[1299] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Bush Administration May Bar Some International Students From
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Peter Shulman)
Mon Apr 15 11:19:54 2002
Message-ID: <200204151519.LAA03820@che-master.merit.edu>
Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 11:19:12 -0400
From: Peter Shulman <skip@MIT.EDU>
To: MIT-Talk@MIT.EDU
This article from The Chronicle of Higher Education
(http://chronicle.com) was forwarded to you from: skip@mit.edu
_________________________________________________________________
The following message was enclosed:
This article is from today's Chronicle of Higher Education,
the world's primary trade journal for issues and news
affecting colleges and universities.
The issue is a report requested by the Bush administration
that just came out, suggesting that foreign nations be limited
in the fields they can study in America -- fields that might
be applied to the construction of weapons of mass destruction.
Given the broad nature of education required for such an
endeavor, this has worried many administrators that non-US
citizens might be barred from courses in nuclear engineering,
chemical engineering, computer engineering, etc....
I know there are a lot of issues that pop up on this list that
affect parts of the MIT community -- and those should
definitely continue.
But think of the makeup of your classes -- restrictions like
this could devastate MIT, and other research institutions like
it.
I'd welcome anyone's thoughts on this -- or suggestions on how
to respond.
I suspect that MIT administrators are already working against
this (any admins on this list care to respond?), but I suspect
writing to your Congress(wo)man, Senators, or executive
agencies might be a start.
--**Peter
_________________________________________________________________
Monday, April 15, 2002
Bush Administration May Bar Some International Students From
'Sensitive' Academic Fields
By STEPHEN BURD
President Bush is considering barring some international
students from studying in certain academic fields, including
areas that have a "direct application to the development and
use of weapons of mass destruction," according to
administration documents.
Since November, a committee made up of officials from the
White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy and
representatives from several cabinet-level departments has
held meetings to discuss whether there are "sensitive courses
of study" from which foreigners should be restricted.
Those talks, from which college officials have been excluded,
have alarmed educators, who are worried that they are going to
be required to restrict foreign students on their campuses
from taking courses in fields like nuclear technology,
chemical engineering, biotechnology, advanced computer
technology, and robotics.
"People on campus are as concerned as all Americans are about
the prospect of another terrorist attack," says Sarah A.
Flanagan, vice president for government relations at the
National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
"But in protecting ourselves, we should not be giving up the
very freedoms that we are fighting to protect."
College officials are pressing the administration to include
them in the discussions. "We understand that they are talking
about national-security issues and that some of these
discussions have to take place in secret," says George
Leventhal, a policy analyst with the Association of American
Universities, which represents more than 60 research
universities in the United States and Canada. "But if the
government is going to issue a new policy that affects
universities, clearly universities want to be consulted
first."
Administration officials on the panel say that they are
keeping the concerns of colleges in mind.
"We're working very hard to balance the needs of enhancing
homeland security with our recognition of the valuable
contributions that international students make to our academic
communities," says Jim Griffin, the assistant director for
social and behavioral sciences at the White House
science-policy office.
President Bush created the panel on October 29, when he issued
a presidential directive on homeland security, the subject of
which was "Combating Terrorism Through Immigration Policies."
The directive states, "The government shall implement measures
to end the abuse of student visas and prohibit certain
international students from receiving education and training
in sensitive areas, including areas of study with direct
application to the development and use of weapons of mass
destruction."
In his directive, the president does not identify any specific
areas of study that would be problematic, but instead calls
for the creation of "an interagency working group" to do so.
The panel is made up of leaders from the science-policy
office, the U.S. Office of Homeland Security, and the Justice
and State Departments, as well as other law-enforcement,
intelligence, and counter-intelligence officials. Also
participating in the discussions are representatives from the
National Institutes of Health, the National Science
Foundation, and the Departments of Education and Energy.
In addition to identifying sensitive courses, the panel is
also directed to recommend ways that the federal government
can better screen applicants for student visas and more
closely monitor foreign students who enter the country.
College officials and lobbyists say that the government should
focus its efforts on trying to make it harder for terrorists
to get into the United States, rather than trying to limit the
educational options of foreign students who have been
permitted to attend colleges in the country.
"Universities want to work with the administration to support
the efforts to keep dangerous people out of the country in the
first place," says Mr. Leventhal. "Persons who pose a real
security threat to the United States should not be granted a
student visa."
College officials say that the administration needs to keep in
mind the contributions that many foreign students in this
country have made to their fields. Ms. Flanagan wonders
whether it is really in the country's interest to shut foreign
students out of certain courses. "Suppose we had not let
[Secretary General] Kofi Annan [of the United Nations] or the
king of Jordan study in this country," she says. "How would
they feel about us now?"
Some university officials also note that in certain scientific
fields, universities heavily depend on foreign students and
would not be able to fill their classrooms without them. "A
major issue for our nation is that our native-born students
are not sufficiently interested or are not being inspired to
pursue science and engineering degrees," M.R.C. Greenwood,
chancellor of the University of California at Santa Cruz,
said at a meeting of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science on Thursday. "If we block access to
foreign students, who is going to do the research of the
future, and who will be our faculty of the future?"
Mr. Griffin says that the panel's members understand that the
United States "has benefited greatly" from the presence of
international students and that the government will continue
to foster and support foreign students.
The panel is planning to release a policy document soon, Mr.
Griffin says, outlining its recommendations. Among them, he
says, is one that will call on the administration to consult
"the academic and scientific communities" before putting in
place any new policies.
The college groups worry, however, that they will be consulted
too late to have any influence on the policy. The Association
of American Universities and the American Council on Education
are expected to send a letter this week to the Bush
administration asking for greater involvement in the
discussions.
_________________________________________________________________
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http://chronicle.com/free/2002/04/2002041501n.htm
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Copyright 2002 by The Chronicle of Higher Education
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