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Vol. 73/No. 27      July 20, 2009

 
Obama wants to recruit
more spies from campus
 
BY DOUG NELSON  
As part of its 2010 intelligence authorization bill, President Barack Obama’s administration has proposed establishing a recruitment and training program for spies on university and college campuses modeled on the military’s Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC).

A major focus of the program, according to the director of national intelligence, would be to recruit “first- and second-generation Americans, who already have critical language and cultural knowledge, and prepare them for careers in the intelligence agencies.”

Students in the program would receive financial assistance, which could include “a monthly stipend, tuition assistance, book allowances, and travel expenses.” Similar to the ROTC program, students would be required to work at an agency, such as the CIA or National Security Agency (NSA), for the same number of years as they received financial aid.

Students would apply for the program, often on recommendations from professors with longstanding ties to spy agencies. Their participation in the program would be kept secret from other faculty and students.

In addition to taking college courses geared toward their future career, students would receive training at summer internships with one or more spy agency—and maybe get some “practice” spying on individuals and organizations on campus itself.

Another aspect of the program would subsidize tuition for current spies to return to school and study languages or other subjects to strengthen their abilities.

The proposed program expands, makes permanent, and provides regular funding to two pilot programs established under the Bush administration in 2004.

The NSA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) are also expanding the number of schools that participate in Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) programs. The programs provide full scholarships and stipends to students in information technology, language, and other studies in return for tracking them into jobs with spy agencies.

Currently 106 colleges and universities have CAE programs funded either by the NSA or the ODNI. The ODNI plans to double the number of “Centers of Academic Excellence” it funds by 2015.
 
 
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