Event tackles secrecy issues
Sunshine Week includes teleconference on national topics
Adrian Northrup
Issue date: 3/13/06 Section: Campus News
Librarians are concerned about government secrecy, while UW-Eau Claire students seem to have mixed concerns, assistant professor of library services Leslie Foster said.
The McIntyre Library, in conjunction with the communication and journalism department, is hosting Sunshine Week, an annual event that calls attention to the secrecy in the United States government, Foster said.
The teleconference "Are We Safer in the Dark? A Dialogue on Open Government and Secrecy," will be held today from noon to 1:30 p.m. in McIntyre Library.
The interactive teleconference will be broadcast from the National Press Club in Washington D.C., and the conference will feature experts in a variety of fields ranging from prominent attorneys to journalism professors, Foster said.
The group of professionals will discuss different topics such as the Freedom of Information Act, how 9/11 impacted the amount of information available to the public and the public's ability to plan for national disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.
UW-Eau Claire is the only Wisconsin location for the teleconference, Foster said.
She said the Freedom of Information Act discussion is the most relevant to Eau Claire students.
Foster said she has worked in the government publications section of McIntyre Library for several decades and has noticed a decrease of information readily available to the public.
Foster cited information being removed from several government Web sites. She said the information topics varied from women's health issues like abortion and birth control, to education like the "No Child Left Behind" Act.
"It's very dangerous if government muzzles the experts," she said.
Associate professor in McIntyre Library Jill Markgraf said she has seen Library Jill Markgraf said she has seen a definite and documented declination in information available to the public.
"Since 2001, there has been an 81 percent increase of information that has been classified," she said. "There has also been an increase of information reclassified."
The McIntyre Library, in conjunction with the communication and journalism department, is hosting Sunshine Week, an annual event that calls attention to the secrecy in the United States government, Foster said.
The teleconference "Are We Safer in the Dark? A Dialogue on Open Government and Secrecy," will be held today from noon to 1:30 p.m. in McIntyre Library.
The interactive teleconference will be broadcast from the National Press Club in Washington D.C., and the conference will feature experts in a variety of fields ranging from prominent attorneys to journalism professors, Foster said.
The group of professionals will discuss different topics such as the Freedom of Information Act, how 9/11 impacted the amount of information available to the public and the public's ability to plan for national disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.
UW-Eau Claire is the only Wisconsin location for the teleconference, Foster said.
She said the Freedom of Information Act discussion is the most relevant to Eau Claire students.
Foster said she has worked in the government publications section of McIntyre Library for several decades and has noticed a decrease of information readily available to the public.
Foster cited information being removed from several government Web sites. She said the information topics varied from women's health issues like abortion and birth control, to education like the "No Child Left Behind" Act.
"It's very dangerous if government muzzles the experts," she said.
Associate professor in McIntyre Library Jill Markgraf said she has seen Library Jill Markgraf said she has seen a definite and documented declination in information available to the public.
"Since 2001, there has been an 81 percent increase of information that has been classified," she said. "There has also been an increase of information reclassified."