USM implements mail handling precautions

By Staff
Special to The Star
Oct. 19, 2001
HATTIESBURG  The University of Southern Mississippi is monitoring campus mail more closely these days and taking other security precautions in line with the nation's stepped-up effort to guard against acts of terrorism.
Campus postal officials have strengthened procedures to detect letters, packages and other mail that may appear suspicious or out of the ordinary.
Notices also are being placed in campus residence halls urging students to use caution in opening packages or other mail that looks unfamiliar or has no return address. The notices include instructions as to what students should do if they observe a suspicious item in the residence halls.
Rice said hazardous materials teams located in the Hattiesburg area could be called to the campus immediately if necessary to decontaminate suspicious materials. He also warned that anyone perpetrating a hoax concerning the spread of anthrax or other terrorist activity would be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
USM police began placing additional officers at football games and some other campus events in recent weeks to more closely monitor items that fans may carry into the stadium or other university facilities. That practice will continue, Rice said.