Critical infrastructure/risk assessment Real Media clips from Texas A&M

http://homelandsecurity.tamu.edu/outreach/ichs-weekly-radio-programs/homeland-security-inside-and-out/audio-matrix/threat-vulnerability-critical-infrastructure-risk-assessment

A remarkable resource, one of some use for online classrooms!

New NAP book: Frameworks for Higher Education in Homeland Security

NEW BOOK available from National Academies Press:
Frameworks for Higher Education in Homeland Security

This report explores whether there are core pedagogical and skill-based homeland security program needs; examines current and proposed education programs focusing on various aspects of homeland security; comments on the possible parallels between homeland security, area studies, international relations, and science policy, as developed or emerging academic thrusts; and suggests potential curricula needs, particularly those that involve interdisciplinary aspects. The report concentrates almost exclusively on coursework-related offerings, primarily at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Free pdf version of the book can be obtained here.

FEMA Emergency Mgmt Higher Education Project

Latest FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Project Report

The Center of Excellence - Homeland Security recommends that you subscribe to these free email alerts from FEMA by following this link: FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Project Report Email List.

The latest FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Project Report contains the following:
- Catastrophe Readiness and Response College Course Development Project
- Department of Homeland Security, Terrorism, Homeland Security, FEMA
- Homeland Security
- “September 10 Mentality” – Added to Guide to EM & Related Terms and Definitions Today
- Student Presentations During the FEMA EM Hi-Ed Conference, June 2-5, 2008
- Graduate Student Presentation Manager
- Un-responded to Email Backlog

More info at http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/edu/

another looming infrastructure issue ...

Yet another report on the impending PH workforce crisis ... see below for some other related efforts.

More public health professionals needed to avert crisis, warns new report

“While natural disasters, the threat of bioterrorism and other healththreats are taking their toll on public health resources, the United States is facing a major public health workforce crisis that could impact the health of each and every American unless there is an immediate influx of funding for recruitment and training of public health professionals, according to a report issued today (Wednesday, Feb. 27) by the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH).

The report, a first-of-its-kind assessment of the crisis, found that more than 250,000 additional public health workers are needed by 2020. Experts at the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health, a member of ASPH, confirm that the crisis will impact California.” (UC Berkeley News, 27 Feb 08, School of Public Health)

Some other groups involved in analyzing this issue in different parts of the country include:

Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

National Association of County & City Health Officials

See a list of all regional centers funded by CDC to do this type of work here.

let the cyberwars begin ... prepare the white flag OR put your money where your mouse is ...

I'm not sure this is a war we are ready to fight, let alone win. Yikes.
Somebody unleash our cyber-Army (you know, the Wii generation) back on China!
Here are the players:

1) The antagonists ...

Pentagon: Cyberattacks appear to come from China

The Defense Department said Monday that cyberattacks in 2007 against computer networks operated by governments and commercial institutions around the world "appear" to have originated within China -- marking the first time the Pentagon has so visibly pinned the blame against China for cyberattacks.

These intrusions require many of the skills and capabilities that would also be required for computer network attack. Although it is unclear if these intrusions were conducted by, or with the endorsement of, the [People's Liberation Army] or other elements of the PRC government, developing capabilities for cyber warfare is consistent with authoritative PLA writings on this subject."

2) Our front line of defense (LOL ...) ...

Users continue to compromise federal computer networks, says tech community

More than half of government IT professionals know of violations in security protocols, according to a recent survey. Funding challenges hinder agencies' ability to put proper security measures in place, while lack of systems and requirements standardization creates confusion in the market, said an industry official.

Of 474 federal IT professionals, 56 percent reported witnessing or hearing about a security violation, according to a survey by Washington-based research firm Pursuant on behalf of Quest Software Public Sector.

3) And finally, those (DHS) considering our cybersecurity "satisfactory" ...

DHS gives itself a 'C' for cybersecurity

The top ranking official in the Homeland Security Department's national protection division called the agency's efforts in cybersecurity satisfactory, assigning a grade of 'C' during congressional testimony Thursday. But members of Congress called the grade inadequate, emphasizing the need for better collaboration with agency technology leaders, real-time response to system attacks, and metrics that measure the ability to protect networks from specific threats rather than system compliance.

HSI gives DHS a 2nd opinion on GAO nuke/rad port detection ... both say "fix it!"

Report Urges Better Way of Evaluating Nuclear Detectors Used at Ports

“The government needs to develop a better way to evaluate the effectiveness of technology to detect nuclear and radiological material at U.S. ports, according to a report commissioned by the Homeland Security Department.

Congress and its investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office, have been skeptical about the department's testing of such systems. As a result, the department called for an independent audit into its testing. The report by the Homeland Security Institute did not find that the testing has been biased or results manipulated. It did say the department should devise a better process to test and evaluate how effective the machines are.”

(Yahoo! Finance; 28Feb08; Eileen Sullivan, AP)

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080228/nuclear_detectors.html?.v=1

GAO releases report on the "state of cybersecurity"

From the GovExec blog:

Cybersecurity: What Was That?
By Allan Holmes Thursday, February 28, 2008 05:47 PM

The Government Accountability Office released Feb. 14 a report on the state of information security in the federal government. On page 21 is a pie chart that shows the types of security incidents agencies reported to the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team in 2007.

Minnesota takes charge over its infrastructure

So the Minnesota legislature took matters into its own hands and passed a state-specific gas tax that will help to improve infrastructure. INCREDIBLE. This spells certain doom for Pawlenty's career as politician in MN, and probably clears the way for him to act as McCain's running mate. (assuming the RNC doesn't take his decoder ring away for not being able to keep his legislature from increasing tax burden) Either way, my prediction is he is out of a job as it relates to running the state of Minnesota.


Governor Pawlenty ripped DFL lawmakers on Tuesday for over-riding his veto of the transportation package, which comes with a $6.6 billion price tag and a gasoline tax increase of at least five and a half cents.

The Minnesota Legislature voted Monday to override Gov. Tim Pawlenty's veto of a $6.6 billion bill, paving the way for higher gas taxes and other fees to bring in more money for roads, bridges and transit.

http://www.kare11.com/news/ts_article.aspx?storyid=500264

HS Research Centers: And the winners are ....

Universities Are Chosen for 5 New Homeland Security Research Centers


The U.S. Department of Homeland Security financed this week five new, university-run research centers. The projects, which involve 11 universities, join a list of existing centers chosen by the agency thcoarse [sic] merit-based competitions. The institutions and their research topics are:

The University of Arizona and the University of Texas at El Paso — border security and immigration.

Northeastern University and the University of Rhode Island — explosives detection, mitigation, and response.

The University of Hawaii-Manoa and Stevens Institute of Technology — maritime, island, and port security.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Jackson State University — natural disasters, coastal infrastructure, and emergency management.

Texas Southern University, Tougaloo College, and the University of Connecticut — transportation security.

Bush's myopia and the call for national infrastructure investment

Argh, POTUS and his crew of myopic yes-men once again demonstrates he simply "doesn't get it" ... creating a new national infrastructure investment project may be the best way to stimulate the economy in the LONG TERM by providing jobs that CANNOT be outsourced to India and improves our aging and decaying infrastructure. This strikes me as win-win ... but you see what the press lap dog says below: "There's no short term gain."

When do we toss these guys out again?
(BTW, we are also not helping to "harden" any of these infrastructure targets either, which is ANOTHER thing that could be done with such an investment)


February 26, 2008
Bush Cool to States’ Call for Public Works Projects
By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON — President Bush rebuffed appeals from the nation’s governors on Monday to increase spending on roads, bridges and other public works as a way to revive the economy.
Governors said Mr. Bush had told them at a White House meeting that he wanted to see the effects of his economic stimulus package before supporting new measures.

A bipartisan group of governors is pushing for major road and bridge projects as a way to create jobs and foster economic development. But the White House says the money could not be spent fast enough to be of much immediate help.

“There’s no short-term stimulus to the economy for some of these projects,” Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, said.

Full article from the NYT found here.



