E-briefing
Academia After 9-11
Date: Nov. 8, 2002
Contact: Mary Bridget Reilly
Phone: 513-556-1824
"Before and After Sept. 11..." It's a phrase that has become a defining point for the nation. In fact, the terrorist attacks had a powerful impact on higher education, including research on bioterrorism preparedness, additional training in professional fields and significant growth in areas of study related to prevention, investigation and new regulations for international students. In this week's University of Cincinnati e-briefing, we examine how university professors have become valuable assets in the war on terrorism. We'll also highlight some of the newly developed courses that are packing the classrooms, even those courses offered for no college credit.
Table of contents:
I. Faculty fighting terrorism
A. Scouting out Al Queda: An academic helps
B. Protecting the food supply
C. Water safety: Detecting bacteria
II. Preparing for disaster
A. Developing a response plan
B. Terrorism training for nurses
C. The homeland alliance
D. Hostage survival
III. Classroom content: Drawing the crowds
A. Courses increase with interest
B. Crowds with questions
C. Reflections on religion
D. Reconsidering content
E. Reworking the curriculum
IV. Student impact
A. New regulations for international students
I. FACULTY FIGHTING TERRORISM
A. SCOUTING OUT AL QUEDA: AN ACADEMIC HELPS
Richard Beck, University of Cincinnati adjunct assistant professor of geography, is helping to answer the question, "Where in the world is Osama bin Laden?" Beck presented on his use of satellite imaging and other tools to help pinpoint a possible bin Laden stronghold in Afghanistan at the Geological Society of America meeting in Denver on Oct. 30. Beck conducted his research on behalf of the U.S. government, saying, "I think academics are supported largely by U.S. tax dollars, and it is our responsibility to do everything we can to help with counter-terrorism measures. I would say most of my colleagues, certainly at UC, are of the same opinion." Full details about his work can be found on line at www.uc.edu/news/beckter.htm.
Contact: 513-556-3422
B. PROTECTING THE FOOD SUPPLY
James A. Stever, professor and head of the University of Cincinnati's political science department, is an expert in intergovernmental relations. As such, he is assisting the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center as a consulting researcher on U.S. Department of Agriculture projects dealing with the safety of the nation's food supply.
He said, "One dimension of protecting the nation's food supply is creating a mechanism where governments caught up in a terrorist event can collaborate and make decisions quickly." Stever says that after Sept. 11, any event threatening the food supply would become a military matter headed by the North American Command. "They are prepared to mobilize utilizing traditional military command-and-control techniques, things like martial law. The issues then are, in the short term, how do local governments interface best with this command? And long term, how can government groups develop their own plans to utilize appropriate resources if they are faced with terrorist threats?"
Contact: 513-556-3305
C. WATER SAFETY: DETECTING BACTERIA
Daniel Oerther, University of Cincinnati assistant professor of environmental engineering, has long conducted research connected to bacteria active in water, whether that be finding "bugs" harmful to humans in drinking water or identifying helpful "bugs" that break down pollution in waste water. For instance, as an environmental engineer, he'd normally be interested in ways to detect and treat a bacteria like TB in drinking water.
Post "9-11," that hasn't changed. What has changed is new interest in his field on ways to detect and combat bio-terrorism. In fact Oerther has just received a $50,000 grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to lead eight workshops over the next year that will focus on teaching the state's water technicians to detect bacteria, including intentionally introduced bacteria, in the water distribution system.
Contact: 513-556-3670
II. PREPARING FOR DISASTER
A. DEVELOPING A RESPONSE PLAN
Donald Locasto, assistant professor, department of emergency medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, is involved in the creation of the UC Medical Center's Emergency Special Operations Institute, which was in the works before the Sept. 11 attacks and officially opened last April.
Locasto, who serves as director of the institute, says the institute is taking an approach that is different from how many others are preparing for disaster. He says most regions focus on "syndromic surveillance" -- watching for flu symptoms, for example, and then forecasting a biological incident. "Instead, we developed a three-tiered approach to surveillance:"
Volume surveillance -- How many people are coming into the ER, how many people are calling in sick, how many pets have been rushed to the vet, or how much medicine is being purchased at regional pharmacies.
Targeted syndromic surveillance--Pinpointing the symptoms that would suggest there had been a large-scale release of a hazardous material or biochemical agent.
Investigation by the department of health
Contact: 513-558-5281
B. TERRORISM TRAINING FOR NURSES
Colleen Conway-Welch, dean of Vanderbilt University's College of Nursing, is leading the development of a Web-based clearing house that will contain competencies and requirements for responding to mass-casualty events. It will also list existing Web-based, CD-Rom or traditional courses across the nation that would fulfill the training needs. "We don't want to re-invent the wheel when it comes to competencies for disaster nursing, which today includes not only natural disasters but smallpox, biological weapons, explosives and more. This is a resource so people can use what already exists rather than building from scratch." While the effort began pre-Sept. 11, events on that day have given increases impetus to construction of the national clearinghouse.
Contact: 615-343-8876
C. THE HOMELAND ALLIANCE
Ed Bridgeman, coordinator of the criminal justice program at the University of Cincinnati's Clermont College and a nationally recognized terrorism expert, is joining with 38 other two-year colleges around Ohio to form the Ohio Homeland Security Training Alliance. The alliance will work to train 82,000 first responders around the state from the police, fire, EMS and health fields about issues relating to terrorism.
