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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 1, 2004)
Tom Ridge to resign from homeland security post The seventh officer to leave Bush's Cabinet said he may stay through Feb. 1 BY KATI1ERINE PFLEGER SI IRADER THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON, D.C. — Tom Ridge, the nation’s first homeland se curity secretary, announced Tuesday that he is resigning after three years of reworking American security and presiding over color-coded terror alerts. He’s the seventh Bush Cabinet officer leaving so far. Ridge oversaw the most significant government reorganization in 50 years. He’ll be remembered for his terror alerts and tutorials about how to prepare for possible attacks, in cluding the controversial “disaster kits” that caused last year’s run on duct tape and plastic sheeting. Amid warnings that the country may face increased terror risks around the holidays and the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration, Ridge said he will remain on the job through Feb. 1, unless his replace ment is installed sooner. Ridge acknowledged he could not prove the costly and complex secu rity measures that have been put in place have foiled any terrorist at tacks inside the United States, but he said the country is safer today than before the suicide hijackings on Sept. 11, 2001, killed nearly 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. “I am confident that the terrorists are aware that from the curb to the cockpit we’ve got additional security measures that didn’t exist a couple years ago,” Ridge told reporters at the department’s Washington campus, which he helped create. “His efforts have resulted in safer skies, increased border and port se curity and enhanced measures to safeguard our critical infrastructure and the American public,” Bush said in a prepared statement Tues day evening. Ridge sent his letter of resignation to President Bush at midday Tliesday, af ter attending a morning White House threat briefing with CIA and FBI offi cials. The former Pennsylvania Ridge resigns Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, who presided over six “orange alerts," announced his resignation Tuesday. Risk of terrorist attack March 12 - Color-coded threat level begins Orange Yellow “elevated" ..Ill l I I .■ ., i , P. ..|pPPPPp , , , ? 2002 2003 2004 October - Ridge was sworn in as the nation's first White House homeland security adviser 2004 orange alert was for select financial institutions in York, northern New Jersey and Washington, D.C. only SOURCE: Department of Homeland Security AP governor thanked Bush for giving him the opportunity to fight back against terrorists. He recalled that the passengers on Flight 93 who forced their hijacked plane down in a Penn sylvania field had also fought back. “There will always be more to do, but today, America is signifi cantly stronger and safer than ever before,” Ridge wrote Bush. Ridge is the seventh of Bush’s 15 member Cabinet to announce they won’t be part of the second term. More are expected, and administra tion officials say Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thomp son appears to be next. Among those mentioned as pos sible candidates to replace Ridge are Bernard Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner who helped rebuild Iraq’s police force; former Federal Emergency Manage ment Agency Director Joe All baugh; Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Mike Leavitt; and White House homeland securi ty adviser Fran Townsend. Others are also believed to be in terested in the job, including Asa Hutchinson, undersecretary for bor der and transportation security in the Homeland Security Department. Ridge leaves behind a depart ment that’s still learning to work to gether. Culled from 22 often dis parate federal agencies, the 180,000-employee organization still faces criticism over aspects of its massive government merger, including the coordination of fi nances to computer systems. Ridge, consistently a defender of the department, stood by its efforts to warn the public of possible ter ror threats, saying it preferred to disclose more information than some officials believed was wise. “That’s something we take pride in,” Ridge said. “America is pre pared to deal with the reality of the post-9/11 world. It’s in our best long-term interest to share more in formation about the threat to Amer ica rather than less.” Ridge, who is married with two children, said that for the future he intends to “raise some family and personal matters to a higher priori ty,” including attending his son’s rugby games. In October 2001, Ridge became the nation’s first White House homeland security adviser, leading a massive undertaking to rethink all aspects of security within the U.S. borders in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Congress subsequently passed legislation establishing the Home land Security Department, with Ridge taking over as the department’s first secretary in January 2003. ITS TIME O MAKE YOUR MOVE. Apartments Available Now! }, 2, 3 & 4 Bedroom Furnished Apartments Individual “By the Bedroom” Leases Recreation Center w/ Computer Lab Fitness Center, TV Lounge & Pool Table Large Pool and Indoor Spa Volleyball Court & 2 Basketball Courts and so much more .... 3225 Kinsrow Avenue, Eugene (541) 485-7200 Models open Mon-Fri 8-5 and Sat 9-1 www.ducksvillage.com High-schoolers consider studying in foreign locales Many popular destinations abroad report growing percentages ofll.S. students applying to colleges BY JUSTIN POPE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BOSTON — For some, it’s about the adventure of an extended stay at a foreign university. For others, it’s about saving money or just getting farther away from home. Whatever the reason, as they send out their college applications, at tending school outside the United States is an option more high school students appear to be considering. Foreign universities are urging them on, smoothing the logistics and rid ing the U.S. college fair circuit to talk up their opportunities and often lower price tags. No overall statistics are available, but the number of U.S. students pur suing degrees in some popular des tination countries is growing: In Canada, the number of Ameri can undergraduates and graduate students has more than doubled since 1997, to about 6,000. In Great Britain, the number of full-time American undergrads is up 53 percent since 2001 to about 2,300. About 1,600 Americans are pursu ing undergraduate degrees in Aus tralia; the growth rate isn’t available, but the overall number of Americans pursuing some form of study there rose 10 percent last year. “We feel it’s a) high quality, b) good value and c) it’s going to give the students a very different educa tional experience,” said Karen McBride, vice president for interna tional affairs at the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. While roughly 175,000 students at American universities go abroad for a limited stay — nine times out of 10 for a semester or less — applicants see enrolling full time as a chance for a richer experience. “I don’t think I’m going to miss out,” said Susan Schell, a high school senior from Birmingham, Ala., who is applying to several uni versities in England. She hopes to work in Europe and thinks attending college there will help. To her, an American college wouldn’t be all that different from high school. “It seems to me, talking to people that live in Europe, that there’s a dif ferent aura,” she said. “The pace of living there is so beautiful.” Sinead Keegan from Boston who is now in her final year at McGill University in Montreal, said she has gained a degree of inde pendence — socially and academi cally — she wouldn’t have gotten in the United States. “It doesn’t suit everybody, but 1 think I’m better prepared to head out into the real world than people who have had their hands held all along,” she said. McGill has tripled its enrollment of American undergraduates to more than 1,800 in less than a decade. Recruiters visit 150 U.S. high schools and college fairs each year, according to Howard Tontini, the school’s recruiting director. Many foreign schools are making the application process easier — of ten they consider the same materi als, such as SAT scores and high school transcripts, that American colleges require. Many guidance counselors say they encourage stu dents to explore the option. “We probably would get behind that, depending on the person, depending on the major,” said Tom Hughart, guidance director at Wellesley High School in Massachu setts, who says he has noticed stepped-up recruiting by Scottish universities. “Someone who wants to teach English literature, going over to Trinity (College) in Dublin STUDY ABROAD, page 16 GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS AVAILABLE UP TO $24,000 College seniors and graduates who are interested in becoming secondary school teachers of American history, American government or social studies may apply. Fellowships pay tuition, fees, books, and room and board toward master’s degrees. 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