By Robert Salonga
Daily Bruin Staff
The College of Letters & Science office experienced a scare
Wednesday when it received a threatening letter containing a
powder-like substance, prompting a criminal investigation by
university police.
The letter turned out to be non-toxic, and there is no
indication that the employee who handled it suffered any harm.
At about 10:20 a.m., an employee in the Murphy Hall office
opened a letter addressed to Life Sciences dean Fred Eiserling. The
unnamed employee discovered the substance in the envelope and
immediately contacted the office of Environment, Health and
Safety.
EH & S proceeded to localize any possible risk exposure by
closing off the vicinity of the office. When it determined that the
substance was not toxic, it passed the case onto university police
to investigate the origins of the letter.
“We’re purely going to try to determine where the
letter came from,” said Nancy Greenstein, UCPD community
services director.
She declined to comment on the content of the letter, pending an
investigation.
“The courts are taking this very seriously,”
Greenstein said. “If people are doing this as a joke to send
a message, this is not the time.”
She added that details of the investigation ““ including
the name of the employee who handled the letter and the
identification of the substance ““ were not available.
Chancellor Albert Carnesale said he was not allowed into the
building during the testing, but applauded the prompt response by
emergency units.
“It demonstrates we take any threat seriously, and that
our foremost concern is the safety of everyone on campus,”
Carnesale said.
When asked whether security would be increased at Murphy Hall,
Carnesale said there was no need for overreaction.
“This is not a matter of security. This is a matter of
checking into something that might be dangerous,” he
said.
With reports from Marcelle Richards, Daily Bruin Senior
Staff.