Clermont College will host the project's pilot session on Dec. 17, focusing on basic awareness about weapons of mass destruction. Clermont may also consider establishing a certificate program in the subject area as well as a possible major within its criminal justice program.
Contact: 513-732-5251
D. HOSTAGE SURVIVAL
David Dose, director, Fort Sherman Institute for Human Protection at North Idaho College, helped create an anti-terrorism training program focusing on hostage survival for professionals like bank employees and nuclear facility staff; business travelers and missionary/volunteer groups; and emergency personnel such as law enforcement, fire and medical staff. The college formally announced the creation of the program shortly after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "About 30 percent of our training is focused on terrorism and crime avoidance."
Contact: 208-769-7733
III. CLASSROOM CONTENT: DRAWING THE CROWDS
A. COURSES INCREASE WITH INTEREST
Ed Bridgeman, coordinator of the criminal justice program at UC's Clermont College and a nationally recognized terrorism expert, teaches "Terrorism: History and Philosophy." It has grown so popular that he is now teaching it three times a year as opposed to once a year as was previously the case. Each quarter, the class draws between 45-50 students, some coming from UC's other campuses to Clermont to take the course.
Contact: 513-732-5251
B. CROWDS WITH QUESTIONS
Elizabeth Frierson, University of Cincinnati assistant professor of history, recalls that last year on the first day of class, 100 students showed up for her Middle Eastern history course even though the course was capped at 43. This year, she has 59 in a room that is capped at 62. This heightened interest in Muslims and the Middle East is one of the most positive outcomes of the Sept. 11 attacks and the threat of war with Iraq, she notes. The complexity of the course material has traditionally led a lot of students to drop it or to avoid enrolling in the first place. But Frierson notes that students no longer drop the course.
"This year I think I have one of the best survey classes ever. The students come in with sophisticated questions. There's extremely passionate and informed engagement with the material." She also says that more books on the Middle East are available and that colleagues are also interested in the subject. She is co-editor of an upcoming Middle East Source Book - to make primary source materials available on Middle Eastern and African history for college-level courses.
Contact: 513-556-0919
C. REFLECTIONS ON RELIGION
John Brolley, coordinator of the University of Cincinnati religious studies program, recalls a rise in enrollment last year in the "Introduction to Islam" course offered by the religious studies program. He adds that both that course and the introduction to Arabic courses are "overly full" for fall quarter 2002. As part of UC's outreach program, Brolley is also teaching a non-credit, continuing education course Monday nights on the history of Islam, after being approached by a ministries association in northern Kentucky. The class meets at Erlanger Christian Church in Erlanger, Ky. "The first night, I asked them what had brought them to this course and the answer was unanimous. They would say, 'Given the events of Sept. 11, I felt it was my duty to come. I don't want to be accused of misunderstanding this religion because of my own lack of knowledge. I want to know the history of this religion and how they handle scripture.'"
Brolley added, "The level of attention and inquiry is the highest I've seen in any course."
Contact: 513-556-6546
D. RECONSIDERING CONTENT
Dan Oerther, University of Cincinnati assistant professor of environmental engineering, says awareness that environmental engineers may be handling intentional attacks on the water supply, rather than accidental incidents, is changing the way he teaches students. For instance, he can no longer take his students to the local water treatment plant. "We're a security risk now," Oerther said. "Customarily, I've taken students to visit the treatment facility. After all, water and its treatment will be a big part of their work. But, we're a risk group....I was a little surprised that we fell into that group."
The post 9-11 world also causes Oerther to more carefully consider his lecture material. For instance, he does talk about the design of the water distribution system, explaining that it's water flow under constant pressure; therefore, anyone could introduce a bacterial agent into the water from within a private residence. Then, the pressure of the system would carry it to the next-door neighbor and everyone else "below" on the distribution system. "I've thought about not teaching this, but I figured the bright student would figure it out anyway, and I think it's important to talk about because these students will be working to combat such risks in the future....Of course," he also considers, "I'm sure whoever taught the 9-11 terrorists to fly those jets didn't ever think he was teaching terrorists."
Contact: 513-556-3670
E. REWORKING THE CURRICULUM
Richard Harknett, University of Cincinnati associate professor of political science and expert in international relations and U.S. national security, will offer a course on "Conflict in International Relations" this year for the first time in three years. "It's going to be radically altered from how I've taught it in the past, using a model I published on multi-dimensional conflict."
Contact: 513-556-3314
IV. STUDENT IMPACT
A. NEW REGULATIONS FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
Ron Cushing, director of the University of Cincinnati Office of International Student Services, reports that this fall, UC's new crop of international students was down by 103 over last year. New regulations affecting foreign students have made it difficult for many of them to get into the United States. The new Student and Exchange Visitor Information System requires universities to report and track foreign students' names, addresses, academic programs, graduation dates, disciplinary action and report if a student does not register. Cushing says two additional staff members were needed to help handle the increased workload resulting from the new regulations.
Although the number of new students is down, the total number of international students studying at UC is higher than last year. That's because many foreign students are staying in academics due to the economic downturn. The total number of international students studying at UC this year is 1,905. Last year, 1,827 international students pursued their studies at UC.
Contact: 513-556-2879
To view past e-briefings, click here.
Subscribe to "e-briefings."
|