Furthermore, it is not just the Governors that POTUS ignores on this matter, it is the Congress as well .... see below: (very informative blog post, full version here)

A unique solution to the bureaucratic and financial problems that often beset large-scale infrastructure projects has been proposed by Senators Chris Dodd and Chuck Hagel. On the morning of the Minnesota bridge collapse, as New York Times columnist Bob Herbert pointed out, the senators announced their sponsorship of legislation to create a National Infrastructure Bank. The Bank would issue bonds to raise funds for infrastructure projects that would be selected based on a strict set of criteria. Applications would be accepted only for projects that cost at least $75 million, have a public sponsor (a state or local government), and are of regional or national significance. The Bank would then rate each application based on its promotion of economic growth, its mobility improvements, its reduction of poverty concentration, its environmental benefits, its potential to promote smart urban growth, and its regional or national significance (the criteria vary slightly for each type of infrastructure project).

The National Infrastructure Bank is a first step in creating a coherent vision of American infrastructure. First, the use of bonds – rather than a pay-as-you-go system that relies on yearly revenues – allows the federal government to develop a stable, long-term strategy for economic growth based on infrastructure improvements. Such a financing stream is less subject to political whims and to revenues, which fluctuate with the economy and with legislative action (and inaction). Second, federal funding for infrastructure – in particular, for the transportation system – is often diverted by state governments to other (sometimes) worthy, yet non-infrastructure, projects. Puentes of Brookings points out that the Government Accountability Office has called the federal transportation fund a “cash transfer, general purpose grant program,” and that “the U.S. code neuters the federal role and states specifically that the appropriation of highway funds ‘shall in no way infringe on the sovereign rights of the States to determine which projects shall be federally financed.’” The National Infrastructure Bank would ensure that federal funds are used by state and local governments for specific infrastructure projects, rather than diverted to make up for, say, underfunded federal mandates.

Perhaps most importantly, the selection criteria required by the National Infrastructure Bank would encourage the federal government to undertake projects that are significant to the country’s long-term well-being: rather than stop-gap measures to repair existing problems, such projects would take into account new challenges like climate change, the growing importance of urban areas, and the need for more affordable housing, while at the same time confronting the more typical concerns associated with economic growth (increased air, highway, and port traffic). A database with details about each infrastructure project and its funding would provide at least some public oversight.

Interestingly, political support for an infrastructure bank is growing. The day after Senators Dodd and Hagel announced their plan – and the day after the Minnesota bridge collapse – Senator Hillary Clinton signed onto the bill as a co-sponsor. A week later, Senator Clinton gave a major speech entitled “Rebuilding America: Improving Our Infrastructure” and endorsed the legislation, lamenting that we in the United States “are treading water and being swept backwards.” Her specific plan – like her economic stimulus package – includes a panoply of measures to repair the “backlog” of deficient transportation structures, to conduct safety reviews, to increase public transit funding (and to link these funds to local land use policies), to invest in intercity passenger rail systems, to modernize seaports, to increase funding for congestion reduction programs, and to improve broadband deployment. Senator Barack Obama’s proposal was – like his economic stimulus package – more straightforward.

In his “Keeping America’s Promise” economic speech on February 13th, Senator Obama proposed a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to invest $60 billion in transportation infrastructure over ten years. He has previously called for increased Amtrak funding, high-speed railways, metropolitan planning to reduce traffic congestion, and improved transportation access for low-income commuters. On February 13th, a day after his speech, he signed onto Dodd and Hagel’s bill as a co-sponsor.

Additionally, Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska proposed an amendment to the Senate’s economic stimulus package that would have directed $5 billion to states for infrastructure projects to be used before October of 2008. Senator Nelson suggested that “An investment in infrastructure and public works projects will not only achieve a much-needed boost to our economy, but will also promote long-term economic growth.”

Pronouncements by presidential candidates and a rather optimistic amendment to fast-tracked legislation are positive, if modest, indicators that a national movement to invest in infrastructure is mounting. Even relatively insignificant problems with infrastructure have received ample attention recently. Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that two bridge inspectors in Georgia had been falsifying inspection records because of a fast approaching federal deadline. Officials were alerted when they noted that the two were inspecting bridges at a rate of 18 per day; the average is 12 per week. Admittedly, there are significant issues to work out with a national infrastructure bank. The European Investment Bank, an infrastructure-financing behemoth established in 1953 and a likely model for an American infrastructure bank, is criticized for its lack of transparency and its lack of social and environmental standards.

here we go again ... Meade High School (MD) and its Homeland Security Signature program

Looks like Meade will join the ranks of other MD high schools (like Joppatowne north of Baltimore) to start training the next generation of homeland security specialists.

A signature is a school-within-a-school with a specialized focus. Meade's is the first of several signature programs the school system plans to roll out in the county's middle and high schools over the next few years.

Each signature will have a theme chosen by the school community. Homeland security was chosen for Meade because of the school's location on the post and the influx of students expected from the upcoming Base Realignment and Closure, or BRAC, process.

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/read/2008/02_24-07/TOP

Perhaps this one "doesn't count" since it IS located on Fort Meade (home of the NSA!) and I'm sure Meade HS is the only one in the country featuring cryptologist guest lecturers!! One could almost argue this is opportunistic ... let's see how popular it is with the kids before I pass too harsh of a judgement.

Michael VanRooyen: 12 myths and misconceptions in disaster response

I could see a place in risk analysis for this problem... here's a great short piece on a recent speech delivered through the Public Health Preparedness academic center at Harvard. Perhaps DHS should focus on # 10.


From Michael VanRooyen, co-director of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and associate professor in the HSPH Department of Population and International Health

VanRooyen said the humanitarian aid industry must improve through self-analysis. "I remain idealistic," he said. Humanitarian aid is an essential part of emergency relief, but provision of it needs to improve.

The way to do that, he said, is to "professionalize the humanitarian effort" by better assessing the needs of disaster-stricken areas, involving the local populations in decision making, offering assistance in a culturally appropriate manner, coordinating efforts among relief agencies, and transitioning rapidly into long-term relief programs.


Twelve Myths and Misconceptions in Disaster Response

1. Disasters are random killers.
2. The primary victims of war are combatants and warring parties.
3. Foreign medical volunteers with any kind of medical background are needed.
4. Disasters bring out the worst in human behavior.
5. The affected population is too shocked and helpless to take responsibility for its own survival.
6. Epidemics and plagues are inevitable after every disaster, and dead bodies create disease.
7. Food, aid, and clothing are always needed by victims of a disaster.
8. Locating disaster victims in temporary settlements is the best alternative.
9. Media attention is usually focused on the most severe emergencies.
10. Large-scale relief efforts are the best way to control humanitarian crises.
11. Things are back to normal within a few weeks.
12. International aid is distributed based on the most acute need.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/now/20080201/twelve-myths-and-misconceptions-in-disaster-response.html

UTEP is new DHS Center for Excellence for Border Security

UTEP selected as border security center
Times staff report
Article Launched: 02/22/2008 02:15:22 PM MST

The University of Texas at El Paso has been selected by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as a Center of Excellence for Border Security, U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, announced Friday.

Through this designation, UTEP will develop and manage education programs regarding border security, collaborate with other institutions, and will receive $1 million per year in federal funds during the next six years.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/newupdated/ci_8336851

IOM releases report on research priorities for public health preparedness

Well, it ought to be interesting to see how this all plays out as the last time I poked through the FY2009 request (as it pertains to public health preparedness funding), the academic-based CPHPs are on the chopping block. You can't do research to meet the PAHPA mandate if you don't fund the research centers!!


The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently convened a committee to articulate gaps in knowledge and make recommendations regarding research priorities for improving emergency preparedness and response systems in public health. This study was done, at the request of CDC’s Coordinating Officer for Terrorism Preparedness and Emergency Response (COTPER), to assist the Department of Health and Human Services in meeting the “Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act” (PAHPA) mandate that Centers for Public Health Preparedness (CPHP) conduct research.

