1. The NAS report suggested that education in college were not measured and training was limited due to research funding. After hiring students in forensic science Bachelor degree, the management team was not impressed by the curriculum. I do agree with the NAS report that more science training should be involved in the curriculum and equip students more job skills rather than science books. The labs have to spend more money to train employees to better equip them with the job skills. The standardization of education is very lacking according to the NAS report. The White House responded back to the NAS by created Strengthening The Forensic Sciences. This report stated that "The implementation of a universal requirement for certification of forensic science practitioners is an exceedingly complex issue because of the large number of individuals performing such a broad array of duties who would be covered by such provision." (The White House). This statement made a lot of sense because in a perfect world, yes we should standardize education and etc. However, the location of the labs is different and they all have different needs and goals. The labs in Seattle will perform to accommodate their population and a small city of Tacoma will perform to accommodate their population.
2. Coordination and certification are the big points that stuck out to me in this article. I tend to agree with the recommendations that they put across. In this day and age, with everything that is going on world-wide it would be foolish not to have forensic teams be a part of Homeland Security. Homeland Security needs to make sure that all parts of it are communicating, and that everyone is as able to do their job as anyone else. That is why certifications are so important to the DOD. Homeland Security does need to be in touch with everyone from the local all the way up to the federal branches. "In the incidents of 2001, (anthrax) U.S. investigators may well have made the best of what was then available. But with the present and future threat of biological weapons and the "bad actors" that possess and could use them, an aggressive new leap in capability is warranted, similar to what was argued for and subsequently established in forensic DNA analysis beginning in the mid-1980s." (Murch, 2003) Mr. Murch was arguing the same argument that I am making now. With how everything is advancing so quickly, we need to make sure that the forensic side of Homeland Security is up to par with the advancements. If not, we may not be ever able to make an arrest, or even hunt down the person responsible. When you are in the military you are subjected to a lot of things and one of those things is extraction of blood and DNA for typing. So if anything goes wrong and they are not able to make out who you are easily, then they can take your DNA and cross reference it. That's a big deal especially with how many mass casualties there are over seas with the war on terror. Homeland Security needs to use all the resources that it has to attack terrorism wherever it may strike. If they can coordinate better with the locals, then they can get there faster and handle triaging the situation before agents can arrive. I will reiterate my main themes, coordination and certification are top priorities. Coordination so that they can handle more and handle it more efficiently. Certification so that they can be more knowledgeable, and not allow a terrorist off based on a technicality from a foolish mistake. If they can handle that, then the war on terror will change for the better and our nation will be more secure for it.