Critical Thinking, Quantitative Reasoning, Information Literacy, Communication, Scientific Literacy - Essay Example

The following questions of the comprehensive examination will address all core and program outcomes. Each question will require a response of at least five pages not to exceed ten pages in length. Question #1 After the terrorist attacks of 9/11 President G.W Bush enacted the Air Transportation Safety and Systems Stabilization Act, 2001 to help the airlines survive during tough times. What were the effects of the Air Transportation Safety and Systems Stabilization Act, 2001 and did it meet the needs of the airlines?

On September 11, 2001, four commercial aeroplanes were hijacked and crashed into high-profile targets throughout the East Coast of the United States of America. Two jets were crashed into the World Trade Center’s North and South Towers, while another hijacked aeroplane crashed into the United States Pentagon and yet another crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. In the wake of this tragedy, security in United States airports changed dramatically. Strict security measures were put into place, resulting in the creation of laws and the formation of new organizations, such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

Though the security measures at the time did not invite such attacks, little could have been done to prevent them; however, with the formation of new agencies, along with implementing strict standards for baggage and security, it is hoped that the tragedy could be prevented today. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created on November 19, 2001, with the passage of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act. The organization was created directly due to the attack on September 11, 2001, with the hope of providing security for the nation.

The purpose of the agency was not only to emphasize the need for greater security within the nation’s airports and throughout air travel but to make travel itself safer for the average passenger as well as to establish milestones needed to make such travel safer. As part of its initial mandates, the agency was not only given 100% responsibility to check and screen all baggage being loaded onto aeroplanes, but also to establish security for all modes of transportation, as well as recruit, hire, and train 450 employees for deployment through 150 airports from Alaska to Guam (“Transportation Security Administration”).

Department of Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff stated plainly before a Senate Committee in 2006 that “no matter how hard we may try, we cannot eliminate every possible threat to every individual at every place in every moment. And if we could, it would be at an untenable cost to our liberty and prosperity.” Instead of eliminating threats, the TSA has focused on minimizing them through the use of security measures such as screening checked baggage. Before September 11, 2001, baggage could be left at the curb for check-in.

That is no longer the case today – TSA undertakes the responsibility to check all screened baggage, though provisions were enacted in 2001 that allowed airports to use private screeners in a ‘partnership program’ with the TSA (“Transportation Security Administration”). Though all baggage is screened mainly for explosives, each piece is treated as though it is a potential threat, and no baggage is simply ‘allowed on’ for fear of another September 11, 2001 happening.