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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 2001)
University mail system proceeds as usual despite threats ■uampus man nanaiers nave already been trained to deal with suspicious letters By Marty Toohey for the Emerald In light of recent high-profile an thrax incidents, the University mail system is following federal and state safety guidelines but not changing day-to-day procedures, according to Joan Saylor, a Depart ment of Public Safety administra tive lieutenant. The University’s Mail Services Department sorts most University mail at a central receiving area. Sorters and carriers were trained in suspicious package recognition be fore the anthrax incidents, and things are not much different for them now, according to Mail Ser vices Coordinator Diane Longworth. “We’re doing the same things we always have, except watching a lit tle closer,” Longworth said. “We wash our hands a little more often, we have (masks and gloves) avail able to carriers, but we leave that up to individual carriers.” The FBI has not recommend wearing gloves or masks, but strongly advises mail carriers or anyone sorting their mail to wash their hands frequently. If any packages seem suspicious, DPS should be contacted, accord ing to Saylor. DPS will respond with two officers whenever possi ble, with one officer going to the af fected area, while the other officer will talk to others in the area to de termine if anyone has handled the item in question, according to the DPS Web site. “We’re telling people to be mind ful when they open their mail,” Saylor said. “There have been no specific threats toward Oregon or the University, and we don’t want to make people’s lives more fearful than they need to be. If you receive suspicious mail, put it down, don’t handle it, call DPS and we will re spond quickly.” Once DPS officers assess a situa tion, they will determine whether to notify Environmental Health and Safety, the Eugene Police Depart ment or FBI. If there is a risk of chemical or biological contami nants, such as anthrax, DPS will clear the area and shut off all vents, and EHS will be called in, according to EHS Director Kay Coots. After working with law enforce ment to ensure crime scene evi dence is not damaged, EHS work ers will enter the area, wearing any protective gear deemed neces sary. In the case of anthrax, work ers wear respirators and skin-and eye coverings. Coots and Saylor said much of their departments’ responses are formed on a case-by-case basis. “A package that smells funny and doesn’t have a return address is a lot different than a normal enve lope going to an international stud ies office that normally receives in ternational mail,” Saylor said. Marty Toohey is a freelance reporter for the Oregon Daily Emerald. Anthrax continued from page 1A see much of a chance for an anthrax outbreak in Oregon, yet EPD and Lane County Sheriffs offices contin ue to receive calls from worried citi zens throughout the state. “There is no information to sug gest there are any targets in Ore gon,” FBI agent Mike Morrow said. Though the outbreaks of the acute infectious disease can no longer be viewed as isolated inci dents, the low number of occur rences should not be cause for the nation to panic, officials said. “We’re fielding hundreds of calls a day,” said Dr. Ann Thomas, a med ical epidemiologist for Oregon Health Division. “We’ve tested suspicious substances, and nothing in Oregon has turned out to be positive. ” It’s not even uncommon to see some kind of powder in the mail, Thomas said. Some magazine pub lishers will mail their magazines with a talc powder or corn starch to preserve the glossy-look of a maga zine, she said. The Eugene Police Department responded to a wave of calls by asking Eugene citizens to stay calm after the first anthrax out break in Florida. “Our communication center was overwhelmed,” said Eugene Police Department Spokeswoman Pam Alejandre. “We had people calling wondering if their flour was actually anthrax.” Lane Gounty Sheriff Jan Clements said his office received a report from a woman worried about dust on her car. The substance turned out to be pollen. Clements held a press conference last week to reassure Lane County that it has the means to deal with an anthrax attack if one should occur. “I’m trying to calm people in the community and give cause for min imizing their fear,” Clements said. “We need to really put things in perspective. Five thousand people die from food poisoning each year and thousands from car accidents, but that doesn’t keep people from driving cars.” He said he does recognize, how ever, that the American people have discovered a new scare that needs to be addressed. Lane County, he said, is well equipped to handle most emergency cases within the county on its own. However, when handling certain sit uations is beyond the county’s capa bilities, the state and national gov ernment will be asked to intervene. “If anthrax was found, we would be working directly with the FBI, the Oregon Emergency Manage ment and the Federal Emergency Management Agency — everybody