After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Iowa State began to examine the security system already implemented on campus.

ISU Police Capt. Gene Deisinger said ISU officials looked at the best practices of security at other institutions – both in the public and private sectors – and the uniqueness of the facilities and events at Iowa State in order to improve security.

“We also did scenarios planning,” he said. “We thought about if someone was trying to do ‘X,’ what would we do to prevent that and what we would do if it did occur.”

There are a number of different levels of security practices that can be put in place depending on the national and local threat level and the nature of the event, he said.

One improved security measure is the amount of screening at events, Deisinger said. Depending on the event, there are policies about what can be brought in. Event staff may check bags, purses, etc. to make sure nothing dangerous enters the area.

“Officers are also better trained in the detection of suspicious objects that might pose a danger,” he said. “The communication systems, both technical and how they’re used, have been upgraded. There are now fallback systems available should the primary system fail or be compromised.”

Deisinger said the attacks have increased the need for partnership between law enforcement and the public.

“I think the public are quicker to recognize a potential risk and report it,” he said. “Thankfully, most often, those concerns turn out not to pose a threat, but they are still a good report.”

From an official standpoint, Deisinger said the attacks were a wake-up call that terrorism incidents don’t just occur thousands of miles away.

“It shows us that there are vulnerabilities within the country from both domestic and international terrorists,” he said.

Norman Scott, director of the Counseling Psychology Program, said his general impression of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks is that it has made people more aware of the threat to our society and democracy. He said people seem to take more caution and are a bit more apprehensive about the future since the attacks.

“It’s a sobering realization that the world is not a safe place,” he said. “It is a dangerous place and full of turmoil.”

Many people on this campus are in the National Guard or are military reservists and have been called to serve in Iraq or Afghanistan, he said.

“At the time of 9/11, I was teaching a fairly large undergraduate course,” Scott said. “I became acutely aware of the changes because two students in this class – one in the National Guard, the other in the Army Reserve – were both activated. They went from being students to being soldiers in harm’s way in a very short amount of time.”

As a faculty member and an adviser, he said this tragedy has cast students into roles they may never have thought they would have to confront.

“From this [tragedy], students’ illusions of America being a totally safe place have been tested,” Scott said. “It’s obvious there are threats to us and that they are very real.”