William L. Waugh

Terrorism and tourism as logical companions.

Abstract The symbiotic relationship between terrorism and tourism needs to be understood and acted on, not just in terms of security and marketing, but in terms of such factors as planning, site development, employment policies, political risk analysis and emergency management. This article looks at the relationship between tourism and terrorism from several perspectives. The political and economic impact of terrorism on tourism is assessed, including the sensitivity of the tourism industry to general political strife and the vulnerability of travellers and tourist facilities to terroristic activity. The nature of terroristic violence and the objectives of terrorist groups are evaluated to determine why and how attacks on tourists and facilities may fit the organizational and political objectives of terrorist groups. Finally, the article suggests how the industry and policy makers must proceed to reduce the vulnerability for tourists and the travel sector.

The Political Costs of Failure in the Katrina and Rita Disasters

The Katrina and Rita disasters have raised serious questions about the capabilities of the national emergency management system to handle catastrophic disasters. The system is broken and must be repaired before the next major hurricane, earthquake, volcanic eruption, terrorist attack, or pandemic. The poor disaster responses may have serious political costs for those officials who failed to manage the hazards along the Gulf and/or failed to respond adequately to the storms—or simply appeared to be ineffectual in very dire circumstances. There have already been political casualties among the administrators responsible for managing the responses, and there may well be casualties among the politicians when voters go to the polls. The recommendation to give the military a lead responsibility in catastrophic disaster responses has been met with strong opposition; the issue may broaden the rift between governors’ offices and the White House over homeland security and emergency management and broaden the gap between local emergency management imperatives and federal policies.

Shelter from the Storm: Repairing the National Emergency Management System after Hurricane Katrina

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita raise serious questions concerning the capacities of local, state, and federal governments to deal with major hazards and disasters. Several questions arise: • How do we build the infrastructure, facilitate economic recovery, and move people into permanent homes? • How will local, state, and federal governments help businesses, colleges, nonprofits, and families? • How will we repair the flaws in the nation’s support networks for the poor, elderly, and disabled that were revealed by the disasters? • How can we deal with the racism that contributed to the slow response for African American communities? • What flaws delayed the dispatch of emergency responders? • How should “FEMA cities” sites be chosen for those who lost homes? • How should we recruit and house workers for rebuilding? Our system for dealing with disaster has to be repaired quickly.

Issues in University Governance: More “Professional” and Less Academic

The pressures for efficiency and the achievement of performance goals are encouraging college and university presidents to focus more on the management of their institutions and less on the more collegial processes of academic decision making. Presidents are being held more accountable to external constituencies, particularly the public officials and business leaders involved in hiring them and the foundations and businesses that supplement their salaries and benefits, and, therefore, feel less accountable to the faculty and other internal constituencies. To increase efficiency and meet goals, presidents are increasingly hiring professional administrators without academic experience, who feel more accountable to their administrative superiors and less accountable to faculty, students, and others within the institution. The focus on managerial values is also filtering down to academic departments and nonacademic offices. The net effect is that the faculty role in university governance is decreasing and may be extinguished if current trends continue.

The United States' Experience with the Incident Command System: What We Think We Know and What We Need to Know More About

In the wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, organizations involved in emergency management at the local, state and federal level were mandated to utilize the Incident Command System (ICS) to structure on‐scene response efforts. The system is currently relied upon as an organizing mechanism for response in the United States, and its widespread use outside of the United States is being advocated. Yet, there is little evidence that the system is consistently used as designed or a salve to common response problems. This paper reviews the evolution of ICS in practice and the available research on its use and effectiveness. The review makes clear that more research on the system is urgently needed.

Terrorism as Disaster

According to the old common wisdom, terrorists want an audience, but not a large number of dead (see Waugh, 1990). The reasoning is that, while attacks can demonstrate the power and commitment of the terrorists, the vulnerabilities of their targets, and the ineffectiveness of government authorities, large numbers of deaths can alienate political support. Grisly pictures of car and suicide bombings cause television viewers to weigh the objectives of the organizations against those human lives. Now, the old common wisdom itself has been a casualty of evolving terrorist motivations and technologies of war. Since the 1980s, terrorists have shown increasing willingness to kill many people, often innocent bystanders, without regard for the impact on public opinion and potential political support. Bombings of aircraft, public markets, schools, and other gathering places have increased the casualty lists. The general populace, rather than representatives of the state or socioeconomic elitists, has become the target of choice. As a result, the new common wisdom since the 1990s is that terrorists may wish to kill hundreds or thousands or even millions of people and may well have the wherewithal to do it. The shift to mass casualty and mass destruction attacks by some terrorist organizations has increased the potential for disaster and fundamentally changed the nature of the hazard. Moreover, as the scale of the attacks has increased, the psychological and social impacts of terrorism have certainly changed. Individuals and communities often surprisingly adjusted to the relatively localized violence that characterized terrorism during the early decades after World War II. The potential lethality and destructiveness of terrorism today makes it a hazard that cannot be ignored.

Geographic Information Systems: The Case of Disaster Management

Disaster management, by its very nature, is spatially oriented, and geographic information systems (GIS) technologies promise to revolutionize the field. This analysis examines the major issues in the utilization of GIS in managing disasters and recommends strategies to facilitate and increase its use. The principal focus is on assuring that local GIS capabilities are expanded and maintained, that spatial data are available in forms useful to other users, and that local GIS resources be developed collaboratively. The experience with Hurricane Andrew is used to demonstrate both the importance of GIS to disaster management and the development of GIS capabilities. Keywords: Federal Geographic Data Committee, geographic information systems, National Geospatial Data Clearinghouse, National Spatial Data Infrastructure, North Carolina Multi-Agency GIS Initiative, Spatial Data Transfer Standard.

Building Microcomputing Skills in Public Administration Graduate Education An Assessment of MPA Programs

Practitioners and academics alike acknowledge the very rapid diffusion of microcomputers in government agencies, yet the implications of this trend for graduate education in public administration are a matter of controversy. This article assesses the response of MPA programs to the demands of the public sector workplace for skills in microcomputing. Based on a national survey of these programs conducted in 1989, the study finds that about 90%o of the MPA programs have incorporated microcomputers into instruction, but only about 30% have a required course in microcomputing. While statistical analysis and research methods remain the primary courses in which microcomputers are used, a majority of the institutions integrate them into the teaching of substantive courses. Thus, despite the continuing dominance of statistical applications in the computing education of public managers, most of the schools also appear to recognize the importance of providing their students with other, more practical skills in microcomputing.

The Changing Responsibilities of County Governments: Data from a National Survey of County Leaders

}This article reports findings from a national survey of county administrators, executives, and commission chairs from counties with an executive or an administrator that indicate counties are battling to meet rising administrative and policy demands with inadequate authority. An examination of 23 different policy areas revealed that modern counties confront some of our societys most vexing problems, most of which are primarily of an urban character. A multivariate analysis indicated that population changes associated with increased urbanization influenced respondent attitudes concerning some policy issues. Also, the South was identified as the region where county government is under the greatest stress. It is suggested that researchers should approach the use of county demographic data with caution.

Professional Education for Emergency Managers

The education of professional emergency managers has been the subject of workshops by the National Science Foundation and the National Academies. There is general agreement on the content of curricula, except for components related to Homeland Security. This article looks at the broad issue of professional education and the need to include information on Homeland Security.