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Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York • Page 4
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Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York • Page 4

Location:
Rochester, New York
Issue Date:
Page:
4
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

4A DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE. ROCHESTER, N.Y.. SUNDAY. JUNE 2. 1991 CIA THE CAMPUS CONNECTION emo established formal reBaiaonslhoip After being approved by Evan Hineman, the CIA's deputy director for science and technology, the memorandum was circulated to a small, select group of RITs senior administrators.

It was considered a "primary working document" for CIA activities at RTT, ac-mrriincr to an accompanying memo by Dou M' gherty. A year later, Rose personally briefed Hineman on progress in the RIT-CIA 1 its P-f at'" mi between TPC), as the Courses tailored to meet the CIA's technical needs By Jennifer Hyman Democrat and Chronicle Rochester Institute of Technology contracted with the Central Intelligence Agency in 1985 to tailor its curriculum to be "responsive to certain defined technical specialties of the CIA." According to a "Memorandum of Agreement" drawn up and approved in August that year, the CIA, in turn, recognized RIT as "a strategic national resource worthy of explicit development and support" The 10-page document establishes that both RIT and the CIA anticipated, and were planning, a complex relationship that went far beyond research projects. It establishes, for example, that the CIA was to be involved in curriculum decisions, funding, faculty appointments, exchange programs and summer internships for faculty and students. According to the memorandum: The CIA would provide funding to RIT to "offset the salary and benefits of specific faculty members whose assignments provide measurable direct benefit to CIA" One objective of the relationship was to "encourage and stimulate the appropriate faculty and students to interact with CIA on information exchange, project support and potential employment." The CIA was to provide "seed money" needed to attract other government and industry support in developing a "valuable source of trained individuals." The CIA Officer-in-Residence program would serve to recruit "highly qualified students" to seek employment with the agency. The "lead organization" in RIT-CIA re lationships, according to the memorandum, was to be the Center for Imaging Science.

Under the heading "Curricula Enhancement," the memorandum details courses to be added for students in the newly established imaging science program. These included: Integrated electro optics. An introduction to digital image processing. Basic courses in artificial intelligence and computer science. In an interview Friday, RIT President M.

Richard Rose said he did not remember precise details of the memorandum. However, he denied that any outside group, including the CIA, "had any influence over whether we started imaging sci- ence or not, or what we taught, or anything of that nature." Under the heading "Security Considerations," the memorandum stipulates that security clearances are mandatory for faculty and students engaged in CIA research, despite recent statements by some RTT officials that this is not so. Participants also would be required to "engage in appropriate security practices and restraints," such as refraining from foreign travel, according to the document The memorandum states that the CIA may conduct classified research at the RIT Research Corp. "without the knowledge of the faculty advisers and students participating on that project" It adds that while such activity "is considered undesirable," it may be done with the knowledge and approval of the RIT "principal point of contact." That contact person was listed as the RIT president's executive assistant Andrew Dougherty. The memorandum also establishes a formal liaison system for RIT and the CIA, which covers the areas of academic affairs, sponsored research and the relationship between imaging science and RIT's applied research subsidiary, the RIT Research Corp.

Rose told Hineman he welcomed the CIA's suggestion that an agency deaf interpreter be sent to RIT's National Technical Institute for the Deaf. He urged that recruiting of students be stepped up, and said he thought RIT "could improve on that" What Rose told Hineman about the recruiting role of the CIA Officer-in-Residence directly contradicts what he has said publicly on and off campus. Rose has long insisted that the CIA's Officer-in-Residence is "just another student" and identical in status to visiting scholars from private corporations. The officer currently holding this position, Robert Mericsko, works for the CIA's National Photographic Interpretation Center and is taking graduate courses in the Center for Imaging Science. Rose has stressed several times recently that Mericsko does no recruiting or any other CIA activity on campus.

However, the report Rose gave Hineman spells out several roles for the CIA officer. Apart from encouraging other students to seek jobs with the agency, the officer is supposed to teach courses, facilitate the "exchange of knowledge" between academics and the CIA, and act as an "on-site evaluator" of CIA research at RIT. In Friday's interview, Rose said he did not recall details of his report to Hineman. He reiterated his view that all CIA recruiting on campus was done openly. "What I may have said to Evan Hineman did not actually happen," he said.

frhe '85 "Memorandum of Agreement" between RIT, the RIT Research Corp. and rthe CIA addresses such issues as security, curricula enhancement and funding. CIA vein runs to. 4 My deep inside RIT Jr. Rlch.rd Re resident fFROM PAGE 1A ocnestr.

