attila writes:
On Sat, 29 Nov 1997, Tim May wrote:
I was stopped by the storm troopers on the Stanford University campus for this reason--"you fit the profile"--and asked to let them inspect my briefcase and jacket pockets. I stood my ground and said "No."
[..]
Of course, Stanford being private property, they escorted me off the campus.
[..]
(However, it was Stanford Sheriffs, representing the (alleged) city of Stanford, CA, who did the stop-and-escort-off routine, so one wonders about the lines being blurred between private and governmental functions.)
Stanford was in Palo Alto the last time I looked... is the "City of Stanford" a new chartered entity inside Palo Alto? to permit "real" law enforcement, not just hired guns?
Stanford used to be a real town. Palo Alto annexed a number of surrounding smaller towns in the 50s. The town of Mayfield is one; it consisted of the area just south and east of Stanford, where California street is now. Of course if you follow private property rights to their full extent, its within Stanford's rights to escort Tim off the premises for whatever reason they want, including simply not liking the way he looks ("fitting the profile"). However Stanford isn't a purely private institution since they take government money for research contracts and the like.
maybe Chelsea has them all nervous.
Sure. And having something bad happen to her while at Stanford will get the university pilloried in the press; while harassing a few people who "fit the profile" will probably get them kudos or at the worst some rants in non-mainstream press. It's not the fault of Stanford's rulers-- they're just responding to what we as a soceity tell them that we want: safety over freedom. -- Eric Murray Chief Security Scientist N*Able Technologies www.nabletech.com (email: ericm at lne.com or nabletech.com) PGP keyid:E03F65E5