What could possibly have made Steve so curious about biology?

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__________________________________________________

Bacteria in home of art professor spurs indictment on fraud charges

Genetics scholar from Pittsburgh also indicted

By DAN HERBECK
News Staff Reporter
6/30/2004


In a case that has angered the art world and raised concerns about academic
freedom, the federal government obtained mail fraud and wire fraud
indictments Tuesday against University at Buffalo art professor Steven Kurtz
and the chairman of the University of Pittsburgh's human genetics
department.

Kurtz, 46, and Robert E. Ferrell, 60, are accused of illegally scheming to
use Ferrell's position with the University of Pittsburgh to obtain two
bacterial agents that were found last month in Kurtz's home laboratory on
College Street.

Kurtz's attorney said the bacteria were harmless, and authorities made no
allegation that the men intended to use the bacteria for terrorism, but U.S.
Attorney Michael A. Battle said the investigation is continuing.

Federal prosecutors and agents call the indictments a case of protecting
the public safety in post-9/11 America.

Kurtz's supporters in the art world accuse U.S. Attorney General John D.
Ashcroft of making a heavy-handed attack on free speech and artistic
expression.

"This case has nothing to do with artistic expression and everything to do
with public safety," Battle responded. "Regardless of the plans these two
men had for these materials, we can't allow people to buy and distribute
bacterial agents like this under false pretenses. It's not a case of
terrorism, but it's a case of mail fraud."

But Edmund Cardoni, executive director of Hallwalls Contemporary Arts
Center said "these indictments are going to outrage people in the art
world."

"To me, it looks like a real stretch," Cardoni said. "The government
couldn't make a case that (Kurtz) was trying to make biological weapons, so
they hunted for another charge to use against him."

UB spokesman Arthur Page said the university will "carefully review the
charges and make a determination whether any action on its part needs to be
undertaken." He added that the university is also committed to encouraging
faculty members to have "academic freedom to pursue research," and providing
a safe environment for students and staffers.

Kurtz is scheduled to appear in court July 8 before U.S. Magistrate Judge
H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr.

"On this case, the feds have gone from terrorism to protecting the public
safety to this petty charge," said Kurtz's attorney, Paul J. Cambria. "We'll
be fighting this in court."

Cambria said Kurtz was using the bacteria for research for his work with
the Critical Art Ensemble, a performance art group that has been critical of
government policies in biotechnology.

The two biological agents seized from Kurtz's home were bacillus atrophaeus
and serratia marcescens, which are not alleged to be highly dangerous
substances. But prosecutor William J. Hochul Jr. said the substances were
purchased under false pretenses by Ferrell, who said they were going to be
used in research at his university.

Some e-mails exchanged last December between Kurtz and Ferrell provided
"significant evidence" in the case, Hochul said.

"Hi Bob. Well it looks like my bacteria is not as harmless as I previously
thought," Kurtz allegedly wrote in one e-mail, quoted in court papers.
"While not wildly dangerous, it is associated with pneumonia and urinary
tract infections . . . Seems to be hardest on kids and people with



compromised immune systems. Do you know what kind of strain we are getting,
and how toxic it is?"

Ferrell's response was not contained in the papers.

Serratia marcescens is a common bacterium found in soil, water, on plants
and in animals. Once believed to be harmless, the microbe has increasingly
become associated with hospital-acquired infections, including those of the
urinary tract, especially among very sick patients who are more vulnerable
to infection, according to microbiologists.

Bacillus atrophaeus is another common microbe with characteristics similar
to anthrax, except it is harmless. As such, it is used as a stand-in for
anthrax in biological studies, microbiologists said.

Before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the anthrax scare, researchers
routinely shipped bacteria to each other, said UB associate professor of
microbiology and immunology Terry Connell. Since then, he said, the federal
government has instituted strict regulations that scientists view with mixed
emotions.

Indictment papers allege that Ferrell illegally gave Kurtz the bacteria
after purchasing it from the American Type Culture Collection laboratory in
Manassas, Va.

