Article

Suspicious powder found on campus

Police investigate possible biological threat
Jeremy Ribakove and Brian Miller - Staff Writers

A possible biological threat caused the shutdown of the South Computing Pod shortly after midnight Thursday, Oct. 18.

New York State University Police-Binghamton closed the Pod, located in the Engineering Building, due to the presence of a suspicious white substance.

According to e-mails sent out to the Pod Staff LISTSERV, a computer user informed the Pod staff about what appeared to be a “dead stressball with white powder” on the floor. Members of the staff then informed University Police.

Initially, University Police only blocked off rows of computers near the Pod’s front entrance, but police soon decided to close down the entire Pod. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the stressball was in fact a balloon.

“We’ll respond to anything suspicious,” said University Police Investigator Donald A. Chier.

This is the fifth reported occurrence of unidentified white powder, according to Chier. The previous incidents are still under investigation, though there are no suspects as of yet, Chier added.

Additionally, Chier said the University Police have an established internal process for dealing with possible biological threats, including anthrax, but the methodology cannot be revealed due to security concerns.

Some students don’t believe that anthrax is a concern for the University.

“I seriously don’t think that if a terrorist wanted to spread anthrax, he’d target Binghamton of all places,” said junior anthropology major Patrick Lindsay.

However, after the first incident, the “Binghamton Univeristy Procedure for handling anthrax or other biological agent threat” was issued to University employees. The document outlines the basic steps that should be taken “in all cases of suspected exposure or prescence of a suspicious package.”

One student expressed her frustation at being unable to do anything about the scares.

“I’m not particularly concerned for my own safety, but I do realize it’s a serious concern,” said junior computer science major Heather Sheiman. “I just don’t feel that being scared or worried would accomplish anything when something is out of my control.”

-Wasim Ahmad contributed to this article