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U.S. Response I: MIT Faculty Urges Balance Between Freedom, Security A Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty committee has proposed guidelines to help the university maintain educational openness in the face of increasing pressure to limit access to information and materials in the interests of national security, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, June 12). The recommendations include confining classified research to off-campus locations, refusing to keep on campus documents restricted to only U.S. students, establishing a permanent faculty committee to monitor and respond to restrictions on scientific research and refusing contracts that require government prescreening of research results. The committee also suggested moving some biological research programs to a separate off-campus site. MIT administrators must now consider the proposed policy. The proposal is “an important first step,” said Bruce Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences. “Other universities will need to take a close look at it to see what new policies they need to protect faculty and students in the new, security-conscious environment.” The United States has restricted access to scientific information in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Congress passed two measures in October that include restrictions on handling biological agents often used by university researchers (see GSN, May 31). In addition, the Defense Department attempted to require scientists to gain official approval before publishing certain research (see GSN, May 9), although the department later pulled back the measure (Michael Fletcher, Washington Post, June 14).
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