Releases : Social Science

As you plan your coverage for the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America on Sept. 11, 2001, consider these University of North Texas experts who can discuss a variety of topics related to the event.

Economic Impact of 9/11:

Dr. Bernard L. Weinstein, professor of applied economics and director of director of UNT's Center for Economic Development and Research, is an expert on public policy, business and economic trends. He has often been quoted in The Dallas Morning News, The New York Times and international publications as an economic forecaster for the U.S. and abroad.

Cell phone number: (214) 707-1834 (first option)
Office phone number: (940) 565-4049
E-mail address: budw@scs.unt.edu  

Talking to children about 9/11:

Dr. Sue Bratton is the director of the UNT Center for Play Therapy, the largest play therapy training program in the world. The center counsels children dealing with difficult situations by helping them to express their feelings through toys. Bratton is also an associate professor of counseling at UNT. An internationally renowned expert and respected lecturer, she has extensive experience in individual and group play therapy, activity therapy, and filial/family play therapy. She served on the Association for Play Therapy board of directors for six years and is a past president. Dr. Bratton is also co-author of the textbook, "Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT): A 10-Session Filial Therapy Model," and the CPRT Treatment Manual and CD-ROM, and "The World of Play Therapy Literature," as well as numerous research publications and book chapters on the topic of play therapy.

Office phone number: (940) 565-2063
E-mail address: bratton@unt.edu

Dr. Garry Landreth, Regents Professor of counseling, development and higher education, is the founding director of the Center for Play Therapy and is a licensed professional counselor.

Office phone number: (940) 565-2916

Emergency response to 9/11:

Dr. David McEntire, an associate professor in UNT's emergency administration and planning degree program, traveled to New York City two weeks after Sept. 11 with two other faculty members in the program to study the activities of private businesses in responding to the attacks on the World Trade Center. They determined that although more than 2,800 people in both World Trade Center Towers died, thousands more exited safely before the towers collapsed, thanks to emergency management plans set in place for businesses following the 1993 bombing of the center. They also studied the significant role that private businesses played in responding to the disaster by donating office space, increasing security, restoring communications and providing food for search and rescue teams.

Office phone number: (940) 565-2996
Home phone number: (940) 321-2440

Dr. James Kendra, coordinator of UNT's emergency administration and planning degree program and an assistant professor, traveled to New York City two days after Sept. 11 with a colleague and a field team at the University of Delaware's Disaster Research Center, where he was then a researcher. He and his former colleague recently received a three-year $350,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to research the successful evacuation of 300,000 to 500,000 people from lower Manhattan via water transport to New Jersey, Staten Island and Brooklyn. He also studied the reestablishment of New York City's emergency operations center, which was located in the World Trade Center and was destroyed on Sept. 11.

Office phone number: (940) 565-2213
E-mail address: jmkendra@unt.edu

Terrorism:

Dr. Robert Taylor, professor and chair of the UNT Department of Criminal Justice, is currently a consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice on the State and Local Anti-Terrorism Program and the U.S. Department of State Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program. He is internationally known for his knowledge on terrorism and lectures extensively throughout the United States and the world. His specialty is the Middle East and Southeast Asia, concentrating on the al-Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiya, Hezbollah and HAMAS groups. He is a former police officer and major crimes detective and has several leading textbooks in the discipline. He has conducted numerous international and national media interviews.

Office phone numbers: (940) 565-4475 or (940) 565-2562
Cell phone number: (972) 529-7890

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the Middle East:

Dr. Adrian R. Lewis, associate professor of history and chair of the UNT Department of History, is a former infantry officer and instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He retired from the Army with the rank of major and is the author of the forthcoming "The American Culture of War: World War II to Operation Iraqi Freedom." He is also currently writing a book about the Mediterranean Theater during World War II.

Office phone number: (940) 565-2288
Home phone number: (972) 317-3992

Dr. Geoffrey Wawro, director of UNT's Military History Center and the Major General Olinto Mark Barsanti Professor of Military History, can discuss al-Qaeda, U.S. policy and strategy in the Middle East and current capabilities of the U.S. military. A professor of strategic studies at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., before joining the UNT faculty last year, Wawro is the host and anchor of the History Channel and History International programs Global View, Hardcover History, Hard Target, History's Business, and History versus Hollywood. He is writing a book called "Quicksand: America's Pursuit of Power in the Middle East from the Balfour Declaration to the Bush Doctrine."

