**March 2, 2006 FEMA Emergency Management Higher Education Project
Activity Report**

\(1\) DISASTERS: A GROWTH BUSINESS:

Joplin Globe (MO, Editorial). \"In Our View: Earthquake Preparation A
Must.\" March 2, 2006. Accessed at:
[[http://www.joplinglobe.com/print.php?story_id=231793]{.underline}](http://www.joplinglobe.com/print.php?story_id=231793)

\(2\) DISCIPLINES, DISASTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT \-- BOOK
DEVELOPMENT PROJECT:

Received for review from lead book developer, Dr. David McEntire,
University of North Texas, 2nd draft of the book\'s concluding chapter
\-- \"Making Sense of Consilience: Reviewing the Findings and
Relationship Among Disciplines, Disasters and Emergency Management,\" by
Dr. McEntire and Sarah Smith, Emergency Administration and Planning
Program, University of North Texas.

\(3\) HARVARD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH\--DISASTERS-PREVENTION
AND MITIGATION CONFERENCE:

The Harvard School of Public Health website states that this April
26-28, 2006 conference will be: A global conference to develop
strategies to minimize the human and financial loss of disasters through
strategies of coordinated action across national and international
entities, government, business and the academy.\" There is a conference
fee of \$300. Recommend going to the website, noted below and clicking
on \"Related Articles\" on the left of the homepage \--
[[http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/disasters/index.html]{.underline}](http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/disasters/index.html)

\(4\) HOMELAND SECURITY BUDGET:

Strohm, Chris. \"Senators Say Homeland Security Budget Proposal Falls
Short.\" Government Executive Magazine, March 1, 2006. Accessed at:

[[http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33491&dcn=todaysnews]{.underline}](http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cfm?articleid=33491&dcn=todaysnews)

\(5\) KATRINA:

Borenstein, Seth, and William Douglas. \"Transcripts: Bush Was Told of
Levees\' Possible Failure Before Katrina.\" Knight Ridder Newspapers,
March 1, 2006. Accessed at:
[[http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/nation/13994495.htm]{.underline}](http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/nation/13994495.htm)

CNN.com. \"Transcripts, Tape Show Bush, Brown Warned on Katrina.\" March
2, 2006. Accessed at:
[[http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/02/fema.tapes/]{.underline}](http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/02/fema.tapes/)

Ebrahim, Margaret and John Solomon. \"Bush Had Warnings on Katrina.\"

Associated Press, March 2, 2006. Accessed at:
<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0603020206mar02,1,7824016.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed>

Gaouette, Nicole. \"President Bush Warned of Katrina Dangers in Video.\"

Los Angeles Times, March 2, 2006. Accessed at:
<http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-32bushkatrina,0,7233573.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines>

Hall, Mimi. \"Video Sheds Light on Katrina Preparation.\" USA Today,
March 2, 2006. Accessed at:
[[http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060302/a_tape02.art.htm]{.underline}](http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20060302/a_tape02.art.htm)

Hsu, Spenser S. and Linton Weeks. \"Video Shows Bush Being Warned on
Katrina - Officials Detailed A Dire Threat to New Orleans.\" Washington
Post, March 2, 2006. Accessed at:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/01/AR2006030101731_pf.html>

Shane, Scott, and David D. Kirkpatrick. \"Unaware as Levees Fell,
Officials Expressed Relief.\" New York Times, March 2, 2006. Accessed
at:
<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/national/nationalspecial/02katrina.html?_r=1&oref=slogin>

\(6\) OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET \-- EXPECT MORE FROM GOVERNMENT
WEBSITE:

This federal government website rates various government programs as to
performance and posits improvement plans. Suggest keying in such terms
as \"emergency management\" and \"homeland security\" and scan through
variety of programs. Go to:

[[http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/index.html]{.underline}](http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/expectmore/index.html)

\(7\) PANDEMIC:

Harris, Gardiner. \"U.S. Stockpiles Antiviral Drugs, But Democrats
Critical of Pace.\" New York Times, March 2, 2006. Accessed at:

[[http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/politics/02flu.html]{.underline}](http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/02/politics/02flu.html)

\(8\) SHELTER FROM THE STORM \-- ANNALS OF AMERICAN ACADEMY OF POLITICAL
AND SOCIAL SCIENCE BOOK:

Noted this new release in a previous activity report \-- over next few
days will note excerpts from sections of the book, starting today with
the \"Preface\" by the books editor, Dr. William L Waugh Jr.:

\"\...watching the Katrina disaster unfold was like watching a train
wreck in slow motion. Poor planning, poor execution, and a fundamental
ignorance of emergency management and disaster behavior on the parts of
many policy makers at all levels cost lives and property.\" (p. 6)

\"The myopic focus of U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
officials on the threat of terrorism led to the dismantling of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency\...and inattention to the more
certain threat of natural hazards.\" (p. 6)

