Lee Van Arsdale, Institute for Security Studies

UNLV created the Institute for Security Studies, one of the nation's first programs devoted to homeland security, to capitalize on the unique resources it has to offer Nevada and the nation. "Our educational capability in America is absolutely unsurpassed," says Lee Van Arsdale, a West Point graduate and retired Army Special Forces officer who heads the new institute. "Now we have this threat against America, and it makes sense to focus some of that educational capability on something that threatens our very lives."

UNLV's institute is part of a national trend of academic involvement in homeland security. In Pittsburgh, for instance, Carnegie Mellon University has a team looking at ways to make the nation's electric power grid less vulnerable to sabotage. And Colorado State University researchers are trying to develop houseplants that change color when they are exposed to toxic agents.

But UNLV is going a step beyond. The university has designated homeland security as one of its 12 current and emerging strengths, or macrothemes. The homeland security macrotheme responds to the national demand for improved training and research associated with threats to community infrastructure, including issues in emergency management, public transportation, bioterrorism, and cyberterrorism.

The institute is an umbrella organization for the university's numerous homeland security programs — which range from risk analysis for the transportation of hazardous materials to counseling programs to help emergency workers deal with the emotional toll their jobs can take on them.

"The institute is an outgrowth of where we want to go as a university," says Paul Ferguson, vice president for research and graduate studies. "We're all about doing research that matters. And although it's too early to tell, I think we are positioned to attract national attention to the university through the institute."

A Natural Fit

Already the institute has launched an applied technology laboratory to develop new motion detectors, improved sensors, and other technological devices that will immediately be used to combat terrorism.

"The lab will provide a mechanism for the rapid prototyping, field testing, and deployment of technology to those with an immediate need for it," Van Arsdale says. "The lab's goal will be to turn around much-needed gadgets — like motion detectors, sensors, and communications devices — in a matter of weeks and months, not years."

On the academic front, UNLV's public administration department launched a new executive master of science in crisis and emergency management program. The degree is designed for mid- to upper-level law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical officials who want to upgrade their ability to deal with crisis events. It also helps the students, who are generally working professionals, develop coordinated responses to terrorism strikes and other emergencies.

In effect, the students often become the teachers, says Dennis Cobb, deputy chief of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, who is enrolled in the program. "When you discuss a hazardous material spill, you don't have people saying, 'If this had happened, I would have done this.' Instead, they are saying, 'When this happened, this is what I did and this is how it worked out,'" says Cobb, '79 BA Political Science.

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Homeland security was a natural fit for UNLV for several reasons. The university is located within easy driving distance of the Nevada Test Site, where the federal government tested nuclear weapons. The site is isolated and heavily guarded — perfect for homeland security exercises that involve explosives or other hazardous materials. There is little chance that civilians could inadvertently wander into a mock security exercise.

Another reason for establishing the institute was the concern that Las Vegas was a possible future target for terrorists. "The university has a tremendous interest in protecting Las Vegas," Ferguson says.

The nature of Las Vegas' economy, which is largely based on tourism and features highly visible, high-rise Strip casinos, could make it an attractive potential target. "Everything Las Vegas advertises itself to be is anathema to Islamic terrorists," Cobb says. "In addition, Las Vegas is a city known throughout the world. It would mean something to those abroad if it were targeted."

The establishment of the institute reflects the view that terrorism against the United States is an ongoing problem. It's been a fact of life for the United States since Iranian militants seized U.S. Embassy personnel in 1979 and held them hostage for more than 400 days, says Van Arsdale. "To me, it's obvious that this war did not start on Sept. 11, 2001."

Ever-Evolving

UNLV's programs are creating strategies to combat this threat. But the task is complicated by the nature of the enemy, which hides in the shadowy world of the terrorist underground and is highly mobile, Van Arsdale says. This neutralizes some of the United States' superiority in troop strength and firepower. "The days of Napoleonic warfare, where armies faced each other on the battlefield, are long gone," he says.

In addition to being hard to find, terrorists regularly shift their tactics. They used commercial aircraft against the Pentagon and World Trade Center; they used bombs hidden in backpacks to attack Madrid's rail system. That means countermeasures used to prevent a strike today may not work tomorrow.

Van Arsdale compares terrorists to flowing water. "They follow the path of least resistance. If we make the airlines too hard a target, obviously they will go somewhere else. As such, our programs at UNLV will continually evolve."

Recently, the task of stamping out terrorist organizations may have become even more difficult. Al-Qaeda adopted a decentralized structure when the United States and its allies clamped down on the group's leadership following the invasion in Afghanistan. CIA director George Tenet recently told Congress that al-Qaeda is a now loose collection of regional networks that operate autonomously. Each network is capable of mounting attacks whenever it chooses, Tenet says.

To counter an ever-changing enemy will require an ever-changing response, Van Arsdale says. It will be part military, part economic, part diplomatic. And in this struggle to develop tactics that work, he believes that universities such as UNLV will play an important role.

U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., likewise believes that the state's resources, including its universities, make it an important center for fighting terrorism. Through his efforts, Congress appropriated $2.5 million in federal funding to launch the institute. "The war on terror has many fronts and we have many resources to wage the fight here in Nevada," Reid says. "The ingenuity of our fellow Nevadans is making the whole country safer from the scourge of terrorism."

In the end, it is the ultimate cat-and-mouse game. "Terrorism and counterterrorism comprise a dynamic, ever-changing tableau of tactics and countertactics," says Van Arsdale. "Our goal at UNLV is to help develop the body of knowledge to fight terrorism and then to disseminate that knowledge accordingly."