THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MERCYHURST COLLEGE SINCE 1929 ARTS& Hurst ENTERTAINMENT soccer I Merciad writer teams head "hangs out" with to playoffs Yamato page 8 page 12 Vol 75 No. 7 Mercyhurst College 501 E. 38th St. Erie, Pa. 16546 November 8; 2001 Anthrax threat turns out to be hoax By Annie DeMeo Staff writer The "Mercyworld" bubble was de- cidedly popped Tuesday. Oct. 30 when a Mercyhurst employee opened an envelope postmarked Cairo, Egypt containing a suspicious white pow- der. * The Federal Bureau of Investiga- tion notified the college at about 2 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 2 with test re- sults revealing that the powder was not anthrax. Despite the fact that the letter was a hoax, it was successful in upsetting the routine of the college. Thirty seven individuals that c a m e in closest contact with the letter were quarantined immediately. F ™ t* About 500 students, faculty, staff; and administrators that were believed to be at risk of exposure were in- structed to undergo testing and, in most cases, prescribed to take the an- Annie Sitter/Merciad photographer tibiotic Cipro as a preventative mea- Effects of the national crisis touched Mercyhurst College Tuesday October 31 after a letter, threatening that it contained anthrax, was sure. * received in the admissions office. The letter, postmarked Cairo* Egypt, was later determined to be a hoax, testing negative for anthrax. Classes in Old Main were cancelled for both Wednesday and Thursday, 'The staff acted very quickly as blocked off. ing they were wearing as well as any dents through both the Cohen Student further disrupting the campus. | they were trained to do," said Dr. Additionally, Hamot Medical Cen- belongings that could have come in Health Center and the Counseling According to officials, the letter William P. Garvey, college president, ter established an emergency testing contact with the powder. All belong- Center. contained a threatening note assert- at a forum held that Tuesday evening. site in the Mercyhurst Athletic Cen- ings were returned once the test re- Students with concerns about pay- ing that the white powder was an- Local emergency management ter and provided nasal swabs to stu- sults were confirmed to be negative. ing for either the nasal swab or the thrax. Individuals in the admissions teams arrived on scene quickly. They dents, faculty, staff and administra- 'The response of the local authori- Cipro prescription can contact office, where the letter, addressed secured the "hot zone" which was tors mat passed through the affected ties has been wonderful," said Roberta Bukowski, who is handling simply to "director," was forwarded, defined as the east-west hallway on area. * •?, £ Garvey. t $ all paper work related to the college's promptly alerted Mercyhurst Police the first floor of Old Main. AH en- All those being tested were req uired Counseling and medical assistance payment for the prescriptions and and Safety of the situation, trances to the college were also to shower and hand over the cloth- has been made available to the stu- services. Other colleges share similar anthrax experiences Dickinson, Cornell and University of Pittsburgh have also been targets of hoaxes in recent weeks and the air circulation system in the die,* and placing what was believed were found. By Kristin Purdy area was disconnected to ensure to be baking soda inside.** The University of Pittsburgh had Managing editor safety. On October 31, Cornell University two anthrax hoaxes on October 13, Three employees and three students •Police received a call about possible 2001. These two incidents were re- In the past few weeks, other colleges came into direct contact with the - contamination of a suspicious letter ported via a phone eall that anthrax and universities have experienced powdered substance and were decon- from Pakistan that was received at the had been or would be placed inside a anthrax hoaxes similar to the anthrax taminated following appropriate pro- college's library. Environmental building. hoax that occurred Oct. 30 at Mer- cedures. Health and Safety examined a *$In light of these events, the Uni- cyhurst Col lege. Senior Andrew Theodorakis of wrapped journal containing a suspi- versity of Pittsburgh has taken pre- Two suspicious envelopes contain- Dickinson College was taken into cious powder. cautionary measures including post- ing white powder were discovered in custody and arrested for the events After consulting with the sender, it ing information on the college's web w the student mailroom of Dickinson that led to the college's anthrax scare. was determined that the powder was site on how to decipher suspicious College Oct 30. The envelopes had He was arraigned on six counts of residue from a silicone material rou- mail- The web site also stresses the been sent through inter-campus mail simple assault, two counts of terror- tinely used by printers to protect the importance of p r o c e d u r e s if a student '•« Oct. 29. i-fy Y istic threats and one count of caus- printed