The report, Research Priorities in Emergency Preparedness and Response for Public Health Systems, is now available to view or download on the IOM website.

http://emergency.cdc.gov/planning/iomreport2008.asp?s_cid=ccu020408_ResearchPriorities_e

FEMA releases Jan 2008 version of NIMS-IRIS

"As part of our Nation’s efforts to strengthen resource management in line with the National Incident Management System (NIMS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Incident Management Systems Division developed the NIMS Incident Resource Inventory System (NIMS-IRIS) tool to assist emergency responders with inventorying resources. The software allows emergency responders to enter resources based on FEMA typed and user defined types. Users can select specific resources for mutual aid purposes based on mission requirements, the capability of resources, and response time."

Retrieved From: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA): http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=2694

New international manual for nuclear terrorism prevention available

New manual on terrorism prevention

“Interpol, Europol, the World Customs Organisation and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have produced a reference manual that detailshow to prevent, detect, and respond to nuclear terrorism. Combating Illicit Trafficking in Nuclear and Other Radioactive Material has been written for law enforcement, intelligence, emergency workers and the nuclear industry.” (Nuclear Engineering International,20Feb08)

http://www.neimagazine.com/story.asp?sectioncode=132&storyCode=2048805

Nat'l Academy of Engineers identifies top tech challenges for 21st century

Several of these recently identified techy challenges touch upon infrastructure issues, including the nuclear, healthcare and cyber sectors. Very interesting panel, including Ray Kurzweil and Craig Venter.


A National Academy of Engineering panel of big thinkers, including Google co-founder Larry Page, has identified 14 top technological challenges for this century and securing cyberspace is among them.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/021908-top-technological-challenges.html

More info on the list of challenges, including a short video clip can be found here:

http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/challenges.aspx

If you can't trust your government with money, then how can you trust them with homeland security?

Not exactly directly related to homeland security; however, this is what is to be expected after you abuse your power and trust by not meeting the public's expectations and/or not listening or responding to public need. This comes back around in the arena of community resiliency ... how does the government come into poorer inner city communities (for example) and "sell" the public on pandemic flu preparedness and community-based preparedness schemes? If nobody trusts you - especially after Katrina,the appointment of Harriet Miers, illegal wiretapping, brazen logic-free Cabinet members and appointees, etc. - you can't get the job done at the end of the day. This ultimately moves us backwards, not forwards...


Public trust in government bleak, survey finds
By Robert Brodsky

Taxpayers overwhelmingly believe the federal government has failed to explain how it generates and spends money, creating a growing expectations gap that is eroding the public's trust in its leaders, according to a new survey released Wednesday. The survey, Public Attitudes to Government Accountability and Transparency 2008, measured how 1,652 adults felt about federal, state and local governments' financial management and accountability to taxpayers. The results paint a grim picture of the public's unhappiness with both the availability of financial information and the way it is delivered to citizens, said Relmond Van Daniker, executive director of the Association of Government Accountants, which commissioned the study. The poll was conducted by Harris Interactive, a market research firm based in Rochester, N.Y.

Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39336&dcn=e_gvet

Are you NIMS-compliant or NIMS-competent?

This is, IMHO, the direct result of mandating NIMS and ICS training (i.e. "excessive" federal linkage of grant funding with training mandates) for positions within agencies that have little to no emergency response role. In other words, we have distracted a great deal of people who will not likely "respond" in online training just because they work for an agency/group that receives federal preparedness funding. Sure, they are compliant, I guess. But are they competent? Probably not. Here's a snippet of a good article on this topic:


The good news now: Many, if not most, of our agencies are now NIMS-compliant. The bad news: Many of us have the illusion that we are also NIMS-competent. But those who actually manage incidents on the street have, in many jurisdictions, observed that in practice, little has changed. Practitioners have either refused to change the way they've done business for years, or they've continued the same old practices with a different vocabulary. Our colleagues in the fire service continue to be the most proficient users of the Incident Command System, because they use it more than EMS or law enforcement agencies.

http://www.emsresponder.com/publication/article.jsp?pubId=1&id=7052

Northern Kentucky U and its refurbished MPA

NKU has "re-aligned" its MPA program to include homeland security and non-profit management concentrations.

Northern Kentucky University is announcing the addition of a new master degree program and several certificate programs, as well as significant changes to some of its long-standing master degrees.

The NKU College of Arts and Sciences has realigned its Master of Public Administration program, adding three areas of concentration. Joining the existing concentration on Nonprofit Management will be concentrations on Homeland Security and Metropolitan Government. Both a master’s degree and certificates will be available for each of these concentrations. “We are the only school in our area to offer Homeland Security and Nonprofit Management,” stated MPA director Dr. Shamima Ahmed.

gradschool.nku.edu
Northern Kentucky University
Highland Heights, KY

USC's GamePipe Lab exploring virtual simulation in HS training

Via: GDC 2008 - Serious Games Summit Sessions

Serious Games Summit Session - The GROUND TRUTH of Game Technologies for Homeland Security Training

Speaker(s): Donna Djordjevich (Homeland Security Systems and Development Center, Sandia National Laboratories)

Emerging, changing modes of attack using weapons of mass destruction (WMD) within DHS and DoD threat scenarios require new approaches to examining detection, mitigation, and response options.

To educate and train decision makers in the modes of attack and response options specific to their unique requirements it was proposed the use of game-based training simulations.

This would place multiple participants in the center of the simulation and allow their decisions to influence scenario evolution in a responsive environment.

This research is aimed at constructing immersive, interactive, gaming environments that allow trainees to interact within the context of a virtual scenario populated by non-player characters and embedded with specific learning objectives.

This project is currently in year two of a three-year, internally funded, Sandia commitment.

Software engineer Donna Djordjevich, with the University of Southern California’s GamePipe Laboratory, is the principal investigator of a Sandia-funded project titled “Game Technology-Enhanced Simulation for Homeland Security.” Its mission is to create an interactive gaming platform specifically designed to prepare decision makers and first responders for weapons of mass destruction/weapons of mass effect (WMD/WME) attacks in metropolitan areas.

In its current form, says Djordjevich, Ground Truth is designed for high-level incident commanders who need to understand how to best allocate their resources given the unusual circumstances defined by WMD/WME threat scenarios.

Full article available at:
http://elianealhadeff.blogspot.com/2008/02/gdc08-game-technologies-for-homeland.html

"FBI deputizes business"

InfraGard is not something that gets mentioned enough. I'm still too
ignorant to this to have an educated opinion, but if the gov't embraces
this then they must embrace the Minutemen-like groups along the border
between US and Mexico.


12/02/08 " The Progressive"

Today, more than 23,000 representatives of private industry are working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public does—and, at least on one occasion, before elected officials. In return, they provide information to the government, which alarms the ACLU. But there may be more to it than that. One business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have permission to "shoot to kill" in the event of martial law.

In November 2001, InfraGard had around 1,700 members. As of late January, InfraGard had 23,682 members, according to its website, www.infragard.net, which adds that "350 of our nation's Fortune 500 have a representative in InfraGard."To join, each person must be sponsored by "an existing InfraGard member, chapter, or partner organization." The FBI then vets the applicant. On the application form, prospective members are asked which aspect of the critical infrastructure their organization deals with. These include: agriculture, banking and finance, the chemical industry, defense, energy, food, information and telecommunications, law enforcement, public health, and transportation.

FBI Director Robert Mueller addressed an InfraGard convention on August 9, 2005. At that time, the group had less than half as many members as it does today. "To date, there are more than 11,000 members of InfraGard," he said. "From our perspective that amounts to 11,000 contacts . . . and 11,000 partners in our mission to protect America." He added a little later, "Those of you in the private sector are the first line of defense."

http://www.grandestrategy.com/2008/02/2349048-fbi-deputizes-business.html

OSU 2008 summer institute in biostats/epi methods

Ohio State University - Office of Workforce Development

2008 Summer Program in Applied Biostatistics and Epidemiological Methods
July 14-25, 2008
Columbus, Ohio

Courses offerings:
Applied Logistic Regression
Applied Survival Analysis
Cancer and Chronic Disease Epidemiology
*Critical Appraisal of Health-Related Scientific Information
*Current and Emerging Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Environmental Epidemiology
Health Policy Research Methods
*Health Survey Research Methods
*Geographic Information Systems
Intermediate Epidemiology using Activ-Epi
Public Health Field Epidemiology
Social Epidemiology and
Community Research*

*New course for 2008

Application has been submitted for continuing education to the OSU College of Social Work, Ohio State Board of Sanitarian Registration, the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. (CHES), and the Ohio Nurses Association. Please call Shirley Funt at 614-292-1637 for information about contact hours.