"There are very strict procedures for getting these materials," Battle
said. He said the investigation showed that Ferrell was fully aware of the
procedures but violated them.

Kurtz is an artist, author and associate art professor at UB. He previously
taught art at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

According to University of Pittsburgh officials, Ferrell is a highly
respected scientist and professor. "Of course, we're concerned (by the
allegations)," said Robert Hill, vice chancellor for public affairs. "We
have cooperated with authorities in the investigation. We hope there is a
swift and positive outcome."

Ferrell could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Efrem M. Grail of
Pittsburgh, said his client is "surprised and disappointed" by the
indictment.

"(Ferrell) is a well-respected, honest, principled and experienced
teacher," Grail said.

The FBI investigation began May 12, the day after Kurtz's wife, Hope, died
from what police believe are natural causes.

Emergency first responders called to Kurtz's Buffalo home found what they
considered unusual items in the home, including a laboratory and petri
dishes with bacterial cultures in them.

When asked if authorities believe the bacteria kept in the home could have
contributed to the death of Hope Kurtz, prosecutors declined to comment.
Cambria said there was no connection.

As the case plays out, Cambria predicted, the public will learn that
Ferrell and Kurtz had only good intentions and never set out to defraud
anyone.

"There was no criminal intent here," Cambria said. "These men were setting
out to advance enlightenment and knowledge, which is what professors do."


e-mail: dherbeck@buffnews.com

News medical reporter Henry Davis contributed to this report.

I've been meeting all these people off the street while I'm on my gardening or flower watering patrol. This week I met two Vietnam veterans.
I was with the group of suburbanites and merchants pulling weeds and turning soil when I met the first man, Carl. The super gargening lady brought him over because he said he wanted to help. He made funny little music noises under his breath. He touched things like his hands were new, like a toddler he enjoyed the fresh sensations as he crumpled the dirt between his fingers.
Then he took the shovel from my hands and lifted it up horizontal. It made me nervous. I braced myself for the worse and Carl started playing air guitar on the shovel, swaying his hips asking "Y'all know Keith Richards man, Mick, Y'all know crazy Mick?" and so Carl was a big hit with all the sulky young gardeners who were only there because someone agreed to give them some undisclosed amount of money.
The next day I was on my usual plant watering route. I'd stopped at a Sunoco to make use of their watering spout and smoke a cigarette or two. A skinny old man in short shorts and sunglasses started up a conversation with me. Jimmy was his name. He told me he was in Vietnam and I told him "Yeah my dad was drafted but he was injured in training so he never had to go overseas." Then Jimmy started in on war stories.
The bright sun shone down on us while he told me of the perfect trap they had made for the Viet Kong. The perfect trap, he said, and then out of no where came the bagpipers playing loud and proud. The Viet Kong killed every one of those bagpipers. There were no rules in that war. They killed them bagpipers and Jimmy had to get his men out of there. The perfect trap foiled. Now when Jimmy is flipping through channels and sees a bagpiper he goes straight back in time to the massacre of the bagpipers who ruined his perfect death trap.
The good news is there are lots young soldiers coming home from Iraq who could be destined for the same future as Carl and Jimmy.

Dream on 1/03

I was at this place. Apathy I guess. I had to do something with video. Lori and Tena wanted rides. I got mad at tena/lori and she and I went to find our parents to settle the dispute. They were asleep. Lori said "Lets Leave" I said "Hell No." There were three people in the bed. Mama, Daddy and this stripper from the Claremont Lounge in Atlanta.
Eventually I left Lori and Tena and walked out into the yard. There was a little boy in a chair. I thought he was Matthew's corpse from a distance. I was in a towel. The little boy was drawing pictures. He wrote me a love letter. I couldn't figure out how to get off the beach. Stairs went nowhere. It was beautiful. I got in the water and lost all my clothes. A man showed me where the stairs toward the road were.
I took them. They were extremely narrow, less than 7 inches wide then they started to be flimsy and break. I held on got to the bottom and went outside. My video friends Jesse, Kyle, and Kirby were there. We went walking under a bridge and it was smoky. People were coughing and running. We made it out and some lady talked about our work. I put on one of my videos but people got quite and watched it so I turned it off.

