After a series of anthrax outbreaks that are occurring across the country and began last week at a tabloid in Florida, as well as our own toxic substance scare at the Army recruiting office in downtown State College, an atmosphere of fear has alighted on the United States.

In this stressful time for our country, when people fear traveling by plane after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, we, as residents must remember that, while we've already seen that bad things can happen, we cannot revert to a state of panic in everything we do.

Bush's health chief has told reporters that the country will develop a plan to respond to bioterrorism following the recent anthrax cases, which may be related to the September 11 attacks.

An attitude of caution is certainly necessary for Americans at this time.

We must not take lightly things that seem out of the ordinary in our everyday lives. But at the same time, we must not stop the behaviors that we usually engage on a daily basis and we must not assume that every little thing we determine to be out of the ordinary is connected in some way to terrorist actions.

We must watch out for ourselves and our neighbors. After the substances sent to organizations across the country that were determined to be anthrax, the State College Police department responded quickly and efficiently to the threat made in the Army office Friday. The area was evacuated until the situation was determined to be safe, meanwhile keeping residents from panicking.

We must all be careful and, perhaps, more observant as we go about our daily business, but we must also not forget that our neighbors, no matter what race or ethnicity, are not to be considered suspect.

Many of them are Americans as well, and may be just as concerned about their own safety and the safety of this country as the rest of us. We must all be cautious, but practical, and supportive in the coming months.