Cell phone number: (214) 514-7224

Dr. Emile Sahliyeh (ee-MILL s-LAY-yuh), professor of political science, is the author of "The PLO After the Lebanon War;" "In Search of Leadership: West Bank Politics Since 1967;" and the forthcoming "The Predicament of Democracy in the Arab World." He has also written chapters in several anthologies on Middle Eastern politics. A former Brookings Institute fellow in Middle Eastern studies, Sahliyeh has presented invited papers, lectures and workshops at the Brookings Institute, Defense Intelligence College, Harvard University Center for International Affairs, U.S. State Department and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Sahliyeh is frequently quoted by the media in regard to incidents in the Middle East, Israel and Palestine.

Office phone numbers: (940) 565-2314 or (940) 565-2276
Home phone number: (940) 320-2020

American foreign policy related to 9/11:

Dr. James Meernik (MIR-nick), professor of political science and chair of the UNT Department of Political Science , is the author of an article on domestic politics and the political use of military force by the United States that appeared in "Political Research Quarterly," and an article on public opinion and support for U.S. presidents' foreign policies that appeared in "American Politics Quarterly."

Office phone number: (940) 565-4233

The Patriot Act, Constitutional rights and military tribunals:

Dr. Kimi Lynn King, associate professor of political science, researches civil rights and liberties, constitutional law, the American presidency and foreign policy issues. She is a former fellow at the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Office phone number: (940) 565-4984
Cell phone number: (940) 597-4802

Middle Eastern perspective of 9/11:

Dr. Nancy Stockdale, assistant professor of history, researches the Middle East in the 19th and 20th centuries, including the histories of Palestine and Israel, Israeli-Palestine conflicts and Islamic-Jewish relations. She specializes in women of the Middle East in the 19th and 20th centuries, and is the author of an upcoming book on encounters between English and Palestinian women from 1800 to 1948.

Office phone number: (940) 565-4209
E-mail address: stockdale@unt.edu

Immigration policies after 9/11:

Dr. Idean Salehyan (eye-DEAN suh-LAY-he-on), assistant professor of political science, published an article on U.S. asylum enforcement in the "Journal of Peace Research" and an article of refugees and the spread of civil war in "International Organization." He also has expertise on transnational activities of terrorist groups and is currently working on a project which examines transnational rebel organizations and the opposition activities of diaspora groups. He is fluent in both Spanish and Farsi.

Office phone number: (940) 565-2317
Cell phone number: (619) 301-8444
E-mail address: idean@unt.edu

Monday, Sept. 11, will mark the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States. Two University of North Texas psychologist s say the anniversary, which is expected to receive extensive media coverage, will reactivate feelings of grief, including anger, sadness, depression and denial, in those who lost family members and friends on that day, and those who were safely evacuated from the Pentagon and World Trade Center. However, they have different opinions about the anniversary's impact on other Americans who witnessed the events via television.

Dr. Bert Hayslip, Regents Professor of psychology at UNT, and Dr. Charles Guarnaccia, associate professor of psychology, have published several articles on bereavement in "Omega: Journal of Death and Dying."

Hayslip believes that because Americans have become used to hearing about the events of 9/11, they will not necessarily experience feelings of grief on the fifth anniversary. Instead, the day "will bring back whatever feelings people had at the time" that they heard about the terrorist attacks, he says.

"People will probably feel a sense of vulnerability and helplessness," he says.

He adds, however, that without an event to reinforce those feelings -- such as the recently foiled terrorist plot to blow up passenger jets flying between the United Kingdom and the United States -- the feelings pass quickly for most people.

"It's what happens, rather than the anniversary of the day when it happened, that triggers those feelings," he says.

Guarnaccia, however, says that although those who lost loved ones on 9/11 are going to be the most deeply impacted by the fifth anniversary, "there will continue to be a sense of national loss" on Sept. 11 this year and subsequent years1, and almost every American could feel grief about the day.

"We were all impacted to some degree on that day. The event was different from an isolated tragedy, like an auto accident or a heart attack that kills a family member," he says.

He gives the example of a friend who has lived in lower Manhattan for more than 30 years and worked in one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center before 9/11. Guarnaccia says his friend has experienced avoidance for almost five years.

