Newswise — For journalists covering the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a round-up of University of California, San Diego experts.
Counterterrorism and Threat Reduction
Eli Berman – professor of Economics in the Division of Social Sciences at UC San Diego and research director for international security studies at the University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation – is author of “Radical, Religious, and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism.” Berman can discuss the lessons of 9/11 and a decade of counterterrorism; social sensitivity to the terrorist threat; and effective deterrence by building the governance capacities of allied governments.
Reno Harnish – director of the Center for Environment and National Security at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and a former U.S. ambassador – serves on the Department of Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee. The committee is preparing a report on counter-proliferation and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Harnish can discuss the objectives of the committee in context of the 9/11 attacks.
Role of Media
Dan Hallin – professor of Communication in the UC San Diego Division of Social Sciences – is well known for his research on media coverage during wartime, and has authored many publications on the role of the news media in Vietnam and subsequent conflicts. Hallin can comment on the role of the media in shaping cultural understandings of war and conflict, global politics and nationalism.
Middle East, Africa, Bin Laden and Islam
Michael Provence – director of Middle East Studies and associate professor of History in the UC San Diego Division of Arts and Humanities – can discuss Middle East history, the march to war in 2003, long-term consequences, the death of Osama Bin Laden, Iraq, Israel and the wars since 2001, and U.S. Middle East policy under Presidents Bush and Obama. Note: Provence, one of the top U.S. experts on Syrian history and politics, is author of “The Great Syrian Revolt and the Rise of Arab Nationalism” and can also discuss the “Arab Spring” and the current pro-democracy protests in Syria and Lebanon, where he has also lived.
Babak Rahimi – assistant professor of Iranian and Islamic Studies in the Division of Arts and Humanities at UC San Diego – can discuss Iran's perception of the 9/11 attacks; the relationship between suicide terrorism and Islam; and the impact of 9/11 in the Middle East.
Jeremy Prestholdt – associate professor of History in the UC San Diego Division of Arts and Humanities –is author of the coming book “Global Icons: Popular Heroes since the Sixties.” Prestholdt can discuss Al Qaeda in Africa, counterterrorism in Africa, war in Somalia, Al Shabab, and the influence and popularity of Osama bin Laden.
Economy
Richard Carson – professor of Economics in the UC San Diego Division of Social Sciences – can discuss the short- and long-term impacts of 9/11 on the U.S. economy, particularly airlines, oil prices and the overall economic growth of homeland security reaction.
Immigration Policy and Politics
John Skrentny – professor of Sociology and director of the Center for Comparative Immigration Studies in the Division of Social Sciences at UC San Diego – can discuss the impacts of 9/11 on immigration policy and politics in the U.S.
International Relations, U.S. Foreign Policy
David Lake – Jerri-Ann and Gary E. Jacobs Professor of Social Sciences and Distinguished Professor of Political Science in the UC San Diego Division of Social Sciences. Lake is the author of, among other works, “Hierarchy in International Relations” and “Entangling Relations: American Foreign Policy in its Century.”
Anti-Terrorism Technologies
Gil Hegemier – chair of the Department of Structural Engineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego and director of the Powell Structural Research Laboratories at UC San Diego. Hegemier arrived in New York a few days after Sept. 11, 2001 as part of a team of investigators trying to determine the cause of the World Trade Center’s collapse. He worked at Ground Zero for several weeks. Hegemier also is one of the principal investigators on UC San Diego’s Blast Simulator. The device uses high-pressure, nitrogen-driven hydraulics to simulate full-scale explosions, such as car bombs. The simulator allows researchers to test mitigation technologies in the hope of allowing new and retrofitted buildings to withstand blasts.
Thomas Bewley –professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego and director of the school’s Flow Control & Coordinated Robotics Labs. Leveraging advanced dynamics and control concepts, Bewley’s team develops small, lightweight, unmanned vehicles that can navigate complex and harsh environments. The robots and UAVs can climb stairs and rubble; explore mines, caves and air-conditioning ducts; and inspect the underside of vehicles; among other feats. The lab’s theoretical arm studies new methods to estimate and forecast the evolution of contaminant plumes, from chemical, radioactive or biological threats, in urban or battlefield environments. This in turns allows for the effective coordinated deployment of the unmanned vehicles developed by the lab.
Composite and Aircraft Materials
Hyonny Kim – associate professor in the Department of Structural Engineering in the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego. Kim studies composite materials, used in everything from high-performance military and commercial aircraft to medical implants, and how they fail. The materials are made with polymers, such as epoxy, and reinforced with advanced fibers such as carbon or glass. In past years, Kim has put many structures made of these composite materials to the test at UCSD's Powell Structural Laboratory. His team most notably performed six months of rigorous Federal Aviation Administration tests on the first-ever composite landing gear braces, which will be used in the new Boeing 787 aircraft.
Student Voices
Recollections of 9/11 by UC San Diego students, many of whom were in grade school when the attacks occurred.
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