Citizens keep watch on skies, chemical plants

He's not alone. The Civil Air Patrol – which used to hunt German submarines off America's East Coast – has seen a surge in interest. In October alone, 2,500 people joined the 60,000-strong group, compared with about 1,300 a month before Sept. 11.

FOR Mr. Saydlowski, a long career with DuPont has led to "retirement" days full of traipsing through brownfields and chemical plants.

He's part of a 12,000-strong national Senior Environment Corps that's increasingly focusing on homeland security. His Wilmington group of about two dozen gets assignments from the state legislature and others to check how firms handle hazardous materials.

The group recently found a water-purification plant with nearly nonexistent security – and warned that if its chlorine gas tanks were exploded, it could cause great harm. The group employs technical expertise, flexible schedules, and fierce independence that boosts their credibility. "You can't tell a retiree what to think," Saydlowski proudly exclaims.

Ms. Kunz, who recently graduated from college, has been spreading the gospel of disaster-preparedness as part of a national effort called Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), coordinated by the

federal Citizen Corps. She regularly trains people in everything from shutting off home gas lines during earthquakes to making survival kits, complete with water-purification systems. "The whole concept," she says, "is that if there's a huge disaster, and our first responders are overwhelmed, are you going to be able help the people around you?"

That concept appears to be catching on.

In Newport Beach, Calif., for instance, the local fire department had been offering CERT training for years – with few takers. Suddenly, the 27-hour course has the maximum of 35 people in every class and 400 on a waiting list.

Not everyone defines homeland security in traditional ways.

When Silicon Valley software engineer Imran Maskatia isn't playing videogames on his new X-Box, he's giving as many as four talks each week explaining Islam – his life-long religion – to school kids and other interested groups. Mr. Maskatia, whose parents are from India and Pakistan, has talked to non-Muslim groups for years. But after Sept. 11, interest in them skyrocketed to "an all-time high," making big demands on his time.

His talks, organized by the Islamic Networks Group, aim to change audience stereotypes of Muslims from "a terrorist on the TV screen to a friendly neighbor down the street."

And that, he says, helps strengthen America. "Even if we don't all agree with each other, at least we can live peacefully."

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