verstehen libre.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
wow
Just...wow.
If you want to take a job at some public universities in Ohio, you’ll need to fill out a form declaring that you have no ties (as described in six broad questions) to any terrorist groups as defined by the U.S. State Department. [. . .]
Many professors who would never help a terrorist group in any way would balk at answering questions such as these, which could be subject to interpretation or be used against professors who hold unpopular views. [Robert O'Neil, of the American Association of University Professors] also noted that there is not always broad agreement on which groups are terroristic and that asking professors whom they have persuaded to hold certain views is antithetical to academic values in many ways. [. . .]
Another flaw in the new law, [O'Neil] said, is that it won’t work. Would a terrorist committed to mass murder really lose sleep over giving a false answer on an Ohio form? “Real terrorists are not going to be deterred by this. If you have someone bent on infiltrating a state agency, it’s not going to do anything,” he said. All the new form does, he added, is create problems for “conscientious academics.”
"Terrorist groups as defined by the U.S. State Department"...like, for example, Greenpeace, Earth First!, and the Cuban government. And, hell, I don't know, probably the National Lawyers Guild and Planned Parenthood and Amnesty and the freakin' Democratic Party, too. Awesome. ¶ 1:29 PM
If you want to take a job at some public universities in Ohio, you’ll need to fill out a form declaring that you have no ties (as described in six broad questions) to any terrorist groups as defined by the U.S. State Department. [. . .]
Many professors who would never help a terrorist group in any way would balk at answering questions such as these, which could be subject to interpretation or be used against professors who hold unpopular views. [Robert O'Neil, of the American Association of University Professors] also noted that there is not always broad agreement on which groups are terroristic and that asking professors whom they have persuaded to hold certain views is antithetical to academic values in many ways. [. . .]
Another flaw in the new law, [O'Neil] said, is that it won’t work. Would a terrorist committed to mass murder really lose sleep over giving a false answer on an Ohio form? “Real terrorists are not going to be deterred by this. If you have someone bent on infiltrating a state agency, it’s not going to do anything,” he said. All the new form does, he added, is create problems for “conscientious academics.”
"Terrorist groups as defined by the U.S. State Department"...like, for example, Greenpeace, Earth First!, and the Cuban government. And, hell, I don't know, probably the National Lawyers Guild and Planned Parenthood and Amnesty and the freakin' Democratic Party, too. Awesome. ¶ 1:29 PM
