THE UNIVERSITY BARRY KANSAS
NEWS
BOMB THREAT
5A
Dan Gill/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hazardous materials response personnel set up near the Butler-Carlton Civil Engineering Building at the University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla, Mo. A University of Missouri-Rolla graduate student claiming to possess anxia and a bomb threw this south-central Missouri community into a panic.
Terrorism scare closes Missouri-Rolla campus
Student claimed to have bomb, anthrax
BY JIM SALTER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROULA, Mo. — Nearly two dozen people were quarantined Tuesday after a white, powdery substance was found on a student who claimed to have a bomb and threatened "terrorist-type" actions at the University of Missouri Rolla, officials said.
The man described as a graduate student depressed about his grades, also claimed to have anthrax, according to police. School officials said 'possible bomb materials' were found when he
this is going to be a bogus or phony situation," said Acting Police Chief Mark Kearse.
was taken into custody.
"We have no hard evidence that there's anything wrong in the building but we simply can't take a chance."
Kearse said that when police arrived around 2:30 am, at the
The 5,850-student technological research and engineering campus in south central Missouri was shut down during the incident and classes were canceled for the day while officers investigated.
"If we had to make an assessment right now, our assessment is that
WILLIAM JENKS
Mayor
Twenty three people were being quarantined Tuesday morning until authorities could determine whether they needed to be decontaminated. A Missouri National Guard team from Fort Leonard Wood was gathering samples to determine if the substance was hazardous, said Lt. Col. David Boyle of the 7th Civil Support Team.
university's civil engineering building the student was holding a knife and that he held up a bag and said: "This is a bomb"
Officials indicated that the substance probably was not anthrax, noting
that no one who was exposed to the substance has had any symptoms.
"If it was anthrax they would have been displaying some symptoms," said Ray Massey, ambulance director at Phelps County Regional Medical Center.
Police used a stun gun to subdue the student and found a four-page note in which he threatened to destroy the building, Kearse said.
The mains identity and nationality were not released, though school
spokesman Lance Feyh said he was an international student. The man was decontaminated and taken to a hospital before being taken to a holding facility at the Rolla Police Department, Kearse said.
Mayor William Jenks and Kearse said the student had been distraught over his grades, which may have led to the incident. Jenks said the student "had problems and was depressed."
The Fort Leonard Wood Explosive Operations Division was investigating the possibility that a bomb may be in the building.
"We have no hard evidence that there's anything wrong in the building but we simply can't take a chance," lenks said. "We're taking a "cautious approach."
A nearby Catholic school also canceled classes.
Those exposed to the powder included a faculty member in whose lab the graduate student was found and eight students working nearby, said campus spokeswoman Mary Helen Stoltz. The remaining people exposed to the powder included emergency personnel who responded to the scene, she said.
Stoltz reiterated Kearse's belief that the student was "using the threat of terror to get attention."
"We believe the situation is completely under control," she said, "For now everybody's safe."
Start St. Patty's Day Early with Great Green Designs from Jayhawk Bookstore ..at the top of Naismith Hill
HUMANITIES LECTURE SERIES 2006-2007
Thursday, March 1
Kansas Union Ballroom
All events are free and open to the public. No tickets are required.
KWAME ANTHONY APPIAH
7:30 pm "Making Sense of Moral Conflict"
"A Conversation with Kwame Anthony Appiah," Thursday, March 1 at 3:00 pm, Alderson Auditorium, Kansas Union
This series is co-sponsored by Kundra Public Radio, and partial funding is provided by the National Library for the Program.
For more information contact the Hall Center at 785-864-4798, via e-mail at hallcenter@ku.edu, or visit our Web site at www.hallcenter.ku.edu
WALL STREET
BY MADLEN READ ASSOCIATED PRESS
Market plunges amid fears of cooling global economies
A 9 percent slide in Chinese stocks, which came a day after investors sent Shanghai's benchmark index to a record high close, set the tone for U.S. trading. The Dow began the day falling sharply, and the decline accelerated throughout the course of the session before stocks took a huge plunge in late afternoon as computer driven sell programs kicked in.
NEW YORK - Stocks plummeted Tuesday, briefly hurtling the Dow Jones industrials down more than 500 points as Wall Street succumbed to a global market plunge sparked by growing concerns that the U.S. and Chinese economies are cooling and that equities prices have become overinflated.
The Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 8.8 percent to close at 2,771.79, its biggest decline since it fell 8.9 percent on Feb. 18, 1997 Since Chinese share prices doubled last year as investors poured money into the market after the completion of shareholding reforms, trading in Shanghai has been very volatile.
