I’ll name the personality that the Current is too afraid to even mention: Glenn Beck.

I vividly remember that show, because I couldn’t believe I’d never heard of the book in my econ classes…AT UMSL.
Not the first time I’ve been impressed by the things I DIDN’T learn at UMSL…..

I’m surprised freedom-loving students aren’t protesting en mass that you’re forced to give up all your first and second amendment protections AND that you pay a huge amount of tuition to do so. I’m sure if we at UMSL had any semblance of free speech left we would protest this smoking ban, but the sad fact is speaking out or protesting her is functionally illegal. We’re one of the least permissive campuses IN THE NATION when it comes to speech restrictions.

For as ‘tolerant’ a place as a college campus is supposed to be, we’ve got an awful lot of institutionalized intolerance going on at UMSL.

I am an UMSL Student and Employee, and I approve this message.

Fred Gevalt

Prior to 9/11/2001, aviation security fell under the responsibilities of the Federal Aviation Administration, which if you are paying attention, is controlled by the airports and air carriers lobbying groups and other aviation associations. Our political representatives, are afraid of these powerful groups. The TSA is no different, and in many ways worse, because a significant amount of TSA senior management are either former airline and airport management, or professional political friends, who got the job because they “knew” somebody. You would be shocked at the number of TSA personnel who have been given key positions, with no background in aviation, law enforcement or security administration. Take a close look at the management structure, salaries and allocated positions, and backgrounds of these individuals at every airport with TSA personnel. It will make your head spin.

Airlines and airports are in the business of making money, first, last and always. Airports especially are political organizations and make security decisions based on impact of their bottom line and political “risk” and the impact on customer service, in that order.

A few weeks after 9/11, while I was monitoring an airport’s implementation of the new security requirements the FAA had implemented, a very frustrated airport manager asked me “When are we going back to normal operations” because he wanted to stop having to search vehicles and paying the extra money for law enforcement the new requirements mandated. Stunned, I replied “we are never going back to “normal” operations.” That is the heart of the problem, everyone wants their version of “normal.” For America, normal ended on 9/11, and to this day, we, as a whole are still in denial.

Unless the airlines and airports can make a profit on security, they will not want to take over these responsibilities, and even if they are forced, they will do a very poor job, similar to what the air carriers did with security screening prior to 9/11.

We don’t need any new laws, Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations already have requirements in place for aviation security. The key is to have our government strictly enforce these requirements. Not ask the airports and air carriers “will this work for you” and allow watered down versions of security measures implemented, as they currently do. The air carriers and airports and associations need to change their business models to fit the best interests of our national security, because that is what is really at stake.