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California State University, Dominguez Hills
University of Wisconsin, Parkside
Created: October 20, 2001
Latest Update: October 20, 2001
E-Mail jeannecurran@habermas.org
E-Mail takata@uwp.edu
E-Mail Olivier Urbain, Soka University

Reactions to Anthrax Threat

Copyright: Jeanne Curran and Susan R. Takata and Individual Authors: October 2001.
"Fair use" encouraged.

On Saturday, October 20, 2001, Corinne Oshiro wrote:

Jeanne,

Hi, it's me Corinne Oshiro, from your Graduate Social Theory class. I am sorry that I was absent from class on Wed. Oct. 17, but I was sick. I was looking forward to hearing Professor Furusa's lecture, and I regret having to miss it. I will be in class this Wednesday.

I just read the article "Why the Anthrax scare isn't as bad as you think" by Jessica Reaves from Time and found it reassuring. I work for Mentor California, a social service organization, and people at my work talk about Anthrax all the time. In fact, one employee carries a bottle of bactine in her purse. I admit I was scared to open the mail coming into our office for a while. But I read the article on Dear Habermas from last week about what to do if you open a letter or package that contains the infamous white powder. People cannot live their lives in constant fear. You can't just shut yourself off from the world and say," I can't open my mail; it might have Anthrax. I can't travel; I might get highjacked." People just have to use caution and common sense.

Corinne

On Saturday, October 20, 2001, jeanne responded:

Corinne, I'm glad you're feeling a little better about the anthrax threat now. That is one of the objectives of the Dear Habermas Site, to give us a forum on which we can bring these things out into the open, get them into public discourse, and relieve the anxiety that comes from suppressing our fears, anxiety, and even our joys.

We are social creatures, and we are intelligent creatures. We need both information and the emotional security of talking about these things seriously. I look forward to seeing you next Wednesday.

love and peace, jeanne