Emergency Management Graduate Students Publish Preparedness Articles in PA Times

07/16/2012

Twelve Jacksonville State University emergency management graduate students recently published articles in the American Society for Public Administration’s (ASPA) national newspaper, PA Times. The papers were written to fulfill the requirements of an assignment in Dr. Stacey Mann’s Emergency Preparedness course in Fall 2011. 

The top articles were submitted to PA Times Managing Editor Christine McCrehin for possible publication in the newspaper’s focus on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery in the April/May/June issue as well as in an Emergency Management Symposia on the paper’s website. Five student stories were published in the print issue, and all 12 articles were featured in the Emergency Management Student Symposia on the site. 

“It’s exciting to have the student voice so well represented in PA Times,” said McCrehin. “I truly hope the students continue to write and submit articles.” The purpose of the course assignment was for students to see firsthand that their research, knowledge, and experience can have a significant impact on other scholars and practitioners. “Students often submit papers in class, get a grade, and file them away. I wanted them to understand that the discipline and the practice of emergency management can continue to grow if they share their thoughts and ideas. So many of our students are practitioners and have a vast array of knowledge that can make a difference,” Mann said. 

The students and their individual articles published in the symposia included: David Abels, Failing to Properly Plan; Paul Beach, The Federal Continuity Crisis; Daniel Bowen, Alert Them at Any Hour; Chad Buechler, Infrastructure Damage/Condition Assessment: Utilizing Collaborative Emergency Management Principles to Plan for Seismic Events; Destiny Davidson, Warning the Public in a Language They Understand; Andrew Holcomb, Disaster Exercises: Set the Standard; Jennifer S. Johnson, Internal Organization Planning for Disasters; Jacqui Knife, Social Media and the Emergency Manager: Friends or Foes?; Matthew Polek, Community Characteristics Preventing the Proper Implementation of a Disaster Plan; Christopher Sievert, Leading When Morale is Low; Craig M. Tuckett, The Validity of Safety Systems Designed to Protect Emergency Responders; and Brooks Wiley, Problems with FEMA’s Crisis Counseling Program. 

Each of the articles can be read in full at: http://patimes.pointsoftouch.com/pa-times-publishes-student-symposia-emergency-management-disaster-recovery/

ASPA is the largest and most prominent professional association for public administration. It is dedicated to advancing the art, science, teaching and practice of public and non-profit administration. PA Times, the official newspaper of ASPA, covers developments in the professional field of public administration. For more information about ASPA or membership, please visit: http://www.aspanet.org. 

For more information on PA Times, please visit: http://patimes.pointsoftouch.com/