(Left to right) Robert Ouellette, Robert Beauchamp, Garth Mackenzie, Carol Dell'Amore.

UMUC Programs "Post September 11" Are Timely

By Andrea Martino

Almost a year after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the world faces a changed—and less certain—future. In the United States, matters of homeland security remain at the forefront of the public mind, and a number of new UMUC programs respond, directly or indirectly, to the consequent needs and concerns.

These new curricula focus on information assurance, energy, bioinformatics, and biometrics. In addition, a new partnership with the International Association of Fire Chiefs will promote scholarship opportunities in UMUC's National Leadership Institute programs for fire chiefs, many of whom responded with heroism and exemplary leadership to the events of September 11.

Energy

The continued debate over oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge brings renewed attention to the decade-long battle over the nation's energy policy-and the need for education regarding how energy resource management affects the environment. But the need for information reaches many different industries, not just environmental systems, said Robert Beauchamp, program director for energy systems management. In UMUC's new energy track, available in five graduate programs, Beauchamp will also incorporate ways to address the potential danger of chemical and biological attacks on the nation's energy facilities and supplies.

"It's important that the managers we train are proactive in helping to thwart terrorist assaults on our energy resources rather than simply helping to clean up the mess after the damage is done," Beauchamp said. "We must not be complacent, since September 11 taught us that homeland security is everyone's responsibility."

Beauchamp has been appointed a committee member to plan the 3rd International Conference on Energy and the Environment, to be held in Shanghai, China, in May 2003. The conference is sponsored by the University of Shanghai and George Washington University.

Information assurance

Although UMUC may not have been the first U.S. university to be designated a Center for Academic Excellence in information assurance education by the National Security Agency, the honor in February 2002 is still tremendously significant. The September 11 attacks on U.S. soil caused an unimagined ripple of threat that is still evolving; it seems that every aspect of American life is no longer secure. Perhaps at no time since the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has information assurance been such a concern, and it has never been so complex, involving technological aspects that were inconceivable just months ago.

"The prevention and mitigation of threats to computer networks is vital to homeland security in almost all its facets," said Edward McCallum, director of the Combating Terrorism Technology Support Office at the U.S. Department of Defense. "The complexity and sophistication of information technologies and their widespread integration increases the likelihood of unforeseen vulnerabilities."

"There has always been an urgency to security," said Garth MacKenzie, associate chair and program director for the University's master's program in information technology. "The events of September 11 only underscored the public's awareness of what could happen. Technology has so permeated our lives I doubt many people can even comprehend the danger."

According to MacKenzie, the new information assurance program will better prepare students in corporate, government, and non-profit information-technology arenas for dealing with the potential of security threats.

Bioinformatics

The new bioinformatics practice track of courses within UMUC's Master of Science in Biotechnology Studies degree program this fall is expected to attract students with backgrounds in molecular biology and/or information technology for what is said to be the fastest growing segment of the very hot biotechnology industry.

As of July 2002, some 95 genomes (including those of humans, insects, worms, bacteria, plants, yeast, and protozoa) have been sequenced. The national Center for Bioinformatics is the major source for DNA sequences and other biological information. The staggering amount of resultant data has created a need for better tools to handle data mining, manipulation, analysis, and visualization techniques. The UMUC biotechnology program and bioinformatics track are preparing scientists and technicians to meet this need.

Advances in bioinformatics will yield great rewards for the pharmaceuticals industry. The threat of chemical and biological attacks demands that drug development processes-which are now highly inefficient-be expedited. Bioinformatics can help, but results are still delayed, primarily because of the processes necessary to establish intellectual property rights and patent the results of research. According to Dr. Elias Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, that could pose a serious problem.

"The complexities of patenting could have a deleterious effect, particularly in very fundamental issues of biology, such as the identification of genes," Zerhouni said at a recent congressional field hearing on homeland security. As evidence of the heightened need, President George Bush's FY03 budget request includes $1.75 billion for biodefense matters alone, including research, comparative genomics, diagnostics, and vaccine and therapeutics development, at NIH.

Biometrics

It seems everyone is debating how far "Big Brother" should go to protect you. Having one's photograph on an identification card is one thing, but how about storing identifiers like fingerprints and the digitized results of retinal scans? Instead of punching a time clock, how would you feel about having your hand scanned instead? Experts worry that such invasions of privacy might also open the door for scam artists and overzealous types who, with access to such privileged information, could easily abuse it.

Since summer 2002, the risk and security class in UMUC's e-commerce program has included components of biometrics. According to Bob Ouellette, director of the program, biometrics is pertinent to e-commerce because of the concern with privacy and breach of confidentiality (in medical records, credit reports and spending habits, identity, and so on) and potential fraud.

Leadership

The events of September 11 demonstrated beyond a doubt that our fire and rescue workers did not hesitate to take heroic action in a time of great crisis. But the fact that many of the rescuers became victims themselves-and the somber, oft-repeated image of then-New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani attending another memorial service or funeral-reinforced the point that there were still plenty of lessons in leadership to be learned.

In recognition of that heroism, and in response to that need, JoAnne Hildebrand, program administrator for the University's fire science programs, and Carol Dell'Amore, director of the University's National Leadership Institute, are teaming with the International Association of Fire Chiefs to solicit scholarships for fire chiefs and assistant fire chiefs to allow them to attend NLI leadership programs.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson remarked, "Extraordinary emergencies call for extraordinary responses." With enough fire chiefs in the NLI program, none of us need worry that we'll have to wait for another "extraordinary emergency" to see extraordinary leadership at work.