New vork um Rich: I April I 11 Robert Kohler Vir.mi. Dear fob: re- people vho 1 Bob tllouhts follow 1 t0 0 oplnf. th. tl.nt isel. you nt.cn yu ner "a ut eonieu MU 1" th.

hcr Jtili- Htm for OOr contender to IB. f' 'n the U.S. Army '2 your enfejvorSi v.oth nl ue hage tcMluS 'u. dot uc tC- thUh ft, noes hima- ire Sincerely, At J. K0her l.l.?.

to hav -one "rs ssff In an exchange of letters, RIT President M. Richard Rose solicited candidates for the position of imaging science program director from Robert Kohler, an RIT graduate and 25-year veteran of the CIA. Kohler supplied Rose with three names. and overall academic focus. "Their interest was in what types of subjects we would teach things like remote sensing and what specialized areas we would get into," the source said.

COPIES OF correspondence from that time show that Rose also solicited a list of CIA-approved candidates for the position of director of the fledgling imaging science center. On April 18, 1985, Rose wrote to Kohler, then a ranking CIA official, asking for his recommendations for director. He informed Kohler of problems with the faculty member originally slated to head the program. "I wanted to appraise you and seek your counsel," Rose wrote. "The question is: Can you help advise us on additional individuals who might give the impulse we both want to this development?" Kohler, an RIT graduate and 25-year veteran of the CIA, replied to Rose's letter in early May and supplied three names.

One potential candidate was "recently retired from the CIA" and "might be looking for something else to do at this stage of his life," Kohler wrote. Another was an optics professor and "one of our consultants for years." Kohler described the third as "a longtime friend and technical associate" who "worked on our projects for years." Rose said Friday he recalls soliciting names from "quite a few different people," including the CIA. "I basically reached out to anyone I felt could give us input, including people at Kodak and Xerox," he said. ROSE SAID he assumed Kohler had recommended people because of their technical expertise, not their CIA connections. None of the CIA-approved candidates was chosen.

However, Kohler continued to be involved in the imaging science program. After leaving the CIA for the Lockheed Missile Space Co. in late 1985, he was appointed to the Center for Imaging Science's academic advisory board. In 1988, Kohler became a member of the RIT Board of Trustees. Now vice president of the TRW Avionics and Surveillance Group in San Diego, Kohler was traveling Friday and could not be reached for comment After Kohler's departure from the agency, the CIA continued to be enthusiastic about the imaging science program.

In late July 1985, according to a memo written by Rose's assistant Dougherty, to RIT administrators, the CIA's Hineman was briefed by Kohler and Hazard and had only one problem with the proposed Center for Imaging Science: He wanted to see even greater CIA involvement "His only comment was that he would like to see it expanded beyond what is now envisioned to include assignment of scientists from (the CIA's Division of Science and Technology) to RIT for teaching courses," Dougherty's memo said. "This means that we now have a solid base of support throughout the Agency." IN THE SAME memo, Dougherty, a member of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, warned about Kohler's impending departure from the agency. "The bad news is Bob Kohler departs on the 16th of August. This is not necessarily a loss since we have established a pervasive and firm base within the rest of the Agency. Bob can be more overt in his assistance as a corporate executive," Dougherty said.

Referring to anticipated CIA funding for the imaging science program, he wrote: they are now trying to scrape up as much money as possible before Bob leaves so I expect to see green cash before that time." Rose said he could not recall details of the letters and documents described to him. He denied that the CIA played a role in planning the Center for Imaging Science and said that any funding from the CIA was "a matter of financial record." Despite Rose's efforts to find a CIA- most controversial of these reports was Japan: 2000," which described Japanese fpeople as "creatures of an ageless, amoral, manipulative and controlling culture" who fwere using propaganda and economic power to dominate the world. The report has since jbeen revised and some of the offensive 'language removed. Rose said Friday that the CIA had not influenced planning for the Center for Imaging Science or the substance of what is taught at RIT. He said he had sought CIA involvement in funding research, providing surplus equipment and sponsoring student exchanges.

Asked whether CIA activities at the Henrietta campus had become too complex to control, he said: "I don't think it's out of control at all. But the question that you ask has to be answered and that's why we are having an independent group look at this." CIA activity on the RIT campus seems to have its roots in the 1985 "Memorandum of Agreement," which was intended to provide "a long term framework" for relationships between the CIA and RIT, as well as its applied research subsidiary, the RIT Research Corp. The 10-page memorandum spells out that The Center for Imaging Science, which teaches various technologies associated with the production and reproduction of images, is to be RIT's "lead organization" in working with the CIA. The imaging science curriculum must be "responsive" to the technical specialties useful to the agency. "Appropriate faculty and students" would be encouraged "to interact with CIA on information exchange, project support, and potential employment" Letters, memos and documents also show that: One of the key CIA officials who consulted with Rose in 1985 was Robert Kohler, who is now on the RIT Board of Trustees; another was Keith Hazard, now a member of the RIT advisory board for imaging science.

