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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2003 Harsh Response to PATRIOT II Act Red Hat Earns Government Certification AND EDUCAUSE Broadens Criteria for Obtaining .edu Addresses MIT Lifts Race Restrictions on Summer Programs Increasing Restrictions Annoy and Frustrate Researchers Schools Moving to End Paper Records HARSH RESPONSE TO PATRIOT II ACT A leaked draft of the Domestic Security and Enhancement Act of 2003 has sparked an uproar among privacy groups and civil libertarians, as well as some members of Congress. The draft bill, a follow-up to the USA PATRIOT Act, expands the powers of the government to conduct surveillance, detain citizens, deport non-citizens, and use secret evidence. Included in the bill are provisions to create a DNA database of suspected terrorists and to allow the government to access credit reports without a subpoena. The so-called "PATRIOT II" bill was criticized by privacy advocates who said it "guts the Fourth Amendment." A spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union argued that the government should wait to enact more legislation, saying, "It doesn't make sense to expand their powers when we don't know how they are using the ones they've got." Patrick Leahy, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, expressed concerns over "the administration's lack of responsiveness to Congressional oversight." Leahy said, "As recently as just last week, Justice Department officials have denied to ... the Judiciary Committee that they were drafting another anti-terrorism package." Wired News, 12 February 2003 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,57636,00.html RED HAT EARNS GOVERNMENT CERTIFICATION The Advanced Server platform from Linux vendor Red Hat has been certified compliant with the Defense Department's Common Operating Environment (COE) standard. COE was created in 1993 to identify security and interoperability requirements for software used by the Defense Department, and Red Hat's certification marks the first such approval for a Linux product. Officials from Red Hat said the company worked for nearly a year to achieve the certification and that their success will address some lingering concerns over "the enterprise-readiness of open source software." Analysts agreed, saying the COE certification will reassure many businesses that might otherwise have been reluctant to use Linux products. NewsFactor Network, 12 February 2003 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/20742.html AND ***************************************************** EDUCAUSE BROADENS CRITERIA FOR OBTAINING .EDU ADDRESSES Responding to comments it received last year, EDUCAUSE in April will expand eligibility requirements for obtaining a name in the domain to include any institution accredited by national and specialized accrediting agencies. Currently the domain is limited to institutions accredited by one of six regional agencies, which offer accreditation to most traditional colleges and universities. Under the new rules, schools that are accredited by organizations on the U.S. Department of Education's list of Nationally Recognized Accrediting Agencies will be able to apply for Internet names in the .edu domain. These agencies often offer accreditation to institutions and programs dedicated to more specialized areas of study, such as health professions or technology. Steven Worona of EDUCAUSE said that most of the comments submitted during the comment period on the policy change supported expanding the requirements. The U.S. Department of Commerce, which has final jurisdiction over the domain, approved the recommended change, which was submitted in November. Chronicle of Higher Education, 12 February 2003 http://chronicle.com/free/2003/02/2003021201t.htm MIT LIFTS RACE RESTRICTIONS ON SUMMER PROGRAMS Fearing a legal challenge, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will accept students of all races in two summer math and science programs created for minority students. Geared to high school students and incoming freshman, the programs have enrolled only African-American, Hispanic, and Native-American students since their inception. Two conservative groups, the Center for Equal Opportunity and the American Civil Rights Institute, are forcing the policy change, having argued in a letter to MIT that the current policy does not "square with the law" under Title VI of the civil rights code. The groups plan to investigate race-based programs and policies at Cornell and other universities, although no other complaints have been filed to date. The letter to MIT was prompted by the mother of a white high school student who wanted to enter one of the programs. Robert Redwine, dean of undergraduate education, wants to continue MIT�s commitment to serving minority students, but feels the university �had no choice� in the matter. New York Times, 11 February 2003 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/12/education/12MIT.html INCREASING RESTRICTIONS ANNOY AND FRUSTRATE RESEARCHERS As concerns grow over U.S. national security, citizens of other countries are having increasing difficulty entering the United States as students and researchers, frustrating academics and stalling some research projects. Everett I. Mendelsohn, a professor at Harvard University, relayed a story about students trying to attend Harvard who grew so frustrated with attempts to obtain visas that they decided to study in Paris instead. Brendan O'Brien of Cornell University said delays with visas have prevented 15 Cornell students from returning since going home for the holidays. In another case, two physicians from Bangladesh were supposed to have entered the United States to conduct research at Cornell. One arrived on schedule in September, but the other man remains in Bangladesh after his visa, which had been approved, somehow vanished. Researchers involved in the Cornell project have appealed to their Congressman for assistance. In the meantime, officials say a lot of time-sensitive research is at risk. The Scientist, 11 February 2003 http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20030211/04 SCHOOLS MOVING TO END PAPER RECORDS Oak Park High School in California is using a new system to transmit student transcripts electronically to colleges and universities. Other high schools around the country are using similar systems from different vendors, all in an effort to eliminate the printing, signing, certifying, and mailing of paper transcripts. Some schools in Texas and Florida tried electronic transcripts more than 10 years ago, but those efforts succumbed to high costs and complicated applications. The system that Oak Park is using, which roughly 100 colleges and universities have agreed to accept, is free for high schools and charges students $3 per transcript ordered electronically. Other projects are under way in Colorado, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania. Replacing paper transcripts is generally seen as the way of the future. Los Angeles Times, 11 February 2003 (registration req'd) http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/759908p-5485796c.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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