Oct. 18, 2001

Contact: Dr. Holly Pinkart (509-963-2710, fax 509-963-2730, e-mail: pinkarth@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - The U.S. House of Representatives was shut down yesterday (Wednesday, Oct. 17) as a precaution against anthrax. Meanwhile, officials with the Washington State Department of Health this week reported receiving, on average, a dozen calls a day from people reporting suspicious, powdery substances.

Commenting on the anthrax scare, Dr. Holly Pinkart, CWU biological sciences professor, said, “The amount of misinformation being put out by the media and our political representatives is truly frightening.”

In response, Pinkart will discuss “Taking the Terror Out of Bioterrorism” Tuesday, Oct. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in Science Building 147 on the Ellensburg campus.

“I’ll be talking about the biology, in layman’s terms,” Pinkart said. “This will be an informational discussion about the history of biological warfare, the most likely agents -- including lots of information about anthrax -- and the preparedness of the public health system to handle current and potential crises.”

For more information about Pinkart’s free, public presentation, or for persons of disability to arrange for reasonable accommodation, call (509) 963-2731, or (for the hearing impaired) TDD (509) 963-3323.

Pinkart’s presentation is presented in conjunction with the university’s Homecoming 2001, titled “In Search of Legends and Heroes.”