More on CIA photo blackout at UH-Hilo
Saturday, March 10, 2007 at 09:46AM 
A CIA recruiter speaks to a student at Georgia Tech University.The Honolulu Star-Bulletin's Big Island reporter, Rod Thompson, writes about Thursday's CIA lecture at UH-Hilo in today's edition of the newspaper. Thompson talked to university vice chancellor Keith Miser and university law professor John Van Dyke in an interesting take on the issue which leaves me with several observations and questions:
Miser said taking photos of individuals on campus has been banned on other occasions but he gives no examples. Could he offer any?
And Thompson seems to allow Van Dyke to skirt the issue, which is not whether the recruiter has a right to visit the campus. No one has questioned that. But Van Dyke suggested that, "as a practical matter, the CIA probably has the power to insist on what it wants," citing a Supreme Court decision that allows military recruiters on university campuses.
Any attempt by the University of Hawaii to impose conditions on CIA recruiters could create the risk of a similar loss of funds," Van Dyke said.
That's quite a leap of logic for the law professor to make. Maintaining the freedom to report what happens on the campus is not imposing a "condition" on the recruiter. In fact it's the other way around. The recruiter was imposing a condition on the university, which in this case university officials were overly eager to accommodate.
CIA recruiter Beth Barnes speaks to a student at the University of Texas
A CIA recruiter speaks with students at Longwood University.Finally, Miser said it is the CIA's "practice" to ban photographs of its employees. But here (above) is a photo with a CNN story that clearly identifies a CIA recruiter at a job fair. Here's another one (left) taken at a Longwood University job fair. And here's another CIA recruiter, Beth Barnes (right), speaking to a student at a University of Texas job fair.
So I'm left wondering, what "practice," exactly, was Miser was talking about?
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Reader Comments (11)
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2007/Mar-10-Sat-2007/opinion/
Sad example of a Stephens Media editorial. No wonder they suck.
Anson,
I agree, sounds like William Ing may be left out to dry.
Of all people, this man has the most unimposing presence and uses total professional courtesy with a camera.
If I'd been there with my scruff and sticking my beat-up Nikon in people's faces, well, that would need discussing. But that's not the way Will Ing works.
You said it, Wankine, "somebody needed to feel like a real spy for a moment."
Interesting call, Rex.
...academia and local politics (from my own experience working in both) have some common qualities
... a storm-in-a-teacup drama is always astir, piddling power is sought for its own sake, ethics is something talked about for the public record and routinely ignored as a matter of convenience, honesty is a bothersome inconvenience, and self-promotion is everything.
None appear to have been in effect here. The UHH officials apparently were making up their own rules as they went along. Totally illegal in this 3rd Circuit.
James...We are in agreement once again. This has become a bit of a habit. Life is so much nicer when we can be ourselves with out misunderstanding of Political misconseptions getting in the way! Everyone has them, but we need to get past them. We seem to be doing some of that right here! Wow!