March 20, 2006 FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Project Report

(1) CATASTROPHIC RISKS : PREVENTION, COMPENSATION, AND RECOVERY:

Issue 10, May 2006 edition, of "Issues in Legal Scholarship" (Berkeley Electronic Press) is devoted to "Catastrophic Risks: Prevention, Compensation, and Recovery." There is an introduction by the editor of this special edition, Dan Farber, and six articles. There are abstracts and guests can sign in to download full articles. Go to: http://www.bepress.com/ils/iss10/

(2) CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE:

Government Accountability Office. Critical Infrastructure: Challenges Remain in Protecting Key Sectors (Testimony Before the Subcommittee on Homeland Security, Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives). Washington, DC: GAO, March 20, 2007, 31 pages. Accessed at: http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-626T

(3) DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY:

Dizard, Wilson P. III. "Chertoff Boosts Homeland Security CIO's Clout." GCN (Government Computer News), March 15, 2007. At: http://www.gcn.com/online/vol1_no1/43291-1.html

[Excerpt: "This unification and strengthening of core management will not be easy for some components," Chertoff said.]

(4) EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT HIGHER EDUCATION CONFERENCE:

Communicated with Valerie Lucas, Emergency Manager for the University of California at Davis concerning joining the Sunshine Week panel.

(5) GLOBAL WARMING:

Reuters. "This Was World's Warmest Recorded Winter, U.S. Government Says." March 16, 2007. Accessed at: http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12405

[Excerpt: "This has been the world's warmest winter since record-keeping began more than a century ago, the U.S. government agency that tracks weather reported Thursday. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said the combined global land and ocean surface temperature from December through February was at its highest since records began in 1880.... The next-warmest winter on record was in 2004, and the third warmest winter was in 1998...The ten warmest years on record have occurred since 1995."]

(6) MITIGATION:

Holdeman, Eric. "Testimony Seattle City Council, Eric Holdeman, Director, King County OEM, March 2, 2007." At: http://www.metrokc.gov/prepare/docs/Eric_Corner/07-07- 03_Holdeman_SeattleCC_Testimony.pdf

[Excerpt: "I believe that disasters turn into catastrophes when there is a failure in preplanning and mitigation. Katrina and the second battle of New Orleans was lost not in uncoordinated local, state and federal response, but when the levees failed.... Mitigation is best summed up by 'AN ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.'... While disaster response is sexy and gets the limelight, it is before the disaster in chambers like these with elected officials like you that in the end will made the real difference. Success in the next catastrophe that hits Seattle, or any other jurisdiction will be predicated on two things: What investment has been made in mitigation? How prepared is your citizenry to be on their own for a minimum of three days, and in reality for a major event, seven days?"]

Rose, Wendy. "IBHS Encourages South Carolina to Acknowledge Risk and Build New Homes to Better Resist Disasters." IBHS News Release, February 26, 2007. Accessed at: http://www.ibhs.org/newsroom/view.asp?id=524

Southwestern Insurance Information Service. "Building Codes Worked During Hurricane Rita, Study Shows." Insurance Journal, January 26, 2007. Accessed at: http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southcentral/2007/01/26/76339.htm

(7) PANDEMIC:

McKenna, Maryn. "Analysis of 1918 Pandemic Cites Enduring Mysteries." CIDRAP News, March 6, 2007. At: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/panflu/news/mar0607fauci1918.htm l

(8) PREPAREDNESS:

Loy, James M. "U.S. Needs Disaster Fund." St. Petersburg Times, February 10, 2007. Accessed at: http://www.sptimes.com/2007/02/10/Opinion/US_needs_disaster_fun.shtml (9) TERRORISM -- TECHNOLOGY IS THE ANSWER:

Department of Homeland Security. "Remarks by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff at the Northern Virginia Technology Council," March 15, 2007. Accessed at: http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1174055866554.shtm

[Excerpt: "You know, when I'm asked the question of what is our prognosis for dealing with the threats to the homeland in the 21st Century, recognizing that the enemy, the ideology of violent extremism, has some powerful tools, including the willingness of its adherents to sacrifice their own lives in order to attack our country. I'm always occasioned to reflect upon, well, what is our advantage in fighting this war? What do we have our on side that the other side doesn't have? And it seems to me the answer to that question is technology and ingenuity. Our value add is the ability to be creative, harness the free enterprise system, and find solutions to threats that keep us ahead of an ever- adapting and ever-evolving enemy."]

B.Wayne Blanchard, Ph.D., CEM Higher Education Project Manager Emergency Management Institute National Emergency Training Center Federal Emergency Management Agency Department of Homeland Security 16825 S. Seton, K-011 Emmitsburg, MD 21727 (301) 447-1262, voice (301) 447-1598, fax [email protected] http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu

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