Cancer cluster at UCSD
A higher-than-normal rate of cancer diagnoses in the building that houses UCSD’s literature department has been the subject of near-constant discussion in recent months, but it’s an issue that’s been on the department’s radar for years.
“We’ve been talking about this in the hallways for almost as long as I’ve been here,” said Anna Joy Springer, a creative-writing professor who’s been teaching at UCSD for six years.
Between 2000 and 2006, faculty and staff who work in the building reported at least eight individual cases of breast cancer. Of these people, two have died. Also reported were one case each of ovarian cancer, carcinoma of the adrenal cortex, adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary gland and metastatic cervical cancer. Three people have been diagnosed with benign tumors in the uterus and ovaries.
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There are more cases from the 1990′s. Among women I knew in that period, I have counted at least 4 more cases of cancer. In one case, one of the women died. I’m afraid this is just the tip of the iceberg. The department of literature is starting to hear from all of these people.