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Media Relations

Bloomington Herald-Times articles

Nov. 29, 2006

FBI ends inquiry into IU student's Web site; Legal troubles over, but Soghoian says he's angry at IU, government for lack of action
by Steve Hinnefeld
November 29, 2006

An Indiana University graduate student said he's relieved to be out of legal jeopardy, a month after the FBI raided his apartment and ordered him to take down a Web site that raised issues about airport security.

But the student, Chris Soghoian, said he remains frustrated that little is being done to correct the security flaws that he pointed out. And he is upset that IU didn't offer him legal help in a situation related to what he sees as legitimate research.

Soghoian, a doctoral student in IU's School of Informatics, said the government should have acted on the security flaws he identified, not threatened him with criminal charges.

"They shouldn't be shooting the messenger. They should be fixing the problems," he said.

The FBI raided Soghoian's Bloomington apartment and seized computers, equipment and papers Oct. 28, a day after Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., called for him to be arrested for creating a Web site that let people create fake airline boarding passes. Markey later withdrew the request.

Soghoian said Tuesday that the government stopped its investigation two weeks ago, and his passport and computers were returned. He had declined to talk publicly about the incident until this week.

Tim Morrison, assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, confirmed that Soghoian won't face charges. "There will not be any criminal charges filed as a result of this isolated incident from our office," he said.

Soghoian said he created the boarding-pass site to show how easy it is to buy an airline ticket using a false name, then create a fake boarding pass for security agents to check.

He said he turned to "a more interactive approach" to publicize the flaw because officials knew about it for three years without acting.

"My goal is not to embarrass people. It's to make airports safer," he said.

Soghoian said he is more concerned with another airline security problem, one having to do with the government's no-fly list. He said airlines will let passengers board without showing an ID if they submit to a more thorough personal search. So someone on the no-fly list could buy a ticket in a false name and board after refusing to show an ID.

"The no-fly list doesn't make us any safer," he said.

What it does, he said, is create an illusion of security and force Transportation Security Agency personnel to spend time policing the list when they could do more to screen passengers and bags for weapons.

Soghoian said he is grateful for support he received from IU professors, students and Internet security buffs, as well as free legal help from two experts, Washington, D.C., lawyer Stephen Braga and Stanford professor Jennifer Granick.

But he is upset that IU officials, as the situation developed, refused to provide legal help.

"They said, 'Look, you're on your own,'" he said.

He said that doesn't send a good message for a school that wants to be known for original research on computer security.

"If you want to be doing cutting-edge stuff, you need to bear the risk," he said. "They want the benefits but they don't want to accept the cost."

Beth Cate, associate general counsel for the university, said Soghoian's case didn't qualify for legal representation under a policy adopted by the board of trustees. The policy says IU will pay legal fees for a person acting as a "trustee, director, officer, agent or employee" of the university.

"In the circumstances of what Chris did, he simply didn't come within the scope of that," Cate said.

IU spokesman Larry MacIntyre said officials monitored the situation and balanced their responsibility to Soghoian as a student with concern for the interests of the university.

Soghoian said he is working on an academic paper about airport security with his adviser, informatics professor L. Jean Camp.

He wouldn't rule out using the Internet to point out security issues in the future. But he added that, as a student, it was "a very scary thing," to have a member of Congress call for his arrest and for the FBI to raid his apartment.

"The take-home lesson from this is, do not do anything two weeks before an election," he said.

In brief

Authorities have dropped an investigation of whether IU student Chris Soghoian broke the law when he used the Internet to show how easy it is to fool airport security. Soghoian is relieved, but upset that IU didn't take on his legal defense and that the security flaws he pointed out have not been remedied.

On the Web

Chris Soghoian's blog: slightparanoia.blogspot.com.

Commentary: When looking at Knight, consider the whole body of work
by Gerry DiNardo
November 29, 2006

It made national sports news on Nov. 13, but you couldn't find an opinion about it in the local paper. Doesn't that strike anyone a little bit odd? The local paper ran an AP story that gave some details but offered no opinion!

I'm curious how no opinion was shared about the latest debacle of a coach who lived in Bloomington for 29 years, won three national championships and 11 Big Ten titles. I'm all for local restaurants getting publicity, but when a relocation of a restaurant makes the front page and a crisis about someone who lived in this community so long and is soon to win more college basketball games than any other coach in the history of college basketball gets no mention on the opinion page, I found it odd.

