Box of Condoms Leads to Evacuation of Classrooms

In the wake of the Virginia Tech Massacre, many school officials feel that they would rather be safe than sorry- but what could provide more safety than a box of 500 condoms? In a terribly ironic play on the word "safe", the package of rubbers were assumed to be a bomb sent to a classroom at Des Moines Community College.

The package was sent to a human sexuality professor, but the odd shape and size of the package caught the attention of school officials. Responding to what they presumed to be a bomb, the people who first noticed the parcel made phone calls to local police and Iowa postal inspectors. To take precaution against the possibility of a tragic incident, Des Moines Community College president Rob Denson decided to evacuate several classrooms in the building the condoms were sent to.

Not much information is available online about the incident, as school officials may be trying to squelch any media firestorm that may result from the possibility of a bomb being sent to a school. You may recall in the days following the Virginia Tech shooting that many students wanted nothing more but to be left alone by all of the reporters and television cameras. "Our students are ready to start moving forward, and the best way we can do that is to get the campus back to normal," said Liz Hart, director of public relations at Virginia Tech. However, some misidentified mail is nothing compared to the death of 33 students- it is the potential for disaster that caused the heightened awareness by school officials.

Apparently the condoms were sent to the teacher from a previous speaker at the class, said Denson. Rob Denson was appointed the fourth President of Des Moines Area Community College on November 1, 2003. Since his tenure began, the school has seen a 58% increase in enrollment, and I would only expect those numbers to rise now that students are ensured free condoms.

In my mind, I understand that precautionary measures must be taken to ensure the safety of a college campus. But honestly, if the VT incident wasn't still fresh in our minds, would this event at DMCC even warrant news coverage? There has to be a line drawn between what if a viable threat and what isn't. To get police and postal inspectors involved in inspecting a package that had nothing but a box of condoms seems like a bit of overkill to me.

Source: Davesdaily.com