Category Archives: Education
FBI: American Universities Infected by Foreign Spies
Growing signs of spying on U.S. universities are alarming national security officials. As schools become more global in their locations and student populations, their culture of openness and international collaboration makes them increasingly vulnerable to theft of research conducted for the government and industry.
“We have intelligence and cases indicating that U.S. universities are indeed a target of foreign intelligence services,” Frank Figliuzzi, Federal Bureau of Investigation assistant director for counterintelligence, said in a February interview in the bureau’s Washington headquarters.
Bringing this into focus locally, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University are large research universities attracting many, many foreign students in graduate and undergraduate studies.
ASU President Michael Crow is a member of the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board, established by the FBI and CIA in 2005. “It’s all a little perplexing and overwhelming,” he said. “We’re in the business of trying to recruit more students from China. We’re operating at a total openness mode, while we recognize there are people working beyond the rules to acquire information.”
Maricopa School Mocks Pledge of Allegiance
The following message came from the East Valley Tea Party Patriots’ email today:
My cousin’s daughter gets mocked by the teacher and the students for standing during the Pledge of Allegiance at Maricopa High School.
My cousin posted the following on facebook tonight so I offered to help him.
Post 1
Post 2
I am so upset about it. The teacher then asked her to stay after class to talk about it and it embarrassed her even more. She wrote her feelings, her precious heart could not say what she felt, and she hated the feeling of the class and now he wants to try to take her to the counselor to ‘talk’ about it.
Post 3
I am very proud of my daughters. They have had many experiences to be one of the few or the only one to stand in many situations for honorable values and standards.
Please join me in calling Maricopa High School at (520)568-5100 to let them know what you think. Remember to be courteous and polite but firm. The Teachers name is Mr. Almond.
Thank you, Greg.
Radicals Attack CAP: Let’s Clear a Few Things Up
By Cathi Herod, President
Center for Arizona Policy
What a week. I don’t know if I’ve ever witnessed such baseless and false attacks on CAP-supported bills as I saw this week. While I understand that it may be more entertaining for some to blatantly lie about legislation, the people deserve to know the truth.
So I’m going to clear a few things up about CAP-supported bills and other issues that have been misconstrued in the press and liberal blogs this week.
HB 2625 - This simple bill protects the religious freedom of faith-based groups and other employers. No employer should be forced by the government to pay for contraception and abortifacients in their insurance plans when doing so would violate their First Amendment protected religious beliefs. The media has falsely picked up the opponents’ outrageous claims that the bill would force women to tell employers why they are taking birth control pills. Read the bill. That claim is not in the bill.
Center for Arizona Policy does not take a position on family planning or birth control. We do, however take a very strong position that faith-based institutions and employers who hold a religious belief regarding contraception should not be compelled to violate those beliefs and pay for the medication.
The bill’s sponsor, Representative Debbie Lesko has done an incredible job in numerous media interviews explaining this point, like this interview with Greta Van Sustren. Take a moment to thank Rep. Lesko by emailing her at: dlesko@azleg.gov?subject=Thank%20You!
SB 1359 - Sponsored by Sen. Nancy Barto, this legislation is based on common sense and decency. It prohibits “wrongful life” and “wrongful birth” lawsuits. These lawsuits arise when a child is born with a disability, and the parents sue the doctor claiming that had they known their child had a disability, they would have had an abortion.
These lawsuits endorse the viewpoint that the life of a disabled child is worth less than the life of a child without a disability. Imagine what the children of the parents who file these lawsuits must feel when they get older and find out that their parents sued because they wish they would have had an abortion.
The attacks on this bill have truly been far-fetched. Some blogs claimed that this bill would allow doctors to knowingly withhold information from parents. Untrue. This bill does nothing to protect doctors that cause harm to preborn children, withhold information, or are grossly negligent.
Bullying, Part Two. Perhaps you’ve seen the attacks on me and CAP this week regarding the anti-bullying legislation I wrote about last week. I’ve been called a “legislative terrorist” and I’m sure a few other names by the time you read this.
While most of the attacks do not warrant a response, I do want to address one false statement made by State Senator David Schapira. He has claimed multiple times that I said SB 1462 is a “back door gay bill, no pun intended.” I would never say something so crass. Sen. Schapira — disagree with me if you want. But stop telling lies about what I supposedly said.
Click here to see a Channel 12 news clip attacking us for our position then click here to read the statement I issued to the press in response.
Pornographers coming to Arizona? – Several of you have written me recently about the California pornography industry threatening to come to Arizona because of new regulations in Los Angeles.
What wasn’t mentioned is the huge roadblock in their way: filming pornography in Arizona violates our prostitution laws.
Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery sent a clear message to pornographers this week when he released a statement explaining how virtually all of those involved in pornography could be subject to felony charges:
Under Arizona law, anyone paid to appear in a pornographic movie may be guilty of the crime of prostitution, which carries mandatory jail time as well as the possibility of other penalties. Furthermore, anyone involved in other aspects of producing pornographic movies, including soliciting individuals to appear, collecting a fee from the monies received by individuals solicited to appear by virtue of an agent relationship, transporting individuals from California to Arizona for the purpose of appearing in a pornographic movie, and/or establishing a venue for the filming and/or production of pornographic movies may be guilty of committing one or several felonies in the state of Arizona. Accordingly, Arizona law precludes the establishment of a “pornography industry” to any degree such as that present in California.
You can read his full statement here. After you read it, take a moment to thank Mr. Montgomery for standing up to the pornography industry.
Maricopa Community College Blocks Free Speech, Draws Lawsuit
A news release issued today by the Alliance Defense Fund says ADF attorneys asked a federal court to immediately halt a Maricopa Community College policy that puts unconstitutional burdens on visitors if they wish to engage in free speech on the Arizona system’s campuses. The motion was filed as part of a lawsuit filed on Dec. 29 in which ADF attorneys argue that charging fees, requiring an insurance payment, and demanding a two-week advance notice is unconstitutional.
The lawsuit came about after Mesa resident Ryan Arneson was unable to express his Christian beliefs on the campus of South Mountain Community College because of the college system’s burdensome requirements. ADF attorneys originally wrote to MCC officials about the problem in May of last year.
“Free speech is protected by the First Amendment, which means it can’t come with a price tag and a burdensome waiting period,” said ADF Litigation Staff Counsel Jonathan Scruggs. “The courts have routinely ruled policies like this one unconstitutional. Christians visiting public college campuses shouldn’t be deterred from expressing their beliefs because of cumbersome, unconstitutional policies.”
At the beginning of last year, Arneson inquired of an official at South Mountain Community College as to what he must do in order to peacefully share his faith on campus by handing out literature and speaking with willing passers-by as he had done in two previous years without incident. Unlike in previous years, the official instructed Arneson to abide by the college’s solicitation policy even though he is only an individual wishing to engage in individual expression.
The policy requires private individuals and groups alike to pay a minimum $50 fee, pay for insurance, and submit a request form and proof of insurance 14 days prior to visiting campus.
Chris Stovall of Phoenix, one of nearly 2,100 attorneys in the ADF alliance, is serving as local counsel in the lawsuit, Arneson v. Maricopa Community College District, filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.
The motion for preliminary injunction filed Tuesday asks the court to suspend the MCC policy while the lawsuit moves forward.
