Articles archive: Censorship, Security and Privacy
These are just as I received them: the contents (semantics) are unchanged, though
I sometimes make format adjustments and typo corrections.
I've no idea about the truth or otherwise in these cases.
Item: Internet Censorship Spreads to the University of Louisville
Date: Mon, 19 Dec 1994 17:31:51 -0800
From: Paul Trummel
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CONTRA CABAL 5(3):
Internet Censorship Spreads to the University of Louisville
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If vicious people unite and form a technological power,
then honest people must do the same.
Rephrase of a quotation by:
Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoi (1828-1910)
War and Peace (1865-1869)
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The precensorship of CONTRA CABAL by Elliott S. Parker, Central
Michigan University (CMU), and the subsequent cover-up by
President Donald C. Swain, with his Attorney, Thomas H. Lyons,
University of Louisville (UL), has national implications. Both
precensorship and censorship construe as a contravention of
rights granted under the First Amendment to the Constitution of
the United States. Despite the constitution, censorship of the
Internet has become common in the academe. This directly
prejudices students (clients of the university) who pay high
tuition. It also impacts upon those faculty members who try to
maintain high ethical standards under incredibly totalitarian
circumstances. The case reported here exemplifies those
circumstances.
Parker (CMU), precensored the CONTRA CABAL article
"Public Intellectualism or Public Fraud?" from the Internet. His
first response to the article provides evidence of this, and his
subsequent messages show, that he has denied access to listserv
list (see archive.parker). He acquiesces in a stream of
obscenity written by a verminous minority of the journalists who
post to . Moreover, his subliterate discourse probably
identifies him with those journalists [see
archive.parker.obscenity].
Lyons (UL) has sent an intimidating letter to the editor
of CONTRA CABAL. It supports the precensorship by both Parker and
James Cocks (a computer administrator at UL) [see
archive.parker]. Swain, Lyons, and Thomas Sawyer (Assistant Vice
President for Information Technology, (UL)) continue to aid and
abet both Parker and Cocks by a cover-up.
More importantly, this cover-up displays a blatant
disregard for the right of free speech. Apparently, Swain, Lyons,
and Sawyer support totalitarianism: a pernicious evil that
becomes more prevalent in the academe each day. Consequently, the
assertions here do not relate to the behavioral dysfunction of
individuals like Parker and Cocks. They relate to high-level
political expediency and a new kind of cultist totalitarianism
disguised as political correctness. Its proponents deny free
speech to those who do not conform to political correctness, or
what one may define as "new totalitarianism." This column also
addresses the apparent and implicit support given to this
totalitarian ideology by three university presidents:
R. Byron Pipes, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
Leonard E. Plachta, Central Michigan University (CMU)
Donald C. Swain, University of Louisville (UL)
These presidents use creative inertia to avoid answering
personally addressed correspondence. Both Pipes and Swain, use
their attorneys in endeavors to silence those who protest.
Especially, they have used irrational and preemptive action to
undermine the public's right to know about academic fraud in the
Department of Language, Literature, and Communication, Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute (LLC/RPI).
A dispute over censorship by an administrator, presently
raging at Carnegie Mellon University, has attracted international
attention. The excellent article, by Thomas J. DeLoughry (The
Chronicle of Higher Education, November 16, 1994 (ppA22,A24))
contains a discussion about the recent Carnegie Mellon affair. It
provides another perspective on the precensorship and censorship
reported in CONTRA CABAL.
The failure of Swain to answer personal correspondence,
and his use of an attorney to intimidate the sender, typifies the
behavior of Pipes (RPI). Many university presidents now employ
legal whores to threaten whistle-blowers when they report
wrongdoing. The law presently bars reprisals against those who
expose university corruption; however, many academic whistle-
blowers frequently face retaliation by harassment, expulsion, and
destruction of their careers.
Fortunately, this type of behavior may soon decline. The
federal Commission on Research Integrity may soon produce a
Whistle Blowers Bill of Rights. Subsequently, the Commission will
mandate that all government contracts with universities contain
this Bill of Rights. This document will instruct administrators
how they must deal with people who present evidence of academic
fraud. Pipes now ignores the existing laws and allows his
provost, Gary Judd, to retaliate against whistle-blowers by
forgery and expulsion without due process. He also condones other
retaliatory measures used by Judd to cover up the academic fraud
endemic in several departments at Rensselaer. Rensselaer receives
both direct and indirect federal funding. They also blatantly
subvert existing law and deny due process to both students and
faculty members in attempts to cover up malfeasance. Hopefully,
the new rules will prevent institutions like Rensselaer from
receiving federal research support in the future. Read the
article by Stephen Burd (The Chronicle of Higher Education,
December 14, 1994 (pA30)).
Like Pipes, Swain has chosen to cover up the criminal
activity described in CONTRA CABAL. Like Pipes, Swain has
absurdly chosen to try and suppress Internet information. Like
Pipes, Swain has delegated his problem to a legal hack rather
than accept the responsibilities of his position. Like Pipes,
Swain has neglected to diligently investigate a complaint that
seriously affects both academic and journalistic freedom.
Moreover, Swain's neglect shows his contempt (prior to
any independent investigation) for the constitutional right to
freedom of speech. He implicitly condones the criminal activity
at Rensselaer. He continues to allow his staff to suppress
information vital to public awareness of academic fraud. He aids
and abets his employees who censor the Internet to prevent
disclosure of information that he considers politically
incorrect. No wonder that many students and members of the public
(who pay exorbitant tuition to support academic scams) now place
some university presidents at the same ethical level as most of
their attorneys: one level below various car salesmen and
prostitutes.
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The description of the Technical and Graphic Communication
program, propagandized by the Department of Language, Literature,
and Communication, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, blatantly
misrepresents the actual offering. Merrill D. Whitburn, LLC/RPI
Chair, has neither qualified faculty members nor resources to
support the program that he describes. Those students who
consider enrollment in LLC/RPI programs may write to CONTRA CABAL
for information about the corruption and fraud prevalent in that
department. Many have already taken advantage of this opportunity
and decided to enroll in more ethical programs at other
universities.
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CONTRA CABAL has an estimated 100,000 international readers on
the Internet and several newspapers have republished either
complete articles or segments. The publisher encourages
electronic copying and forwarding of articles if the copyright
information remains intact. However, he retains the copyright and
expressly denies the right to convert the articles into any form
of printed medium without prior permission. Send requests for
permission to the publisher by email or fax.
Paul Trummel, Managing Editor and Publisher.
Email: trummel@u.washington.edu
Fax: 01-206-227-9486
Copyright 1994 by Paul Trummel. All rights reserved.
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