Men in green suits stalked about seminary grounds, FBI agents mingled with Syracuse police, and worried parents fled to pick up their children. Remember seeing this on the news?
Yeah, Syracuse Junior High made national news. The so-called anthrax scare happened yesterday, at the tail end of second period, so it was around 9:45. Dr. Bowden got on the intercom and announced that we were in a semi-lockdown situation; nobody was allowed to leave class, but we could still continue on as normal, minus changing classes. She reported that a "suspicious package" arrived at the seminary, and the first priority was to get everybody in there out. Dr. Bowden assured us that we were all safe, and so were the seminary students. A bit later, she came on and said we could continue classes normally, except no going out the south doors. Seminary students were told to meet in the commons, and life went on.
Life went on with haz-mat teams outside, FBI agents, news copters, interviewers shoving microphones everywhere, the police worrying, a decontamination shower in the south parking lot, and teachers guarding doors.
Mrs. Champi, my English teacher, tryed to prove a point to her third period class. She was trying to show how easy it was to instill panic. "Don't worry, I bet it's all fine outside," she said as she walked towards the window. Mrs. Champi peeked out the blinds, and exclaimed, "There are men in black suits out there!" A good portion of the class yowled in surprise, and the rest broke into panic. "No, no, I'm just kidding," Champi laughed. She even told all of this to my period's class... Goodness.
The panic lesson has some relevence. I bet you were worried for the students when you heard CNN, or whoever, make such a big deal about this! A news article mislead readers by saying an evacuation took place; only the seminary was evacuated. Doctor Bowden said that everything is just fine, and students were absolutely safe. However, the media blew this up to gigantic proportions, getting rumors from the student body such as it was anthrax, there was a mysterious ticking noise from the package, anthrax had already been released into the air, it was just white powder... Somebody heard a group that day whispering among themselves, "Yeah, let's spread that rumor! It'd be hilarious, hahaha."
Here's some clarification:
-The package was a manilla envolope, and inside was a rambling letter.
-There was no white powder, anthrax, or anything else.
-It did not tick.
-Nobody but highly trained proffesionals handeled it.
-The seminary was merely told to leave.
-Nobody was in harm's way.
... Yeah, that's what this post is about!
In other, un-related news, It's A Wonderful Life is going well. We'll be preforming the first week of December, and yell at mom or I for tickets. Also, boys are a hot topic of conversation. According to some girls, it's a make-out week at school.
YUCK.
TTFN,
Allison