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History profs threatened
Two SCSU faculty members received letters containing a white powder
Two SCSU faculty members from the history department received letters Wednesday containing a white powdery substance.
The campus Public Safety Department and the St. Cloud Police Department were called in to retrieve the letters, which were later sent to the Minnesota Department of Health for analysis.
Miles Heckendorn, PSD director, said the initial 24-hour analysis of the powder had revealed that it was not biochemical in nature.
"The 24-hour initial test was negative for growth," he said. "This means that the material does not appear to be biochemical. It takes 48 hours to do a full analysis."
Heckendorn said he was hoping to receive word of the test today or Tuesday.
"We can assume that the results will be the same," he said, "but I have yet to receive any word on the results of the full test."
Heckendorn declined further comment as the matter was still being investigated by the St. Cloud Police Department.
Lisa Foss, SCSU director of marketing and communications, said that Betsy Glade had gotten a hold of the letter, through inter-campus mail, about 5:20 p.m. However, Glade began to feel suspicious about the letter.
"(Glade) brought the letter to a colleague who advised her to call PSD," Foss said. Glade never opened the letter.
Foss said that at around the same time, Stryker received a letter. As was the letter Glade received, this one was sent through inter-campus mail. Unlike Glade, however, Stryker opened the letter. She found the white powdery substance in the letter.
St. Cloud police, who had been notified by PSD, rushed to the history department, located in Stewart Hall. They then placed both letters into a container and sealed it.
Foss confirmed that the initial tests conducted on the powder had shown that it was not biochemical in nature.
"Once the department has confirmed (that the substance is not dangerous), they will send the letters back to the St. Cloud Police Department for further investigation," she said. "Right now, it's looking like a hoax."
But Stryker has spoken out at the way PSD and the St. Cloud Police Department has handled the situation. She said that the police and PSD failed to "follow the procedures recommended by the Minnesota Department of Health guidelines for handling anthrax threats."
"These guidelines clearly state that those in charge should close off the area where the letter or package was opened," Stryker said. "In this case, this means the mail room in the history department."
This, Stryker said, was not what PSD or the police had done Wednesday. Instead, the room was left open and employees were exposed to what could have been anthrax or some other biochemical agent.
"Fortunately, it now appears unlikely that the threat was anything more than that � a threat," Stryker said.
SCSU President Roy Saigo said the university was being kept updated on the investigation into the incident.
Leslie Andres can be reached at: [email protected]
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