Invasion of the body scanners and tollway rumors
I went to O'Hare looking for outrage last week. It just wasn't there.
My topic was the new body scanner expected to debut at O'Hare International Airport this week. The technology produces a contour-revealing image that detects contraband.
The government says the full-body imaging machines will save lives and catch any dangerous items from weapons to explosives people may be smuggling onboard.
But privacy issues concern groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union.
"It's difficult to understand what the justification is for subjecting virtually everyone who gets on an airplane to a virtual strip-search," ACLU of Illinois spokesman Ed Yonka said.
The U.S. Transportation Security Administration notes that the images aren't viewed by the officer at the checkpoint, but by a second official at a remote location. People who object to the body scanners can opt for a pat down.
I roamed O'Hare's Terminal One in search of opinions Thursday and here's what I found.
"I'm for it," Cleveland businessman Stu Shoaff said. "It adds to security."
"I guess if it makes things safer, it's good," said Marsha Davis, in from Massachusetts. "I'm glad I'm not a frequent traveler. I'm a little suspicious of the health risks."
"It's a great idea. I'd rather feel safe," said Debbie Gass of Rockford, who was picking up her daughter at O'Hare.
Thea Watson of Toronto concurred, explaining "there's too many crazies out there."
"I've no objection - it's for security," said Janet Little of Indiana.
One backscatter imaging technology unit - or body scanner - will be deployed at O'Hare as a primary screening tool. The TSA has two types of body scanners - millimeter wave and backscatter, which involves a narrow, low-intensity X-ray beam that scans the entire body. The X-rays penetrate clothing but not the skin. It's equivalent to the same radiation you might be exposed for 2 minutes on an airplane at altitude, authorities say.
Mindful of health concerns like Marsha Davis', I checked in with radiologist Matthew Walker, Northwestern Memorial Hospital's chief of neuroradiology.
He concurred with the TSA analysis, noting that humans already receive radiation from metals in the earth and cosmic rays, such as sunlight, that's far greater than the exposure from a body scan.
"It's so far below what you already receive that it's practically negligible," Walker said.
I also talked to the one person I know who's been through a body scanner - my mother-in-law, Peggy, who doesn't fit the profile of a suspicious character.
A year ago at Tampa International Airport, she was a body scanner guinea pig. The TSA officer told her "to stand still with my arms upraised and out. He said I had moved and they would have to do it again," she wrote. "The second result was as unsatisfactory to him as the first and I was dismissed. I'm sure they were testing the machines - and in my case not all that successfully."
Had an out-of-body-scan experience? Let me know at mpyke@dailyherald.com.
Flotsam and jetsam
• I was driving down Rumor Road, when I heard the odds favor Kristin LaFleur to be the Illinois tollway's new executive director. She's one of five candidates interviewed Friday and also is Gov. Pat Quinn's chief of staff for economic development and recovery.
• Volunteer registration is open for the MB Financial Bank Bike the Drive on May 30. For info, contact www.bikethedrive.org/volunteer.
• Thursday marked Transportation Freedom Day, the moment when most households earned enough to cover transportation costs for the year. The average American spends 19 percent of annual income on transportation.