|
U.Va.
offers expertise in light of terrorist attack
By Fariss Samarrai
Almost
immediately after the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington,
D.C., the news media began calling the U.Va.
News Office, seeking experts to help explain what had happened.
The News Office made several calls around Grounds and quickly
developed a list of expert sources from several disciplines to
provide perspective on the breaking news. Within hours, U.Va.
faculty members were on television and radio, and being quoted
for the next day’s newspapers.
|
Other
U.Va. experts who have responded to media calls
•
Timothy Naftali is an expert on intelligence and
espionage who has taught international relations courses,
including one on the Cold War in the Third World. An associate
professor at the University, he directs the Presidential
Recordings Project and the Kremlin Decision-making Project
at the Miller Center of Public Affairs.
•
Philip D. Zelikow, director of the University’s
Miller Center of Public Affairs, is an expert on U.S. foreign
policy who has written about catastrophic terrorism.
•
Ambassador W. Nathaniel Howell is an expert on U.S.
foreign policy in the Middle East. Director of the Institute
for Global Policy Research at the University, he was a career
diplomat who served as ambassador of the U.S. Embassy in
Kuwait from 1987-91 while it was under siege during the
buildup to the Persian Gulf War.
•
John Norton Moore, the Walter L. Brown Professor
of Law, is director of the Center for Oceans Law & Policy
and of the Center for National Security Law. On the faculty
since 1966, he is an authority in the fields of international
law, national security law, and the law of the sea. From
1991-93, during the Gulf War and its aftermath, Moore was
the principal legal adviser to the Ambassador of Kuwait
to the U.S. and to the Kuwait delegation to the United Nations
Iraq-Kuwait Boundary Demarcation Commission. From 1985 to
1991, he was chair of the board of directors of the U.S.
Institute of Peace, one of six presidential appointments
he has held.
•
Clinical psychologist Peter Sheras, a Curry School
professor of education, has developed an adolescent stress
index that takes into account many things, such as crushes,
dating and peer relationships, as well as the impact of
violence. As one of the lead faculty members in the Virginia
Youth Gang and Virginia Youth Violence projects, he counsels
schools nationwide on factors that can trigger violence
among youth.
•
Dewey Cornell, a Curry School professor of education,
is the author of Designing Safer Schools for Virginia: A
Guide to Keeping Students Safe From Violence, which describes
several programs, such as reducing bullying that promote
school safety. He also offers counseling to schools coping
with emotional issues.
•
Haydn Wadly, associate dean for research at the University’s
School of Engineering and Applied Science, works with the
U.S. Department of Defense on new defensive technologies.
•
Edward T. Burton, a visiting professor in economics,
is a private investment banking consultant and former chairman
of the Virginia Retirement System for state employees. He
has commented on the impact on financial markets, investments.
• Robert I. Webb, a professor at the McIntire
School of Commerce and expert in futures markets is a former
financial futures and options trader at the Chicago Mercantile
Exchange. He has served as senior financial economist at
the Executive Office of the President and the Office of
Management and Budget.
|
“We
have a mandate as faculty members to serve the public and contribute
to the public dialogue on contemporary issues,” said Yacov
Y. Haimes, director of the Center for Risk Management of Engineering
Systems at U.Va.
Haimes
has spent his career studying and providing reports for the federal
government on the interconnectedness and interdependency of infrastructures,
from computers to water systems. His interest in public policy
has its roots during his sabbatical year in 1977-78, when he was
a Congressional Science Fellow, serving on the White House Office
of Science and Technology Policy and on the House Science and
Technology Committee.
The
day of the terrorist attacks he was interviewed by the Knight-Ridder
News Service, USA Today and he visited the Channel 29 studio for
a live report.
“I
want to help the news media, and therefore the public, to better
understand some of the complex problems that we are facing in
the modern world,” he said. “For years our center has
been producing important reports on the threats of terrorism and
our vulnerabilities. The recent events unfortunately have brought
these issues to the forefront of the national agenda.”
Ruhi
K. Ramazani, retired U.Va. professor emeritus of government
and foreign affairs, is a renowned expert on Middle East politics.
He has been providing insight to the news media for many years.
Immediately after the terrorist attacks he was interviewed by
the Daily Progress, Ch. 29, WINA radio, and was contacted by the
Richmond Times-Dispatch.
“Our
public service mandate includes talking to the media, to help
deepen knowledge and understanding of the issues behind the headlines,”
he said. “To maintain a democracy, we need an educated public.
The reason I went into education is because the survival of democracy
is dependent on our enlightened self-interest.”
 Anita
K. Jones, Lawrence R. Quarles Professor of Engineering
and Applied Science, is a computer scientist and national
security expert. As a former head of Research and Development
at the Pentagon, the government and the media often consult her
for her insights on national security. She too believes that faculty
have a duty to communicate with the public through the media when
appropriate. She spoke recently with the Cavalier
Daily, the Chicago Tribune, WFIR radio in Roanoke, and was
contacted by other media.
“Call
it sympathy, empathy, patriotism, I talked to the media after
this tragedy because I feel I have a particular insight on national
security given my technology expertise and my time in the Pentagon,”
Jones said.
Kirk
Martini, associate professor of architecture and a civil engineer,
said, “I spoke live on the set of Channel 29 to help people
understand why the twin towers may have collapsed. This was on
the day of the disaster, so there was little hard information.
I could only provide speculation. One of the University’s
roles is to provide knowledge to the public.”
“As
faculty, we have a responsibility to bring some depth and sophisticated
understanding to contemporary issues,” said Michael J. Smith,
professor of government and foreign affairs. Smith, an expert
on ethics in international relations, spoke at some length with
an editorial writer at the Ottawa Citizen who was looking for
perspective on the laws of war and on any American response to
the terrorist strikes.
“I
served as sort of a sounding board for the editor who was trying
to write something thoughtful. It was a mini-seminar over the
phone. The writer was looking for much more than simply a quote
to pop into a news story,” Smith added.
Sidney
Milkis, an expert on the American presidency and professor of
government and foreign affairs with the Miller Center of Public
Affairs, spoke immediately after the attacks with the Daily Progress,
the Cavalier Daily, and Ch. 29.
“I
like to help out the local press,” he said. “As a scholar,
I wanted to put the terrorist attacks into a broader philosophical
perspective. I compared the attacks to Pearl Harbor, how these
events were similar and very different. These terrible events
are so emotional — people are seeking some understanding.
I hope to help tell the story of America, what we are about, why
we are a target, and why we have so much responsibility in the
world.”
Also
at U.Va. is the Critical Incident Analysis Group, a consortium
composed of scholars, law enforcement officials (including the
U.S. Justice Dept. and FBI), and professionals, such as therapists
and psychiatrists, who seek “to analyze, anticipate, prevent,
and mitigate critical incidents.”
Lawrence
E. Adams, research director of the group, has studied the interaction
of religion and politics and spoke to the local press about political
responses to the crisis and rebuilding efforts. He has worked
previously at the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill.
Of
special note is a recent publication from the group, “Threats
to Symbols of American Democracy,” which is available online
at http://faculty.virginia.edu/ciag.
*
* * * * *
“A
terrorist may choose a target with some symbolic meaning, but
he is not really out to harm a particular person or destroy a
particular object. His purpose is to cause terror. Nor does he
seek to terrify just those who are directly harmed or threatened
by the terrorist attack. He aims to frighten a much larger audience:
often… an entire nation.”
from “Threats to Symbols of
American Democracy” publication
|
