FBI examined copiers on campus in December as part of anthrax investigation

Shortly before the beginning of the winter recess in December, FBI agents came to campus to make sample copies on all 45 of the University's publicly accessible copying machines.

The FBI is investigating letters containing anthrax bacteria, which were mailed from the Trenton area in October. The bureau has repeatedly declined to comment on the specifics of its anthrax investigation. University spokeswoman Marylin Marks also declined to comment yesterday.

Ted McLaughlin, who runs the Photographic Services office in Firestone Library, is in charge of publicly accessible machines on campus, which allow anyone with a pre-paid access card to make copies. He explained that he was instructed to give the agents access to the machines.

McLaughlin said the agents made two copies at each copier, without any document in the machine — one copy with the lid up and another with the lid down. He explained that these copies could reveal telltale scratches on the copier glass or faults on the machine's drum.

All four of the anthrax-laden letters were prepared on a copying machine. Comparing these letters to the samples it has taken from area machines, the bureau may be able to determine which machine was used to copy the letters.

The Trenton Times reported yesterday that the FBI has been testing other public copiers in the Mercer County area, including machines in local public libraries and the Pequod outlet inside the University Store. Machines at a Piscataway research institute affiliated with Rutgers University have also been tested.

An employee at Kinko's on Witherspoon Street declined to say whether agents had visited the store.