"Airport security met with mixed feelings"

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Airport security met with mixed feelings
By Meagan Engle
The Middletown (OH) Journal


CINCINNATI - Five years have passed since the airlines were shocked by the
hijacking of American commercial planes on Sept. 11, 2001.

On that day, the skies stood still. All flights were grounded.

Today, America is airborne again. But, for many passengers, increased
security regulations have taken the fun out of flying.

"It's not as much fun to fly as it used to be," said Allison Flege of
Cincinnati.

Security measures have increased since the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Heightened measures have banned many items from carry-on bags. Liquids, gels
and lotions are now prohibited. Shoes must be removed at check points, and
passengers are subject to random search.

The new security has been met with mixed feelings.

"I like the security. I'd much rather know that everyone I'm on the flight
with is going through this," said Stephanie Doty, of Atlanta, as she waited
at the Dayton International Airport.

"It's a little too much for me," said Gaetane Savard, who was traveling back
to her home near Tadoussac, Canada.

Contact lens solution is among the banned items, a change that Savard was
unhappy about.

"I need my things to feel safe," she said.

The changes in security also resulted in a new color-coded threat level
advisory system.

The Homeland Security Advisory System was introduced on March 12, 2002, at
level yellow.

There are five levels, ranging from red to green.

Since its inception, the threat level has rotated mostly between orange and
yellow. It once was elevated to red, on Aug. 10, 2006, in light of an
alleged terrorist plan to hijack U.S.-bound planes from the United Kingdom.

Since Aug. 13, the threat level has remained at orange, or high, according
to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

But, despite the increased security measures, many people say what they fear
most about flying are not terrorists - but the plane itself.

"I'm 10 times more aware of maintenance on an airplane than I am of
terrorism," said Clarence Praper, of Middletown.

Nationwide, 43 percent of people worry about becoming a victim of terrorism,
according to a recent AP-Ipsos poll.

Also, 31 percent fear terrorists will attack where they live, the poll
found.

"I was always afraid to fly, so maybe it's just a little more intense,"
Flege said as she waited for a flight at Cincinnati/ Northern Kentucky
International Airport.

Flege said she thinks airport security gives people a false sense of safety.

"I'm not really sure it's secure," she said. "I suppose (security) makes us
feel a little better about getting on an airplane, but maybe it's a false
security."

Others abelieve that Americans have a false sense of insecurity.

John Mueller, professor of political science at The Ohio State University,
studied the nation's fear of terrorism compared to the likelihood of any
person being killed by a terrorist act.

His book, "Overblown," will be released in November.

"All the airline could do is constantly tell you how safe it is to fly, and
they'd be right," Mueller said. "No one talks about how few people get
killed by terrorists."

Mueller said that since the late 1960s, including the 9/11 attacks, the
number of Americans killed by international terrorism is about the same as
the number killed by lightning over the same period of time.

"Once a fear is embedded, it's very hard to lower it," he said.

Around Middletown, however, some residents say they do not fear flying.

"I wasn't afraid to fly before and I'm still not," said Earl Back, of
Middletown. "Even if they loosened up inspections, I wouldn't be scared.
There's no way you can control everything."

Some area fliers said Americans do not have the right attitude about
security.

"I think it's just a different climate in America. People still aren't ready
to give up their freedoms like they do in other countries," said Dennis
Kessel, who flies as much as 40 times a year, often internationally.

Toni Green, of Vandalia, who was waiting to catch a flight to Las Vegas from
Dayton, said Americans do not take security seriously enough.

"One thing that infuriates me is people who go through security and make
light of it," she said, adding that she recently heard a woman passenger
joke that her "gun" was not loaded as she waited at a security checkpoint.

However, right attitude or wrong, fear or none, people continue to take to
the skies despite terrorism threats.

"(Terrorists) are going to find a way to get their point across. You can't
go through your life fearing everything and everyone," Green said.

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