Later 1/03

Lori said "Let's leave" I said "Hell No"
Lori was uncomfortable with what we were seeing. I wanted to know what in the hell was going on. As usual I was dominate in our conversation. Although Lori is two years older she's usually more passive than I am.
There were three people in the bed "Mama, Daddy, and this stripper from the Claremont Lounge in Atlanta"
It was strange because my parents haven't shared a bed in years and now this crazy old stripper is in the bed with them.
This makes me think of the time I was 14 years old and I was sitting in my house up really late on the computer. My sister had gone out with the quarterback of the football team several hours earlier. When he came to pick her up I was in the yard with one of my girlfriends and I had my underwear on over my pants and I was running around the yard all goofy thinking I was cool.
Later, really late my sister got home. We smoked cigarettes in the front yard. She told me these guys had raped her. She was drunk. A helicopter flew over our head and my sister screamed and cried and hid behind a rock saying "It's the aliens, they've come to get us"
The quarterback's girlfriend kept calling and I told her that her boyfriend raped my sister. I was crying and screaming into the phone. I never told my parents because I was afraid of getting Lori into trouble for being drunk. The next day Lori told me that nothing happened but I knew better.
6 years later when my niece was a baby, I got Lori to tell me the story. She went to a hotel room and got drunk with the quarterback, Demetrios Romine, and they had consensual sex. Then Demetrios' friend Josh Casey came. Lori told me this is when she started to freak out. Josh was the first guy my sister had ever had sex.



Well, that's the end of that old journal entry. I remember I had to stop writing because Lori called me on the phone and interrupted my reminiscent writing. I was alone in my apartment in Atlanta at the time. I was freaked out that Lori called right when I was writing about her and I didn't want tell her. Lori has a pretty good 6th sense, much better than mine. I don't think I even have one.

I've finally accepted that maybe my sisters denial was smartest thing she could have done at the time. What would have happened If she took those guys to court?
-Miss what were you doing in the hotel room?
-Miss why did you think it was OK to go to a hotel room and consume alcohol with this young man if you were not planning on having intercourse?
-Miss isn't it true that you had had sex with both of the defendants on previous oc
ca
sions?

What kind of God fearing southern Baptist 16 year old would have wanted to go through that?

I'll never forget that night as long as I live. My sister drunk 16 years old, freshly gang raped (two's a gang right)? and freaking out. In the midst of her freaking out that night she told me that they stuck a bottle inside of her and then she started crying hysterically.
That's what made me so full of rage (and still does). That is her body. She can do whatever she wants with it but there was absolutely NO REASON for those guys to treat my sister's BODY like it was their TOY and humiliate her so. I saw her hurt when she got home that night. and that stupid jealous bitch kept calling all night. "Where is your sister, where is my boyfriend Demetrios" I screamed at Ms. Emily Alford and told her you're boyfriend raped my sister but she didn't believe it or maybe it made her happy. Emily thought "that's what she gets for going out with my man."
Baubo save us from jealous teenage girls!
Of course being from a small town there was no way getting around the gossip or avoiding the rapist. Demetrios swore his innocents to me at a pasture party years later but I still think he's the scum of the earth. You can''t be there and be innocent. In this world you're either the victim to the aggressor. The oppressor or the oppressed. My sister did tell me though that it was Josh Casey who started the trouble. He shouldn't have been there.

