For immediate use Sept. 13, 2001 -- No. 428
TIPSHEET
UNC professors offer expertise on mental health needs of disaster survivors, helping children
The following additional University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professors are available to the media for analysis and commentary on Tuesday's (Sept. 11) tragic events and the aftermath:
Eyewitness account and economic analysis:
Dr. James F. Smith, (919) 968-9995, home; (919) 962-3176, office; or (919) 593-0308, cell; or e-mail, [email protected], finance professor at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, can share an eyewitness account of the destruction and death he saw Tuesday in New York City from his hotel room across the street from the World Trade Center. He can also share his opinions about the economic impact on the national and state economies from his perspective as the nation's most accurate economic forecaster -- a title The Wall Street Journal has given him three times in the past five years. For more about Smith's expertise and interests, click to:
http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/faculty/directory/57.html
* Mental health needs of disaster survivors:
Dr. Margaret Miles, [email protected], a professor at the School of Nursing and a psychiatric nursing expert, has experience in dealing with the mental health of disaster survivors. She is the author of several studies featuring the survivors of the Hyatt hotel walkway collapse in Kansas City in 1981 and Hurricane Floyd in North Carolina in 1999. She can speak about the three phases of disaster -- pre-impact, impact and post-impact -- and how to help survivors cope with their resulting psychological reaction, including euphoria in having survived, disillusionment in having lost a sense of innocence and an old way of life and reconstruction in going forward with life. Miles also is experienced in training other nurses to deal with the mental needs of disaster survivors.
Fear of flying, other anxiety disorders
Dr. R. Reid Wilson, (919) 942-0700 or [email protected], is associate clinical professor of psychiatry in the School of Medicine and a clinical psychologist in private practice. He specializes in the treatment of anxiety disorders, including panic disorder and panic attacks, fear of flying, phobias, social anxiety, worries, obsessive-compulsive disorder, psychological responses to trauma and disasters and post-traumatic stress disorder. He designed and served as lead psychologist for American Airlines' first national program for the fearful flier. He is the author of the book "Don't Panic: Taking Control of Anxiety Attacks."
The range of responses:
Dr. Lawrence Grossberg, (919) 969 8586 or [email protected], a professor of communication studies, can comment on why so many citizens are responding with patriotism and showing the flag, media coverage of the tragedies, cultural and symbolic dimensions, and the difficulty of making sense of these events.
Military, terrorism, national security:
Dr. Stephen Biddle, (717) 245-4126, office; (717) 960-9849, home; or [email protected], an assistant professor of political science, is an expert in military strategy. He can speak on what options and principles a power the size of the United States might contemplate in response to such an attack, as well as why enemies of the United States use terrorism.
Biddle is on leave from UNC for a year as a research professor at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., where he is researching how to balance land and air power in warfare. His research interests also include the future of warfare, causes of war, nature and assessment of power, offense-defense theory and military history of the 20th century. He also is writing a book about military capability. Biddle earned a doctorate in public policy in 1992 from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Previously, he was a research staff member at the Institute for Defense Analysis in Washington, D.C., for more than 10 years. He has testified on matters of defense planning and arms control before the U.S. House Armed Services Committee.
Dr. Mark Crescenzi (cre-SIN-zi), (919) 960-9153, [email protected], assistant professor of political science, is an expert on international conflict and war. He can discuss political options the United States faces in the international arena, and, in the realm of national security, why these attacks were not prevented. He also specializes in links between international economic interdependence and conflict.
Public health issues:
Dr. Philip Singer, (919) 966-3865 or [email protected], is a professor of environmental sciences and engineering and director of the Drinking Water Research Center in the School of Public Health. He can speak to drinking water quality, water systems management and threats to drinking water supplies.
Dr. Mark Sobsey, (919) 966-7303 or [email protected], is a professor of environmental sciences and engineering in the School of Public Health. He can speak to drinking water quality, safe water supplies and water-related threats.
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Contacts: News Services staff, (919) 962-2091
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