Why IPASS may not work: barring foreign students from scientific study not `feasible,' say IPASS critics - Update

University Business, July-August, 2002 by Jean Marie Angelo

Some subjects are too sensitive for foreign students--scientific subjects, that is. Separate and apart from the revamped database that will track foreign students on U.S. campuses, the Bush administration has launched the Interagency Panel on Advanced Science and Security, or IPASS. The panel, made up of justice, law, science, and counter-intelligence officials, will determine, on a case-by-case basis, the science and technology subjects (such as nuclear engineering) that should be off-limits to certain foreign students. The ultimate goal is to keep student terrorists out of U.S. science departments.

Of course, the State Department already has the more than 10-year-old MANTIS program, which flags visa applications from foreign students who intend to study sensitive scientific subjects that are on the MANTIS "technology alert" list. But MANTIS isn't enough in the post-9/11 era, Bush and other officials have reasoned.

At first pass, though, IPASS has raised concerns in the academic community. Charles Vest, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, told the press that it would be "infeasible for universities to define areas of study that promote terrorism and fence them off." Some critics maintain foreign students are being unfairly targeted when American students who may wish to do harm still have access to controversial scientific data and research. Others question the approach altogether.

"I teach out of books that are readily available on Amazon.com and other places," Doug Jacobson, professor of computer engineering at the University of Iowa, told the media. "Not coming to class isn't going to stop them from learning the material."

Still, the subjects held off-limits aren't exactly Chemistry 101, points out Jon Fuller, senior fellow for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, which represents 1,000 IHEs. His association supports the new effort, albeit cautiously. In a letter to Tom Ridge, director of Homeland Security, three higher education associations (including the American Council on Education) affirmed their commitment to work closely with the government on the tracking database (SEVIS), and on making it harder for terrorists to study on U.S. campuses. The associations warn of problems with IPASS, however. "We are concerned that the fundamentally open character of our higher education system may make it impossible ... to restrict certain students already present in the country from gaining access that is made available to other students." Their proposed solution: Concentrate on preventing student terrorists from entering the country. That, in essence, puts the focus back on the State Department.