terrorist and school shooters alike according to our buddy thompson)
dallow
05-02-2007, 07:23 PM
How weird, that's 4 young Asian males that have made the news recently dealing with school and/or guns. They never made the news before...
Cho was the first.
SL4IN
05-02-2007, 07:25 PM
How weird, that's 4 young Asian males that have made the news recently dealing with school and/or guns. They never made the news before...
Cho was the first.
that is quite a coincedence. now the real question is,
did he get arrested because he made a map of the school for a game,
or is it because he's asian?
nonggame
05-02-2007, 07:27 PM
that is quite a coincedence. now the real question is,
did he get arrested because he made a map of the school for a game,
or is it because he's asian?
Shi...t I better watch my ass from now on ^___^
I wonder if this has anything to do with the rumors that Eric (gunman @ Columbine) created a stage of Columbine in Doom?
SL4IN
05-02-2007, 07:35 PM
I wonder if this has anything to do with the rumors that Eric (gunman @ Columbine) created a stage of Columbine in Doom?
I heard about that but wasn't sure if it was just a rumor. did he really create his school in doom?
Cao Cao
05-02-2007, 08:50 PM
I heard about that but wasn't sure if it was just a rumor. did he really create his school in doom?
Snopes did an article about it, and the rumor is considered to be false. While they did make Doom maps, none of the maps resembled the school's layout.
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/doom.asp
Halo05
05-02-2007, 10:10 PM
I didn't think the CS mapmaker in the original article was arrested, just moved to a different "special" school.
I dunno, even if he had been working on it for awhile, he probably should've kept it on the DL for a couple months. That's not really the sort of attention you want to bring to yourself at the moment.
VanillaGorilla
05-02-2007, 10:16 PM
This kid should be locked up for making such a boring map. Nothing but corridors and the occasional drinking fountain.
Cosmo
05-02-2007, 10:16 PM
This was on my local news last night. They also said the police confiscated five 'ornamental' swords after doing a search of his room.
rabbitt
05-02-2007, 10:22 PM
In case anyone else needs an update,
Terrorists: - 3 (1 (http://www.joystiq.com/2006/04/02/tiny-ohio-town-freaked-out-by-mario-prank/), 2 (http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/31/boston.bombscare/index.html))
America - 0
ananag112
05-02-2007, 10:26 PM
As our final BS senior project in our high school engineering class, we modeled our school in AutoCAD and other Autodesk software. A kid was about to use the model to turn it into a map for a game, but our teacher didn't let him.
VanillaGorilla
05-02-2007, 10:31 PM
As our final BS senior project in our high school engineering class, we modeled our school in AutoCAD and other Autodesk software. A kid was about to use the model to turn it into a map for a game, but our teacher didn't let him.My AutoCAD/TurboCAD class used to just look at hardcore porn....
daphatty
05-02-2007, 11:09 PM
All the parents need to do is play the race card and this will all go away. The last thing the police and school officials want is to be branded racists.
dallow
05-02-2007, 11:14 PM
My AutoCAD/TurboCAD class used to just look at hardcore porn....
Haha, ditto actually.
Cao Cao
05-03-2007, 12:09 AM
This was on my local news last night. They also said the police confiscated five 'ornamental' swords after doing a search of his room.
I loved Kotaku's (http://kotaku.com/gaming/world-gone-mad/teen-arrested-for-counterstrike-map-257045.php) quip about the decorative swords:
Oh wait, it was completely founded. He had swords. Thank god we stopped him before he went medieval.
Of course, this was before the swords were found to be most likely decorative. Also, check out the link to the article (http://www.fortbendnow.com/news/2850/fbisd-police-found-5-swords-at-home-of-student-removed-from-clements-over-computer-game) in the local newspaper, the comments are also pretty funny with the usual batch of spinsters.
All the parents need to do is play the race card and this will all go away. The last thing the police and school officials want is to be branded racists.
