The Transportation Security Administration's new full-body scanners are causing an uproar among air travelers.
Passengers are worried that the levels of radiation used to see through clothing are dangerous and may cause cancer.
The TSA has worked jointly with independent researchers to issue statements assuring the public that the radiation emitted from the scanners is harmless and that a passenger would have to pass through a scanner a thousand times in a year to be affected by the radiation.
"There have been some questions and criticism about the scanners," said Brett O'Neil, a local customer support manager for the TSA.
As it stands, the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport has five full-body units in place.
"Locally, we have gotten mostly positive feedback," O'Neil said. "Some have been shocked that it wasn't as big as they thought [it would be], and they aren't scaring anybody."
A full-body pat down is offered as an alternative to those who decide to opt out of a full-body scan, according to O'Neil.
The full-body pat down, like the body scan, is used to detect contraband items such as wires or other things that can aid in causing harm or damage to airplane passengers or crew members.
In a pat down, the TSA agent slides the palms or the backs of his or her hand along the entire body of a traveler.
"The pat down occurs on top of the clothes only," O'Neil said. "Those who opt out of the scanning are not considered suspects because people have a variety of reasons why they don't want to go through the scanners. [The pat down] is just another form of screening."
Despite the growing public outcry and alleged passenger horror stories, the Buffalo Niagara Airport has not faced any major problems with these security measures.
"I fly about four times a semester, and I have never come into any friction flying out of Buffalo," said Renee Jeremiah, a junior nursing major. "I have only gotten the pat down in JFK, because I had silver bangles on that were really hard to take off, so I had to do a full-body pat down because I couldn't go through the scanner. A female TSA person patted down my sides, my legs and my stomach area. It was within view of other people. I didn't get pulled into a side room or anything. They were pretty cool about it. It seemed very routine."
Some of the horror stories facing other airports include the story of a 61-year-old man named Tom Sawyer. Sawyer has said that he was departing a Detroit airport and elected to go through the full body scanner but was given a pat down afterward anyway. Sawyer is a bladder cancer survivor and wears a urostomy bag that collects his urine.
In an interview with CBS affiliate WLNS, Sawyer said he warned the TSA agent about the bag, but the agent was still unnecessarily rough. The pat down concluded with the urine bag spilling all over Sawyer. Sawyer said that he broke down crying.
"I was just so embarrassed, so humiliated." Sawyer said in the interview with WLNS.
Cases like Sawyer's have prompted groups like the American Civil Liberties Union to look into the constitutionality of these searches. Private organizations, including a group of Harvard students, have also been motivated to take legal action against the TSA.
O'Neil assures students traveling out of the Buffalo Niagara Airport that the pat down is only used on people who trigger alarms or opt out of the scanners and that the pat downs are "on top of clothes only."
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