\"\...DHS officials are further damaging the nation\'s system for
handling hazards and dealing with disasters. The need to repair the
nation\'s emergency management system is manifest\...\" (p. 7)

\"Funding for levee work was shifted to other priorities, funding for an
evacuation study was shifted to other programs, funding for hazard
mitigation was shifted to terrorism prevention, and funding for local
capacity building was shifted from the more certain natural hazards to
the unnatural hazard of terrorism\...an overcentralization of decision
making led to long delays in mobilizing and deploying critical human and
material resources. The nation\'s emergency management experts and the
disaster relief organizations that normally deal with large-scale
disasters were waiting impatiently to be called to duty. Professional
emergency managers, search and rescue teams, and other first and second
responders had their \'go bags\' and vehicles packed and ready to go.

Approval to mobilize needed National Guard assets was days late. Our
federal system contributed to this confusion as well. State officials
provided uncertain leadership, and federal officials appeared uncertain
as to their legal roles and responsibilities as critical elements in the
national emergency management system. National planning was guided by a
National Response Plan geared to terrorist attacks involving so-called
weapons of mass destruction in which federal officials provide command
and control. The plan was inappropriate in a situation in which state
and local officials were in the lead\....\" (p. 7)

\"\...far too many of the public officials responsible for dealing with
the disaster knew little or nothing about emergency management and how
to use the nation\'s emergency management expertise; nor were they
surrounded by experts in emergency management to provide advice and
counsel.\"(p. 7)

\"Assumptions concerning warnings, evacuation, sheltering, and other
issues common to disasters demonstrated officials\' profound ignorance
and lack of leadership. The most obvious faulty assumptions and the most
costly in human lives involved evacuation procedure and behavior.\"(p.
7)

\"DHS\'s focus on preventing terrorist attacks since 9/11 also diverted
attention from the risk of hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, and other
more certain natural phenomena and the need to be prepared to deal with
disasters of all sorts, including disasters caused by terrorists.\" (p.
9)

Waugh, William L. Jr. Shelter From the Storm: Repairing the National
Emergency Management System after Hurricane Katrina (The Annals of the
American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 604, March 2006).
Thousand Oaks (CA), London, New Delhi: SAGE Publications, 2006.

\(9\) TERRORISM:

Behn, Sharon. \"Terrorist Growth Overtakes U.S. Efforts.\" The
Washington Times, March 2, 2006. Accessed at:

[[http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060301-113323-8165r.htm]{.underline}](http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060301-113323-8165r.htm)

Received Spring 2006 issue of \"Terrorism and Political Violence,\" and
note, amongst the offerings:

Piazza, James A. \"Rooted in Poverty?: Terrorism, Poor Economic
Development, and Social Cleavages.\" Terrorism and Political Violence,
Vol. 18, No. 1, Spring 2006, pp. 159-177.

\[Abstract: \"This study evaluates the popular hypothesis that poverty,
inequality, and poor economic development are root causes of terrorism.
Employing a series of multiple regression analyses on terrorist
incidents and casualties in ninety-six countries from 1986 to 2002, the
study considers the significance of poverty, malnutrition, inequality,
unemployment, inflation, and poor economic growth as predictors of
terrorism, along with a variety of political and demographic control
variables. The findings are that, contrary to popular opinion, no
significant relationship between any of the measures of economic
development and terrorism can be determined. Rather, variables such as
population, ethno-religious diversity, increased state repression and,
most significantly, the structure of party politics are found to be
significant predictors of terrorism. The article concludes that \'social
cleavage theory\' is better equipped to explain terrorism than are
theories that link terrorism to poor economic development.\"\]

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, N-430

Emmitsburg, MD 21727

\(301\) 447-1262, voice

\(301\) 447-1598, fax

wayne.blanchard@dhs.gov

[[http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu]{.underline}](http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/edu)

\* To subscribe to the Hi Ed Activity Reports go to the Higher Education
Project homepage at <http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/edu/>. Scroll to
the fourth paragraph and click on the link to send a blank e-mail to our
list server. You do not need to enter any information on the Subject
line or in the Message area. If you want to remove yourself from this
mailing list, you can send a blank email to
<leave-emi-hi-ed-reports-205686A@lyris.fema.gov> or visit:
[[http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/edu/]{.underline}](http://training.fema.gov/emiweb/edu/)

If you are unsubscribing from a different email address than the one you
originally subscribed with, send your email to lyris@lyris.fema.gov and
include the next line of text in the subject line of your message:

Unsubscribe emi-hi-ed-reports <Barbara.L.Johnson@dhs.gov>

.

**"Please note: Some of the Web sites linked to in this document are not
federal government Web sites, and may not necessarily operate under the
same laws, regulations, and policies as federal Web sites."**