"She did not lose anyone close to her on 9/11, but she will still not stand anyplace in Manhattan where she could previously see the towers. She doesn't want to be reminded that they are no longer there," Guarnaccia says.

He notes that the fifth anniversary may trigger "flashbulb memories" of 9/11 -- memories created from experiencing a significant historical event.

"Many people will recall where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about the terrorist attacks, who called them about it, and who they called," he says. "A whole society can be bereaved."

Hayslip and Guarnaccia agree that this year's release of two movies about 9/11 -- "United 93" last April and "World Trade Center" just two weeks ago -- may or may not help people work through some of the feelings of loss.

"I think many recognize the movies as an attempt to make money out of a tragic event, but others may say the movies reinforce a sense of the events not being forgotten," Hayslip says, adding that no movie could ever fill the void left by the deaths on 9/11.

Hayslip may be reached at (940) 565-2675. Guarnaccia may be reached at (940) 565-2657.

DENTON (UNT), Texas -- This morning, Dallas school trustee Ron Price is expected to address the Dallas City Council with the idea of creating an ordinance to ban people within the city limits from wearing pants that hang well below the waist, according to local news reports.

"It should come as no surprise that the proposal is coming from someone who understands the educational system because the precedent comes from the public school," she says, noting that the Fort Worth school system enacted such an ordinance last April that is effective for the 2006-2007 academic school year.

Schools enact dress codes to maintain order and protect students, she says. But cities have limited legal precedent for such ordinances, she says, although some cities have ordinances restricting nudity or wearing face masks in public. To the extent that the city can show the issue is about public lewdness or criminal activity, then there will be greater justification, she says.

"The key will be whether the city can link the limitation to a legitimate reason why they need the limitation," she says. "So in this case, if they are putting forward that it is lewdness, the government has to show that the activity is going on with baggy pants and that they are not just targeting young males. It is one thing to have schools prohibit it because it is linked to hiding contraband or gang-related activity, but it is quite another to say you just do not like the way people look."

A judge who has been told the sagging pants have been prohibited to prevent public lewdness would likely question why skimpy halter tops and short shorts are not prohibited, too, under that reasoning, King says.

Earlier today (Thursday, Aug. 10), British and U.S. officials announced the arrest of 21 suspects in a plot to blow up passenger jets flying between the United Kingdom and the United States. The plot involved hiding masked liquid explosives and detonators in carry-on luggage.

As you continue your coverage of this developing story, consider these University of North Texas experts who can discuss terrorist groups and other topics.

Dr. Bernard Weinstein, professor of applied economics and director of UNT's Center for Economic Development and Research, says the U.S. airline industry may feel the financial effects of the foiled terror plot for some time. He says he is one of the thousands of travelers impacted by the overnight changes in airport security imposed by the Department of Homeland Security today.

"I'm currently in Austin and will probably drive back to Dallas rather than fly because I don't want to hassle with security delays," he says. "I will probably also cancel a trip to the UK scheduled for next week, again because I don't want to deal with the hassles. I'm sure thousands of other people will have the same reaction and the overall impact on the airlines will be negative for some time."

Weinstein can be reached via cell phone, 214-707-1834.

Dr. Geoffrey Wawro, director of UNT's Military History Center and the Major General Olinto Mark Barsanti Professor of Military History, can discuss al-Qaeda and other Middle East terrorist groups.

The foiled plot, he says, "was potentially the biggest atrocity since 9/11." He compared it to a 1999 plan by Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, one of the coordinators of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, who had planned to detonate bombs on 11 airplanes traveling over the Pacific Ocean.

Wawro says the specifications of the current foiled plot – using laptop computers to detonate liquid explosives -- "means that it's probably not a copycat Islamist cell behind it."

"You need the expertise of al-Qaeda scientists to plan that," he says.

A professor of strategic studies at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., before joining the UNT faculty last year, Wawro is the host and anchor of the History Channel and History International programs Global View, Hardcover History, Hard Target, History's Business, and History versus Hollywood. He is writing a book called "Quicksand: America's Pursuit of Power in the Middle East from the Balfour Declaration to the Bush Doctrine."

Wawro is traveling, but can be reached by cell phone at (214) 514-7224.