For more information use the links on the left side of the page.E-mail program staff at spabem@cph.osu.edu with questions."Click here to download the 2008 Summer Program Brochure"

(Revised 2/13/08)

http://cph.osu.edu/workforcedevelopment/8389.cfm

UMUC at the 13th annual Sloan-C Conference

UMUC made a remarkable presence at the 13th Sloan-C Conference that was held in Orlando, Florida, November 7-9. The Sloan-C Consortium, which hosts the annual conference, is one of the fastest growing and pre-eminent organizations dedicated to the growth and accessibility of online learning. The total attendance of the 2007 conference was over 1200 people, representing college faculty and administrators, instructional technology professionals and designers from various states and countries. Relative to this year’s theme, The Power of Online Learning: Making a Difference, UMUC presenters from various departments spoke on topics ranging from best instructional practices to faculty development to emerging trends.
http://deoracle.org/university-showcase/papers-studies/umuc-at-sloanc-conference.html


Speaking of the Sloan-C group, they thought highly of the course I am currently taking ...


The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is pleased to announce that the CTLA 201, Teaching with WebTycho Training Course is the winner of the prestigious Sloan-C 2006 Excellence in Faculty Development for Online Teaching Award.
http://www.umuc.edu/distance/odell/ctla/sloan.html

MS in Legal Studies - Homeland Security track at California U of PA

California University of PA's acute understanding of this extraordinary need in contemporary society has led to the creation of the Homeland Security track in Legal Studies. It presents a neat and clean track that prepares supervisory personnel to tackle the many challenges inherent in the protection of a nation. It allows justice professionals, health specialists and legal specialists, to concentrate on the methodology of security in this narrow context. Aside from the recurring demands of professional justice duty, Homeland Security delivers another slant and perspective to harried and often over-tasked public servants.

http://www.cup.edu/graduate/homeland/index.jsp

A training resource for business continuity planners

A resource for continuity planning: the Institute for Business Continuity Training
http://www.ibct.com/

and upcoming event:

IBCT hosts Business Continuity Management workshop in GCC
An international training program will be presented in Dubai April 20-23 and in Manama April 27-30 to teach a certified methodology for developing Business Continuity Plans.

http://www.ameinfo.com/146571.html

White House OST endorses use of simulation in education and homeland security

Published on HamptonRoads.com PilotOnline.com (http://hamptonroads.com)
Bush official: Education key for growth in modeling, simulation
VIRGINIA BEACH

Efforts to grow computer modeling and simulation hinge on getting more young people to study math and science, a White House advisor said Monday at an industry leadership summit.

"Education and training need to be a major focus," said Charles Romine, senior policy analyst for the White House Office of Science and Technology.

Sponsored by the Washington-based National Training and Simulation Association, the summit at The Westin Hotel Virginia Beach Town Center attracted about 250 industry, government and academic representatives.

In Hampton Roads, officials aim to expand the field beyond defense work to include medicine, transportation, education and homeland security.

Source URL (retrieved on 02/12/2008 - 11:05): http://hamptonroads.com/2008/02/bush-official-education-key-growth-modeling-simulation

plenty of software available for NIMS/all-hazard emergency plan generation and compliance

I hate to shill for specific companies when I don't intimately know
their products, but there are many great tools available out there
to develop federally-compliant all-hazards emergency plans for a
number of sectors - includign privately owned components of our
national infrastructure.

(for little to no cost often, depending on where you live and how involved
local and state governments get)

Anyway, here's an example of such software from Safe Plans:
http://www.safeplans.net/services/online/

remote sensing and GIS: essential tools for preparedness

GREAT informational post combining primers on remote sensing and GIS
with emergency response planning ... another essential tool in our collective
preparedness efforts!!

http://rashidfaridi.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/gis-remote-sensing-and-image-processing-in-studying-urban-systems/

CATT lab at UM uses virtual simulation to train transportation first responders

Well, lookie here, another group using virtual worlds for preparedness training... and another within the UM system!


The Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory (CATT Lab), a research center at the University Of Maryland, College Park, is teaming up with the I-95 Corridor Coalition and Forterra Systems, Inc. to develop a massively multi-player virtual incident management training system for transportation first responders.

The system will enable practical, scenario-based, interactive, real-time incident management training for up to 500 responders, trainers and “victims” simultaneously at a variety of locations.
Forterra Inc. designed the game engine, including capabilities for voice communications and 3-D interaction over the Web.

CATT Lab researchers, including undergraduate students from aerospace and mechanical engineering, computer science and art disciplines, worked with the Coalition to design the game’s scenarios, and are reprogramming the game engine to customize it to the Coalition's specifications.

http://elianealhadeff.blogspot.com/2008/02/serious-games-for-virtual-incident.html

NPS and WV ... more opportunity for graduate education?

From the HS digital library blog (hsdl.org/hslog) ... another good blog site.
Here's at least a little more info on this supposed 2nd NPS facility in Shepherdstown.



Congressional Record Recognizes the Center for Homeland Defense and Security
Submitted by ijkaijan on Thursday, February 7, 2008 - 20:05

See attachment below: "Madam Speaker, I am pleased to advise my colleagues of the 5th anniversary of the Center for Homeland Defense and Security, located at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. NPS has always been at the forefront of military graduate education for all the military Services and no more so than 5 years ago, when the School was selected by the Department of Homeland Security to fill a critical gap in graduate level education for our current and future leaders of homeland defense and security. Since 2002, the Center has graduated nearly 200 students from the ranks of our Nation’s first responders-public health, law enforcement, fire, emergency management and other disciplines that make up homeland security, and from almost every State in the country.

The highly competitive application process and the rigorous academic excellence of the master's degree program ensures that Center graduates are having a significant impact on protecting the Nation. Moreover, the success of the Center in Monterey compelled the Department of Homeland Security in June 2007 to establish the DHS Homeland Security Academy in the National Capital Region. NPS was again called upon by DHS to replicate the Center's success by providing faculty and curriculum for DHS employees at the second site in West Virginia. At that time, FEMA Administrator Paulison said the following, 'The NPS master's program has a proven track record of building a national network of leaders who work across agency and jurisdictional lines to solve problems and protect the American people."

https://www.hsdl.org/hslog/?q=node/3964

Using Simulations to Enhance Online Learning

http://deoracle.org/online-pedagogy/teaching-tools/using-simulations-to-enhance-online-learning.html

Article from 2007 from Julie Gilliam, formerly of UMUC but now with U Maryland
at Baltimore evidently.

UMUC, SecondLife and virtual training

A little more poking around and it appears that UMUC's own Julie Commons (aka Jules Gilliam) and Kathleen Maloney (aka Kathleen Puckett) have a great deal of experience with the use of SecondLife and virtual training, particularly for emergency preparedness training:

http://sl.nmc.org/2007/07/20/interview-with-umuc-on-simulations-for-online-learning/

See thier remarkable handiwork at:
http://polaris.umuc.edu/de/csi/nmc/simulations.html

more ephemera regarding the use of virtual worlds in education

Some more random resources I have seen recently regarding
use of SecondLife and virtual worlds:

There are some YouTube examples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpgPa6dLfDw&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iAyRDJEApM&feature=related

Just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to SecondLife and education
links, but here's two that are more geared for educators:
http://secondlifegrid.net/programs/education
http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki

Another blog post regrading virtual EM training:
http://elianealhadeff.blogspot.com/2007/07/play2train-serious-games-for-emergency_24.html

Using virtual worlds to conduct online tabletop exercises

I've just happened upon what is assuredly a future fixture
in all training and higher education programs in homeland
security and emergency management: the use of virtual worlds.

I'm sure there are plenty of people out there light years ahead of me ...
such as the folks at Idaho State University Institute for Rural Health.

