UC Davis began X-raying some scientists' mail, increasing police patrols and stepping up other security measures last week after an animal-rights group sent letters booby-trapped with razor blades to campus primate researchers. Campus officials and national research groups said the letters marked an escalation in the campaign against animal research-both here and nationwide. "This is terrorism," said Kevin Smith, vice chancellor for research. "It is immoral and uncivilized. A group that claims to value life is threatening the personal safety of individuals if they do not stop doing their research. It is truly ironic. "We strongly believe that the research done with primates on this campus is of great value to mankind," Smith said. "There are children alive today who might not have survived were it not for the kind of research performed at our primate center." Seven letters directed to researchers were received over a four-day period last week and turned over unopened to the FBI, according to campus police. There were no reports of injuries. Each letter arrived in a plain white envelope rigged with a razor blade in the flap so that it could cut fingers while being opened. The envelopes reportedly also included brief notes demanding the scientists release all research primates or face future acts of violence. UC Davis scientists were among 87 nationwide who were listed on a Web site along with a claim by an animal rights group called "Justice Department" that it was responsible for the mailings. One letter, according to media reports, read: "You have been targeted, and you have until autumn of 2000 to release all your primate captives and get out of the vivisection industry. If you do not heed our warning, your violence will be turned back on you." The envelopes had an Oct. 22 Las Vegas postmark, bore no return address and were addressed to the researchers' departments. UC Davis and other targeted universities received advance warning about the letters from national research groups that monitor animal-rights Web sites. After receiving the alert, campus police issued a bulletin urging faculty and staff members to be on alert for suspicious packages and letters. The campus Mail Division also began X-raying mail sent to the targeted scientists. Police also contacted the listed researchers and others to discuss safety concerns, stepped up patrols at sensitive facilities, and expanded efforts to assess the security of research facilities, said Lt. Mike Adams. In addition, police are working with the Office of Research to develop a personal safety class for researchers and their support staffs. Security surveys in the works Adams said the police department's crime prevention unit had already begun conducting security surveys for campus research facilities after a group calling itself "Reclaim the Seeds" vandalized research crops last month. Adams urged any researchers concerned about their security to contact the crime prevention unit at 752-6589 to arrange a security survey, if police haven't contacted them already. "As a department we're very concerned about the safety of our researchers," he said. "We have a lot of people in the department working on ways to protect our researchers-crime prevention, extra patrols." But he said police need the help of the campus community. "To be most effective, the police department needs to work with the departments and they need to work with us." Jeff Roberts, assistant director of the California Regional Primate Research Center, said security precautions were put in place during the days of the Unabomber, who carried out a bombing campaign against universities, airlines and others from 1978 until his arrest in 1996. Roberts said the letter threats have created a heightened sense of wariness among researchers and their staffs. "People are obviously concerned," he said. "When you get very specific threats like this, you can't help but be concerned. At the same time, I think there's a sense that this isn't going to change anybody's commitment to their work, the research that's going on here and other places across campus." Roberts described the targeted researchers as compassionate people. "They care about the animals they work with. They care about the humans with medical problems that they're working on. To learn that these people are targets of threats is immensely depressing." The letters thrust UC Davis researchers into the national spotlight. Many faced a dilemma about whether to publicly defend their research at the risk of increasing their chances of being singled out by animal-rights activists. Vice Chancellor Smith recommended that researchers refer media calls to the campus News Service and served as a primary spokesperson himself. Roberts said he believes it is critical for university administrators to speak out against the group making these threats. "The dilemma is that the university is founded on being open and interacting closely with society," Roberts said. "But here you have somebody using two means of communication, the Internet and the postal service, to deliver threats of physical violence. Commitment to knowledge "The university and the administration have to clearly establish the priority for the safety and welfare of its staff but also our commitment to our pursuit of knowledge," Roberts said. "Whether it's research on the bench top with cell cultures, clinical studies in the hospital or use of animals in the lab, we're committed to increasing our knowledge about human health and diseases." Barbara Rich, executive vice president of the National Association for Biomedical Research in Washington, D.C., said animal researchers are at risk regardless of their public profile. She said animal researchers across the country have been subjected to harassment and intimidation from animal-rights protesters, but their cases have drawn little public attention. The razor-blade letters, on the other hand, received widespread publicity because of the number of researchers targeted and because the list was posted on the Internet. Rich praised UC Davis officials such as Smith, the primate center's Roberts and Police Chief Calvin Handy for their efforts in representing researchers and their studies. "I think UC Davis was prepared," she said. She predicted that most targeted researchers nationwide would be unswayed by the threats. However, she questioned if the threats might have a chilling effect on future scientists and their research. "How many graduate students are being turned off by this?" she asked. "How many research projects have been altered as a result of this?" Shouldn't be afraid to talk At the same time, Rich said it is important that campus employees know where to go to register concerns about the welfare of research animals. "I don't think we should be afraid of talking and getting information out there," she said. At UC Davis, a campus Animal Care and Use Committee must approve each animal research project before it can be submitted to a funding agency. Employees with questions or concerns about treatment of specific research animals can contact campus veterinarian Phil Tillman at 752-2364 or 752-2356. Elsewhere, other targeted institutions from the University of Washington to Harvard University tightened security and urged their researchers to use extra caution both at work and at home. "Obviously the atmosphere is one of concern. We've alerted security and alerted all researchers," said Melodie Jackson, spokeswoman for Stanford University Medical Center, where one researcher was targeted. "We are always on alert because we are the target frequently of animal rights protesters," said Lorie McHale, assistant director for media relations for the University of Washington Health Sciences Department. The Oregon Regional Primate Center, where four researchers were named on the "Justice Department" list, sent out a memo urging employees to use caution in opening mail-both at home and at work. Precautions since the early '90s Jim Parker, spokesman for the center at the Oregon Health Sciences University, said other precautions were put in place after "Justice Department" sent a letter bomb to an animal researcher in England in the early 1990s. The "Justice Department," reportedly based in England, also has been linked to previous threats of violence against fur ranchers and hunters and a turkey contamination hoax. However, Parker said public institutions face certain limits in trying to protect their researchers. "We can't very well take their names out of the university phone book without making the university phone book meaningless." UC Davis has seen numerous animal-rights actions, including many mostly peaceful demonstrations. Last June, animal-rights activists participating in a Primate Freedom Tour also picketed outside one university researcher's home. An arson fire at UC Davis in 1987 ranks only behind a $12 million arson fire at a Colorado ski resort in 1998 as the country's most costly crime related to animal activism. It caused $4.6 million in damage to the campus's John E. Thurman Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory. Although the letters ALF, the acronym for the shadowy Animal Liberation Front, were found painted inside that burned laboratory, no one was ever prosecuted for the fire, due to the lack of evidence. The building was eventually completed and now provides diagnostic services and information to help control animal diseases. The animal-rights group also claimed responsibility for a March 18, 1997, arson fire at the site of the partially built Center for Comparative Medicine, west of the main campus. Damage was estimated at under $1,000. Campus police ask that anyone with information about the razor blade threats call the police dispatch at (530) 752-1230 or the Crime Tip Line at (530) 752-9944. Individuals can call 24 hours a day, and those using the Crime Tip Line may choose to remain anonymous.