“Let’s face reality,” the unassigned letter begins, “Blacks on the average are not as smart as whites.” End quote. The letter was distributed to several hundred dorm rooms in January. The anonymous writer went on to recommend material that he or she said would support the letter’s theme. Graduate student Carla Jackson, treasurer of the Black Graduate and Professional Student Caucus, says she was disgusted but not surprised by its contents.

“I was a little taken aback because of the boldness sort of the boldness and cowardliness at the same time because the letter did not have a return address so it wasn’t like you could have any kind of dialogue between the person that disseminated these ideas and the people who were most affected by them,” said Jackson.

The sender was never identified. An OSU spokesperson says the university was required by postal regulations to deliver the letter, but sent its own letters of disclaimer afterward.

In what administrators say is an unrelated incident, several students at OSU’s Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster organized a group and created web pages titled “Oprah Winfrey is the Devil.” Institute director Stephen Nameth says one of the students added language to the web page that was derogatory to Blacks.

“The actual web director modified it a little bit and took some of the students’ names and gave them nicknames as officers of this “Oprah is the Devil” website and those names were very racist,” Nameth says. “All [the names] were related to African Americans and hate crimes associated with African Americans.”

Postings to the site included the “N” word, the “F” word and similar language. Nameth says about half of the 16 students involved did not realize their names were being misused until they began receiving hate mail and death threats. Because of that Nameth says the student who posted the material would be expelled.

This week university president Karen Holbrook addressed the incidents in an email to students and staff. She said the inflammatory messages may have been intended to create divisiveness but instead they’ve brought students together. Another official, Vice Provost for Minority Affairs Mac Stewart, says the university continues to help educate its members.

“Several programs have been held and some for the future whereby they’re talking about race relations, racism, and activities and programs that will try to enhance a better understand among different populations,” says Stewart.

But Danice Brown, a member of the Black Graduate and Professional Student Caucus said she’s disappointed she’s just now hearing from President Holbrook about the January incident. The Caucus and other student organizations are crafting a response to the anonymous letter and the web page.

“Bioterrorism is the real deal. It’s significant and we need to worry about it,” says OSU’s Todd Stewart.

During the first session of the new course Tuesday morning, about 30 students heard an overview on bioterror from retired Air Force major general Todd Stewart, director of OSU’s Program for International and Homeland Security.

“So you’ve got to worry about bad guys and bad stuff. Each of those independently is worrisome for us as a nation. But you know what’s really worrisome? If the bad guys get their hands on the bad stuff. And, believe me; they are trying to do that,” said General Stewart.

The undergraduate course is the first of its kind at Ohio State. It was proposed by OSU’s International Studies Program to help train students in the Intelligence and Security major. Students Melissa Castillo and Zephan Keehner both hope the class helps them go to work with the federal government after graduation.

“Knowing this information will benefit me, my family my friends to be prepared for what’s going on in the future and also to know something when going into a government position which is something I want to do,” says Castillo.

There’s some pretty scary stuff in the world and I figured, Hey the best thing to do is to learn about it,’” Keehner says.

The U.S. has already seen the impact of bioterror. The anthrax attacks that occurred on the heals of 9/11 infected more than 20 people and killed five. Small pox and other diseases also could one day be used as weapons. Though chemical and nuclear weapons might be favored by terrorists because of their immediate impact, OSU plant pathologist Charles Curtis, who helped develop the course, says a bioterror attack could be accomplished more easily.

“It’s cheaper to do it this way. And it doesn’t require much and one person can do a lot of damage. Putting something in the water supply or putting toxins around – if they really wanted to do it, they could get their hands on it. So it’s called an asymmetric war – of aircraft carriers versus anthrax spores in a 35 cent letter. So it’s a new era for us,” Curtis says.

This new era includes threats to the food supply: plant pathogens could attack crops and diseases like foot-and-mouth could disrupt livestock production. To teach the wide-ranging course material, scholars from across the university will take part. They include professors from Public Health, Plant Pathology, International Studies and the Food Animal Health Research Program. Guest lecturers include a former deputy assistant to the defense secretary for chemical and biological defense. Charles Curtis says that among the general population there’s a lack of awareness about the potential biological threats that exis.

“The idea is not to scare students to death, but to have them aware — this is an awareness course — to provide them with what they need to know and fully understand our modern situation,” Curtis says.

Curtis says bioterrorism is not a new idea. The Assyrians, he says, waged it against adversaries in 500 B.C. Just three decades ago, a small Chicago-based ecoterror group calling itself R.I.S.E declared that humans were destroying the planet and planned an ill-conceived annihilation. Couple today’s ready access to information with the United State’s open society and preparedness, according to Curtis is now vitally important.

“Those kinds of situations need to be studied and dealt with. Our adversaries are not ignorant about these facts. They’re quite sophisticated. They do projections on what could happen and they study the situation very carefully. All the information they need is available in our libraries and our research publications,” Curtis says.

The course will also examine the balance between risk and civil liberties. One session will feature a panel of EMS, police and fire first responders. Students will also study the strengths and weaknesses in crisis communication. Sam Hendren, WOSU News.