Play2Train is a virtual training space in SecondLife designed to support Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), Simple Triage Rapid Transportation (START), Risk Communication and Incident Command System (ICS) Training. This virtual environment spreads over two islands Asterix and Obelix (65536 x 2 sq. meters), with one island dedicated to a virtual town and the other a virtual hospital. The design of this virtual environment is influenced by dioramas frequently used by emergency services to support their tabletop exercises. A diorama is a partially three dimensional full-size replica or scale model of a landscape typically showing historical events, nature scenes, cityscapes, etc. for purposes of education or entertainment, source: wikipedia. Play2Train will provide opportunities for training through interactive role playing and will be the foundation for our emergency preparedness educational machinima. This site will document activities and developments in this part of the SecondLife virtual world.

http://irhbt.typepad.com/play2train/

This is, in a word: incredible. And just the beginning in terms of application
within the academic world. I would absolutely love to develop a group exercise
for my future online undergraduates (University of Maryland University College)
involving a virtual tabletop exercise. In fact, this is the ONLY way to recreate
the spirit and interpersonal nature of a group face-2-face exercise in e-learning.
Please contact me if you would like to collaborate on such a project.

Expect much much more from me in this forum on this topic.

NRF training course available: "IS - 800 b"

A new version of FEMA's IS-800 independent study course (the one on the National Response Plan) is now available. IS-800b is now available to train the country's responders on the new National Resposne Framework.

Press release here:
http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/48742369_fema-releases-line-training-course-national-respon

New course can be found here:
http://www.training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/IS800b.asp

Towson University has graduate HS and forensic chemistry programs

Towson University is only one of four schools in the nation to offer a professional masters science degree in forensic science.

The university is planning on getting federal funding to go towards their forensic chemistry institute to help train scientists in bomb analysis, which is a critical part of homeland security.
They also have an online integrated HS management program with an embedded certiifcate program in Security Assessment and Management.

More info on Towson's program is here:
http://grad.towson.edu/program/master/ihsm-ms/

DHS budget request for 2009 is out ...

... and can be found here:

http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1202151112290.shtm

Brief history of primitive COOP planning

We've all heard of Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP), right?
It would be neat for the public to be able to use that massive old complex
under the Greenbrier. Makes you wonder what else is out here in the Appalachian
hills ...

Here's some places I just heard about recently:

The Greenbrier is a Mobil four star resort located in the town of White Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. For most of its history it was owned by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of CSX Corporation.

In 1858, a hotel was built on the property. This original hotel, the Old White, was torn down in 1922, several years after the addition of the current building. In 1910, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway purchased the resort property, building additional amenities and the Greenbrier Hotel in 1913.

In the late 1950s the U.S. government approached The Greenbrier for assistance in the creation of an emergency relocation center to house Congress in the aftermath of a nuclear holocaust. The classified, underground facility was built in conjunction with an above ground addition to the hotel, the West Virginia Wing, between 1959 and 1962.

Although the bunker was kept stocked with supplies for 30 years, it was never actually used as an emergency location, even during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The bunker's existence was not acknowledged until The Washington Post revealed it in a 1992 story; immediately after the Post story, the government decommissioned the bunker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Greenbrier

The Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center is a United States federal government facility located off Virginia Highway 601 near Bluemont, Virginia. The U.S. government has revealed little about Mount Weather to date, although it has acknowledged its basic existence and stated purpose. It houses operations and training facilities above ground for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and contains an underground facility designed to house key components of the American government in the case of nuclear warfare or other calamity.

Mount Weather is a central part of the American Continuity of Operations Plan. During the September 11, 2001 attacks a line of government cars and limousines with police escort was seen heading from Washington D.C. to Mount Weather.

The site gained wider public recognition when The Washington Post mentioned the government facility while reporting on the December 1, 1974 crash into Mount Weather of Flight 514, a TWA Boeing 727.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Weather

Site R is a US government facility on Raven Rock, a mountain in Pennsylvania. It is located about 14 km (8.7 miles) east of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, and 10 km (6.2 miles) north-northeast of Camp David, Maryland. The "R" in "Site R" is an allusion to Raven Rock. The name Raven Rock is used to refer the mountain itself, or, by extension, the Site R facility.

At Site R, the DISA Computer Operations staff provides computer services to the National Command Authority, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and other United States Department of Defense agencies through Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs). The facility functions as the disaster recovery site for the JSSC's GMC and DISA GCC.

The various service (Army, Navy and Air Force) Emergency Operations Centers (AFEOC) are also located at Site R. Support is provided continuously. The facility's Operations Center, DCS Technical Control Facility, the Northeast Dial Service Assistance Center and Information Center provide planning, installation, operation, and maintenance of over 38 communications systems (switching, transmission, data distribution, visual information, and power generation) that support the various customers of the facility.

Initial planning dates back to 1948. After the Soviet Union detonated its first nuclear weapon in 1949, a high priority was established for the Joint Command Post to be placed in a protected location near Washington, D.C., for swift relocation of the National Command Authorities and the Joint Communications Service.

The 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission directed the relocation of U.S. Army Signal Command units and some Base Operations support personnel from Fort Ritchie to Fort Detrick, which will become the home of East Coast long-haul communications.

According to the Boston Globe, Site R is believed to be the "undisclosed location" to which Vice-President Dick Cheney retires in times of crisis.

On May 25, 2007 the Federal Register published a Defense Dept. policy declaring that it is unlawful "to make any photograph, sketch, picture, drawing, map or graphical representation of the Raven Rock Mountain Complex without first obtaining the necessary permission." [2]

A little bit more info on Site R here:
http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/PA3183/

FEMA 2007 year in review

See a MediaWire press release in the "FEMA Year in Review: 2007"

Upon first glance, this looks largely like a self-congratulatory list of achievments
but there appear to be some data nuggets within for folks who like numbers.

http://media-newswire.com/release_1060107.html

Food for thought: indulge our inner libertarian and compress/reduce DHS?

As a fellow moderate libertarian, I give you some food for thought from an interesting blog created by a History and PoliSci professor at U Delaware - Wilmington:

I do advocate the elimination of the cabinet level position for Homeland Security. This is one of my professional research areas, and I can tell you this: you do not meet the challenge of terrorism by creating the largest bureaucracy in American history. The TSA should not only be eliminated, we should destroy the records that suggested we were dumb enough to create it in the first place, lest our grandchildren think we are idiots.

I would add to Professor Newton's sentiment that "patchwork existence" (see some of my past posts) has amplified the problem that large federal bureaucracies can ause. Back to the fact that basic IT common infrastructure has not yet been applied to the entirety of DHS, again, amplifying the "lack of being on the same page." The integration of the component parts (the patches) into a whole should have been priority # 1 in our largest federal expansion in 35 years.
And nobody expected any hint of gestalt here, people, just basic commonality.

Indulge you inner libertarian some more at:
http://delawarelibertarian.blogspot.com/

Even appropriations bills are not immune to POTUS "signing statements"

Interestingly enough, not even the Homeland Security legislation (which you would think would essentially be written by the White House, DHS and/or other "friendly elements") are immune from the pen of GW Bush. Here's a link to his "signing statement" on the 2007 APPROPRIATIONS act - make me wonder why a funding bill needs to be re-interpreted by POTUS but there you have our current state of legislative affairs/constitutional clashing.

I'm starting to really not like the words "The executive branch shall construe ..."

Read more here:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/10/20061004-10.html

DHS continues to muddle through its patchwork existence

The experiment in the largest increase in the federal gov't since the establishment of DoD in the 50s and EPA in the early 70s continues to muddle along. DHS still gives the impression of being a "patchwork" agency 5 years into its existence. You would think IT infrastructure would be one of the first things established ... practice what you preach, folks! Let's hope 2008 is hte year for shoring up cybersecurity among all agencies...


Poor management continues to plague Homeland Security, IG reports
BY JILL R. AITORO

Management challenges continue to plague the Homeland Security Department, including a failure to integrate the information technology infrastructure across all of the department's agencies, according to a report released Jan. 30 from the DHS inspector general.

