2012 CHDS Essay Competition. $1,000.00 Cash Prize

Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS)

Approximately six weeks remain to submit an entry for the 2012 CHDS Essay Competition. Entries for the competition are being accepted through January 31, 2012.

This year's competition asks writers to: Identify a theory or insight from a field outside homeland security that has not been applied to homeland security but should be.

The winning entry and four top finalist essays will be considered for publication by Homeland Security Affairs, the online academic journal published by the CHDS.

This competition strives to stimulate original thought on issues in homeland security and homeland defense. Responses may be general or focus on a specific aspect (organizational, policy, strategy, practice, technological innovation, social impact, etc.) or discipline/field, (emergency management, public health, law enforcement, critical infrastructure, intelligence, etc.). Essays may be written from any perspective - e.g. government, private sector, cultural, local community or citizen.

Previous winning entries have addressed the power of social media in homeland security, the possibility of linking emergency response and public health with the poison control system and promoting the use of rhetorical tools to help frame the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's mission. Last year's winning entry, authored by Yee San Su of CNA Safety and Security in Alexandria, Va., was titled "On the Challenge of Assessing National Preparedness."

The competition is open to everyone with an interest in homeland defense and security. Current CHDS faculty, staff, students and graduates are not eligible. Winners will be announced no later than May 31, 2012. The winning entry receives a $1,000 cash prize.

For information and instructions, visit www.chds.us/?essay/overview. If you have already submitted an entry, please respond to this email and confirm your submission.

Heather Issvoran
Director, Strategic Communications.  Center for Homeland Defense and Security.       hissvora@nps.edu
Monterey, CA

Scholarship Opportunity: Airport Minority Advisory Council

Airport Minority Advisory Council Offering Scholarships

The Airport Minority Advisory Council (AMAC) is accepting scholarship applications for women and minorities pursuing degrees in aviation. Twelve scholarships will be awarded and are valued at $2,000 per semester. The scholarships are coordinated through AMAC’s 2012 Education and Scholarship Program, Inc.
The deadline to apply is Thursday, December 8. Click on the following links for downloadable applications and instructions. For more information, visit the AMAC website.

Security Clearance. How to Lose Your Security Clearance

 

