By Sarah Walkling
October 23, 2002

This is the third in a series of reports outlining how the war on terrorism has affected federal policy involving research universities. The first report dealt with upcoming changes in the way all student visas will be processed and tracked; the
second looked at the narrower issue of access by foreign students to sensitive areas of study.

More than a year later, the shockwaves of the tragic events of September 11 continue to raise questions about how Americans should carry on with their lives while both preventing future terrorist attacks and preserving the freedoms and values so unique to the United States. Nowhere is this more obvious than in recent debates over the delicate balance between openness in scientific research and national security. Reflecting the pressing importance of this issue, a congressional committee heard views of both sides at a hearing earlier this month.

The issue of balance between academic freedom and national security has arisen several times in American history. After World War II, physicists agreed to keep a lid on nuclear fission and microwave research. In the mid-1970s, the National Security Agency pressured cryptographers to pull papers on new algorithms. In the late 1990s, the Department of Energy experienced high-profile security lapses at its national laboratories. This spring, following criticism from researchers, the Pentagon backed away (at least for the time being) from efforts to impose new controls on basic research funded by the Department of Defense. Most recently, the Department of Agriculture asked the National Academy of Sciences to put an Read more