Thanksgiving break, when many students return home and spend time with their families, is one of the busiest times of year for airport travel.
But even students who have traveled by air many times before will see developments when going through airport security this year.
Full-body scanners are replacing the traditional metal detectors at airports around the country.
The new pat-downs and full-body scanners were put in place on Nov. 1 at multiple airports nationwide in response to the “underwear bomber” last holiday season, who tried to use explosives in his underwear to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253, a plane flying from Amsterdam to the U.S. on Christmas Day 2009.
The Transportation Security Administration’s new security measures have created a nationwide discussion on issues of security, health effects of radiation and the effectiveness of new full-body scanning technology.
Currently, there are about 385 body scanners at 68 airports. They are divided between two types: 211 of these scanners are backscatters and the rest are millimeter wave units. Backscatters use low-level X-ray beams to show a reflection of the body, while millimeter wave units show a black-and-white three-dimensional image.
The Eugene and Portland airports do not yet have these body scanners and do not know when they will receive them, but they are working with TSA on plans to accommodate the machines, according to a Eugene Airport press release.
A total of 1,000 body scanners are planned to be installed in all airports nationwide by the end of 2011.
Rapiscan Systems, the manufacturer of backscatter scanners, said the machines use an ultra-low dose of radiation.
L-3 Security and Detection Systems, Inc., the manufacturer of the other body scanners that use millimeter wave technology, said their scanners use harmless radio waves and do not emit radiation. The millimeter wave radio frequency technology detects concealed objects made of both metallic and non-metallic material.
TSA said the Food and Drug Administration and other scientific institutions evaluating the scanner technology found that radiation doses for individuals “were well below the dose limits specified by the American National Standards Institute,” according to their findings.
One Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) scan exposes a traveler to less radiation than two minutes of airplane flight, according to TSA.
Experts who studied the technology said repeated low-dose exposure to radiation is a health risk and the backscatter technology has not been evaluated properly by impartial research.
The AIT scanners create an X-ray image of a passenger, and the TSA officer who looks at the picture is in a separate room and does not know the person’s identification information. TSA does not save the image.
Pat-downs are given to people who opt out of an AIT screening. They will also be used to resolve alarms that occur at a walk-through metal detector, if an object is detected during an AIT screening, or during a random screening. Only a small percentage of passengers will actually need to receive a pat-down, according to TSA.
Passenger opinions on the new security measures are mixed. A USA Today/Gallup Poll found that 78 percent of people polled approve of the use of full-body scanners.
University sophomore Hayley Brown will not be flying for Thanksgiving break because she is from Corvallis, but her family usually flies somewhere at least once a year.
“It seems extreme to give up so much personal freedom for security measures that may or may not work,” she said.
University junior William Murphy, who will be flying home for Thanksgiving, said the scanners seem to be an invasion of privacy and airline passengers have no choice in the matter.
“There’s no way to fight it,” he said, noting that people who do not want to be in the full-body scanner or be patted down will not be able to fly.
University sophomore Laura Bevilacqua, who will be flying home this week as well, agreed with Murphy.
“I liked the old metal detectors,” Bevilacqua said. “A pat-down could work, but scanners seem unnecessary.”
Airline passengers who are concerned about the new security measures have created an online petition and event for a “National Opt-Out Day” on Nov. 24, the day before Thanksgiving.
TSA does not support this opt-out day.
“After coming to TSA with 26 years of law enforcement experience at the FBI, I understand the serious threats our nation faces and the security measures we must implement to thwart potential attacks,” TSA Security Administration Chief John Pistole said in a statement. “This technology is not only safe, it’s vital to aviation security and a critical measure to thwart potential terrorist attacks.”
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