It doesn't seem to be making much of a difference right now. It seems that the school board is too busy hiding, since a majority of the school board (including the president) didn't show up to a meeting concerning this issue. And that's what I hate most about this. I don't mind the police search, but what I do mind is the fact that the school sent the kid, who's apparently an honor student without any psychological problems, to what's essentially a prison school, and the school board's members, rather than tackling the issue head-on, are too busy being ostriches, just to save face for the next school board elections.
Of course, he's a senior, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're going to try to delay this until after graduation time at the school or election time at the school board, then hope that the parents will drop the case.
dragonreborn23
05-03-2007, 12:24 AM
All the parents need to do is play the race card and this will all go away. The last thing the police and school officials want is to be branded racists.
Exactly. Or call the ACLU. They love that kind of stuff.
whoknows
05-03-2007, 12:29 AM
All the parents need to do is play the race card and this will all go away. The last thing the police and school officials want is to be branded racists.
Yeah...but this happened in Texas :-P
elwood731
05-03-2007, 01:35 AM
Eh, just an example of a kid being stupid at the wrong time. What's funny is that people get upset over the school overreacting, and would be even more upset if this kid did something a month form now and the school hadn't done anything about this. The schools are in a lose-lose situation. I don't envy them, even if this does seem a bit overboard at first.
SL4IN
05-03-2007, 04:30 AM
Yeah...but this happened in Texas :-P
sadly, but truely, this is the truth.
Serpentor
05-03-2007, 12:48 PM
The rendered pics are pretty good... Have some potential of a good game. It's just plain sad and dumb, but it happened, tsk tsk tsk... Not allowing the kid to participate in the graduation ceremony? Man, i don't know what to say about that... Hell, if you're Asian and you took pics of the school's interior (say Photography class), you're in trouble? WTF?
SL4IN
05-03-2007, 12:59 PM
Some screens of the map: Link. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/8082096@N02/?saved=1)
Quite amazing.
after looking at those, he had to have been working on them for a few months.
Stingermck
05-03-2007, 01:39 PM
Damn those are good maps.
lordxixor101
05-03-2007, 02:00 PM
elwood, why is this a kid being "stupid" at the wrong time? Why is it stupid to make a map of somewhere you've been? Saying your taking a bomb on a plane is dumb. Saying you want to kill the President is dumb. I don't see how this qualifies in that category.
I don't blame the school here. Their administrators are put in a horrible position. If they do something, they are overreacting. If they don't and something were to happen, watch out, lawsuits a plenty.
Sadly, this is one of those situations where reactions are way out of whack with reality. We need a correction here. Because of that (I can't believe I'm going to say this), I'm hoping this kid ultimately sues the school district for money. Only if they pay out a large sum of cash will anyone take any future heed.
Vegan
05-03-2007, 02:22 PM
elwood, why is this a kid being "stupid" at the wrong time?
Agreed. For all we know, the kid just has a penchant for making maps of familiar places in an easy-to-use 3D engine. It's unlikely, but possible, that it has nothing to do with shooting games. Maybe he saw the Tower of Terror map that was making the rounds last month and was inspired to try his hand.
crystalklear64
05-03-2007, 02:34 PM
This is fucking bs....
Anyone know where we can get the map? :)
elwood731
05-03-2007, 02:36 PM
elwood, why is this a kid being "stupid" at the wrong time? Why is it stupid to make a map of somewhere you've been? Saying your taking a bomb on a plane is dumb. Saying you want to kill the President is dumb. I don't see how this qualifies in that category.
Not a very good idea to be posting pictures online, or bragging to your friends about a map you're making of your high school for a shooting game a month after the worst school shooting in history. So yeah, he was being dumb at the wrong time. He may very well have been working on this for the past six months, but he should have shelved it, or not shown it to anyone for a while. Common sense should have told him that, but unfortunately common sense doesn't play much a part in a 17 year old's day to day life, which is understandable. He's probably not a bad kid, but he was being kind of dumb.