The inspector general updates the assessment of management challenges annually, as part of the DHS Annual Financial Report. Past reports have been sharply critical of top management for not making enough progress. This latest report continues in the same vein.

Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39200&dcn=e_nextgov

2nd annual HSDEC education summit at UMUC in March 2008

Registration for the 2nd annual Homeland Defense and Security Education Summit is open until 27 Feb 2008. $150 gets you entry for both days (18-19 Mar 2008), beverage service and lunch. This year it is being hosted by my school, UMUC!

See the HSDEC workshop web page for more info:
http://www.hsdec.org/workshops.aspx

NPS Center for Homeland Defense and Security turns 5!

NPS graduate HS program celebrates its 5-yr anniversary! This gold standard of graduate-level HS education is expanding to the East Coast (Shepherdstown WV, so I read) this year as part of its 5-yr anniversary.

Born out of the chaos and tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, the Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security has lived up to expectations, say those who started it.

The center is celebrating its fifth anniversary this week at the Navy school with a reunion of founders and alumni that started with a reception at the school Tuesday. The program has about 90 graduates a year.

It began its first class of 14 master's degree candidates in 2003, and some of them, like retired New York Fire Capt. Vincent Doherty, were there when the World Trade Center was hit by suicide pilots flying jetliners, collapsing the mammoth twin towers and killing more than 3,000 people.

Full story:

http://www.montereyherald.com/news/ci_8116508

NLM adds new specialized collection in preparedness for special populations

A new Web page that addresses emergency and disaster preparedness and special populations has been added to the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Enviro-Health Links.

"Special Populations: Emergency and Disaster Preparedness"
http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/outreach/specialpopulationsanddisasters.html provides links to selected Web sites featuring emergency preparedness for special populations. This includes people with disabilities, people with visual or hearing impairments, senior citizens, children, and women. Links to information in languages other than English are also provided.

What is the best strategy for cybersecurity programs?

I have to say I think we should developing these types of protections in the world of
private networking first and then adapting to government use. Using the ASTM
International standard-creating process might be the way to go here. (For more info, go to http://www.astm.org) There's bound to be massive interest in a TRANSPARENT and UNIVERSALLY useful standard here. Now is not the time to do this in secret at a federal office.

Here's a snippet from the ASTM web page:
ASTM Committee E54 on Homeland Security Applications was formed in 2003. E54 meets twice each year, in January and June, with about 100 members attending three days of technical meetings. This Committee addresses issues related to standards and guidance materials for homeland security applications with specific focus on infrastructure protection, decontamination, security controls, threat and vulnerability assessment, and CBRNE sensors and detectors. It also is charged with the coordination of existing standardization (ASTM generated as well as external) related to homeland security needs. The Committee, with a membership of approximately 450, currently has its standards published in the Annual Book of ASTM Standards, Volume 15.08. E54 has 9 technical subcommittees that maintain jurisdiction over these standards. Information on this subcommittee structure and E54's portfolio of approved standards and Work Items under construction are available from the List of Subcommittees, Standards and Work Items below.

Industry experts question $6 billion Bush cybersecurity plan
By Jill R. Aitoro

A system that focuses on network protection will do little to fend off intruders, industry sources argue in response to reports that President Bush will allocate $6 billion in his 2009 budget to a cybersecurity project meant to shield communication networks from terrorists and hackers.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that the administration plans to reduce access points from the Internet to government networks and better monitor intrusion attempts through the use of network sensors that detect suspicious patterns.

Once implemented in government, the program would be adapted to private networks. Former officials told The Wall Street Journal that the $6 billion would be the initial part of a potential total cost of $30 billion over seven years.

"Five years ago we needed this type of investment," said Howard Schmidt, president and CEO of R&H Security Consulting, former vice chairman of the president's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board and special adviser to the White House on cyberspace security. "Is it enough? Only time will tell, but it seems to be a good amount to deal with some of the issues we've identified for the past five years."

Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39150&dcn=e_gvet

AA program in HS/EM added to Delaware Tech & Community College

Delaware Technical & Community College has added an
Associate's Degree in Homeland Security and Emergency
Management at their Terry campus in Dover, DE.

Full story here:
http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080124/NEWS/801240366/1008/NEWS03

Online colleges to form coalition to post effectiveness of programs

This just in from Wired Campus:

January 23, 2008
Online Colleges to Post Effectiveness of Programs


A coalition of colleges that operate online and serve mostly adult students announced today that it will team up with the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications, or WCET, to disseminate data about the effectiveness of its members’ academic programs. The cooperative promotes the use of technology in higher education.


It is expected to develop a Web site, which will open next year, to publish data from the coalition—-called the Presidents’ Forum—-that show students’ graduation rates, what training the institutions provide, and how successful graduates are in their careers, among other things. Michael Offerman, vice chairman of Capella University, said the cooperative will act as an independent examiner of the data, which he said are primarily meant to help prospective students pick the right institutions and programs for their needs. “We’ve got data and we’re going to share it,” said Mr. Offerman. Capella is part of the Presidents’ Forum.


Other institutions in the forum are: American Public University System, Charter Oak State College, Excelsior College, Fielding Graduate University, Franklin University, Kaplan University, Regis University, Rio Salado College, Southwestern College, Western Governors University, and Union Institute & University. The University of Phoenix is considering joining the group.


The partnership between the cooperative and the online colleges is meant to help carry out a program that the colleges announced in October called Transparency By Design.—-Andrea L. Foster

Another online resource for emergency management and homeland security

Through on online seminar, I just came across a resource with some interesting reads:
http://www.gordonhomeland.com

In particular,

"Education and Training Initiatives
Needed to Address Threats and Challenges to Homeland Security"
http://users.rcn.com/pgordon/homeland/homeland_educ.html

"The State of Emergency Management and Homeland Security"
http://users.rcn.com/pgordon/homeland/stateofEM.html

"A Common Goal for Contingency Planning and Management, Emergency Management, and Homeland Security: Building a Disaster Resilient Nation"
http://users.rcn.com/pgordon/homeland/CommonGoal.html

DHS press release for the new National Response Framework

National Response Framework Released
Release Date: January 22, 2008
Office of the Press Secretary(202) 282-8010

WASHINGTON – The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today released the National Response Framework (NRF), successor to the National Response Plan. The NRF, which focuses on response and short-term recovery, articulates the doctrine, principles and architecture by which our nation prepares for and responds to all-hazard disasters across all levels of government and all sectors of communities. The NRF is responsive to repeated federal, state, local and private sector requests for a streamlined document that is less bureaucratic and more user-friendly. The NRF also focuses on preparedness and encourages a higher level of readiness across all jurisdictions.


The NRF is being released following an extensive process of outreach and coordination between DHS and key stakeholders representing federal, tribal, state and local governments, non-governmental agencies and associations, and the private sector. The latest public comment period for the base document of the NRF closed on Oct. 22, 2007 and the comment period for the support annexes closed on Nov.10, 2007. The final documents reflect the nearly 5,700 comments received from participants of the process.


“The National Response Framework is an essential tool for emergency managers at all levels,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “It helps define the roles, responsibilities, and relationships critical to effective emergency planning, preparedness and response to any emergency or disaster. Today’s release reflects the culmination of many months of hard work and collaboration within the nation’s emergency management community.”


The NRF is intended for senior elected and appointed leaders, such as federal department and agency heads, state governors, mayors, tribal leaders, city managers and the private sector. Simultaneously, it informs emergency management practitioners by explaining the operating structures and tools routinely used by first responders and emergency managers at all levels of government.


The NRF is designed to:
be scalable, flexible and adaptable;
always be in effect; and
articulate clear roles and responsibilities among local, state and federal officials.


In addition to releasing the NRF base document, the Emergency Support Function Annexes and Support Annexes will be released and posted at the NRF Resource Center (www.fema.gov/nrf), an online repository of the entire component parts of the NRF. The annexes are a total of 23 individual documents designed to provide concept of operations, procedures and structures for achieving response directives for all partners in fulfilling their roles under the NRF.


