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Share the Wealth…
Industry Associations Bulletin Board

February 2010

NEWS AND EVENTS

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>> ORGANIZATION SPOTLIGHT

Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma
The Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma was founded at the University of Washington in 1999. It continues a mission begun nearly a decade earlier. The Dart Center is a global network of journalists, journalism educators and health professionals dedicated to improving media coverage of trauma, conflict and tragedy. The Center also addresses the consequences of such coverage for those working in journalism. Its mission is to:
— Advocate ethical and thorough reporting of trauma; sensitive, professional treatment of victims and survivors by journalists, and greater awareness by media organizations of the impact of trauma coverage on both news professionals and news consumers
— Educate working journalists about the science and psychology of trauma and the implications for news coverage through their website, academic research, seminars, workshops and training
— Serve as a forum for print, broadcast and Internet journalists to analyze issues, exchange ideas and advance strategies related to reporting on violence and catastrophic stress.
They also create and sustain partnerships among media professionals, therapists and others concerned with trauma, and nurture peer-support among working journalists.
www.dartcenter.org

>> NEW ADDITIONS

Southern California Earthquake Center
The Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) is a community of over 600 scientists, students, and others at over 60 institutions worldwide, headquartered at the University of Southern California. SCEC is funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Geological Survey to develop a comprehensive understanding of earthquakes in Southern California and elsewhere, and to communicate useful knowledge for reducing earthquake risk.
 
Its goal is to understand the physics of the Southern California fault system and develop a model of key aspects of earthquake behavior. To do this, it organizes interdisciplinary research spanning all aspects of earthquake system science, disciplinary activities such as data collection and analysis, and special projects in information technology, earthquake predictability, and other applied research.
www.scec.org

International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies
The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies was founded in 1985 for professionals to share information about the effects of trauma. It is dedicated to the discovery and dissemination of knowledge about policy, program and service initiatives that seek to reduce traumatic stressors and their immediate and long-term consequences. It is an international multidisciplinary, professional membership organization that promotes advancement and exchange of knowledge about severe stress and trauma. This knowledge includes understanding the scope and consequences of traumatic exposure, preventing traumatic events and ameliorating their consequences, and advocating for the field of traumatic stress. It provides a forum for the sharing of research, clinical strategies, public policy concerns and theoretical formulations on trauma in the United States and around the world. They are the premier society for the exchange of professional knowledge and expertise in the field.
www.istss.org

>> POSTINGS FROM PREVIOUS WEEKS

InfraGard
InfraGard is a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) program that began in the Cleveland Field Office in 1996. It was a local effort to gain support from the information technology industry and academia for the FBI’s investigative efforts in the cyber arena. The program expanded to other FBI Field Offices, and in 1998 the FBI assigned national program responsibility for it to the former National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC) and to the Cyber Division in 2003. InfraGard and the FBI have developed a relationship of trust and credibility in the exchange of information concerning various terrorism, intelligence, criminal, and security matters. Its goal is to promote ongoing dialogue and timely communication between members and the FBI. Its members gain access to information that enables them to protect their assets and in turn give information to government that facilitates its responsibilities to prevent and address terrorism and other crimes. www.infragard.net

Western States Seismic Policy Council
The Western States Seismic Policy Council (WSSPC) is a regional earthquake consortium organized as a 501(c)(3) non-profit and is funded primarily by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Geological Survey. Headquartered in Sacramento, California, its members are the State Geological Survey and Emergency Management Directors of 13 western states, 3 territories, a Canadian territory and a Canadian province, and 7 state seismic safety councils and commissions in the western states. Its mission is to develop seismic policies and share information to promote programs intended to reduce earthquake-related losses. Its goals are:

  • Promote regional cooperation and the interaction of the State Emergency Management, State Geological Surveys, and State Seismic Councils and Commissions in the formation of, and advocacy for, seismic policy
  • Improve the overall awareness of earthquake hazards and methods to mitigate the associated risks; develop strategies to enhance earthquake preparedness; and support earthquake studies and earthquake preparedness activities that will reduce or eliminate deaths, injuries and property damage
  • Serve as a resource for earthquake-related materials, information, training programs and workshops, in coordination with other regional and national earthquake organizations
  • Advocate adoption and implementation of seismic mitigation policies at all levels of government.

www.wsspc.org

National Landslide Hazards Program
The National Landslide Hazards Program (LHP) has operated since the mid-1970's in gathering information, conducting research, responding to emergencies and disasters, and producing scientific reports and other products for a broadly based user community including geologists and engineers in government, academia and private practice, planners and decision makers from governmental entities at all levels, and the general public. Its primary objective is to reduce long-term losses from landslide hazards by improving our understanding of the causes of ground failure and suggesting mitigation strategies. The results of these efforts have led to significant improvements in understanding the nature and scope of ground-failure problems nationally and worldwide. Such improvements are central to the role of the program, because opportunities remain for fundamental advances in understanding that promise to save lives and dollars. http://landslides.usgs.gov

Building Seismic Safety Council
The BSSC was established in 1979 as a Council of the National Institute of Building Sciences. Developed as an entirely new type of instrument, the BSSC deals with the complex regulatory, technical, social, and economic issues involved in developing and promulgating building earthquake risk mitigation regulatory provisions that are national in scope. By bringing together all of the needed expertise and relevant public and private interests, it was believed that issues related to the seismic safety of the built environment could be resolved and jurisdictional problems overcome through authoritative guidance and assistance backed by a broad consensus. www.bssconline.org

Association for Enterprise Information
AFEI is a platform for collaboration and information exchange amongst business, government and academia on the critical enterprise information issues of today. Their members work on issues that support the important national goals of: 1.) Promoting the secure sharing of information amongst business, governments and citizens, 2.) Advancing the leveraging of national information assets for decision advantage, and 3.) Providing a community that evolves best practices in developing and deploying secure IT environments. www.afei.org

Security Institute
The Security Institute provides a program that addresses the issue of professional validation for security professionals. The program is designed to assess security management experience, academic qualifications, vocational qualifications and contributions to the security profession. It establishes an independent professional validation board, which will validate applications made by individuals seeking to attain a grading in the Security Institute. www.security-institute.org

Public Utilities Risk Management Association
The Public Utilities Risk Management Association (PURMA) is a not-for-profit organization founded to provide publicly-owned utilities consistently superior and cost-effective information, education and business solutions to their risk management, insurance, financial services and business development needs. It was formally organized in 1996. The program's origins, however, date back as far as 1977 when a small group of municipally-owned utilities banded together to collectively purchase group liability insurance coverage. www.purma.org

National Weather Association
The National Weather Association (NWA) is a member-led, all inclusive, non-profit, professional association supporting and promoting excellence in operational meteorology and related activities since 1975. It also sponsors an Annual Awards program to recognize excellence, college scholarships, grants to K-12 teachers and other programs. www.nwas.org

National Sheriffs’ Association
The National Sheriff’s Association (NSA), now in its sixty-eighth year of serving law enforcement and other criminal justice professionals of the nation, is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising the level of professionalism among those in the criminal justice field. Through the years, it has provided programs for Sheriffs, their deputies, chiefs of police, and others in the field of criminal justice to perform their jobs in the best possible manner and to better serve the people of their cities, counties or jurisdictions. www.sheriffs.org