Unfortunately, we didn't get rid of all the Nazi's at Nuremberg and created our own homegrown agency.

One wishes the USA a brighter future with a new president, but it would be very naive to blame
it all on the president or the
presidents men and women. Please dig deeper.

Remember that we have a Constitution that, for me and many others in the USA, stands taller and more solidly than international law. So long as these students are allowed within the country without initial warning, they have a right to education at any level they can afford and accomplish. Keeping them in the country because they have great minds is not freedom. If we give a student early warning, thus giving them awareness of the "risk", that's one thing. Surprising them with such a rule after the education has been achieved is another. Their education cannot be "removed". In many ways, this relates to keeping someone in the country because he has chosen to have a kidney removed. The action cannot be undone. Authorities in charge of monitoring such activities were not made aware of any potential legal problems. The situation with the students is of greater magnitude than a kidney, but the principle is the same.

Faculty and advisors should have quite an awareness of these students. Perhaps their opinions should be considered, unless they too are "security threats".

One question to ask: Is development the TWIC based on national creativity or or does it originate from international rules?

The constitution of the United States of America states that the rule of international law becomes the law of the land. All agreements are thus law, and that includes the Geneva convention (which was mostly written by the US anyway).

International law was written to prevent another world war and give a framework for civilized discourse. The United States ignores that law at its peril, especially in the current economic situation.

Why should we care about this discrimination against these "smart" foreign students? The union people (US citizens no less) have to go through the same process. Where's the uproar there?

http://www.tsa.gov/press/releases/2008/0124.shtm

So, because someone is studying science they cant possibly be a threat?

DHS is tasked with identifying threats. I think one of the 911 terrorists, M Atta, was an engineer.

How clueless for academic community to think they are beyond involvement in terrorism. quite the opposite.

The most successful terrorist attacks were effectively perpetrated by highly cultured and educated people.

Any criticism of DHS should be specific to the cases.

We should care about discrimination against these smart foreign students because treatment like this will only cause other students to think twice about doing graduate work in the US.

Like it or not, a big part of our technological dominance comes from students like these. If we mistreat them, they will choose to study somewhere else, and in the end, the US economy will be what suffers.

I do not want non-US citizens to have access to this information. I don't think there is anything wrong in denying such access.

The USA needs to protect itself from groups such as the perpetrators of the 911 disaster.

But at the same time the American people need to protect ourselves from corruption within our own government, such as we've seen recently, with the ongoing court cases against officials in Bush administration.

The academic community is so ridiculously simplistic politically.

It may be time to face reality, a reality where there are some very bad people masquerading as harmless scientists.

The problem with the threat assessment is our inability to access the parameter or the database the judgment is based on. We will have to assume that it is fair and hopefully the person who made the decision is neither paranoid or have a god complex.

Huh?
"We should care about discrimination against these smart foreign students because treatment like this will only cause other students to think twice about doing graduate work in the US."

1. We all have to get TWIC cards in the transportation industry. I have to get one, I'm a US citizen and am in the military.

2. We shouldn't make these foreign students pass what we require for ourselves? How does that make any sense? Just to keep them coming? How do you tell the good from the bad?

3. Plain and simple is that these guys wanted to get on a vessel, which is regulated by the USCG. The USCG requires all mariners and commercial vessel personnel to carry a TWIC. If they don't want to go on the vessel, they dont need the TWIC, otherwise they do. There's no discrimination here....

Did you read? It simply states "Without the credential, the students will soon have a harder time boarding and leaving ships at U.S. ports." That means that they have to have their ID checked and have to look up their info in the computer.

What is this garbage about discrimination? I hope their office of admission used discrimination to separate the idiots...

Funny that thousands of Americans dies at the hands of other Americans each year because of guns and cars and yet we try to ban scientists.

We lose thousands more to an early death due to tobacco and junk food.

Apparently the current government doesn't understand what a Pareto chart is.

Let's fix real problems.