June 25, 2007

Academic Freedom
US university students will not be able to work late at the campus, travel abroad, show interest in their colleagues' work, have friends outside the United States, engage in independent research, or make extra money without the prior consent of the authorities, according to a set of guidelines (pdf) given to administrators by the FBI.

It looks like the Stasi have emigrated to the US.

posted by Skrik 17 years ago
  • /hed asplodes
  • Hilarious. The wildest fantasies of left-leaning conspiracy theorists of the 70s-80s have been made real in the land of the free in the 00's.
  • WOW. This thing reads EXACTLY like stuff we were shown back in the 60s as examples of just how awful the Soviets were in their treatment of citizenry. I am sickened beyond my ability to express it. Hunter Thompson checked out at the right time--I think he saw this sort of thing coming. And we thought J. Edgar Hoover was paranoid.
  • Like the Chinese don't already have this stuff anyway...
  • Saying "will not be able to..." seems a vast overstatement. The above guidelines and the boston.com article say nothing about any restrictions. These are a list of indicators, which are supposed to be taken in combination. The way it's stated in the above quotation it sounds like any single behavior is going to be verboten.
  • "...seems a vast overstatement...it sounds like any single behavior is going to be verboten." I admire your optimism.
  • *squints eyes and does a quick double-take* Hell yeah! A fine birthday present if I've ever had one, nice to see you, Chyren!!
  • This is comedy on the grandest of scales. The jokes that were passed around amongst my friends in the 90's (my "foreign" college mates - I lived in the taboo international student's dormitory) don't see so funny anymore, as they slowly *seem* to become reality. *awaits the xenophobia-instilling podcasts*
  • More accurately, "The FBI does not want US university students to be able to..." This isn't law. This is something they're asking universities to do voluntarily. And this response: "It was a very nice offer," Robert A. Weygand, vice president for administration and a former Rhode Island congressman told the Boston Herald. "We are taking it under consideration." Sounds like a pretty clear (if politely phrased) "go fuck yourself."
  • "Ecxuse, me sir, you'll pardon me for taking the liberty to ask, but would sir be so kind as to remove from the premises and fuck one's self? Thaaaaaank you, sir."
  • Sounds like a pretty clear (if politely phrased) "go fuck yourself." One can hope. Of course, the gov is perfectly capable of coercing institutions to go along with their "suggestions".
  • I know someone currently training to drive big rig trucks. He reports that as part of the training, students were required to view a video on always being on the alert for possible terrorist activity. In the event that something "suspicious" is witnessed--such as, I don't know, somebody driving on I-95 in a burnoose, I guess--they're supposed to "report to authorities." My friend indicated that the thing made everyone in the room uncomfortable, and afterward several spoke in very hushed tones about pretty much ignoring the directives since it seemed like a message straight from the Kremlin, "and I don't want to live in an authoritarian state." Ah yes, freedom isn't free. Nor, apparently, does it have any real meaning in the US of A in 2007. I am SO GLAD I went to school when I did. Damn.
  • Yay!!!!!! Hi Chy! Now give us back petes, bees and kookoo, wouldja?
  • Beeswacky MIA? And Petebest too? And kookoo? Maybe they were picked up because of suspicous behavior by someone packing a fresh PDF of The Directives. *shudders, adjusts disguise*
  • afterward several spoke in very hushed tones about pretty much ignoring the directives since it seemed like a message straight from the Kremlin, "and I don't want to live in an authoritarian state." From college kids to truck drivers, nobody wants to rock the boat. I think this country is fucked. We've been slowly allowing our freedoms to be eroded, and now it's too late to say STOP. At best, you'll be ostracized and people will mutter about your un-American behavior, and at worst, your butt will be slung in jail. Do me a favor, next time you see an ex-hippy in a suit, punch them in the face for me. Buncha damn sell-outs. I thought my generation had made a commitment.
  • Hell, next time you see a hippy, punch them in the face for me. Thanks.
  • Peace and Love, baby!
  • At first I thought that this was going to apply to all students, undergraduate and post-graduate. So I thought it was directed at keeping young people from learning about other countries, and thus really paranoid and insane. But reading further, it looks like it is directed only at research students (mostly graduate) working in sensitive science and technology areas. Which is still not right, but not quite so insane. I already have a friend who (being a foreign student at an American graduate school) who had to report to US customs/immigration that he knows how to make a nuclear bomb. I mean, he doesn't have the equiptment, but he does know how.
  • Hah! We all know how to build nuclear weapons.
  • well, he knew things about dangerous stuff that I didn't, and it was stamped in his passport or on his visa or something.
  • Now that you've talked about it,your passport will also be stamped.
  • IN SOVIET AMERIKA YOUR PASSPORT STAMPS YOU!!! Seriously, this is kind of frustrating but I don't see it as a sign of the end of Western civilization and freedom. At least we still have passports.