material. or faculty member receives any type According to Dickinson a web site, \ ._ * File photo Prior to the October 31 incidents, of biological, chemical or bomb ing a catastrophe. Unable to make the Dickinson College recently dealt the college responded immediately set bail of $250,000, Theodorakis there have been over 30 reports of threat by telephone. with emergency measures in accor- was committed to Cumberland with an anthrax scare similar to suspicious mail or materials on dance with established procedures County Prison. the situation at Mercyhurst Cornell campus, which have been Information compiled in part from that have been developed and en- Mayor Kirk Wilson said, "In the they saw the accused preparing the thoroughly investigated by the proper the Dickinson College web site, hanced since the Sept. 11 attacks. The course of the investigation, police envelopes, the cards, which read, authorities. No instances of bacterial Cornell University web site and the mailroom was sealed and taped shut spoke with two witnesses who said 'You now have anthrax; prepare to anthrax or other dangerous materials University of Pittsburgh web site. I i } PAGE 2 TH E MERCiAD NOVEMBER 8. 2001 CAMPUS NEWS Mailroom precedes with MSG Studjent forum format changed!c a u t i o n sinCe Oct. 30 event cyhurst Police and Safety. to allow for anthrax questions f . By Melissa Newell Coffey stated that all items are Merciad writer anthrax event were answered, an at- screened and then distributed either By Sara Seidle tempt was made to address some of to student mailboxes or to a secured Editor in chief the more common forum questions In response to the anthrax threat, the area for further inspection. submitted by students, but not all of Preston Hall mailroom has increased Mail that is separated and turned the questions that student govern- awareness and precautionary mea- over to campus security is done so In light ofthe anthrax scare Tuesday, ment received could be answered. sures pertaining to the handling of for several reasons. According to Oct. 30, the Mercyhurst student gov- According to Annie DeMeo, sec- correspondence on campus. Coffey, some of these reasons could ernment student forum scheduled for retary of MSG, "Questions about Sorting and distributing hundreds include the absence of a return ad- that evening took on a new purpose. parking or any other issue that may of envelopes, packages, and parcels: dress, suspicious foreign postage that The forum, usually used as an op- normally seem important were just on a daily basis is a task that can eas- has not been canceled by the post portunity for students to voice their hot at the forefront of students* ily become mundane, however, in- office, or a distorted hand printed concerns to college administrators, minds.'* creased security procedures assure address. was still held despite the scare, but She added that some of the admin- that the mail is safe to open. Items that are addressed without a the focus moved from gripes about istrators that normally sit on the panel Annie Sitter/Merciad photographer According to new security mea- department name or specific box parking and the cafeteria to the spe- were busy dealing with other aspects A HAZMAT representative dis- sures, work-study students employed number are also carefuHy examined. cifics of the response to anthrax on of the anthrax situation and could not cusses prosedures used to se- by the mailroom are no longer per- Mercyhurst police and safety may campus. be present at the forum, making it cure the contaminated area. mitted to sort through letters. Stu- feel the need to open an extremely Although many college administra- more difficult for certain questions dent sorting duties are limited only suspicious piece of mail, however, all tors were still present, most of the to be answered. to items such as catalogues, maga- mail that has been screened in this questions were answered by repre- DeMeo said that all questions will zines and all are required to wear rub- manner will be stamped, notifying sentatives from Erie County's Haz- be compiled and submitted to college ber gloves when handling items. that it was opened for security pur- ardous Materials Response Team and administrators and the respective Letter mail is carefully sorted poses. Dr. David Kruszewski, college phy- MSG committees for follow-up. through the cooperative efforts of Coffey said, "We are not trying to sician. DeMeo added that for students that Jean Coffey, who is in charge of the invade anyone's privacy. We're just HAZMAT representatives dis- wish to voice their concerns to MSG mailroom on the lower level of trying to take the precautions to make cussed the procedures that they fol- at other times, the first Monday of Preston Hall, and members of Mer- sure everything runs smoothly." lowed to secure the potentially con- each month the student government taminated letter and area of Old Main meeting is held as a town hall meet- as well as the steps that would be ing in the Student Union Great taken to test the substance found in Room.