He brings more than 30 years of corporate security management to this position. Currently, Consalvo is the manager of corporate security for the State Farm Insurance Companies. In that role, he provides executive leadership and directs the security program for the State Farm Enterprise, which includes security operations in multiple locations throughout the United States. Consalvo brings no “pet projects” to the table, believing that being the president of ASIS or any organization is about “what we accomplish as a group of leaders for our Society and our profession,” but he does have priorities. Chief among these are the development and promulgation of guidelines for the security industry, as well as implementing business management concepts and implications into all the Society’s educational programs. The latter dovetails with ASIS’ efforts to create educational programs for high-level security executives, such as a recently launched initiative with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. “It’s a fantastic program,” Consalvo stresses. “An MBA-caliber program and a major accomplishment for ASIS.” Mr. Consalvo graduated with a bachelor’s degree in industrial and occupational safety with an emphasis in disaster planning, and a minor in business administration. He is board certified in security management as a Certified Protection Professional (CPP), a designation acknowledged throughout the world as the highest recognition accorded a security practitioner. Mr. Consalvo, his wife, Susan, and their daughter live in Bloomington, Ill.

THERE is debate about whether drug use ‘leads’ to crime or the reverse. The Australian Institute of Criminology conducted the Drug use careers of offenders (DUCO) study in order to examine the interaction between criminal offending and drug use patterns. A total of 470 females and 2,135 males incarcerated in Australian prisons were interviewed. The project, which was funded by the Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department, identified gender differences in the temporal order of drug use and crime. Using the self-reported age of first drug use and first criminal offence, this study shows that female prisoners were equally divided in the sequence of their drug use and offending initiation. A similar proportion of female prisoners reported illicit drug use before offending (35%) as they did offending before illicit drug use (34%). Male prisoners were more likely to have engaged in offending before drug use (54%) and were less likely than women to have used drugs prior to offending (17%). These results suggest that illicit drugs may play a different role in the development of a criminal career for women as compared with men.

With its expansion capability, a single 84-inch rack can switch 1024 inputs into 256 outputs. “Because of its compact size, the Digiplex HDS is ideal for casinos, hotels, healthcare facilities, prisons, airports, transportation facilities, manufacturing facilities, and other large-scale applications,” said Athaar Pasha, Manager-Product Marketing, Switchers. “The Digiplex HDS system is easy to install, operate and manage.” The Digiplex HDS’s main chassis measures a compact six rack units and holds two 3U sections. Plug-in PCB cards are used to fully expand the system. Twelve card slots (96 ports) are available for input or output in each 3U section. A maximum of 4,096 inputs by 256 outputs are possible, as is connection to as many as 32 satellite (remote) sites. The basic HDS system is made up of the HDS chassis and System Controller, which provides user access to specific features through individual password-protected accounts. With the Digiplex HDS, users can program dwell times and tours for any inputs or outputs while managing these and more settings through the System Controller software that is compatible with Windows 2000 and XP. The Digiplex HDS is designed for simplicity. Cable connections are made on a separate connector-board that snaps on to the main board, enabling fast board swap outs without the need to remove the cables. Vertical bus connectors link each 3U section, again without cables. Even if a site already has matrix switchers, the complete HDS system lets the user link multiple sites and create a distributed satellite switching system.