Dr. Emile Sahliyeh (ee-MILL s-LAY-yuh), professor of political science, can discuss Middle Eastern terrorist groups. He is the author of "The PLO After the Lebanon War;" "In Search of Leadership: West Bank Politics Since 1967;" and the forthcoming "The Predicament of Democracy in the Arab World." He has also written chapters in several anthologies on Middle Eastern politics. A former Brookings Institute fellow in Middle Eastern studies, Sahliyeh has presented invited papers, lectures and workshops at the Brookings Institute, Defense Intelligence College, Harvard University Center for International Affairs, U.S. State Department and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. A Jerusalem native, Sahliyeh is frequently quoted by the media in regard to incidents in the Middle East, Israel and Palestine.

Home phone number: (940) 320-2020 (first option)
Office phone number: (940) 565-2314

Dr. Dee Knight, an assistant professor in the School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management, says new flight restrictions banning liquids and gels as carry-on items might be an inconvenience, but the tourism industry and travelers themselves will find ways to adapt without too much trouble.

"Americans are very innovative," says Knight, an expert in customer service, consumer behavior and retailing. "I don't think this is a huge inconvenience, frankly."

Instead, the carry-on restrictions could be a boon for makers of some products, she says. "Retailers have the chance to provide on a wider scale some products -- for example, leak-proof containers," she says. The containers, which keep liquids and gels from seeping into clothing in checked luggage, had been hard to find in stores before the new restrictions, but could begin to be more widely available through traditional retailers, as well as online.

Luxury hotels could use the opportunity to step up service for repeat customers by providing each customer with his or her favorite brand, she says. But she does not expect travelers to leave their toiletries at home with the intention of buying toothpaste and shampoo at their destination. "Most consumers are time deprived," she says. " They want convenience. They like to shop when they get there, but they don't want to shop for that kind of thing."

Office: (940) 565-2433
E-mail: dknight3@unt.edu

Note to editors and reporters: The UNT News Service is working to identify experts for more angles to this story. You should receive additional media advisories today and tomorrow.

As you plan your coverage for the fifth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America on Sept. 11, 2001, consider these University of North Texas experts who can discuss a variety of topics related to the event.

Economic Impact of 9/11:

Dr. Bernard L. Weinstein, professor of applied economics and director of director of UNT's Center for Economic Development and Research, is an expert on public policy, business and economic trends. He has often been quoted in The Dallas Morning News, The New York Times and international publications as an economic forecaster for the U.S. and abroad.

Cell phone number: (214) 707-1834 (first option)
Office phone number: (940) 565-4049
E-mail address: budw@scs.unt.edu

Talking to children about 9/11:

Dr. Sue Bratton is the director of the UNT Center for Play Therapy, the largest play therapy training program in the world. The center counsels children dealing with difficult situations by helping them to express their feelings through toys. Bratton is also an associate professor of counseling at UNT. An internationally renowned expert and respected lecturer, she has extensive experience in individual and group play therapy, activity therapy, and filial/family play therapy. She served on the Association for Play Therapy board of directors for six years and is a past president. Dr. Bratton is also co-author of the textbook, "Child Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT): A 10-Session Filial Therapy Model," and the CPRT Treatment Manual and CD-ROM, and "The World of Play Therapy Literature," as well as numerous research publications and book chapters on the topic of play therapy.

Office phone number: (940) 565-2063
E-mail address: bratton@unt.edu

Dr. Garry Landreth, Regents professor of counseling, development and higher education, is the founding director of the Center for Play Therapy and is a licensed professional counselor.

Office phone number: (940) 565-2916

Emergency response to 9/11:

Dr. David McEntire, an associate professor in UNT's emergency administration and planning degree program, traveled to New York City two weeks after Sept. 11 with two other faculty members in the program to study the activities of private businesses in responding to the attacks on the World Trade Center. They determined that although more than 2,800 people in both World Trade Center Towers died, thousands more exited safely before the towers collapsed, thanks to emergency management plans set in place for businesses following the 1993 bombing of the center. They also studied the significant role that private businesses played in responding to the disaster by donating office space, increasing security, restoring communications and providing food for search and rescue teams.

Office phone number: (940) 565-2996
Home phone number: (940) 321-2440

Dr. James Kendra, coordinator of UNT's emergency administration and planning degree program and an assistant professor, traveled to New York City two days after Sept. 11 with a colleague and a field team at the University of Delaware's Disaster Research Center, where he was then a researcher. He and his former colleague recently received a three-year $350,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to research the successful evacuation of 300,000 to 500,000 people from lower Manhattan via water transport to New Jersey, Staten Island and Brooklyn. He also studied the reestablishment of New York City's emergency operations center, which was located in the World Trade Center and was destroyed on Sept. 11.