would be working together to deal with the problem,” Clements said. “We’re positioned to coordinate an effective public response. ” Rob Rockstroh, the director of Lane County Health and Human Services, said the county is also well equipped to handle a commu nicable disease outbreak. “We once had an outbreak of He patitis A and had 1,200 people lined up for shots,” he said. “We’re very used to dealing with commu nicable disease reporting.” Botello, a University senior living on the East Coast, returned to work for Sen. Gordon Smith on Wednesday. Smith’s office is located in the Russell building, the only Senate office building that has reopened. Two of the House office buildings — the Rayburn and Cannon build ings — reopened last week. So far, no mail is being circulated through the open Senate and House office buildings, though inside mail will resume circulation tomorrow, Botello said. She has also seen an intense increase in security, some thing she said should have been in place from the beginning. “There are Capitol police every where; dogs are used to sniff out cars that park near the Capitol, mir rors are being used under the cars,” Botello said. “Security should have been this tight to begin with.” She said she’s not scared anymore. In fact, she and Ali Burket, also a University student interning for Smith, discussed coming back to Oregon and changed their minds. Lindsay Buchele is the community editortor the Oregon Daily Emerald. She can be reached atlindsaybuchele@dailyemerald.com. Clinic continued from page 1A states and the District of Columbia, Eugene Planned Parenthood spokeswoman Kitty Piercy said. The envelopes — which have preprinted return addresses from the U.S. Marshals Service or the Se cret Service — contain unidentified powdery substances and threaten ing letters, she said. So far, all substances have tested negative. “For them to do this at a time when we should all be working to gether against terrorism is really reprehensible,” Piercy said. Although U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft has condemned an r thrax hoaxes and promised the prosecution of guilty parties, Planned Parenthood leaders have expressed some skepticism. Piercy, who is a former Oregon state repre sentative, said climes never got an adequate response from govern ment officials in the past. “We have been experiencing do mestic terrorism for quite a long time,” Piercy said. “We believe the public should demand the country respond as strongly to domestic ter rorism as national terrorism.” Portland FBI Spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said she could not discuss the details of the in vestigation. But she said the de partment had information that abortion clinics could be potential targets of anthrax threats. “The FBI did warn abortion clin ics all over the country when the threat was first realized,” she said. “A warning went out to clinics to be on the alert for anything suspicious.” She added that the FBI did not prosecute anyone for sending an thrax threats to abortion clinics in the past. At least 132 National Abortion Federation affiliates have also re ceived the mail. Because member ship in NAF and Planned Parent hood doesn’t completely overlap, representatives believe more than 200 clinics were targeted. Many of the messages are signed by “the Army of God,” a radical Christian anti-abortion group that has taken credit for several clinic bombings and murders of abortion doctors. The letters include state ments such as “You’ve been exposed to anthrax. We will kill you all.” Although states on the west coast have received such mail in the past, none have gotten anthrax threats after Sept. 11. But Portland Planned Parenthood representa tive Don Skinner said after the “rash” of anthrax mail in 1998 and 1999, all clinics have developed a protocol for responding to suspi cious deliveries. “We’re being vigilant about what comes in,” he said. “(The Army of God members) are people who have embraced violence as a means for achieving their end. ” j Last week, the Army of God , spokesman, Rev. Donald Spitz of | Chesapeake, Va., told the L.A. I Times that the flood of threatening mail to clinics is a “good thing” and a “brilliant move.” But Spitz denied knowing where the mail is coming from. Piercy said the Eugene Planned Parenthood office has never received anthrax threats but is being cautious. She added that the threats will not stop clinics from doing their work. “The best way to fight this is to not let it keep us from going to work and providing the kind of health care women in this com munity and all over the country reed,” she said. Jeata Mostafavi is the student activities iditorforthe Oregon Daily Emerald. 5he can be reached at )eatamostafavi@dailyemerald.com. 012846 Student Parents Faculty/Staff Parents D3D you know About the new Family Recreation Program At the Student Recreation Center For your Little Ducks (mid-size too)! Saturdays — Pool and Gym Sundays — Pool For hours and other information Pick up a brochure at the SRC or phone 346-4113 Virtual Office Systems Inc. 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