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Schools focus on security programs and counterterrorism discussions
 | 04.10.2006 | 08:17:08 | Views: 5580 | ID:

April 10 '06: Federal grants from the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and others have been spurring growth in universities around the country when it comes to national preparedness and counter-terrorism programs.

The Miami Herald reported Monday in the Palm Beach Post that Florida Atlantic University "has secured $35 million in US Department of Defense and federal transportation grants and is going after another $14 million in the areas of law enforcement, developing materials for faster, more durable ships and protection against bioterrorism."

Programs like FAU's - with focus on technologies and law enforcement to help first responders and federal, state and local officials coordinate and prepare for a national emergency - are just one aspect of a growing concentration of homeland security-related issues in academia. The Minnesota Daily reported Monday that at the University of Minnesota the National Security and Law Society held a forum entitled "Counterterrorism 21: Thinking Globally and Acting Locally to Counter Terrorism in the 21st Century."

The forum's goal was to help define terrorism in order to better prepare for terrorist attacks, the Daily reported. One panelist, Mike Hurley, a former CIA officer and senior counsel to the 9/11 Commission told the Daily, that there is no single definition to terrorism when applied to different countries, the international community and the United Nations. "One country's freedom fighter is another country's terrorist," he said.

In Florida, FAU officials told the Post that "The state of Florida is vulnerable from the standpoint of most of our coastline is not secure, and we have a number of ports, so there is opportunity. ... Plus, we have a lot of international airports."

Some of the projects FAU is working on currently include port security, the ability of military operations to be water-based in case a land base is not available, and remote underwater security sensors and cameras "that could detect bombs attached to ships' hulls."

 

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