Office phone number: (940) 565-2213
E-mail address: jmkendra@unt.edu

Terrorism:

Dr. Robert Taylor, professor and chair of the UNT Department of Criminal Justice, is currently a consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice on the State and Local Anti-Terrorism Program and the U.S. Department of State Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program. He is internationally known for his knowledge on terrorism and lectures extensively throughout the United States and the world. His specialty is the Middle East and Southeast Asia, concentrating on the al-Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiya, Hezbollah and HAMAS groups. He is a former police officer and major crimes detective and has several leading textbooks in the discipline. He has conducted numerous international and national media interviews.

Office phone numbers: (940) 565-4475 or (940) 565-2562
Cell phone number: (972) 529-7890

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the Middle East:

Dr. Adrian R. Lewis, associate professor of history and chair of the UNT Department of History, is a former infantry officer and instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He retired from the Army with the rank of major and is the author of the forthcoming "The American Culture of War: World War II to Operation Iraqi Freedom." He is also currently writing a book about the Mediterranean Theater during World War II.

Office phone number: (940) 565-2288
Home phone number: (972) 317-3992

Dr. Geoffrey Wawro, director of UNT's Military History Center and the Major General Olinto Mark Barsanti Professor of Military History, can discuss al-Qaeda, U.S. policy and strategy in the Middle East and current capabilities of the U.S. military. A professor of strategic studies at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., before joining the UNT faculty last year, Wawro is the host and anchor of the History Channel and History International programs Global View, Hardcover History, Hard Target, History's Business, and History versus Hollywood. He is writing a book called "Quicksand: America's Pursuit of Power in the Middle East from the Balfour Declaration to the Bush Doctrine."

Cell phone number: (214) 514-7224

Dr. Emile Sahliyeh (ee-MILL s-LAY-yuh), professor of political science, is the author of "The PLO After the Lebanon War;" "In Search of Leadership: West Bank Politics Since 1967;" and the forthcoming "The Predicament of Democracy in the Arab World." He has also written chapters in several anthologies on Middle Eastern politics. A former Brookings Institute fellow in Middle Eastern studies, Sahliyeh has presented invited papers, lectures and workshops at the Brookings Institute, Defense Intelligence College, Harvard University Center for International Affairs, U.S. State Department and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Sahliyeh is frequently quoted by the media in regard to incidents in the Middle East, Israel and Palestine.

Office phone numbers: (940) 565-2314 or (940) 565-2276
Home phone number: (940) 320-2020

American foreign policy related to 9/11:

Dr. James Meernik (MIR-nick), professor of political science and chair of the UNT Department of Political Science , is the author of an article on domestic politics and the political use of military force by the United States that appeared in Political Research Quarterly, and an article on public opinion and support for U.S. presidents' foreign policies that appeared in American Politics Quarterly.

Office phone number: (940) 565-4233

The Patriot Act, Constitutional rights and military tribunals:

Dr. Kimi Lynn King, associate professor of political science, researches civil rights and liberties, constitutional law, the American presidency and foreign policy issues. She is a former fellow at the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Office phone number: (940) 565-4984
Cell phone number: (940) 597-4802

DENTON (UNT), Texas -- Is it the end of the world as we know it? The current fighting in the Middle East is generating new interest in Christian eschatology--the study of Biblical prophecy as it relates to the "end times" before the return of Jesus Christ. It's even the focus of the popular "Left Behind" series of books. A professor of philosophy and religion studies at the University of North Texas says believers have been looking at this question since before the time of Christ.

Dr. Joe Barnhart says, "The beginning of the apocalyptic literature goes back to the book of Daniel, written around 164 B.C. Early Christians picked this up, and you can see it in the Dead Sea Scrolls. Under the Roman Empire, people felt oppressed. Since they didn't have any real power, they dreamed of a better world and of the destruction of their enemies."

Barnhart says the early Christian church was split on how soon Christ would return, and it can be traced through the writings of the New Testament.

"Some of the early Christians thought that the second coming of Christ was right around the corner. (The apostle) Paul certainly thought that, around 50 A.D. But that view is not shared by other writers of the Gospel." In fact, Barnhart points out in the gospel of Mark that Christ refuses to say when the world will end.