well, besides the daydreams of stapling their butt cheeks together with a staple gun or cutting off dicks and balls and throwing them in a blender in front of the tied up rapist the only actual form of physical revenge went down at a trailer park party two years after the rape.
I was 16, working at Wendy's. I told my folks that I was closing that night and then I went out with my buddies, Big-D, Slim, and Beaker. The party was in a teenage meth whores trailer. She was a nice, pretty, and fucked up girl. I got pretty shit faced quickly. I was in the back room with Slim just being drunk and wallowing around (nothing sexual I was pretty uninterested in sex throughout high school). Josh Casey comes into the room. I knew exactly who he was. He smoked a big fat joint with me and Slim. After he smoked his pot with us I took a huge gulp of my beer and spit it into Josh Casey's face. He left I guess and Slim laughed his ass off. After that I went into the kitchen and slapped the hell out of some thick-necked white boy who I mistook for Demetrios. That guy got all pissed off and full of rage but Big-D scared the hell out of him for me and the Demetrios look alike ran off leaving behind a big bottle of liquor. I'm not much for revenge I guess.
Karma will get those mother fuckers if it hasn't already.

Dear all,
Here is an announcement (in english, french, german) you may be
interested in. Also, we would be grateful if you could forward it to
people who would be likely to submit propositions to the festival
"Rencontres internationales Paris/Berlin" such as artists, directors,
producers or creative organizations.
Thank you for your interest,
Sincerely,

Xavier Mordret
Rencontres Internationales Paris-Berlin
=========================================
EN FRANÇAIS PLUS BAS DANS LE MESSAGE
AUF DEUTSCH UNTEN
=========================================

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IN ENGLISH |

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CALL FOR ENTRIES: UNTIL THE 30TH OF JUNE, 2004

||||| FESTIVAL #8.9
||||| RENCONTRES INTERNATIONALES PARIS/BERLIN
||||| FILM / VIDEO / MULTIMEDIA
|||||

*** Please forward this information ***

In autumn 2004, the "Rencontres internationales Paris/Berlin"
("Paris/Berlin International Meetings") will present in both cities an
international programming focusing on experimental cinema, contemporary
video creation and multimedia, gathering works of artists
and directors acknowledged on the international scene along with young
artists and not much distributed directors.

The "Rencontres Internationales" aim at presenting those works to a
broad audience, at decompartmentalizing the different circles of
creation, at making their audiences communicate as well as creating new
exchanges between artists, directors and professionals.
More information at :

The "Rencontres internationales Paris/Berlin", a non-profit-making event
without competition, are supported by French, German and
international institutions.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
ALL INDIVIDUALS OR ORGANIZATIONS CAN SUBMIT ONE OR SEVERAL PROPOSALS.
THE CALL FOR
ENTRIES IS OPEN TO CINEMA, VIDEO AND MULTIMEDIA CYCLES, without any
restriction of length or genre. All
submissions are free, without any limitation of geographic origin.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

CINEMA AND VIDEO CYCLES

• Fiction - short, medium and feature length – All film and video

formats

• Documentary – All film and video formats
  
• Experimental Film – All film formats
  
• Video art / Experimental video – All video formats
  
• Animation movie – All formats

MULTIMEDIA CYCLES

• Performance art * Installation art * Net art, CD-rom * Sound work

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Video and film submissions are received on DVD or VHS. All submissions
are sent by mail, enclosed with a filled-in ENTRY
FORM, UNTIL JUNE 30th, 2004. The entry form and information regarding
the "Rencontres internationales Paris/Berlin" are
available on our website or on request
by email: info@art-action.org
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

Feel free to spread this piece of information to creative organizations
or artists and directors you are in contact with.

Feel free to contact us for any information.
Best regards

---

Rencontres internationales Paris/Berlin
roARaTorio - 51 rue Montorgueil - 75002 Paris
Web:
Email: info@art-action.org
=========================================

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EN FRANÇAIS |

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APPEL A PROPOSITION: JUSQU'AU 30 JUIN 2004

||||| FESTIVAL #8.9
||||| RENCONTRES INTERNATIONALES PARIS/BERLIN
||||| FILM / VIDEO / MULTIMEDIA
|||||

*** Merci de faire suivre cette information ***

Les Rencontres internationales Paris/Berlin présenteront dans les deux
villes à l'automne 2004 une programmation internationale
consacrée au cinéma de recherche, à la création vidéo contemporaine et
au multimÃ
©d
ia, réunissant des œuvres d’artistes et de
réalisateurs reconnus sur la scène internationale aux côtés de jeunes
artistes et de réalisateurs peu diffusés.

