September 26, 1997

In a change to campus policing, security are being armed with "batons." [Folio, Aug. 29, 1997] This University has had an enviable, if not spotless, safety record, without displaying stout sticks in our halls. In most cases, our campus's security decisions excellently respected freedoms and privacy.

There have been exceptions, e.g., the VIEW questionnaire, developed for the CIA, which The Edmonton Journal suggested in 1996 was intimidating and inappropriate on a campus. The University agreed: it had withdrawn permission to use VIEW. But VIEW had been used anyway. With that history in mind, monitoring seems reasonable if the University is not to regret allowing nightsticks in its halls. Maintaining security in a campus population without foreclosing freedoms requires caution.

Dr. Bob Solomon
retired professor, English

I was pleased to read, in Folio of August 29, that Folio was going to include more critical discussion of issues important to us all, and more pleased still to see, with the essays by Patricia Clements in that issue, and by Gordon Laxer in the issue of September 12, that you meant what you said. Critical and in-depth discussion of issues is a direction which I, and, I am sure, many other members of the University community, appreciate.

Dr. Chris Bullock
Department of English

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