Upon finalization and publication of the NRF base document and the annexes, a large focus will be to initiate an intensive nationwide training and exercise program to embed the NRF into the nation’s preparedness and response cycle. Implementation of the NRF training and exercise strategy will include awareness training, position-specific training, exercises (tabletop and functional), and sustainment training.


To make the NRF a living system that can be revised and updated in a more nimble, transparent fashion, the NRF Resource Center was developed. The Resource Center will allow for ongoing revisions as necessary to reflect real-world events and lessons learned.


The NRF and the annexes will go into effect 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.

Cherty goes head to head with Congress over border crossing initiative

It will be interesting to see what happens with this initiative if the POTUS torch is passed
to a Democrat. Current delays at the major US airports are now at a high (there a great graphic in one of the last issues of Wired showing average delays and rankings of the top 30 airports
and the East Coast has like 3 of the top 5 "most delayed" airports). Will this border crossing rule lead to large queues of people at the border trying to get in? This is definitely going to cause some trouble in Michigan, where the Ambassador Bridge to Windsor, Ontario enjoys probably the single highest rate of crossing in the country.

Chertoff to defy Congress with new border-crossing ID rules
By Chris Strohm, CongressDaily

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff Wednesday said new border-crossing requirements will go into effect at the end of the month, despite opposition from Congress and concerns from state officials that commerce and tourism will be disrupted. Chertoff said the department plans to begin phasing in new requirements under the so-called Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. "On Jan. 31 of this year, we'll be making some changes at the land border," Chertoff said in a speech to a border security advisory panel in Washington. The new rules will apply to travelers coming into the United States at land crossings from Canada and Mexico and by water from the Caribbean. Border inspectors will no longer accept oral declarations of citizenship, meaning U.S. citizens will have to present documentation proving they reside in the country, Chertoff said. He said the department will also begin preparations to limit the types of documents that can be used to prove citizenship. Border inspectors now accept about 8,000 different documents, many in the form of birth certificates issued by a variety of jurisdictions. Last year, Homeland Security began requiring people coming into the United States by air from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean to present a passport or other government-approved identification document.

Chertoff said compliance rates for the air rules have reached 99 percent. But he did not mention problems and delays that U.S. citizens had obtaining passports from the State Department last year, with delays so acute that Homeland Security had to delay implementation of the air rules for six months. The passport trouble also drew the ire of lawmakers. Congress responded by recently passing legislation that prohibits the department from fully implementing the land crossing rules until June 2009. "Congress has mandated a delay for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative ... but [Homeland Security] will nevertheless, in the intervening time, take some reasonable and very important measures to eliminate what I consider to be unacceptable vulnerabilities at our land border," Chertoff said.

Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39048&dcn=e_hsw

CIA: Hackers Shook Up Power Grids

This in last week from Wired Blog:

Earlier this week, the nation's chief spy screeched about of the danger of cyber attacks -- and the need to monitor what everyone does online, in response. Now, the CIA has made an usually public warning about the perils that network strikes can pose. Hackers have tried to extort money from overseas utility companies. At least in one case, the Washington Post reports, the online attackers messed with an electrical grid, disrupting ing power in several cities.

http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/01/hackers-take-do.html

Very scary indeed. Water systems and nuclear facilities (to name just a few snippets
of US infrastructure) have many computer-absed systems that, if accessed, could be
used for some badness.

"Business continuity programs" and NFPA standards

A piece on business continuity programs from Forbes Magazine.
The author claims "its only a matter of time" before these programs
are regulated by DHS, so it behooves businesses, big and small, to have
continuity of operations plans in pocket prior to that outbreak of avian
flu that prevents all your employees from coming into work.

The NFPA 1600 standards define business continuity as "an ongoing process supported by senior management and funded to ensure that the necessary steps are taken to identify the impact of potential losses, maintain viable recovery strategies and recovery plans, and ensure continuity of services through personnel training, plan testing and maintenance." It provides an "all hazards" approach (identifying over 45 categories of hazards like pandemic disease, cyber-attack, flood and biological agent attack) and establishes a common set of criteria for disaster management, emergency management and business continuity. The standards provide the criteria to assess current programs and to develop, implement and maintain a program to mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters.

Full article here:
http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/01/16/disaster-preparedness-companies-oped-cx_slw_0117disaster.html

more info on Joppatowne program in today's Baltimore Sun

Another article about the Joppatowne program in today's Baltimore Sun ... check it out:


The students were answering the questions during a homeland security and emergency preparedness class being piloted at Joppatowne High School this school year.The program was started to give students a chance to develop skills they can use. Students also will learn how the United States protects against threats to public health and safety, said Frank Mezzanotte, the magnet programs coordinator for the county's public school system.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/harford/bal-ha.homeland20jan20,0,703936.story

Library of Congress shares holdings on Flickr

A Big Flickr of Photo Sharing From the Library of Congress

You may post your vacation snapshots on Flickr, the photo-sharing site, but the Library of Congress has bigger plans. This week the library was overwhelmed by the public response after it put 3,100 of the most popular photos from its collection online at Flickr, getting them outside the Washington library walls and into the hands of people who want to use them. (The selected photos have no known copyright restrictions.) "The real magic comes when the power of the Flickr community takes over," noted the library's Matt Raymond in the institution's official blog. "We want people to tag, comment, and make notes on the images, just like any other Flickr photo. ... Many photos are missing key caption information such as where the photo was taken and who is pictured. If such information is collected via Flickr members, it can potentially enhance the quality of the bibliographic records for the images." Magic indeed happened, Mr. Raymond reported today. "Words are failing me right now," he wrote. (That's appropriate since he's dealing with pictures.) There have been 50,000 views, comments posted on 500 photos, and people have marked 1,200 photos as favorites. The number of tags is practically impossible to count. The only downside might be the number of bloggers writing about this, including Mr. Raymond, who succumbed to the obvious pun, "My Friend Flickr." --Josh Fischman

George Mason University - graduate Biodefense programs

George Mason’s biodefense program is designed to educate the nextgeneration of biodefense and biosecurity professionals. By combining afoundation in the biological sciences with a focus on policy analysis, itis the first program of its kind in the United States to offer a broadfield of study in the defense against biological threats and other weaponsof mass destruction. The risks posed by biological threats have increasedsubstantially in recent years due to globalization, advances in scienceand technology, and the changing nature of conflict and security. As theUnited States embarks on a range of ambitious efforts to enhance itsbiosecurity, there is a greater need than ever to instill a strongintersection of knowledge of policy, science and technology across thenational security community. The nature of the problem defines the natureof the solution: interdisciplinary, interagency, intergovernmental, andinternational. The Biodefense program at George Mason University is unique in this approach. If your career choice requires you to furtheryour knowledge of biological warfare and bioterrorism, counterterrorism,WMD non-proliferation, homeland security, emergency planning andpreparedness, or global health, we encourage you to apply. The department offers an MS and a PhD in biodefense.

Please visit http://pia.gmu.edu/grad/biod/ for more information.

NYPD Seeks an Air Monitor Crackdown for New Yorkers

Well, here's a fascinating piece from the Village Voice in NYC ... evidently
they want to regulate private possession of devices that can detect airborne
threats (which I'm SURE are sold in the back of Sodier of Fortune, but still, that's
the free market for you)

This is pretty much crazy. Sorry. Why on earth should every public health
and environmental researcher have to coordinate taking air samples with the
bloody government. Perhaps they are afraid that people will buy BETTER
equipment than the government??? Afraid of a second opinion??? I'm uneasy
about this whole thing, especially since it is mentioned in the article that DHS
officials suggested it. You wanna prevent false alarms? Spend more money on better
equipment and use it sensibly! Any system that runs 24/7 to detect airborne
pathogens (i.e. BioWatch) is going to have false positives and false negatives.
The response systems need better ways of discriminating these from true
signal prior to a full-blown response... we need to prevent repeats of actions
that transpired in Houston following detection of some tularemia DNA on a BioWatch
filter some years ago ...

