New BU Dress Code

In a scathing report examining the exposure of three
Boston University researchers to tularemia last year, Boston public health
authorities
yesterday called on BU to strengthen internal oversight of safety
in medical school laboratories.

The study by the Boston Public Health Commission is sharply
critical of safety lapses in the lab where the scientists contracted potentially
lethal tularemia while developing a vaccine against the bacterial disease,
commonly known as rabbit fever.

Top representatives of the Public Health Commission
sketched out their findings last night for Boston city councilors, who
were meeting to collect testimony about BU’s ability to operate a proposed
lab where researchers could study the deadliest known pathogens, including
ebola, plague, and anthrax.

Several councilors — including Maura Hennigan, who is running for mayor
against incumbent Thomas M. Menino, an ardent champion of the planned
lab — posed this question: If BU could not safely operate a lower-security
facility, how can it be trusted to run a high security lab that would
handle lethal agents?

One more reason we have become a big fan of distance
education. Barring that, we may have to begin teaching our classes
in Bio-Hazard containment suits…..

from the
Boston Globe