Because of that (I can't believe I'm going to say this), I'm hoping this kid ultimately sues the school district for money. Only if they pay out a large sum of cash will anyone take any future heed.
This will solve nothing, and will actually only make things worse. Why do you think VT did nothing about Cho? Fear of lawsuits. It's why most schools do nothing about troubled kids. If they try, they get sued. If the kid then does something, they get sued. This kid's rights weren't violated. He was making a map of his high school for a FPS less than a month after the worst school shooting in history. The school had no other choice on how to react. Your solution of suing them will only ensure that schools have no idea how to respond and help troubled kids.
Agreed. For all we know, the kid just has a penchant for making maps of familiar places in an easy-to-use 3D engine. It's unlikely, but possible, that it has nothing to do with shooting games. Maybe he saw the Tower of Terror map that was making the rounds last month and was inspired to try his hand.
This is fine, but just rest assured that doing so can get you in trouble. Saying it isn't fair doesn't do much to correct this. If I were managing Disney World and discovered one of my workers had designed a Halo map of the Tower of Terror, I would be interested in that person. I would have someone look into them. Same thing with this kid. Unfortunately, the people in charge are caught between a rock and a hard place. The above poster says he should sue, which is exactly the reason they are acting.
If you're a kid in school right now, don't make any jokes, maps, etc. that could look like planning. Doesn't mean it's fair, but it is life.
PyroGamer
05-03-2007, 02:37 PM
All the parents need to do is play the race card and this will all go away. The last thing the police and school officials want is to be branded racists.
Race card only works if you're black.
RAMSTORIA
05-03-2007, 02:45 PM
this kid is a moron if he didnt think that making a map for CSS based on his school wouldnt draw negative attention.
crystalklear64
05-03-2007, 02:52 PM
What the hell law did he violate? Copyright infringement on the building? Freedom of speech! The amount of stuff the government can pull on you is fucking retarded.
Graystone
05-03-2007, 03:00 PM
What the hell law did he violate? Copyright infringement on the building? Freedom of speech! The amount of stuff the government can pull on you is fucking retarded.
Yes these post 9-11 days everything is fucked up. When a new prez gets elected hopefully everything works out for the better. The next 8 years of presidency after bush will be nothing but fixing his mistakes.
RAMSTORIA
05-03-2007, 03:10 PM
Yes these post 9-11 days everything is fucked up. When a new prez gets elected hopefully everything works out for the better. The next 8 years of presidency after bush will be nothing but fixing his mistakes.
LAWLS, i see we have an optimist
LAWLS, i see we have an optimist
Or a thread hijacker ;)
Friend of Sonic
05-03-2007, 03:15 PM
I often thought how cool my "campus" (what they call it) at work would be as a map. There's actually a lot of interesting design if someone would translate it correctly to a map.
Now I know not to do that.
tehweezner
05-03-2007, 03:26 PM
kids in my class did the exact same thing, and this was after the columbine shooting.
ViolentLee
05-03-2007, 03:55 PM
Should he have gotten in trouble for doing this? No
Should we be surprised that it happened? No x 2. It's a hot-button issue right now. Actually 2 hot-button issues: violent video games and potential school violence.
I personally prefer playing FPSs in real-world settings, and if I could I'd build a map based on places I know. Does that mean I want to shoot up my apartment or the local mall? Not in the least.
But we're going to have to get used to Big Brother trying to ruin all our fun, so long as it could be twisted and deformed into being somewhat of a danger. Funny how the powers that be can go from ignoring a psychopathic college student to cracking down on a kid showing some digital artistic skill. From one extreme -- not giving a damn -- to another -- blowing things waaaaay out of proportion.
-Never4ever-
05-03-2007, 04:34 PM
All the parents need to do is play the race card and this will all go away. The last thing the police and school officials want is to be branded racists.
That's pretty much what they are.
This whole thing is rediculous. If I was that kid or his parents, I'd sue the living hell out of the school, police, pretty much anyone behind this.