The Dow fell 546.02, or 4.3 percent, to 12,086.06 before recovering some ground in the last hour of trading. Because the worst of the plunge took place after 2:30 p.m., the New York Stock Exchange's circuit breakers, designed to halt precipitous moves, were not activated.
Investors' dwindling confidence was knocked down further by data showing that the economy may be decelerating more than anticipated. A Commerce Department report that orders for durable goods in January dropped by the largest amount in three months exacerbated jitters about the direction of the U.S. economy, just a day after former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the U.S. may be headed for a recession.
Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index dropped 1.8 percent, and Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Composite Index fell 2.8 percent. Japan's Nikkei stock average fell a more moderate 0.52 percent, but European markets were rattled
"It looks more and more like the economy is a slow growth economy," said Michael Strauss, chief economist at Commonfund. "Moderate economic growth is good — an abrupt stop in economic growth scares people."
- Britain's FTSE 100 lost 2.31 percent, Germany's DAX index dropped 2.96 percent, and France's CAC 40 fell 3.02 percent.
The market had been expecting the government on Wednesday to
Bond prices shot higher as investors bought into the safe haven Treasury market, pushing the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note down to 4.47 percent, its lowest level so far this year, from 4.63 percent late Monday. The bond buying was sparked primarily by the durable goods orders, which the Commerce Department said fell 7.8 percent, much more than what the market expected.
revise its estimate of fourth quarter GDP growth down to an annual rate of about 2.3 percent from an initial forecast of 3.5 percent, and grew increasingly nervous on Tuesday that the figure could come in even lower.
The durable goods drop raised the chance of the Federal Reserve easing interest rates later in the year—a possibility that makes the bond market an attractive place to be right now.
The housing market, which the Street had been hoping had bottomed out, also looked far from recovery after a Standard & Poor's index indicated that single-family home prices across the nation were flat in December. A later report from the National Association of Realtors said existing home sales climbed in January by the largest amount in two years, but the data didn't erase housing-related concerns, as median home prices fell for a sixth straight month.
The Dow was down 360.42, or 2.85 percent, at 12,271.84 in the last hour of trading. Just a week ago, the Dow had reached new closing and trading highs, rising as high as 12,795.92.
The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index was down 42.11, and 2.91 percent, at 1,407.26, and the Nasdaq composite index was off 81.34, or 2.35 percent, at 2,423.18.
A suicide bomber attack on the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan where Vice President Dick Cheney was visiting also rattled the market.
China's stock market plummeted Tuesday from record highs as investors took profits when concerns arose that the Chinese government may try to temper its ballooning economy by raising interest rates again or reducing more of the money available for lending.
"Corrections usually happen because of a catalyst, and this may be it," said Ed Peters, chief investment officer at PanAgora Asset Management. "The move in China was a surprise, and when a major market has a shock it ripples through the rest of the market.
With all the trade that goes on with China, there tends to be a knee-jerk reaction with that kind of drop."
The hope for slowing inflation could be dashed, though, if energy costs keep rising. Oil prices initially fell Tuesday on worries that Chinese demand could be dampened should its economy slow down, but later rose on escalating tensions in the Middle East. Light, sweet crude for April delivery fell 62 cents a barrel to $60.77 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Naturally, you want your nursing career to get off to a great start. We do too. So instead of just interviewing you, we want you to also interview us at our March 10th nurse recruitment event. Evaluate our educational support and mentoring program, advanced technology and peer support. We invite you to take a closer look and decide if a nursing career at Providence Medical Center in Kansas City or Saint John Hospital in Leavenworth is the right career move for you. Stop by, have some refreshments, visit with our nurses and ask about all of our nursing opportunities.
NURSE RECRUITMENT EVENT MARCH 10
10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Providence Medical Center 8929 Parallel Parkway, Kansas City, KS Auditoriums A,B & C [ ON-SITE INTERVIEWS AVAILABLE ]
10 FREE MUSIC DOWNLOADS
TO FREE MUSIC DOWNLOADS to the first 300 participants. Every person who interviews us will be entered in a drawing for a chance to WIN an iPod Nano. FIVE will be given away.
NURSING OPPORTUNITIES
NURSING OPPORTUNITIES for recent grads in both Kansas
City and Leavenworth including:
-Medical/Surgical
Orthopaedics/Neuroscience
Orthopaedics/Neuroscience Orthopaedic Snine Center.
Orthopaedic Spine Center
-Quality
-RN Educator
- Telemetry
- Emergency Department
- Other Key Areas
To learn more, or if you are unable to attend our March 10 event but want to schedule an appointment, please call 913.596.4027.
www.providence-health.org
Providence Medical Center
Saint John Hospital
Sisters of Charity of Leavenworth Health System