Barnhart says the views about the "end of the world" are diverse. Generally, they are divided into premillenialiasts and postmillenialists, based on their interpretation of the 20th chapter of the book of Revelation. Barnhart says it's inevitable that there would be many differing views on the "end times," just as there are many differing views on the interpretation of the Bible.

"The Bible is not just a book. In many ways it's an anthology," Barnhart says. "You could say the Bible serves like an inkblot test--it tells you more about the reader than it does about the source."

Barnhart may be reached at (940) 387-3290.

In June, the Army raised its enlistment age limit from 40 to 42 -- after raising it from 35 to 40 in February. The first group of older recruits, which includes just five soldiers age 40 and older, have started basic training. The Army hopes to attract older soldiers by offering shorter active-duty periods, signing bonuses and bonuses for soldiers who persuade others to join.

Dr. Geoffrey Wawro, director of the University of North Texas Military History Center and the Major General Olinto Mark Barsanti Professor of Military History, calls the raising of the maximum age to 42 "an act of desperation to maintain the force," since many Army veterans are not re-enlisting or are resigning their commissions in the wake of the war in Iraq.

"The White House and the Pentagon have demoralized the troops. Raising the maximum age is a dire criticism of Bush's lack of leadership in the war in Iraq," Wawro says.

He points out that because the Army now has "eight or nine support troops for one front-line combat troop," it has abandoned traditional boot camp standards for physical fitness.

"We've seen a steady decline in the physical fitness of recruits," he says. "We will have an Army of wheezing, out-of-shape, myopic guys."

Wawro joined UNT's Military History Center in the fall of 2005. Previously, he was the professor of strategic studies at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. He is also host and anchor of the History Channel and History International programs Global View, Hardcover History, Hard Target, History's Business, and History versus Hollywood.

Wawro is traveling, but may be reached on his cell phone, (214) 514-7224.

On Monday, July 31, Cuban television announced that communist President Fidel Castro had turned over temporary authority of the government to his brother Raul for several weeks while he recovers from surgery for gastrointestinal bleeding. It marked the first time in 47 years of absolute rule that Castro had relinquished power.

Although Cuban-Americans are celebrating the transition of power, Dr. John Booth, University of North Texas Regents Professor of political science, points out that, in the short term, Raul Castro will not be much different than his brother.

"Some question if Raul is more favorable toward economic liberalization of Cuba, but he won't be able to do much in a matter of weeks," Booth says. "If Castro dies, however, there will be a great deal of pressure from the Cuban-American community to have a total change of leadership and move away from communist rule."

Booth specializes in Latin American politics and has taught courses on U.S. and Mexico political systems, public policy in Texas and political participation. He is fluent in Spanish, having lived in Spain, Mexico and Costa Rica.

Booth is traveling, but he can reached at:

Cell phone number: (940) 368-9498
Other phone number: (740) 592-5458

On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina became the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in U.S. history when it hit parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. The impact of Katrina, which was the third-strongest recorded hurricane to make landfall in the U.S., is still being felt almost a year later.

As you plan for coverage of the first anniversary of the storm, consider these University of North Texas experts who can discuss a variety of topics related to Hurricane Katrina and to the 2006 Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1 and ends Nov. 30. Office telephone numbers and e-mail addresses and, for some, home and cell phone numbers are provided.

Long-term recovery of communities from hurricanes, response to hurricane warnings, mobile home residents and hurricanes:

Dr. Nicole Dash, UNT assistant professor of sociology, says the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and other 2005 hurricanes shows why those who will be most vulnerable if threatened by a hurricane -- the elderly and the poor -- need to know what resources will be available from the local government.

"Will transportation be available to help with evacuation? Where are evacuation locations? What should you do if you don't have the financial means to gather supplies for a hurricane? Asking questions now and planning early may be the difference between survival and tragedy for the most economically marginal," she says. "We have yet to find out whether the public and governmental agencies have learned the lessons of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma."

Dash has analyzed property tax data and census data for Miami-Dade County from 1990 to 2000 to study the recovery of communities impacted by Hurricane Andrew, which became the most costly natural disaster in U.S. history when it hit Florida in August 1992. She is a Florida native who was a graduate student at Florida International University in Miami when Hurricane Andrew hit. She discovered that areas with large minority populations recovered slower than areas with predominantly Caucasian populations, and African-American areas fared far worse than Hispanic areas, which were predominantly Cuban. She has published a book chapter of some of her findings in "Hurricane Andrew: Ethnicity, Gender and the Sociology of Disasters," published by FIU's Laboratory for Social and Behavioral Research.

