Transportation Security and Homeland Security

As we are studying in this course, transportation is at the heart of society in the United States. The movement of people, goods and services across the country and around the world is part of the fabric of our economy. Transportation systems, whether by land, sea or air, are part of the critical infrastructure (CI) and the economy of the United States. Most of the transportation in the CI is the responsibility of business and the private sector. Government regulations affecting business, including those having to do with security, may have costly impacts on business and the economy.

Given the importance of transportation security and your study of homeland security and CI protection in the United States, students will conduct research and write a consolidated, thematic essay analyzing the following two (2) issues related to transportation security:

• Describe how the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 and the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002 worked together to develop aviation and maritime security programs for United States airports and seaports.
• Do increased security inspections at airports and seaports result in reducing risks of criminal and terrorist behavior at US airports and seaports? Are the additional costs worth spending if they negatively impact US business and commerce?

You must base and support your assessment of the issues and recommendations on external research, the course textbook, and supplemental course materials. Your external research must be reliable and authoritative, preferably from peer-reviewed (refereed) publications. You must include a minimum of five (5) course-external references.

The final report must provide complete and equitable treatment of both issues. Address the 2 issues in a consolidated way, making linkages between the issues where appropriate and logical. Your external research should be integrated to provide logical support for your consolidated examination of the fundamental ideas being expressed. All submissions must include the following technical components.

Assignment Requirements:

1. A cover or title page with your name on it.
2. Labeled topical headings (e.g., Introduction, Discussion, Conclusion, Recommendations, etc.) Length: The report must contain a body of text between 2,000-2,500 typed words (about 8-10 pages double-spaced, 12-point font), excluding cover, abstract, illustrations, graphs, table of contents, appendices, and reference pages. Reports significantly below or above the parameters will be downgraded. Please note that abstract, illustrations, graphs, table of contents, appendices are NOT required but if you do use them, they do not count as part of the body of text for length assessment.
3. A reference page containing a minimum of five (5) course-external resources used and cited in the report. Please review the grading rubric in the Course Outline (Syllabus section) under Analysis to see what sorts of references are recommended.
4. References cited at the end of the report must be cited in text to illustrate how they were used.
5. Written in APA Style.

Please review the Rubric to understand how your assignment will be assessed and ask questions if you do not understand any of it.PLEASE NOTE: Students are expected to prepare new original work for all written assignments. Do not use or reuse previously submitted work. Turnitin is used to compare submitted assignments to a large database of published material, including assignments submitted by students in previous National University courses. Using previously submitted assignments without substantial additions or enhancements to the original work may be considered plagiarism and result in reduced or failing grades. Please review the Turnitin informational unit provided in the course website to familiarize yourself with the tool. Questions about assignments may be referred to the instructor.