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Show Editorial FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 2012 3 THE SIGNPOST The Signpost Viewpoint NSA's motives for spy center suspicious The National Security Agency's construction of a massive, 1 million square-foot "spy center" is currently under way in the Utah desert. According to the April issue of Wired magazine, it is "the nation's largest and most expensive cybersecurity project," illustrated with figures like a $40-million-peryear energy bill, servers with the capacity to hold about 500 quintillion pages of text, and a fence meant to stop a 15,000-pound vehicle traveling at 50 miles per hour. According to NSA's website, the facility, named the Utah Data Center, "will be a stateof-the-art facility designed to support the Intelligence Community's efforts to further strengthen and protect the nation's cybersecurity." Such a colossal structure combined with an infamously secretive organization has led to suspicion, including that of James Bamford, the author of Wired's article "The Black Box." One can't help but wonder what sort of data the NSA, which has a history of illegal wiretapping through AT&T and Verizon, plans to gather. Other past examples of the NSA illegally spying on Americans behind Congress' back include Project Shamrock, when it eavesdropped on telegrams, and Project Minaret, when it listened in on phone calls of protesters who were against the Vietnam War. Still, Forbes contributor Loren Thompson believes Barnford's piece is speculation. "If it posed a material threat to democratic government or the privacy rights or citizens, the project would have been stopped in its tracks a long time ago," Thompson said. But why not question those in power? Why blindly follow authority? The question presently would be why the NSA would want to listen in on us boring citizens. One postulate would be to have the upper hand if an uprising were to occur. After all, Time magazine aptly named its person of the year as "the protester." Knowledge is power. In the past, the ones who possess the knowledge have been the ones in control. This past Tuesday, NSA Chief General Keith Alexander was put on the spot by Rep. Hank Johnson in front of a House subcommittee and asked about whether the NSA has "the technological capacity to Cira-CARTcomS•row• MITTS `Il.EPROMPTEK Comment on this column ai wsusignpost.coa My Hunger Games premiere adventure Jennifer Sanda • The Signpost columnist Today, the anticipated movie The Hunger Games was finally released. If you didn't get a chance to see the midnight premiere, go see it. This movie is excellent. But since I don't want to ruin the movie, I'm not going to focus my column on its excellence. Instead, let me take you on my adventure to get premiere tickets to see it one day early. It all began Tuesday night when my friend Michelle informed me that there was a chance to get passes to possibly get tickets for an advanced screening (don't worry, it's not as hopeless as it sounds). So, for about an hour I refreshed the website (it's my secret) until it posted the tickets. Michelle and I both got passes. Step 1 complete. Now we just had to figure out how early we should get to the theater to stand in line for the guaranteed tickets. Let me explain one little thing: 48 tickets in the theater were already gone for sure because of the 24 tributes who had won and their guests. Also, there were probably about another 50 seats gone, maybe more, to winners from various other contests. This meant there were only about 50 or so seats left, but 200 extra possible tickets had been given out. I didn't want to risk not get- OKAY,„11,115 RYAN aUY IMPOchag TO MESC: 115 WADE IN TOWN 1-10[12INE A 5U26E17 Nathan Davis Stephanie Simonson Thomas Alberts Cozette Jenkins Corie Holmes Amanda Lewark Jessica Klemm Further clarifying his letter in an interview with Forbes, he said the NSA's role in gathering and classifying information is "the opposite of collaboration." Eric Rosenbach, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy in the Department of Defense, defined NSA's role at this year's RSA Conference. "Obviously, there are amazing resources at NSA, a lot of magic that goes on there," Rosenbach said. "But it's almost certainly not the right approach for the United States of America to have a foreign intelligence focus on domestic networks, doing something that throughout history has been a domestic function." Words of a Poor Writer kW° Twiu- - Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Asst. Managing Editor News Editor Sports Editor Photo Editor Business Editor identify" Americans who had sent e-mails joking about Dick Cheney's inability to hunt. Alexander, of course, responded by saying no, the NSA does not have the ability, due to its need to obtain a warrant and its lack of equipment. Paranoia does have its unattractive, crazy, recluse connotations; however, there is good reason to question the NSA. In 2009, cybersecurity official Rod Beckstrom stepped down from his position as head of the National Cyber Security Center, expressing concerns about the NSA's power. "The threats to our democratic processes are significant if all top level network security and monitoring is handled by any one organization," Beckstrom said in his resignation letter. 626-7121 626-7614 626-7614 626-7655 626-7983 626-8071 626-7621 Features Editor A&E Editor Copy Editor Adviser Ad Manager Office Manager ting a ticket, so I arrived at Megaplex 12 in Salt Lake by noon. I thought I was late, and that the line would be out of control. Luckily, I was the third group to arrive (the others having come at 9 a.m. or so). It was still four hours until we were allowed to even get our tickets. So I pulled out a book, made a comfy seat on the bench (I was one of the lucky ones to get a bench) and began the wait. After about an hour, I could feel my arms burning, so I rolled up my sleeves, deciding an even burn was better than a farmer's one. The girl in front of me was suffering the same problem, but none of us had brought sunscreen, and none of us were willing to leave our coveted spots. Around 2 p.m., the crowd finally began amassing. I thought I would see mostly younger people, but there were people of all ages, even an old couple who looked about 80 (I don't think they got tickets). As the line grew, so did the tension. People began walking the line, asking for extra passes, bribing people for their spots or just generally expressing jealousy. I ignored them, thinking to myself that it would only be a few more hours until I got to actually see The Hunger Games. I was getting those tickets. Michelle joined me about an hour before we went in for tickets. That's when my excitement began to escalate. One hour until I may get tickets. We discussed where we wanted to sit, Jerrica Archibald Kory Wood Jennifer Sanda Shane Farver Shelley Hart Georgia Edwards and we decided that as close to the back, aisle or exit was our choice. Then it was time. We were at the counter, and there were only four seats left - in the back on the aisle by the exit. We grabbed those, pocketed the tickets and walked out the door. We were going to see it. Now it was time to play a little game with the two friends we were bringing along. We called them, gave them a set of instructions (no electronics, have to be to the "arena" by 6:50 p.m., and don't discuss what we are doing) and waited for the time. There was a lot of waiting that day. When we met our friends, we told them they still weren't allowed to even guess what we were seeing until we sat down (they knew, but it was more fun this way). After a little bit more waiting, we were scanned and finally in our seats. Our friends were thrilled, the crowd was thrilled and I was absolutely happy, burn and all. I don't think it really hit me that I was seeing The Hunger Games until the movie actually started. I was captivated the entire time. I will not spoil the movie for you. All I have to say is I have never liked a movie better than a book until now. Comment on this column at wsusignpost. corn 626-7105 626-7624 626-7659 626-7526 626-6359 626-7974 The Signpost is a student publication, written, edited and drafted by Weber State University The Signpost reserves the right to edit for reasons of space and libel and also reserves the right students. Student fees fund the printing of this publication. Opinions or positions voiced to refuse to print any letter. Letters should be submitted online to thesignpost@weber.edu are not necessarily endorsed by the university. and read Letter to the Editor in the subject box. Letters should not exceed 350 words. |