IT IS FAIR to say that most Americans during their daily routines have more personally pertinent things to think about other than national security. After September 11, security for airports and national buildings was visibly upgraded, comforting the minds of concerned citizens everywhere. However, since September 11, the reigning fear of terrorist attacks in this country has significantly died down. Unfortunately, the efficiency of security in this country may have died down with it as well, meaning that peace and complacency have once again been falsely restored in the American people.
A couple of weeks ago, a student at Guilford College effectively placed plastic bags containing bleach, box cutter knives, clay and other items on two Southwest Airlines planes with notes encouraging the Transportation Security Administration to beef up security at their checkpoints. No one should be encouraged to personally test out security, but the fact that someone was able to smuggle onto a plane similar items to those that could possibly be used to create a bomb without much difficulty points to our need to rethink security efforts. The TSA claimed that they needed better technology to be more thorough, but after the September 11 and our impending war with Iraq, there should be no excuses for this type of event to occur.
In addition, just last Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives was required to shut down briefly because of a security threat. Apparently, a staff worker brought a costume to work that included a toy gun. The Capitol Police acted quickly to attempt to address the situation upon alert that a security office noticed the gun in an X-ray machine; however, notification of Congress members was delayed, and security communications were very confused. The possibility of a real gun entering a congressional building is daunting, to say the least. The police have acknowledged that this incident does expose some failure in the operations of security and have dedicated a weekend of work to starting to identify where breakdowns happened.
These examples of problems are positive -- they are opportunities for the system to be tested and for kinks to be worked out. Still, these problems are indeed problems and point to numerous loopholes in our national security efforts. Someone needs to start taking appropriate responsibility and reevaluating our systems at the standard to which they should be held.
Take, for instance, my own experience this summer. On my return trip home from South Africa, one of the longest direct flights in the world, I got on the plane with a pair of scissors in the bottom of my purse. I had no idea until, upon going through the last security checkpoint in Hartsfield International in Atlanta, I was stopped and questioned about the illegal scissors, and they were confiscated from me. Now, I am by no means a terrorist, but the fact that a national tragedy occurred because of box cutter knives does not make me rest very easy about my ability to get away with carrying scissors on a plane. However, I went through multiple security checks in South Africa and in the States before anyone even caught my mistake.
All in all, it is very difficult to be completely thorough in security. Little things can always randomly "get by," and in our world of convenience, not many people are pleased with security when it is them being fully searched before boarding a plane. Regardless, no terrorist or person intending harm should be able to infiltrate an area where they are a potential threat without much concern about their entry. Even if it takes more money or more time, people deserve to feel safe and know that they are protected. We are in the midst of a war on terrorism, but before we continue warring, perhaps we should take care of things on the homefront first.
(Amey Adkins' column appears Tuesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at aadkins@cavalierdaily.com.)
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