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ANTHRAX (the band) Vs. ANTHRAX (the disease)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

In light of current events, we are changing the name of the band to something more friendly, "Basket Full Of Puppies". Actually, just the fact that we are making jokes about our name sucks.

In the twenty years we've been known as "Anthrax", we never thought the day would come that our name would actually mean what it really means. When I learned about anthrax in my senior year biology class, I thought the name sounded "metal". Everyone in my neighborhood had a band with an "er" name, like "Ripper" or "Deceiver" or "Killers" and I wanted to be different. "Anthrax" sounded cool, aggressive, and nobody knew what it was. Until a few years ago most people thought we'd made it up. Even our album, "Spreading The Disease" was just a play on the name. We were spreading our music to the masses.

Before the tragedy of September 11th the only thing scary about Anthrax was our bad hair in the 80's and the "Fistful Of Metal" album cover. Most people associated the name Anthrax with the band, not the germ. Now in the wake of those events, our name symbolizes fear, paranoia and death. Suddenly our name is not so cool. To be associated with these things we are against is a strange and stressful situation. To us, and to millions of people, it is just a name. We don't want to change the name of the band, not because it would be a pain in the ass, but because we hope that no further negative events will happen and it won't be necessary. We hope and pray that this problem goes away quietly and we all grow old and fat together.

Be safe,
Scott, Charlie, Frank and John
AKA Anthrax

PS - If an Anthrax member gets Anthrax, call Alanis Morrisette. That would be ironic. Don't you think?

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Two openings available at Mr. Brownstone Academy of Dance .

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License plates now bring new reaction
BY MARGARET REIST Lincoln Journal Star

It's a different world now, a fact Ryan Onstad is reminded of every time he gets behind the wheel of his green Chevy Blazer.
That would be the well-worn¥'93 Blazer with the personalized license plates. The license plates that, until Sept. 11, garnered little reaction other than fellow heavy-metal music fans signaling their approval.

But Anthrax, once just a band that made it big in the 1980s, has taken on a new and frightening significance.

Now the looks aimed at Onstad by passing motorists who see the band's name emblazoned on his license plates are angry and judgmental, the words he hears harsh and disapproving.

Because today you can't pick up a newspaper, turn on a television or listen to a radio without seeing or hearing the word. And it's associated with terror and death and fear.

"It happens everywhere," Onstad said of the negative reaction. "Going to the grocery store, the record store, Blockbuster, to a movie."

He's been flipped off, scowled at, talked about and judged. The worst, he said, was a woman with a carload of kids who saw his license plate. Onstad could see her mouth these words to her children: "Don't you ever grow up to be like that."

Which brings him to another lesson he's learned in this new world: being judged for your appearance - or that of your car - is unfair. And hurtful.

"One of the major lessons the Lord has been teaching me is what it's like to be someone different," he said. It has given Onstad a certain empathy for people of Middle Eastern descent in the wake of the terrorist attacks.

And just for the record, Onstad is not a terrorist. Or a terrorist sympathizer. Or anything other than horrified by what happened Sept. 11 and by what is happening now with the anthrax scare.

He is actually a 22-year-old Southeast Community College student and a part-time disc jockey at The Blaze, radio station KIBZ. He works at the BryanLGH Medical Center radiology lab, counsels suicidal teens and plays bass for a Christian rock band.

The latter - his faith and his music - are his real passions.

"I'm not a bad guy," he said. "I'm not a villain."

His friends, who warned that his license plate would cause him heartache, now offer to drive when they all go out rather than riding in the roomy Blazer.

"So I'm saving gas," Onstad said.

That little benefit may not last, however. He's planning to call the state Department of Motor Vehicles on Monday to see about some new plates, maybe ones with some version of his Christian rock band, Waiting for Gabe.

It would go in the same license-plate cover, the ones most people taken aback by the plate itself probably haven't noticed: "Prayer, Just Do It."

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Hard times in Anthrax Street

What's in a name? Plenty, say residents

Possibly the least sought after address in America at the moment would be one connected to bio-terrorism.
Small wonder then that residents of Anthrax Street, Fayetteville, North Carolina, want some changes made.

Cami Walker, resident
"I am embarrassed when I have to say my street name, and it's gotten worse," said Karen Williams, who lives in one of seven homes on the street.

The usual jokes have multiplied following reports of the disease in Florida, New York and Washington, residents told the Associated Press news agency.

Cami Walker is supporting a neighbourhood campaign to rename the street.

She said: "I never did understand why they would name it that."

Records show that Anthrax Street was approved in March 1996 - after many people had built homes there - following a request by surveyor Mike Tate.

Mr Tate told local newspaper The Fayetteville Observer that the name came from the 1980s heavy metal band Anthrax.

He said it was suggested to him by one of his employees.

Although he had never heard of the band or the disease he thought the name was "unique and different".

The local Cumberland County Planning Department accepts any name that is not obscene or too long. It must also be unique so that it can be found quickly.

Mike Osbourn, who oversees the naming process, said: "Basically, we try not to judge anybody's submission."

He said that at least half the property owners must agree before the name can be changed, adding: "I'm sure I can convince seven people."

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