Les Rencontres internationales ont pour vocation de faire découvrir ces
œuvres à un large public, de décloisonner les différents
milieux de création et faire communiquer leurs publics, de susciter des
échanges entre artistes, réalisateurs et acteurs de la vie
artistique et culturelle. Plus d'information sur :

Les Rencontres internationales, événement non commercial et sans
compétition, sont soutenues par des institutions françaises,
allemandes et internationales.

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
TOUT INDIVIDU OU ORGANISME PEUT EFFECTUER UNE OU PLUSIEURS PROPOSITIONS
D'OEUVRE. L'APPEL
A PROPOSITION EST OUVERT POUR LES CYCLES FILM, VIDEO ET MULTIMEDIA, sans
restriction de genre et de
durée. Les propositions sont gratuites, sans limitation de provenance
géographique.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

CYCLES FILMS ET VIDEOS

• Fiction / Court, moyen, long métrage - Tout support film et vidéo
  
• Documentaire - Tout support film et vidéo
  
• Cinéma expérimental - Tout support film
  
• Art vidéo / Vidéo expérimentale - Tout support vidéo
  
• Film d'animation - Tout support film et vidéo

CYCLES MULTIMEDIAS

• Performance * Installation * Net art, CD-rom * Création sonore

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Les propositions film et vidéo sont reçues sur DVD ou VHS. TOUTES les
propositions sont reçues, par courrier, accompagnées
d'une FICHE DE PROPOSITION remplie, JUSQU'AU 30 JUIN 2004. La fiche de
proposition, ainsi que toutes les informations
relatives aux Rencontres internationales Paris/Berlin sont disponibles
sur notre site web ou sur
demande par email info@art-action.org
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

N'hésitez pas à diffuser cette information auprès d'organismes de
création ou d'artistes et réalisateurs avec lesquels vous êtes en
relation.

N'hésitez pas à nous contacter pour toute question.
Cordialement.

---

Rencontres internationales Paris/Berlin
roARaTorio - 51 rue Montorgueil - 75002 Paris
Web:
Email: info@art-action.org
=========================================

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AUF DEUTSCH |

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TEILNAHMEAUFRUF - EINSENDESCHLUSS 30. JUNI 2004

||||| FESTIVAL #8.9
||||| RENCONTRES INTERNATIONALES PARIS/BERLIN
||||| FILM / VIDEO / MULTIMEDIA
|||||

*** Bitte leiten Sie diese Informationen weiter ***

Die "Rencontres internationales Paris/Berlin" (Paris/Berlin
internationale Begegnungen) stellen im Herbst 2004 in den beiden Städten

ein internationales Programm vor, das sich vorallem dem experimentellen
Kino, zeitgenössischen Videos und dem Multimedia
Bereich widmet, und sich aus Werken von international anerkannten
Künstlern und Filmschffenden, sowie aus Beiträgen weniger
bekannter Künstler zusammensetzt.

Das Anliegen der "Rencontres internationales" ist es, diese Werke einem
breiten Publikum zugänglich zu machen, die verschiedenen
Schaffensbereiche einander näherzubringen und den Austausch zwischen
Künstlern, Regisseuren und Persönlichkeiten aus der
kulturellen und künstlerischen Szene zu fördern. Für weitere
informationen :

Als Veranstaltung ohne lukrative Absichten und ohne Wettbewerb werden
die "Rencontres internationeles Paris/ Berlin" von
deutschen, französischen und internationalen Institutionen unterstützt.