"There are currently no guidelines regulating the private acquisition of biological, chemical, and radiological detectors," warned Falkenrath, adding that this law was suggested by officials within the Department of Homeland Security. "There are no consistent standards for the type of detectors used, no requirement that they be reported to the police department—or anyone else, for that matter—and no mechanism for coordinating these devices. . . . Our mutual goal is to prevent false alarms . . . by making sure we know where these detectors are located, and that they conform to standards of quality and reliability."

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0803,thompson,78873,2.html

Top-down vs bottom-up controls?

Perhaps they did go too far (see article from the Raw Story below), but the greater argument is that, domestically, we perhaps focused too intently on one method of "fixing" a system: the top-down control. I argue that we should have focused more on bottom-up type controls, by first
selling the US on individual preparedness and domestic all-hazards security
and not external terrorist/intentional low-probablility events.

There are now some bottom-up systems being put in place: community-based preparedness systems. A new office in Health & Human Services is/has taken over funding for hospital/health care preparedness (from HRSA) and they awarded several hospital groups a new grant in late 2007 to start initiating community-based preparedness planning, assessment, inventory, networking, etc. I really think this may be the future of preparedness after we have put our top-down controls in place (creating Dept of Homeland Security, national travel restrictions, real ID, PATRIOT Act, NRP, NIPP, NIMS, etc.). We shall see. After all, it is really all about making sure communities are viable and resilient and can fend for themselves. I can't imagine there are many communities out there who do NOT want to be more self-sufficient. If you can build a grassroots movement for climate change, you can build one for individual and community awareness and preparedness.

Powell claims he warned Bush about the 'price' of security after 9/11

According to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, even though the homeland is "safer" now than prior to 9/11, the United States may have gone too far and paid too high a price.
During a speaking engagement in New Orleans Monday before the American Farm Bureau Federation's 89th annual convention, Powell said that a year and a half after 9/11 he went to President George W. Bush and told him just that. "We can’t go too far because we have now paid too high a price for these new procedures," Powell claims he told Bush.

Invasive and burdensome screening of passengers at airports and other anti-terrorism measures have become distasteful to many people around the world, Powell said, noting that he played a big part in getting those measures in place after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
And, he acknowledged that people seeking medical treatment, tourists and students who might have come to the United States are now going elsewhere.

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Colin_Powell_told_George_Bush_in_0115.html

SE KY Community & Technical College and their HS Training Certificate Program

Homeland Security Training Certificate Program offered
Local News Commonwealth Journal

Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College has become the first higher education provider in the nation to make the Homeland Security Training Certificate Program a fully credited class.

The unique Web-based training program is the result of a collaborative effort between The Center for Rural Development in Somerset; Teleologic Learning Co., headquartered in Atlanta, Ill.; and the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. It consists of a virtual city where participants can adopt the role of a police officer, fireman, mayor, city manager, etc., and play an integral part in thwarting a terrorist threat.

Article here:
http://blogs.open.ac.uk/Maths/ajh59/012375.html

ACLU wants changed focus in pandemic containment planning

Not too dissimilar from the argument that drug addiction is really a medical

condition and not a crime and should be treated as such. (talk about reasons

why US health care is so exhorbitant to all of us, think of all the medical costs

we bear of addicts thrown in prison for having a $5 crack rock).

ACLU wants changed focus in pandemic containment planning

By Chris Strohm, Technology Daily

Government planning for a disease outbreak is too focused on treating health emergencies as a law enforcement or national security problem rather than treating victims as patients and engaging the public, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The group on Monday released a report that asserts that plans made by the Bush administration since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks to protect the nation against a possible influenza epidemic put the civil liberties of U.S. residents at risk. "Rather than focusing on well-established measures for protecting the lives and health of Americans, policymakers have recently embraced an approach that views public health policy through the prism of national security and law enforcement," the report states. "As a result ... today's pandemic prevention focuses on taking aggressive, coercive actions against those who are sick. People, rather than the disease, become the enemy."

Full story: http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=39019&dcn=e_hsw

latest ABC news piece on Joppatowne HS program

Here's the latest article on the Joppatowne program. Still more misunderstanding
of the term "homeland security" - perhaps it is time to rename the program "domestic tranquility" instead?

How to Stop Terrorism? Begin in School
Maryland High School Offers Homeland Security Courses
By SIBILE MORENCY
Jan. 11, 2008 —
Homeland security is one of the hottest issues in this year's presidential election, the candidates sparring daily over who is best qualified to protect the nation against terrorist threats.
Meanwhile, Leah Beaulieu is busy educating the next generation of security experts. Beaulieu teaches the nation's first homeland security high school program at Joppatowne High School in Joppa, Md.
Sixty-one Joppatowne 10th-graders enrolled this year to spend three years learning about protecting the country against terrorism.
The sophomores choose specific areas of homeland security that they would like to explore during their junior years. And as seniors, they complete internships or shadow homeland-security professionals on the job.
"We introduce our students to all major areas of homeland security. We start off with a historical perspective, learning where terrorism comes from, the political motivations, even going back to the Crusades and talking about change over time," said Beaulieu.
The program, which has been lauded by some in law enforcement, educates them on cutting-edge security technology, law enforcement and criminal justice, and teaches them to identify potential chemical and biological threats. Its creators say it will prepare the young students to enter a growing industry that could one day employ thousands of new workers.
But the program has also raised concerns about the appropriateness of teaching such a serious, politically charged subject matter to high school students.
Education or Indoctrination?
David Volrath, director of secondary education for Maryland's Hartford County public schools, insists that the school's main motivation is to help students find future jobs. There are high-tech companies in the area, and the Defense Department's Aberdeen Proving Ground is nearby.
"When we recognized that these industries were coming to support research at Aberdeen, we realized the opportunity for our students," he said.
And Jack Cloonan, a former FBI agent and president of Clayton Consultants Inc., a global risk crisis management firm, praises the high school for being the first in the nation to take this initiative.
"Those of us in this type of business often get criticized for running around, screaming the sky is falling, [but] we do have to keep the public vigilant," he said. "This is a very important educational message. If it's first introduced at the high school level, along the line it will increase people's professionalism."
But other observers warn that the the educational message must remain distinct from any political implications.
Jonathan Zimmerman, director of New York University's History of Education Program, encourages the inclusion of homeland security issues in the school's curriculum, but he urges the school to make sure it focuses on teaching national security.
"The devil is in the details. Is the school educating or indoctrinating? The job of public schools is not to get people to vote for or against Bush. [Rather] it's to teach kids the tools to evaluate Bush," he says.
Doron Pely, vice president of Homeland Security Research in Washington, D.C., says that by the time the students in the program graduate, homeland security will have grown into a $120 billion worldwide industry.
Nevertheless, he is wary of this novel integration of homeland security at the high school level.
"Kids at this age should just have fun," he said. "Homeland security is not fun. It starts from a paranoid worldview, someone is attacking me and I have to defend myself. I want my son running after girls, not defending himself."
Technology, Law Enforcement Cooperation
Frank Mezzanotti, magnet program coordinator for this homeland security program, says the Maryland Emergency Management Administration has invested $275,000 in the program
A large part of the program covers communications technology, which includes GIS software and technologies, Global Positioning System and satellite geo-spatial mapping. Other students specialize in law enforcement and criminal justice.
"The kids are learning what professionals know," said Beaulieu, who wants students to know how to read satellite images for signs of security threats. "We purchased a software program used professionally all over the country from SPACE STARS. It's the actual satellite program NASA uses."
Eddie Hanebuth, from the Department of Labor's National Standard Geospatial Apprenticeship Program, helped develop the curriculum.
"Students learn that location matters in several areas," he said. "When faced with limited resources, how do we respond and from which direction? [Students] will cover risk assessment, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. In each area they learn from a demonstration project, then they apply their skills and knowledge to their own community."
In the law enforcement and criminal justice component of the program, students are taught about the Constitution, criminal law and how laws are enforced. They also learn about criminal evidence collection and how the FBI and CIA operate.
The homeland-security sciences part of the program covers different biological, chemical and radiological threats.
"[Students] basically learn about different threats & how to protect yourself, what does it take to develop a gas mask," Beaulieu said. "They're also learning about the research design aspect. Everything we do, we relate it back to homeland security."
Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures