UO hall back to normal following anthrax scare.Byline: GREG BOLT The Register-Guard Willamette Hall on the University of Oregon campus The University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon has around 80 buildings and facilities, including athletics sites such as Hayward Field, which is the site for the 2008 Olympic Track and Field Trials, and McArthur Court, and off-campus sites such as nearby Autzen Stadium and the returned to normal Monday after lab tests confirmed that a white powder sent with a threatening letter to a professor didn't contain anthrax anthrax (ăn`thrăks), acute infectious disease of animals that can be secondarily transmitted to humans. It is caused by a bacterium (Bacillus anthracis . Mailboxes and two offices used by physics professor Bernd Crasemann were back in service after the release of the lab tests. The first-floor mailboxes were back in use Friday, while the second-floor office and an adjoining room - where the mail was opened - were in use Monday, a UO spokeswoman said. A private hazardous materials removal company cleaned the rooms as a precaution. A preliminary test last week indicated that the granular granular /gran·u·lar/ (gran´u-lar) made up of or marked by presence of granules or grains. gran·u·lar adj. 1. Composed or appearing to be composed of granules or grains. 2. substance wasn't anthrax, and cultures by the same public health lab in Portland confirmed over the weekend that no anthrax was present. The letter to Crasemann bore a Malaysian postmark and included threats, but authorities haven't revealed the exact nature of the threats. An assistant to Crasemann opened the letter Thursday morning. Authorities haven't tested the powder to see what it actually was. FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele
The drowning of her betrothed, a Mr. said the matter remains under investigation, but a decision hasn't been made whether to try to locate and prosecute the sender. The next step is to examine the letter and determine whether its author actually intended to frighten fright·en v. fright·ened, fright·en·ing, fright·ens v.tr. 1. To fill with fear; alarm. 2. Crasemann and others by simulating a biohazard bi·o·haz·ard n. 1. A biological agent, such as a virus or a condition that constitutes a threat to humans, especially in biological research or experimentation. 2. threat, she said. "Certainly there is some additional work to be done, but how much remains to be seen," Steele said from Portland. "That will take some time." The FBI and other police agencies have opened investigations into numerous hoax Hoax Balloon Hoax, The news story in 1844, reporting the transatlantic crossing of a balloon with eight passengers. [Am. Lit.: The Balloon Hoax in Poe] Piltdown man missing link turned out to be orangutan. [Br. Hist. anthrax threats across the country after a string of letters to media and government offices on the East Coast contained real anthrax, resulting in several deaths. That has taxed law enforcement resources, but Steele said the government remains committed to tracking down hoaxsters. "The attorney general and U.S. attorneys across the country have made it clear that hoaxes will be prosecuted," she said. `So it's something we look at very closely.' |
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