UK profs reject plan to spy on students

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

LONDON - A union of British academics voted unanimously to reject a government plan to tackle Islamic extremism in universities, likening the initiative to "witch hunts" that would single out Muslim students.

The University and College Union, which represents more than 120,000 British academics, agreed to the motion Wednesday at its inaugural conference in Bournemouth in southern England. The motion calls for members to "resist attempts by government to engage colleges and universities in activities which amount to increased surveillance of Muslim or other minority students and to the use of members of staff for such witch hunts."

The Department for Education set guidelines last year urging university staff to contact police to identify and isolate Muslim students suspected of being radicalized. The report included real-life cases, including students watching online bomb-making videos in college libraries and using prayer rooms for radical meetings.

Critics said the plan unfairly singled out Muslims for surveillance and threatened free speech and academic freedom.

"Lecturers want to teach students," said Sally Hunt, general secretary of the union. "If they wanted to police them, they would have joined the force."



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070601/ap_on_re_eu/britain_professors_spying

[EFerrari]

1. Holy cow. I can't even believe this terrible idea got this far.

:wow:

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Oxford, Cambridge, University of St. Andrews.

I can't see consummate academics at these institutions "turning in" students that the government wants.

[dave_p]

3. Blair's vision of Britain

It's typical of the little creep & his minions - turn Britain into a frightened little clone of Bush's "security"-fixated nightmare state. Good to see profs saying no to this, though I suspect selection processes will keep the problem out of the top universities: it's the poorer ones that have the difficulties, reflecting the community around them, but spying on the brightest those communities have to offer is a poor substitute for getting the investment in education to turn them around.

[The2ndWheel]

5. Britain is well ahead of us with the security state

[jody]

4. Would those profs have refused to report Cho Seung-Hui who murdered so many at VT? n/t