FBI deems colleges potential targets

With heightened security measures following last week's government warning that the terrorist threat level has increased from "yellow" to "orange" -- second-highest on the five-point scale -- experts have said that institutions of higher education could be terrorist targets. During a Senate committee meeting on Tuesday, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller indicated that colleges and universities may be the subject of al Qaeda attacks. "Multiple small-scale attacks against soft targets, such as... schools and universities, churches and places of recreation and entertainment, would be easier to execute and would minimize the need to communicate with the central leadership, lowering the risks of detection," Mueller told Congress. This news is cause for concern on college campuses, but University President Judith Rodin is confident that Penn is prepared. "We certainly have always had a crisis management protocol, but after 9/11, we developed a much more elaborated one, and we are mindful of the increased risk. "We have done an enormous amount of preparation," Rodin said. "The [Division of Public Safety] has ready access to and interacts with the Philadelphia Police and the FBI. So we are in the information flow completely, and we have protocol for crises, including terrorism." Vice President for Public Safety Maureen Rush agreed that Penn has up-to-date protocols in the case of an attack. "We all are quite aware that we have to look at all possible targets, and universities could certainly be seen as a target," she said. "Institutions in general have to play it safe." Rush added that Mueller was most likely not referring to Penn. "What I think Director Mueller was referring to was some institutions of higher education that probably haven't put a lot of resources into safety, as Penn has," Rush said. According to Rodin, "students should feel confident that there is a considerable amount of preparation." In a letter distributed last night, Rodin, Provost Robert Barchi and Executive Vice President Clifford Stanley informed students that Penn has "in place a comprehensive, university-wide emergency plan." Rodin and Barchi also encouraged students to maintain their campus involvement. "While we certainly must recognize that we are living through an extraordinary time, we also hope that you will have every opportunity to embrace your college years and flourish," the letter read. College sophomore Rebekah Strock agreed with Rodin and Barchi. "Anything could be a place [terrorists] decide to target," Strock said. "You can't live your life as if you're going to be a target, though. You should be careful, obviously, but not constantly afraid." Another College sophomore, Elana Newberger, said she questions the reality of the threat. "I think all of these warnings are created by the government to make us go to war," Newberger said. "Linking Iraq with al Qaeda makes war sentiments high. "I do think that if they attack a university, it wouldn't be Penn," she said, adding, "It would be Harvard, something that you could easily recognize."