Spies Among Us?

The Boston wing of the FBI met with leaders of local schools because they think spies might try to steal research.

The Herald writes, "Boston FBI Special Agent in Charge Warren Bamford recently met with officials at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, among other schools, to train academics on what sort of research could be used by terrorists."

The FBI wants academics to watch their laptops and note any overenthusiastic interest in their work.

The ACLU is concerned, and it makes sense. It's not as if spies go around with a big pasteboard that reads "HEY, EVERYBODY! I'M A SPY MASQUERADING AS A PROFESSOR!" It's a spy's job to blend in. Plus, many eccentrics wind up in academia, and there's a chance that someone might mistake odd behavior for spy behavior. (Can you imagine a student writing, "I think you're a spy!" on a teacher evaluation?)

Maybe the FBI should turn it around – the more normal a person acts in a university environment, then the more suspicious the rest of us should be!

Image of Spies Like Us poster from Wikipedia.