The maker of aerospace products, building control technologies and automotive products reported net income of $US419 million, or 49 cents per share. That matched the consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. A year ago, the Morris Township-based company posted a $407 million profit, or 47 cents per share. Revenues totaled $6.64 billion, up 7.3 percent from $6.19 billion a year earlier. “It was a good, solid quarter but it was expected,” said Paul Nisbet, an aerospace analyst with JSA Research Inc. in Newport, R.I. “They didn’t surprise anyone on the upside and certainly didn’t disappoint either.” Honeywell’s aerospace division _ the company’s largest _ saw sales increase 7 percent to $2.52 billion for the fourth quarter and rise 11 percent to $9.74 billion for 2004. Global flying hours were up 9 percent last year, chief financial officer Dave Anderson said. “We’ve seen a real recovery in passenger demand for air travel and so we’re benefiting from that,” he said. “Of course the other thing we’re benefiting from are the products we’ve recently introduced, which are largely in the cockpit.” Honeywell on Friday raised its 2005 earnings per share forecast to $1.95 to $2.05 from $1.90 to $2, partly because of strong order rates. Analysts have predicted earnings per share of $1.98 to $2.08 for 2005. The guidance does not include the pending acquisition of British industrial holding company Novar PLC, which the companies announced last month, officials said. Honeywell is currently awaiting approval from European regulators. “We’re on track and we hope to close the deal by the end of the first quarter,” Anderson said. Novar has three divisions, including a building-security and fire-alarms sector that Honeywell officials said fits well with the company’s existing businesses. Honeywell will potentially look to sell Novar’s two other, noncore businesses, officials said Friday.

Full-year 2004 earnings were $16.6 billion, up 6% from 2003 earnings before required accounting changes. Cash flow from GE’s operating activities (CFOA) in 2004 increased 18% to $15.2 billion. “GE had a tremendous fourth quarter and an excellent 2004, as we completed our strategic repositioning and returned to double-digit earnings growth in the quarter,” said GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt. “In the fourth quarter, nine of our 11 businesses delivered double-digit earnings growth. Industrial sales grew 19%, and our key financial services businesses ended the year with assets up 20% and improved overall portfolio quality. Total orders for the quarter increased 15% over last year, with growth across the board. We are benefiting from strong execution of our growth initiatives and an excellent global economy. “For the year, nine of our 11 businesses delivered at least double-digit earnings growth and we increased CFOA to $15.2 billion. We made major progress on our portfolio, exceeding our synergy goals for the Amersham and Universal acquisitions, adding capabilities to our water, security and key financial services units, and executing several dispositions, including the initial public offering of Genworth and the sale of 60% of Gecis, our global business processing operation. Revenues from our growth initiatives — in services and our new platforms, such as security and water — grew 12% and 17% respectively, and global revenues increased 16%. “As a result, we’re going into 2005 with excellent momentum,” Immelt said. “We are very confident about achieving 10-15% earnings growth with strong cash flow growth and sustaining this growth into 2006 as well.” GE Infrastructure highlight for Q4 — Announced two strategic acquisitions — Ionics, a global leader in desalination, and Edwards Systems Technology’s fire detection systems business — and completed a third, InVision Technologies, positioning Infrastructure for growth in the water and security industries. — Received certification from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration of its X-ray diffraction (XRD) system for identifying the chemical signatures of explosives on passenger-checked baggage, the first new technology certified by the TSA since 1994. — Successfully completed commercial testing for its tamper-evident sea container cargo-security system, which uses RFID (radio frequency identification) wireless technology embedded in a container’s walls to determine if it has been breached during transport. — Announced a strategic partnership with China Telecom, the leading company in the world’s largest telecommunications market, to create a new generation of advanced home security technology that will allow residents of China to communicate with their homes through the Internet and cellular phones.

The Transportation Security Administration has already conducted background checks on the 2.7 million hazmat drivers, based on their names, to find out if any of them presented a potential terrorist threat. From May 31, drivers who want to renew or transfer hazmat licenses will have to undergo a background check based on their fingerprints. The USA Patriot Act demands states can no longer issue, renew or transfer hazmat licenses unless the TSA has assessed whether the drivers are security risks.

The relevance of the scheme is that household broadband fibre could allow the domestic market to be opened to video monitoring, among other things. The Tasmanian Government will contribute $A3 million to the 2-year pilot, which is called the Tasmanian Collaborative Optical Leading testbed (TasCOLT). The Hitachisystem offers connection speeds that are 400 times faster than conventional broadband services. Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon says the project offers exciting opportunities. “The significance of this project for Tasmania is summed up, I think, in the fact that this will be the first place in the world outside of Japan that Hitachi’s rolled out this infrastructure,” Mr Lennon said.