What John Muir College junior April Deibert had in mind when she began pushing for the creation of a new student organization was very different from what has grown from her efforts. Her original idea was to create a community service organization that would allow students to intern with local politicians, but when her e-mails to local officials were met with negative responses, Deibert had to change plans.

The S.O.L.O. organization called The Intern: Homeland Security sprung from Deibert’s interest in promoting student involvement in issues related to national security. It is a nonpartisan, preprofessional club that provides information and hands-on experience for students who are interested in homeland security. With the help of two other students, the organization began this year and is now over 60-members strong.

“This project seeks to showcase the talents of UCSD undergraduates who wish to go on to work in government, public service, social science … or any other related field,” Deibert stated in an e-mail. “Although we are very new, we have been attempting to provide networking opportunities, guest speakers, job opportunities, and the most important of all, a well-rounded view of each issue.”

Deibert, who is chairman of the organization, and the founders of the club pushed its development in the hopes that it would become a sort of training ground for students who are interested in going into any aspect of foreign affairs. After finding statistics indicating that nearly half of the current members of agencies under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will retire within the next five years, they became concerned for the next generation’s ability to protect the country from future disasters and attacks.

“If you look at where [current officials] are at and how they got there, there’s a huge gap,” Vice President Matt Ramirez said. “There’s no real set curriculum for getting into these organizations, and it’s not as easy as one, two, three.”

The organization hopes to give students exposure to the issues that these agencies deal with, and to let them know about the plethora of opportunities available to people with interests in national security, no matter their background.

“People tend to think that there’s just the FBI and the CIA,” Deibert said. “But really, there are trillions of organizations dealing with homeland security, and so many opportunities for everyone. If you want to use your microbiology degree, you can work with bioterrorism. There’s medical work involved. You could basically do anything that you want.”

One of the organization’s biggest goals is to foster discussion of current issues pertaining to national security in an unbiased, nonjudgmental atmosphere. It hopes that introducing all of the sides to the issues will allow students to leave with their own, informed decisions.

“We want our members to have a clean slate when it comes to these issues,” Deibert said. “Maybe they will walk away with a new perspective.”

However, the officers have had some difficulty convincing others of their nonpartisan nature. As a result, they feel that they have been unfairly prevented from receiving funding from sources such as the A.S. Council, and that they have encountered such funding obstacles as a result of misconceptions of their group’s goal.

“They think we’re partisan, and that giving money to us would just be taking money away from something like a dance,” said Ramirez, explaining why he felt the A.S. Council was reluctant to give them money to get their organization started.

Vice President of Finance Conrad Ohashi, however, said that the organization had received some A.S. funding in the past when it was requested, and any lack of further funding was due to A.S. financial bylaws and not partisanship. Ohashi was formally chair of the Student Organizations Funding Advisory Board.

Ohashi also noted that the organization did not appeal the decision, which is something that he encourages all organizations to consider.

Yet due to a lack of funds, the organization had to cancel a networking banquet that was to take place in January. The officers had to notify over 60 students, UCSD alumni and local homeland security experts of this cancellation. Deibert e-mailed UC President Robert C. Dynes about the issue, and they both began to receive offers for help with future events after Dynes’ secretary sent a personal memo to the S.O.L.O. office.

Despite the controversy and their funding concerns, the officers have been pleasantly surprised by the positive responses they have received from members. One of their first meetings attracted over 25 students interested in listening to a DHS representative speak about his experiences in the Foreign Service.

“I was worried because I expected that I would have to keep asking this guy questions,” Ramirez said. “But then everyone kept raising their hands and asking questions; everyone was so interested!”

In addition to encouraging discussion among students, the organization tries to be more creative in the sorts of activities for its members.

“The government is getting a lot of flack for its lack of creativity,” said Ramirez, citing recent situations like FEMA’s response to Hurricane Katrina. “People say that our government is so set in the Cold War era that it’s not fluid enough to respond to the problems of this era.”

Being fluid in their thinking, however, is what the officers have done. One idea was to host a terrorist simulation, with help from experts from the FBI. Their plan was to divide the attendants into two groups — the terrorists and the DHS — and see how they would react to each other.

“We wanted both groups to think alike,” Ramirez said. “You need to be able to think like your enemy.”

Another idea was so creative that they never implemented it out of concern that it would raise government suspicions. Their plan involved asking their members to map out San Diego as though they were foreigners, so that they could learn to think about what terrorists would look for if they were planning an attack.

“We’d look at San Diego and think about what could happen here, what San Diego is doing to protect this, and whether it needs to be protected,” Ramirez said. “A lot of people think that we can be attacked anywhere and any time. And that’s true, we can be. But we need to think about what is likely and what is not.”

While these ideas would probably spark debate and controversy, the officers want to encourage students to begin thinking critically about the sorts of issues they are likely to encounter.

“It’s all about thinking outside of the box,” Co-Vice President Kate Valentine said. “[The government] already has plans, but they’re very ‘by the book.’ They’re probably already all written out. We want college students who haven’t been molded into this mentality yet to think about these things.”

The club’s officers have high hopes for the future, including more guest speakers, ride-alongs with the Border Patrol, shooting classes, first-aid training and emergency simulations. Although it may seem rather pessimistic to train for worst-case scenarios, preparing students to handle whatever crises our generation will face is the overarching goal of the organization.

“Thinking about these things actually makes you feel more at ease because you know what to do,” Deibert said. “The biggest fear that people have is of being alone and unprepared. If you know how you’re going to react and can help others react, you feel more comfortable.”

Giving students the tools to think, and encouraging them to do so, is what the club wanted to accomplish.

“Homeland security is a federal, state and local issue,” Ramirez said. These issues affect everyone at every level, not just students.”