homeland security

There's a great (and scary) article in The Nation today about how homeland security has invaded our higher education system and altered the face of political participation on campus through the use of "free speech" zones, tasers, hidden cameras and data mining techniques. It's pretty scare and well worth a read.

Two comments on this. First, this goes directly to what I've said in response to statements by Boomers like Al Gore and Thomas Freidman that young people today aren't political enough and aren't radical enough, and generally fail to live up to the legacy of the 60's. As this article thoroughly details, campuses are a very different place now than they were when Boomer were growing up, and the consequences of radical political action are MUCH higher. The Boomers have completely disincentivized the kinds of activism they use a a yardstick for measuring political action.

Second, government interference on campus isn't necessarily a new thing. When I was studying Russian in college, I heard many stories from my professors about how, at the height of the Cold War, the government had plants in graduate programs, keeping an eye out for potential "Reds." Also, let's not forget that the United States Student Association started out with funding from the CIA. What's different now is the degree of interference and the consequences brought down on students who fail to abide by new guidelines.