By 1986, about 30 RIT faculty, administrators and staff had obtained CIA security clearances. By 1988, clearances were being sought for at least another 20. Rose received his personal security clearance in May 1986. The CIA's interests have recently extended beyond printing, imaging science and technological research into the extensive craft programs in RIT's College of Fine and Applied Arts. ROSE SAID Friday that the CIA was particularly interested in woodworking skills needed to design special furniture that would conceal documents in embassies, as well as picture frames or ornaments to conceal listening devices.

Formal ties between RIT and the CIA, detailed in the memorandum, were elaborated upon in letters and memos. In July 1986, Rose personally briefed Evan Hineman, deputy director of the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology about progress to date. "The relationship is rapidly coming to full bloom," Rose told Hineman. "We are pleased and delighted with the way the relationship has developed to both of our advantages." What did Rose and the CIA want from RIT's imaging science program? According to one source involved in initiating the program in 1984, Rose and his executive assistant, Andrew Dougherty, were trying to turn it into a high-tech arm of the CIA. The source said that at several meetings, CIA officials demonstrated considerable interest in curriculum planning approved director of imaging science, a routine academic search was conducted in 1986.

However, Rose did submit Hazard's name to the search committee. At that time, Hazard was still employed by the CIA as a deputy director in the Office of Development and Engineering. HAZARD, who could not be reached for comment, did not get the job and the director eventually chosen, Rodney Shaw, had no connections with the agency. Shaw, a British-born, former Xerox Corp. and Eastman Kodak scientist, is one of a handful of RTT senior faculty who never obtained CIA security clearances requested by Rose.

In an interview last week, Shaw said the imaging science program met all criteria for being "clean." Edward Mclrvine, outgoing dean of the College of Graphic Art and Photography, which includes imaging science, calls the choice of a director unconnected with the CIA "a tribute to the academic process." He also credits RIT Provost Thomas Plough with "consciously sheltering" the imaging science program from CIA infiltration. HOWEVER, Mclrvine said Rose's efforts to promote CIA involvement in the imaging science program continued "at the expense of our developing fuller relationships with funding agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation." When the center's advisory board was established, Kohler became a member. When Kohler left to become an RIT trustee, Rose replaced him with Hazard. In 1989, an effort by the administration was made to remove the center from the College of Graphic Arts and Photography. The idea was to place it under the same authority as the RIT Research which administers most of the research, training and recruitment done on behalf of the CIA.

Mclrvine, who became dean in 1987, said he resisted the move: "It made no sense educationally. Only much later did I realize that this strange proposal made sense if the purpose was to position the Center for Imaging Science to serve the CIA" However, Mclrvine is convinced the Center for Imaging Science has not been subverted. "It's quite robust, despite the attempts," he said. "There are very few research activities that overlap with the interests of the CIA." ACOUT THE IIT-CIA COIHIECf 1011 The recent controversy over the presence and Influence of the Central Intelligence Agency on the Rochester Institute of Technology campus started quietly In February. That's when RIT President M.

Richard Rose announced he was taking a leave from the school to serve on a special, confidential assignment for the federal government in Washington, O.C. Two months later, he revealud he was Working for the CIA In Langley, helping to devise educational and training strategies for new CIA officers. In the last month; the long-standing relationship between the CIA and RIT has been highlighted In the Democrat and Chronicle, Including: CIA activities at RIT have Included efforts to recruit some faculty to train spies. Several million dollars of CIA money has poured Into RIT and its proprietary research arm, the RIT Research during Rose's 12-year presidency. In a little-known, CIA-funded Federal Programs Training Center, located In a secure building on the eastern edge of the campus, small teams work on various secret projects to assist the CIA In espionage work.

In a confidential publication produced for the CIA called "Changemasters Rose commits both himself and RIT to supporting the continuing work of the CIA In the Interests of "national security." The report Is part of a series of strategic planning tudies done by RIT on behalf of the CIA Senior officials of RIT are worried that the school's subsidiary, the RIT Research will not be able to survive If ft loses its contracts with the CIA One-third of the corporation's revenues about $1 million were coming from the CIA. A confidential report on Japan called "Japan: 2000," prepared, by RIT for the CIA, describes Japanese people as "creatures of an ageless, amoral, manipulative and controlling culture" who are conspiring to dominate the world through the cunning use of propaganda and economic power. In some respects, experts said the report parrots the sentiments that have come to be known as "Japan-bashing." A revised version of "Japan: 2000" was released. Material regarded as offensive had been removed from the report. Last week, Rose announced he would suspend all personal ties with the CIA and appoint a "blue-ribbon" commission to Investigate RIT's links with the agency.

Rose said he had considered resigning as president, but had been persuaded to delay a final decision until after he a'ddresses the RIT community on Thursday..

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