Nathaniel Heatwole, a Guilford junior, was charged with carrying concealed weapons on an aircraft Monday, Oct. 20, after an e-mail from Heatwole was linked to contraband found on several Southwestern Airline planes.

A maintenance man for SWA discovered a bag containing box cutters, bleach, a clay-like substance, and matches in the lavatory of one of the airline’s fleet. A second, similar package was found a few hours later on another SWA plane.

Box cutters are the weapons that US officials suspect were used in the plane hijackings of 9/11.

The incident has received international coverage. BBC carried the story on Oct. 20.

“I was quite surprised to find Guilford College mentioned in an article in The Japan Times,” said junior Rachel Chaffin, currently studying in Japan.

An affidavit filed Oct. 20 stated Heatwole committed the act of “civil disobedience” to improve “public safety for the air travelling public.”

He is not the only one to violate security in recent months.

On Sept. 10, 25-year-old Charles McKinley reportedly shipped himself from his workplace in the Bronx, New York, to his father’s home just south of Dallas, Texas.

On Aug. 8, an Air-France pilot, frustrated with American security measures, allegedly joked that he had a bomb in his shoe. He was released after a weekend stranded in the US on $5,000 bail.

These incidents have shown flaws in and potential threats to aviation security.

In response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created and charged with policing new security measures.

The TSA has come under fire in response to all of these incidents. Allegedly, the TSAreceived the e-mail from Heatwole, admitting that he smuggled illegal items aboard various planes.

The most recent e-mail was dated Sept. 12, and is reported to include the dates the items were left, the flight numbers, and how the items were sneaked past airport security.

Likewise, the found packages of contraband were reportedly signed “3891925,” the Washington Post reported on Oct. 21, Heatwole’s birthday backwards.

Heatwole’s actions have already led to some changes in federal aviation security practices.

The Baltimore Sun reported that Tom Ridge, who oversees the TSA, pledged to improve the system for investigating potential threats and tips from the public. This could include a program to flag e-mails, such as those allegedly sent by Heatwole, so that it will be impossible for five weeks to elapse if a similar event occur.

Heatwole has been released on his own recognizance following a hearing this past Monday. He is free to return to campus, provided he does not enter an airport or board an airplane along the way. A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 10. It is unclear if Heatwole intends to return to Guilford College for classes until then.

The local and national media have approached Guilford College students and faculty members for comment.

Students appeared Tuesday on NBC’s The Today Show and ABC’s Good Morning America.

Physics Professor Rex Adelberger joined CNN anchor Soledad O’Brian Tuesday morning for an on-air interview. All appearances were made via satellite.

Adelberger told CNN that “There are students that think that what he did was absolutely right, and there are students … that [think] this was really pretty dumb. And probably the largest part of the students have no feeling one way or the other. They just are here to go to school.”

Guilford’s Director of College Relations, Ty Buckner, agrees.

“This is not about Guilford College,” said Buckner. “This is an academic setting, where students come to learn. What they do with this learning is up to them. They are independent thinkers who make their own choices.”

Media attention and the national focus on the college does seem to be waning. Tuesday, fewer students were stopped and asked for interviews, and only two news channels visited the campus.

This might change should Heatwole return to campus.

“It all depends on what Nat does and where he goes,” said Erik Liljegren of the local Fox affiliate, Channel 8.

“Media attention is based on whether, in their view, they think they have a story to tell,” said Buckner.

Until that information becomes known, students should expect to see news vans by Dana Auditorium and New Garden Hall.

Reactions to Heatwole’s alleged act of “civil disobedience” — the phrase he used in an interview Friday night with the Greensboro News and Record — have been varied, across the nation.

Shelini Harris, Guilford’s Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies, said:”According to the Gandhi and King schools, civil disobedience involves disobeying an unjust law. The person must first put great thought into whether the law is unjust to civil rights and then contentiously disobey it.

“In this case the student disobeyed a law that he believed just in order to prove that it is ineffective.I’m not sure if there is a precedent for this in civil disobedience as I know it.”

McHale, the deputy administrator of the TSA, said to reporters, “Amateur testing of systems like this does not in any way help us or show us the flaws in the system.”

An editorial appearing in Greensboro’s News and Record on Oct.21 said, “The fact that a college student easily carried out a carefully planned pre-announced hoax does nothing to soothe fears of anxious air travelers. [But] it’s well documented that serious gaps in airport and airline security need fixing.”

“Unless people are literally strapped down in planes, airport security will never be fully effective,” said sophomore James Thorne. “Nathaniel is simply showing a small facet of that.”