Muzyka’s Musings

In the September 8 issue, Chemical and Engineering News (article available to subscribers only) reported about a chemistry graduate student who has been arraigned for stealing equipment and chemicals to manufacture methamphetamine.  UC Merced’s Jason West was one of the first students to complete his Ph.D. coursework requirements at Merced’s relatively new campus.  The alleged thefts would produce methamphetamine worth almost $2 million.  The starting material of choice in this case wasn’t pseudoephedrine but phenylacetone, which can be converted to meth in two steps, shown below.  These reactions are similar to those we talk about in CHE 341, although our students don’t have the opportunity to carry out a reductive amination in their lab course.

In 2001 West was convicted of making methamphetamine.  He was sentenced to prison but underwent treatment for addiction at a rehabilitation center.  Most graduate programs in chemistry do not require incoming graduate students to undergo criminal background checks.  One exception is the University of Texas at Austin, where the university requires checks on all faculty and staff.  Three years ago the department started the checks on chemistry grad student employees.  The grad student criminal background checks are not used as a factor in admissions but could prevent individuals from being assigned positions as teaching assistants or research assistants.

I guess it’s reasonable to run background checks on chemistry TA’s.  It’s standard procedure to run criminal background checks on college students who are student teaching, and they don’t usually have access to chemicals.