So when the rest of the country was talking about the latest incident involving Bob Knight, I kept waiting for an opinion in the H-T. I don't know if I can blame editor Bob Zaltsberg, especially since I haven't had much luck with bosses in Bloomington (the first one was fired, the second one was interim and the third one fired me), but what gives? Is there just no interest, does the wound run too deep, are we intimidated?

Maybe I haven't lived in Bloomington long enough and everything that could ever be written about Bob Knight has already been written, although that would be an unusual position for a newspaper. I guess when something is a national story, and it has a direct connection to Bloomington, one might expect that someone locally would welcome the opportunity to express their opinion. But maybe not.

I coached for 30 years and never hit anyone and don't think I ever would, but I never won the number of games Bob Knight has — nor did I have a chance to be an integral part of helping so many players graduate. Every coach has good and bad traits. One may be considered an offensive genius, a defensive guru, a great recruiter or a great motivator, but at some point, usually when the wins are not coming as often as people would like, a flaw in the coach will be found. That flaw could be anything as long as it can be stated as part of the reason for the coach's dismissal.

Regardless of how many chairs he has kicked or thrown, how many players he has put his hands on, is it the most important thing, or is it simply a flaw? What really matters is the whole body of work.

The overriding question is — would you want your son to play for Bob Knight? Bob Knight did, and his son liked it so much he now works for him. For me, this is the most important question amidst all that has been written about him. So he lacks discipline; who ever said that the coach had to possess the qualities he or she was trying to impart? Bear Bryant of Alabama football fame used to smoke on the sidelines, but his teams were always the best conditioned. I want my son to learn from Bob Knight; I don't want my son to be like Bob Knight.

I'd trust Bob Knight with my son any day and take the bad with the good. His priorities are my priorities. At times, I wish he could do it a little different, but I'd take my chances letting my son be around someone whose graduation record and won-loss record is second to none. I'd take the bad with the good. Is style more important than substance, than results? Not for me. In fact, to have my son around someone who obviously values an education, discipline and hard work but sometimes loses his cool is fine by me. In fact, it sounds like a home I once grew up in.

Purdue students protest sweatshop labor on school apparel
November 29, 2006

WEST LAFAYETTE — A group of Purdue University students is on a hunger strike and sit-in as part of a campaign to persuade the school to stop using what activists call sweatshop labor to make Boilermaker apparel.

School officials say they take the issue seriously, and Purdue President Martin Jischke said he would meet with some of the protesters next week after reviewing a report from a university committee that turned down a monitoring program suggested by the activists.

The students want Purdue to follow the Designated Suppliers Program, which requires companies making school-branded apparel to adhere to standards that include allowing workers to unionize and to negotiate for higher wages.

"We're asking for respect for basic human rights so people can provide a decent life for their families," said Mark Franciose, a student who said he had not eaten solid food since Nov. 17, when the hunger strike began.

At IU, Indiana University President Adam Herbert agreed "in principle" for IU to be part of the Designated Suppliers Program in February. IU students from the anti-sweatshop group No Sweat had pushed for joining the program.

At Purdue, more than a dozen students say they are taking part in the strike. During business hours, some have been sitting outside Jischke's office. They have moved at night to another campus building that is always open.

Graduate student Nathan Jun, 27, who was sitting outside the president's office on Monday, said he has not eaten since Nov. 20.

"They've made a point of ignoring us," he said of school administrators. "I think in an attempt to attack our morale."

The school has previously said officials doubted whether the Designated Suppliers Program would accomplish the students' aims. Jischke has agreed to meet with up to four students on Dec. 6 about the protest.

"These are important and complicated issues to which the university has devoted significant time and attention," Jischke said in a statement. "The university is moving as expeditiously as possible on this matter, and I hope the students who have expressed concerns will do nothing that endangers their health."

Under the program, the Workers Rights Consortium, an alliance of university, student and labor groups, certifies factories that comply with a fair-labor code. The universities agree to increase the share of their apparel made at certified factories.

Jischke, in a March 2006 letter to Purdue students, posted on the Workers Rights Consortium Web site, said he rejected the program because of a provision that requires factories to show that their employees can join or form unions.

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