The latest in what has become a wave of false alarms following the nationwide anthrax scare, authorities responded to two more reports of "suspicious" materials on campus yesterday.
With highly potent strains of anthrax now confirmed in Florida, New York and Washington, the Penn community has become very anxious about the threat of bioterrorism.
This week, University Police have received at least five calls about unusual powders or packages -- all of which turned out to be harmless.
Yesterday, a powdery substance drew University Police and the Philadelphia Fire Department out to the School of Dental Medicine, while an unusual package caused concern inside the Biomedical Research Buildings later in the day.
Both cases, as all others on campus so far, turned out to be unfounded.
"In the interest of safety and everybody's peace of mind, we are investigating all such incidents and taking appropriate action," University Police Deputy Chief of Investigations Williams Danks said.
Authorities were first called to the Dental School, located at 4001 Spruce St., when employees there reported seeing a strange powder sitting on a table.
University Police and the Philadelphia Fire Department were dispatched to the scene. Officials then called one of the Philadelphia Fire Department's Rapid Assessment Teams, which determined through a field test that the substance was nontoxic.
"At first blush, at least, the substance is believed to just be sand," Danks said.
The second incident involved a suspicious package received at the Biomedical Research Buildings, located at 421 Curie Blvd.
A secretary there received a package from a laboratory in Denmark. Researchers at the complex deal with the Danish laboratory frequently, but were not expecting any packages from them at the time.
University Police were again dispatched, and called the Denmark lab, which confirmed that they had indeed sent the package.
According to Danks, University Police have been swamped with similar kinds of reports all week.
Yesterday, University President Judith Rodin, Executive Vice President John Fry and Provost Robert Barchi sent an e-mail to the entire Penn community, offering tips on handling mail and assessing the risk of a potential anthrax attack on campus.
"At this point, neither Philadelphia nor any university has had any incidents of bioterrorism, and we have no reason to believe that will change," the e-mail read. "However, while the risk of contracting any disease from the mail is extremely low, it is important that we remain vigilant in taking precautions against this potential threat."
On Tuesday, Penn and city officials responded to a call at the Graduate Student Center, located at 3615 Locust Walk.
Employees there noticed a suspicious powder on the floor, but it was later determined to be nontoxic -- likely construction residue.
And on Monday, there were two reports of unusual powders -- one at the Ivy Grille, located at 3611 Walnut St., and one at the office buildings at 3401 Walnut St.
