Global issues concern GC&SU’s Elowitz

The current state of world politics has caused intense interest in the area of political science, the specialty of Georgia College & State University’s Dr. Larry Elowitz.

Dr. Elowitz, Carl Vinson professor of political science and public administration, has seen college students pay more attention to world politics since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

“Since 9/11 the polls show greater interest in international affairs, even among young people, 18-25,” he said. “It’s not a quantum leap, but it’s certainly an increase. In my national security classes in the last five years before 9/11, I really turned to emphasizing terrorism because you could see it coming since 1993 when the World Trade Center was hit the first time by terrorists. Enrollment in those classes really began to pick up. People became more and more interested in this because they felt that terrorism’s impact was going to increase. I’ve done the course down in Warner Robins on terrorism. We did the first one after 9/11. I think a lot of my courses really affect people directly because they can see the effects. Since 9/11, people want to know about the world – it’s here. World events have come home. We lost our sense of invulnerability.”

Dr. Elowitz believes some form of terrorist attack was inevitable.

“The 9/11 attacks had been predicted on one form or another by terrorism experts four or five years prior,” he said. “The attack itself was not unexpected by most terrorist experts. What was unexpected was the nature of the attacks. Very few people came up with the idea of having four planes being hijacked simultaneously. I owe it to my students to let them know the possibilities are there.”

He noted that America will have to be constantly vigilant to guard against another attack, but he sees some progress in the state of our national security.

“I think since 9/11 there has been a revolution in the intelligence agencies,” he said. “They’re far more effective. The FBI and CIA have worked closer together. They made mistakes, but at the same time, even if you have a full-scale panorama of intelligence information you never know precisely when and where an attack is going to occur. I’m not saying another attack can’t happen, but I think the country – comparing pre-9/11 to post-9/11 – has a slightly greater degree of security at least in the airports. You only become vigilant after you’ve been attacked, but the government did respond by spending a lot of money. It’s an ongoing process. Terrorists can seek out soft targets, too, not just hard targets. They could hit targets that aren’t really secure, such as shopping malls or water treatment plants, anything like that. We could be vulnerable to the suicide bomber approach. My sense of everything I read is that the country has made a giant step toward at least trying to improve intelligence gathering capabilities and trying to prevent another attack.”

“Targets overseas exist, but there are still targets here and it’s not just terrorism from the Middle East,” Elowitz said. “We have terrorists like the Timothy McVeighs of the world. We have our homegrown terrorism, too. It’s the crisis of our era and it’s something that will be with us for a long time. There’s no way of getting around it.”

He believes that keeping the country secure will be a difficult task, even at high priority places like airports.

“People still get through with weapons,” he said. “In my few experiences at the airport since 9/11, it seems security is a lot tighter, but someone can always get through. They are now getting this explosive detection equipment at airports. I can’t argue that a terrorist can’t get through again, but they would be pretty silly to try an airport again, considering security is so much tighter. Border security is still a problem. How can you protect open borders. We’re an open society. You don’t want to create a society where you’re running a police state. At the same time, you want to protect the population of the United States the best way you can. It’s a tough procedure and it’s expensive. You can never be 100% sure and it takes time. This war could go on 10, 15, 20 years.”

Dr. Elowitz, who has been at GC&SU since 1972, and has lost none of his enthusiasm for teaching.

“I love teaching,” he said. “I like the give and take with students. I like the exchange of ideas. Each class is different. You may have the same course, but one class is totally different from another class. I love to challenge young minds. There is something to be said for helping people think about issues. I’ve always enjoyed the give and take of questions, the challenge. Teaching is interesting because not only is teaching giving out information, but you’re also receiving information. It’s a reciprocal relationship, a mutual relationship. The beauty about teaching is that you learn a great deal from others.”

Dr. Elowitz’s ability to connect with students is an inspiration to faculty and students at GC&SU.

“I’ve often said that he may be the best classroom teacher at GC&SU,” Dr. Michael Digby, chair of the department of government and sociology said. “Actually, he may be one of the best classroom teachers in the United States. I nominated him for the Distinguished Professor Award 10 years ago, an award he most deservingly won. He’s brilliant in the classroom. Watching him perform is to inspire awe in the minds of all of us less talented teachers. He’s the most dynamic person I’ve ever seen in the classroom, combining the smoothness of a television anchorperson, the detailed substantive knowledge of a Washington think tank researcher and the passion of a Shakespearean actor. In the courses he loves, especially in the national security and American foreign policy classes, he gets students involved in the subject matter in a way that is unequalled. We have been truly lucky to have him here.”

“He is an excellent teacher, a model for the rest of us,” Dr. Henry Edmondson, professor of public administration and political science said.
“He is very bright, stays very well informed on his teaching specialties and brings a lot of energy to the classroom. He is one of the most popular teachers here. I’ve never heard anything but praise from students about Dr. Elowitz’s classes.”

Heather Davis Holder was one of those students who has nothing but praise for Dr. Elowitz.

“I loved him as a professor,” she said. “He used the text as a launch pad for discussion and was always open to new interpretation of events concerning foreign policy…as long as you could back them up. As a history major, I often only studied earlier history. Elowitz made contemporary history come alive. It was never easy. Students often complain about the workload, but in the end, if you invest the time in his subject matter, you will emerge passionate and knowledgeable of the subject. He also teaches you concrete logic skills and the thirst to dig deeper in all of your classes. Dr. Elowitz also speaks to many civic groups in Milledgeville, which is where I see him lately. After 9/11 the Kiwanis asked him to speak, as a result of his lecture the community came away with a greater understanding and appreciation of the terrorist threat and its origin.”

Dr. Elowitz became interested in political science during another turbulent time – the 1960s.

“When I was growing up, of course, the president of the day, John F. Kennedy, was an inspiration,” Elowitz said. “I thought he was the first president after Eisenhower who represented what was good in America. I knew people at Miami who worked for Kennedy’s campaign and I did a little of that. That sort of got me interested. I had a couple of professors who were very, very good and sometimes a professor can pique your curiosity. Also, the practical side of it all appeals to me.”

Several of his coworkers have found a good friend in Dr. Elowitz.

“I’ve known him about 15 years,” Edmondson said. “He was chair of the department of government and sociology when I arrived. He could not be more affable or pleasant. He has a wonderful since of humor and he is also a great movie buff. I am privileged to teach with him.”

Digby speaks very highly of Elowitz.

“Dr. Elowitz was one of the first people I met when I interviewed for my position here 26 years ago,” Digby said. “He was my chair for 20 years and has been my friend for all of those years. Dr. Elowitz down to his core is a fundamentally decent human being. Over the years, I’ve seen him show deep compassion and empathy for both students and colleagues undergoing personal problems. His counsel is sought after because he is perceptive, prudent, wise, and he holds confidences. He’s got a substantial playful, even wacky side. He has a vast knowledge of popular culture, especially of film and music. I think he’s seen every movie ever made and can tell you the actors and plot lines and significant dialogues of all of them. I think he can recite every line from the ‘Airplane’ and ‘Ghostbusters’ movies. He knows more about audio-visual electronics than most electrical engineers. If I had the money to build a dream home, he’s the one I’d hire to design my stereo system. He’s a wonderful guy.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Feb 14 2003. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry