The first day of my government class in high school was interesting. Instead of having a nice “getting-to-know you” discussion, the teacher chose to tell us all about nuclear fallout. She told us the gruesome effects it would have on our skin and organs, and also about the distances it would cover.

But the woman did not stop there. She started pointing out places near us that would be optimal targets. She not only mentioned Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, but also noted that where I-80 and I-35 cross could be another possible target. The great thing about the latter target she mentioned is it is right outside my home town. My government teacher certainly did not win me over on the first day of my senior year.

I was actually quite angered by her. Did I really need to know that my skin would burn off if Offutt was hit by a nuke? Was there something I was going to be able to do about it anyway? No, there was not. Similarly there is not a whole lot we can do when it comes to threats of terrorism in the Midwest.

Such is the case with the bioterrorism threats that Ohio State Professor Joseph Donnermeyer mentioned when he spoke of terrorist’s next target. He even went as far to declare that because Iowa is likely the most agricultural state in the nation that it is possibly a prime target.

Donnermeyer, like my government teacher, used scare tactics to get the point across. But what is the point really? Is he suggesting that terrorism can hit at any time and place?

Gee, I think we already knew that. Terrorism caught our whole nation off guard over six months ago when our own planes were used as weapons against us. And as we dug through the rubble of the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, we vowed to continue to live without fear and apprehension. We proclaimed we would live life to the fullest.

I wonder what life would be like if fear was always on my mind. Then I realize, however, that a life with nothing but panic is no life at all. I can not be scared of what will happen tomorrow. Despite Donnermeyer’s suggestion that in the Midwest we are vulnerable to bioterrorism, such as animals being infected with madcow disease, foot-and-mouth disease or our plants being contaminated, I will not run and hide.

How can I run and hide from something that no one knows when or if will even happen? Because terrorism can hit at anytime I have no way to know when I should run and where I should hide.

Americans tried, in a sense, to run and hide once. In the 1950s people across the country built fallout shelters in fear of nuclear attacks. In fact, the dorm I live in now has a fallout shelter. I’ve never seen it, but there is a sign noting it holds 50 people. The building was likely constructed around the 1950s, an era of fear and hysteria.

This hysteria was caused by frantic reactions to world events like the Cuban Missile Crisis. Like then, we know now that there are threats of terror in our nation, and even in our heartland. We witnessed the Oklahoma City bombing, watched the Pentagon burn and saw the towers tumble to the ground.

We know know that we are at risk. We are aware that we could be the next targets, that even Ames could be a target. Could we stop it? No. Would we do better to hide out in modern day fallout shelters? Not likely.

Since there is nothing we can do, I suggest exactly what President George W. Bush said after Sept. 11, live your life. We cannot run around with our tails caught between our legs.

Terrorists may infect our beef with madcow disease. Great, since I am not a vegetarian, I will continue to eat meat. Maybe it will make me crazy, but being scared of it would drive me insane long before. I have but one life to live and I will not live it afraid. I refuse to.

Ayrel Clark is a freshman in pre-journalism and mass communication from Johnston.