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JEDE PERSON, EINRICHTUNG ODER GESELLSCHAFT KANN SICH MIT EINEM ODER
MEHREREN WERK(EN)
BEWERBEN. DER TEILNAHMEAUFRUF BETRIFFT DIE K
ATEGOR
IEN FILM, VIDEO UND
MULTIMEDIA, ohne
Einschränkungen in Hinblick auf Genre oder Dauer. Die Bewerbung ist
kostenlos und es gibt keine Beschränkungen hinsichtlich des
Entstehungslandes.
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

SPARTE FILM UND VIDEO

• Fiktion / Kurz- Mittel- und Langfilm - Alle Film- und Videoformate
  
• Dokumentarfilm - Alle Film- und Videoformate
  
• Experimentalfilm - Alle Filmformate
  
• Videokunst/ experimentelles Video - Alle Videoformate
  
• Animationsfilm - Alle Film- und Videoformate

SPARTE MULTIMEDIA

• Performances * Installationen * Net Art, CD-Rom * Klangkunstwerke

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Film- und Videoeinsendungen werden auf DVD oder VHS angenommen. Bis ZUM
30. JUNI 2004 nehmen wir alle Bewerbungen
gemeinsam mit einem ausgefüllten BEWERBUNGSFORMULAR auf dem Postweg
entgegen. Das Bewerbungsformular, sowie
sämtliche Informationen zu den "Rencontres internationales Paris/Berlin"
finden Sie auf unserer Homepage:
oder bekommen Sie auf Anfrage über
email: info@art-action.org
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

Wir würden uns sehr freuen, wenn Sie diese Information an künstlerische
Organisationen, Künstler und Regisseure, mit denen Sie in
Kontakt stehen, weiterleiten könnten bzw. wenn Sie ihrerseits mit einem
oder mehreren Werken, die Sie geschaffen, produziert,
unterstützt oder vertrieben haben, antreten würden.

Wir stehen Ihenen für weitere Informationen jederzeit gerne zur
Verfügung!
Mit freundlichen Grüßen

---

Rencontres internationales Paris/Berlin
roARaTorio - 51 rue Montorgueil - 75002 Paris
Web:
Email: info@art-action.org
=========================================

Soyeon it's great that you can feel so much for you're countryman. When they beheaded that American guy I just thought, sick but oh well, that's what happens when you go prancing about in a country that your country just invaded/liberated/what the fuck ever.I'm detached.
It's confusing, go bomb Iraq and then get the hell out of there leaving them to clean up the mess, well, that's not what the government systems doing, apparently they want to stick around and get people's head lopped off.
It makes me think of the story of the man with his head cut off. It's one of my most favorite stories to tell.
I'm from a little town up in the rolling hills of northwest Georgia. I grew up out on stoner road. Now way back in the prohibition days there was some people up in the hills on Stoner who were making moonshine. Some fancy FBI man heard about it and thought he'd go up yonder and close down those people's moonshine stills but when he got up there they just cut off his head. Then they buried his body in one field and his head in another. People found his body but they never found his head so now his ghost walks up and down stoner looking for another head. You gotta watch out or he just might get yers.
I guess this story is kind of cliche in hindsight but when I was a little kid it scared me to death. It's at least part true I hear. I snuck out of my house when I was 14. I was with my 12 year old friend Shannon. We were walking to meet some friends but we had to sneak into the woods and go around the block because our friend Laura had ran away from home that night and there were cops all around her house searching for her. That's how me and Shannon ended up in the most rural part of my country block where the man got his head cut off. I was scared shitless walking by there at 2 in the morning. There aren't any houses around there just woods with two fields on either side.

One time my lil skinny boyfriend (at the time) rode on a tandem with my roommate's (at the time) boyfriend (at the time). Yeah, so this was about at least 4 years ago. They must have looked cute riding all the way across Atlanta. They were so happy about it. I don't know why Kristin's boyfriend, Chad, had a tandem.
He was a rave promoter at that time, an ex X-games guy to, kind of a character I reckon. I have video tape of Kristin bleaching his hair while he drools on hims

I got the greatest bike today! It has not one but three baskets! I'm so happy with it. Does anyone want to ride bikes? This bike is super great. Rick's bike shop is so cool. The y are nice there. It was founded in 1896.

maybe Paul should bring back the old *system*?