Office phone number: (940) 565-2230
E-mail: dash@unt.edu

Redeveloping urban areas after natural disasters:

Dr. John Baen (pronounced BAIN), UNT professor of finance, real estate and law, is the co-author of a new paper titled "Urban Functionality and Extreme Natural Disasters; The New Orleans-Katrina Case for New Federal Policies and Programs for High Risk Areas." The paper is available at http://www.coba.unt.edu/firel/Baen/urban_functionality.pdf.

While debate rages on how to rebuild areas in Louisiana, Mississippi and southeast Texas after Hurricane Katrina, Baen says it's not in the best interest of the public to encourage either development or redevelopment in high-risk disaster areas like those hit by the hurricane.

Baen says current federal policies have encouraged urban growth in areas with a high risk potential for recurring natural disasters.

"The best way to prevent these losses is by not doing it any more. We have to refuse to support rebuilding in high-risk areas," he says.

Baen says politics are in part to blame for the continued rebuilding. He is also critical of federal programs which perpetuate the urbanization of areas that are at high risk of damage from hurricanes, floods and earthquakes. Sixty percent of the U.S. population lives along the coastal zone of the nation.

"In New Orleans, the government is giving homeowners $150,000 to rebuild, as long as they raise their homes 3 feet above where they had been built. However, during Katrina, the storm surge reached 22 feet. It doesn't make any sense," Baen says.

Office phone number: (940) 565-3071
Cell phone number: (940) 507-0312

Response to hurricane warnings, coordination and recovery operations, evacuation patterns, FEMA:

Dr. David McEntire, an associate professor in UNT's emergency administration and planning bachelor's degree program, calls the response to Hurricane Katrina "deplorable."

"The local and state governments did not prepare adequately and did not have sufficient capability to deal with the disaster. This was especially disturbing since the risk was well known," he says.

While the Federal Emergency Management Administration was blamed for much of the botched response to Katrina, the agency "was actually in Louisiana much quicker than in Florida after Hurricane Andrew," McEntire says.

"The real blame at the federal level lies with the policies pertaining to homeland security. Mitigation for natural disasters has been ignored. The Department of Homeland Security has created policies without sufficient input from those involved in emergency management, and FEMA's budget and decision making authority was eroded," he says. "It was logical that the response would be problematic under these conditions."

As this year's hurricane season continues, FEMA is still struggling to deal with the effects of Katrina, he says, with many of its experienced employees retiring or changing careers.

"It lacks sufficient staff to meet the disaster demands that face us. The same is true of the local and state levels. New obligations have been placed on the shoulders of emergency managers with inadequate human resources," McEntire says.

McEntire studied the impact of Hurricane Georges on the Dominican Republic to identify the many factors that contributed to the disaster and examine the disaster's effects on residents and response operations. He spent two weeks in the nation after the hurricane hit in September 1998.

Office phone number: (940) 565-2996
Home phone number: (940) 321-2440
E-mail: mcentire@unt.edu

Hurricanes and water quality:

Dr. Tom La Point, professor and director of UNT's Institute of Applied Sciences, says homes in harm 's way of a hurricane should be stocked with enough clean water and cleaning supplies for at least three days.

"The waters surrounding communities hit by a hurricane invariably have poor water quality. Often, the sewage treatment facilities are partly or completely inoperable for a few days. In New Orleans, just after Katrina, the major health threats were from fecal bacteria in the floodwaters and the lack of potable drinking water," he says.

La Point advises storing several gallons of water, sufficient for two gallons per person per day, in advance of a hurricane.

"How prepared are we for this season? Not very," La Point says. "I think folks generally play the odds and hope that hurricanes will hit somewhere else."

Office phone: (940) 369-7776
Home phone: (940) 891-4984
E-mail: lapoint@unt.edu

Disaster recovery operations:

Dr. James Kendra, coordinator of UNT's emergency administration and planning bachelor's degree program and an assistant professor, was formerly with the University of Delaware Disaster Research Center, where he managed a number of projects focusing on disasters and emergency planning as the center's research coordinator.

