■ Plans are set for Pioneer Cemetery to get anew look. Page 8
■ Conservative speaker sounds off at law school. Page 4
A.500 weekend
The Oregon women’s basketball team split
its two weekend games. Page 5
Monday, November 19,2001
Since 1 900
University of Oregon Eugene, Oregon
Volume 103,Issue 60
Authorities respond to campus anthrax scare
u ■Although the FBI continues to
investigate a suspicious letter, all
tests on the powder are negative
By Eric Martin
Oregon Daily Emerald
Tests on a sample of the suspi
cious white powder found in a
threatening letter addressed to a
University physics professor con
tinue to show negative results for
anthrax.
The Oregon State Public Health
Laboratory in Portland found no
evidence of the deadly bacteria
Saturday during a test of the pow
der found in an envelope ad
dressed to Emeritus Professor
Bernd Crasemann.
The results came a day after a pre
liminary test of the powder showed
negative results for weaponized an
thrax. Weaponized anthrax is a high
concentration of the anthrax organ
ism in small amounts of a substance
such as powder or liquid, health of
ficials said.
“There is no evidence at this time
that the contents (of the letter) con
tain anthrax bacteria,” Lane Coun
ty public health program manager
Karen Gillette said in a news re
lease. “Nevertheless, this incident
has been a good exercise for every
one involved.”
In Saturday’s test, attempts to
grow an anthrax culture were un
successful, confirming for now that
the sample doesn’t contain anthrax.
The FBI is continuing its investi
gation of Thursday’s incident, and
a spokeswoman said the agency
was awaiting results of another test
of the powder today.
A University employee admitted
himself to McKenzie-Willamette
Hospital on Thursday afternoon be
cause he feared he’d been exposed
to the substance while handling the
letter. He was treated and released
Thursday evening.
Nasal swabs taken from five Eu
gene hazardous materials workers
are being held until final results
are available from the Portland
lab. The workers admitted them
selves to the hospital Thursday
evening after working to decon
taminate the professor’s office in
251 Willamette Hall.
Eric Martin is a higher education reporter for
the Oregon Daily Emerald. He can be reached
at ericmartin@dailyemerald.com.
Civil War ticket pickup brings out diehard fans
■Ticket offices at the EMU and the
Casanova Center open at 9 a.m.
and could run out today
By Beata Mostafavi
Oregon Daily Emerald
Standing in line to get tickets for the
Arizona State University game a few
weeks ago, sophomore Leo Kreider
anxiously looked over the several
heads in front of him in the EMU.
“Almost,” he said.
Slowly shuffling forward, he
breathed a small sigh.
“I don’t like waiting in line,” he
said. “I’m not very patient.”
The line for the battle against Ari
zona State didn’t quite wrap all the
way around the skylight as it had for
previous games, but it was still at
least a 20-30 minute wait. Kreider ad
mitted to skipping class and waiting
in line for an hour to get tickets for
the Stanford homecoming game the
week before.
“This actually wasn’t that bad,” he
said.
r But students who want to have a
ticket to the Civil War game against
Oregon State University in their hands
.> by the end of today should not expect
a small line. They may also not want to
risk waiting until Tuesday.
The 6,098 student tickets have never
gone out in one day, due to lack of com
puter capacity. But with added win
dows at the Athletic Ticket Office at the
Len Casanova Center this year, tickets
could all be taken today, assistant direc
tor of ticket sales Ben Havn said.
“I would say it’s possible. We could
get all 6,098 tickets out in one day,” he
Turn to Tickets, page 8
Adam Amato Emerald
Brother and sister Tim and Laura Winter brave the cold outside Autzen Stadium while in line for tickets to the Civil War
game. They arrived at 7 p.m. Sunday. Some Duck fans have been camping in the the line since 9 p.m. Friday.
Mail incident
generates
mixed feelings
on campus
■A number of students believe
the suspicious letter held
no threat, while others are still
in shock about the events
By Sue Ryan
Oregon Daily Emerald
Student reactions to the shutdown of
Willamette Hall following the report of
a suspicious letter on Thursday varied
from shock to skepticism across the
University campus.
“You think it’s all centered on the
East Coast, and suddenly it happens
here,” junior Katie Plein said. “And
then it’s all so much closer than we
think it is.”
Emeritus Professor Bernd Crasemann
reported to DPS that he had received a
brown envelope containing a suspi
cious substance Thursday morning.
The Eugene Police Department, which
was notified by DPS, shut down
Willamette Hall and called in the FBI
and a hazardous material team. After
the police collected evidence, HazMat
workers decontaminated the hall.
Senior anthropology major Kevin
Crosman said he felt surprised that
Eugene, because of its location in the
mid-Willamette Valley, would be the
Turn to Anthrax, page 8
■An Emerald reporter tells
about her recent experiences
with New York City’s tragedies
By Erin Cooney
for the Emerald
I seem to have a knack for choos
ing bad times to travel to New
York City. I’ve flown to the Big
Apple four times since Aug. 3,
and twice something tragic has
happened.
I went to New York for the first
time my sophomore year of high
school with my mom and my sis
ter. I remember feeling like quite
TOO CLOSE TO HOME
the little tourist, scared of the sub
way, scared of crime, generally in
timidated by the enormity of Man
hattan island. However, after my
boyfriend, Peyton Horn, graduated
from the University in June and
moved to New York, I was forced
to face the overwhelming city.
My first two visits this year, both
in August, were wonderful. Eating
fantastic food, drinking fantastic
drinks — pure hedonism. We took
a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge,
went dancing at “Windows on the
World,” a bar at the top of the
World Trade Center, and took an
evening boat cruise around Man
hattan. My
eyes were
opened to a
New York I
had not
imagined.
I went for
my last trip
of the summer on Sept. 6.
We spent the weekend doing
New York-y things: shopping, eat
Reporter’s
NOTEBOOK
ing and sightseeing. Then came
Tuesday, Sept. 11, and it was time
for me to head back to Oregon. My
flight was scheduled to depart at
8:1.5 a.m. It didn’t leave until about
8:40. As I’m sure most people re
call, that was about eight minutes
before the first plane hit the WTC.
We had been flying for about an
hour when the pilot informed us we
would land in Chicago (instead of
Denver, where we were scheduled to
land) and that every plane in Ameri
ca had been ordered to the ground.
We were given no explanation.
We landed shortly afterward,
and as soon as the plane hit the
runway, I called my mom. She told
me everything she knew about the
attack, and I repeated the informa
tion to the other passengers sitting
around me on the plane. People sat
quietly, shocked and uncertain
about what to say or how to react.
I spent the next two hours (sit
ting on the tarmac at Chicago
O’Hare International Airport) call
ing Peyton, calling his family, and
trying to keep myself distracted
from the fear that was creeping
Turn to New York, page 3