How to Lose Your Security Clearance

Janet Farley - November 21, 2011

A security clearance plays an important role in your job search efforts. While having one doesn’t guarantee you a job, it can increase your chances for landing one across multiple industries. Your security clearance tells an employer who lacks first-hand knowledge that you can be trusted, on or off the job. It suggests that you possess proven degrees of loyalty, integrity and honesty. Now more than ever, those are priceless characteristics that any employer would love to hire, even ones whose jobs don’t require the credential in the first place. Let’s not overlook the big bucks of the situation, either. Having a clearance, active or even lapsed, can mean a higher offered salary for you because employers don’t have to spend the valuable time or dollars to conduct a basic background check. Some reports suggest that having a clearance can even increase your salary by $5,000 to $15,00 dollars or more. Without a doubt, having a security clearance is a plus for your career. Losing one, however? There are a number of ways you could potentially jeopardize possession of your ever-so marketable credential. Let’s count some of the ways, extrapolated from the 2011 annals of industrial security clearance decisions made, shall we? #1. Fail a random drug test and do nothing about it. Sure, you may be completely innocent (or not), but unless you take the earnest initiative to show that you’re still worthy of continued access to classified information, sayonara buddy. Just saying that you are innocent and getting your co-workers to speak on your behalf isn’t enough. You have to prove that while you may be weak, you are strong by virtue of your demonstrative corrective actions. #2 Admit your past drug use but fail to distance yourself from the partying pack. You get kudos for coming clean on your former illegal habits, but you don’t get to pass go or collect $200 here because, sadly, you still associate, on or off the job, with those admitted co-tokers. The lesson here when it comes to past illegal offenses? Be truthful and then keep your distance from those with whom you indulged. While you’re at it, hope that the passing of time works in your favor. In other words, put “grow up” in big letters and underline it on your to do list. #3 Be an admitted pervert and then deny that you are an admitted pervert. Maybe the lights were too hot or the room was too small. Maybe the interrogation strategies of the bad cop were superior to those doled out by the good cop. Whatever. Once you confess the scary and yes, disgusting specifics of your sordid sexual behaviors, don’t expect your future claims of snow-white innocence to be taken seriously. Seriously. And don’t cruise pornographic websites at work, either. Someone is watching you doing the watching. Ironically creepy, isn’t it? #4 Carry large amounts of delinquent debt on your credit report.If you’re going to be entrusted with issues of national security, you’ve got to at least be able to pay your bills on time, don’t you think? People in over their heads financially may be more likely to accept kickbacks, bribes and other payments in exchange for classified information. If you do find yourself in financial straits, seek professional assistance in dealing with the debt. In today’s economy debt is unfortunately, often a fact of life. It’s not the debt that’s the problem, most often, it’s how you deal with it. And how you address a debt problem could mean the difference between losing your clearance and actually getting to keep it. #5 Rack up a criminal history.The first offense may have resulted in a mere misdemeanor but the felony charge coupled with the fact that you lied about your criminal history on some random form isn’t doing you any favors. Your career is taking off. It is, however, taking off in the wrong direction. #6 Show a significant foreign preference or influence.You opened a bank account while stationed in the sandbox hoping to capitalize on some sweet financial returns and you forgot to close it when you left. Your spouse’s immediate family members, with whom you are equally close, reside in an area widely accepted as a robust training ground for extremism. A distant family member by marriage is a member of a foreign military. You hold a security clearance from another country as well and there is a potential for a conflict of interest. The question appears to become, whose side are you really on here? According to case studies, it is surmised that close association with foreign contacts and interests could lead to poor judgment at some point where national security secrets are concerned. Makes you want to double check who your friends are on Facebook, doesn’t it? #7 Sloppy OPSEC.You did not safeguard classified information properly. You hauled the data out of the secured workplace and stored it on your laptop or home computer. Then you tried to cover up your tracts. Or your laptop, with the privileged information on it, was stolen. Epic fail there, Sparky. Epic fail. #8 Drink your career down the tubes. Show up to work reeking of ode de alcohol cologne. Get arrested a time or two for embarrassingly drunk and disorderly conduct. Secure a couple DUIs while you’re at it and you’ll be paving the certain road to security clearance loss among other things. Let’s be clear. Life can be messy even for honorable and trustworthy individuals. No one is perfect. People with security clearances are not immune from making stupid mistakes or from being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It happens every day. Just because you could lose your security clearance at some point doesn’t necessarily mean you will lose it. The proverbial devil will be in those pesky details. Did you do it? Do you admit to doing it? Why did you do it? What have you done to make the situation right? What happened is one thing. What happened next could determine whether you lose your security clearance or not. Janet Farley is the author of The Military-to-Civilian Career Transition Guide and the forth-coming Quick Job Search for Transitioning Service Members: Seven Steps to Landing a Good Job Fast.

Onondaga County. CERT Teams and Training Opportunities

Posted on the Homeland Security First Responder Community of Practice, CERT Trainers discussion site.

 

 

Please forward any information on the CERT program for Onondaga County, NY.

Onondaga County CERT council formed in 2004. No information available on website for

county, or city of Syracuse, NY for CERT Teams in jurisdiction, or training available for

creation of teams in county, or city.

Thanks.

Charles D. Sharp
Emergency Manager
Senior Advisor
BEMA

Posted on 11/28/11 2:52 PM.

Black Male Initiative: Bring your A Game.

http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/bring_your_a_game?ph=120

Always good to view and recommend.

To generate a national conversation on the plight of Black men and boys, Twenty-First Century Foundation (21CF) has partnered with actor–director Mario Van Peebles and producer Karen Williams to create BRING YOUR "A" GAME — a documentary film that, in Van Peebles’ words, “sheds light on the resilience and influence of Black males.” BRING YOUR "A" GAME uses screenings and accompanying community discussions as a catalyst to transform the lives of urban youth. Using a cinematic style influenced by popular culture and employing innovative technologies, the film details strategies that have improved the lives of Black men and boys. It underscores how essential educational achievement and high school graduation are to survival and success in today’s world. Interviewees include such Black male icons as Richard “Dick” Parsons, Chris Rock, Spike Lee, Dr. Cornel West, Ice Cube, Newark, New Jersey Mayor Cory Booker, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Kevin Liles, Lou Gossett Jr., Lupe Fiasco, Hill Harper, Damon Dash, Kevin Powell, Melvin Van Peebles, Geoffrey Canada, Bruce Gordon and former NBA star Alan Houston, among others. BRING YOUR "A" GAME aired exclusively on BET in 2009 and is the cornerstone of a community engagement program that brings together resources and strategies from 21CF’s Black Men and Boys Initiative. Ancillary materials for the campaign include: A viewer discussion guide (FREE DOWNLOAD) An educator guide for adults who work with youth (FREE DOWNLOAD) Templates for creating programming for Black men and boys in your community