By By Julia Hahn, Columnist

Over the past ten years, airport security has changed drastically; it’s smart to get to your airport at least 3 hours before your flight. Nobody can go to the gate without going through security and you have to take your shoes off before going through security.

You can’t carry large amounts of liquid. Don’t even think about saying “terrorist” or “bomb,” and now every person is subject to a full body scan or even a pat down. All of these procedures bring a simple question to light, are all of these security measures a violation of our rights? The answer seems simple enough to me: no.

 Do people honestly think that airports are doing this because they feel like it or because they want to inconvenience people? Honestly, it’s more work for them. They are doing it in order for our country to be safer and to make sure that an event like 9/11 never happens again. I know that I for one feel a lot safer knowing that our government goes through all these extra security measures.

I realize that some people do have a problem with these full body scans and once again say that our country is not doing well, but do they even have a clue as to what the security measures are in other countries? Plain and simple, their security measures are to profile people. If America did anything close to that, there would be an outrage. Submitting everyone to full body scans is the fairest way.

Another concern people have raised about these machines is the safety of them. The amount of tests and trials any new invention has to go through before it reaches the public is so intense that thinking that the government would knowingly put something dangerous near the public without telling them is somewhat difficult to comprehend. Besides that, America is so law suit happy these days that the government wouldn’t try to create any problems they could be blamed for.

Also, saying that these procedures are a violation of our rights and that it violates unreasonable search and seizure is also preposterous. People need to be prepared for some things to change when more and more people start bringing bombs onto planes. That right isn’t even being taken away completely; the airport has the right to search everyone for the public’s safety.

One issue brought to the media is also the utter humiliation of a pat down if one does not submit to the full body scan. There have been some occurrences of embarrassing situations where people with prosthetic limbs or bags full of urine have been humiliated in a public airport. This is regrettable, but compared to the amount of people that have had to get pat downs, the ratio is really not terrible. If you are someone who knowingly has some kind of condition where a pat down would be embarrassing, the best choice is to opt for the body scan.

Male pat downs are done by men, and female pat downs are done by women. The only reason these devices have been put into place is for the safety of the public. I remember what it was like to travel 12 years ago, it was much easier and so much more convenient, but times have changed.

Not every single person who walks through an airport can be trusted. I for one feel much safer on a plane knowing all the security measures that my fellow travelers and I have through to get there.