Office phone: (940) 565-2213
E-mail: jmkendra@unt.edu

Economic impact of hurricanes, particularly Hurricanes Katrina and Rita:

Dr. Bernard Weinstein, professor of applied economics, is the director of UNT 's Center for Economic Development and Research. He is the author of "The Economic Aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: A Local, National and Global Assessment." He presented the study to the Indian Regional Science Association in Bangalore, India this past January and will present it again in Scotland this fall. Weinstein's research shows the breadth and depth of the economic effects of the two hurricanes.

Cell phone number: (214) 707-1834 (first option)
Office phone number: (940) 565-4049
E-mail address: budw@scs.unt.edu

DENTON (UNT), Texas -- Your youngest son or daughter graduated from high school recently, and in a few short weeks, he or she will trade his or her bedroom in your home for a college residence hall. You 're starting to dread the future silence at home and are wondering how you will fill the hours that you previously spent with your son or daughter and attending his or her school and sporting events.

Take heart -- the empty nest "is often worse in anticipation than in day-to-day practice," says University of North Texas psychologist Bert Hayslip Jr.

Hayslip, who has studied retirement adjustment and other aging issues for more than 20 years, points out that, more often than not, children who leave do not completely cut off contact with their parents. He advises parents to think of the empty-nest syndrome as a series of life events, instead of a sudden change, but to realize that an empty nest can cause bigger problems to surface "if a couple hasn't tended their marriage while raising their children."

"Some couples may find they no longer have anything in common once the children are out of the house," he says.

Thinking of an empty nest as the loss of children who are "irreplaceable," he says, makes the adjustment more difficult.

"With the empty-nest syndrome, parents typically are dealing with the loss of the parenting role, not with having really lost their child," Hayslip says. "They're just having to find a new way to relate to their child."

Relating to their college-age sons and daughters in this new way, he says, will usually come easily to parents as the months pass.

"As with many things, the passage of time heals the pain of loss," he says.

Hayslip may be reached at or at hayslip@unt.edu.

As you continue your coverage of the conflict between Israeli and Shiite Lebanese Hezbollah forces along the Israel-Lebanon border -- a conflict that began after Hezbollah guerrillas abducted two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid and is now in its sixth day of fighting -- consider these two University of North Texas experts who can provide commentary and insight about the conflict and possible U.S. involvement.

Dr. Geoffrey Wawro, director of UNT's Military History Center and the Major General Olinto Mark Barsanti Professor of Military History, believes the attacks by Hezbollah, which he calls "the number one terror group," represents a "new phase in Israel's fight for existence," since Iran and Syria have resolved to work through Hezbollah as a third party.

"The Bush Administration is very pro-Israel and has linked the fight against Hezbollah to the broader war against terror," Wawro says. "The Hezbollah attack represents a strategic error by Iran, since the U.S. and Israel are looking for a pretext to attack its nuclear program. Iran has provided it."

Wawro says the latest outbreak of violence on the Israel-Lebanon border makes an American strike on Iran "much more likely, " but adds that Israel may attack instead with "80 percent American capabilities" embedded in the strike.

"If this happens, the consequences will be enormous," he says.

However, Dr. Emile Sahliyeh (ee-MILL-s-LAY-yuh), University of North Texas professor of political science with specialties in international relations and Middle East politics, says an attack on Iran by either the U.S. or Israel is not very likely. He points out that Israel' s military already faces guerrilla and terrorist warfare from several Palestinian armies, and the U.S. military is already in war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The saddest part about the current conflict is the tremendous casualties among the Lebanese civilians," he says. "Lebanon has just established a democracy government, and the attacks could undermine the stability of the government. It's a very serious situation."

Wawro joined UNT's Military History Center in August 2005. Previously, he was the professor of strategic studies at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Wawro is also host and anchor of the History Channel and History International programs Global View, Hardcover History, Hard Target, History's Business, and History versus Hollywood.

Wawro is traveling, but he can be reached on his cell phone, (214) 514-7224.

Sahliyeh is a native of Jerusalem and a former Brookings Institute fellow in Middle Eastern studies. He is the author of the books "The PLO After the Lebanon War;" " In Search of Leadership: West Bank Politics Since 1967;" and the forthcoming "The Predicament of Democracy in the Arab World." He has also written chapters on Middle Eastern politics for several anthologies.

He may be reached at his UNT office, (940) 565-2314, or at his home, (940) 320-2020.