CIA has covert mission: Recruit students
Authorities for the CIA offer University
students a little insight into their
undercover world—and jobs
Reporter’s notebook
Brook Reinhard
News Editor
Attention students: The GIA wants
you. And they don’t care if you’ve
smoked a few joints, as long you can get
a B average in school.
America’s intelligence experts came to
the University on Wednesday for the first
time in five years to pitch their spy pro
grams, and I came to write about them. Af
ter all, journalists make perfect spies.
“In Oregon, it doesn’t seem like it, but
we’re not your typical company,” ex
plained a GIA information specialist who
would only give his first name, Bill.
“I’m sorry sir, no cameras,” Bill said as an
Emerald photographer was denied entry by
Bill and his gray-suited spy-buddy, Jill.
After chucking a few other cameras out
of the public meeting, GIA analyst Jill got
down to business.
“We’re going to try to cover a wide range
of jobs, depending on your major,” she said.
Jill described job openings at the CIA as
the 20 to 30 students took notes. Several
people in the meeting had come prepared to
fight the GIA. They passed around anti-CIA
pamphlets as Jill did her best to ignore them.
“Think Q in James Bond,” Jill said as she
described one job. “When we have a techni
cal issue, we ask them to fix it for us.”
After talking about positions at the CIA
ranging from the analyst who often writes
briefs for the president of the United States,
to the translation technicians who monitor
foreign-language media and turn it into Eng
lish, Jill finally started talking about the
cloak-and-dagger aspects of the CIA.
“The clandestine service is a collection
service of last resort,” she said. “It requires
you to work undercover.”
As Jill spoke, a couple of well-dressed
students entered the room. Snazzy ties,
crisp white shirts, the works. The two of
them sat down next to me — had they
found me out?
Nope. I glanced over, saw the resumes in
front of them, and realized they were just
well-dressed fraternity brothers running
late for the CIA session. Should have
known better.
I turned my attention back to Jill. She
was busy issuing the standard spying-is
risky disclaimers.
“People do put their lives in danger, and
they can get killed,” she said.
The CIA hiring process, no matter what
jobs students are interested in, can be
tense. It takes six to nine months to
process a security clearance, take poly
graph tests and complete medical checks.
The presenters said once that’s completed,
there’s no guarantee a job will still be avail
able. Students need a college degree and a
minimum GPA of 3.0 to apply. Drug users
are OK, as long as a student’s been clean for
at least one year.
“If you’re a regular cocaine user and
plan to be one, you’re probably not going
to get a job for the CIA,” Jill said. “But if
you’ve smoked a joint or two, it may not
hang you up.”
The agents then opened the meeting up
to questions. Some students asked about
health issues, relocation and how many
languages they’d have to speak to be hired.
While Jill refused to answer many contro
versial questions about the past history of
the CLA, most questions focused on the life
of a spy.
“Do they pull out your fingernails?”
asked one student.
“How long are documents classified?”
asked another.
Jill added that ideal spy candidates
would be 25 to 30 years old.
“We don’t like to send 22-year-olds put
on what could be life-and-death situa
tions,” she said. ' . • .
For people interested in the agency* Bill
and Jill advised students.to qjieck out the
group’s Web site at www.eia.gov.
Contact the news editor
atbfookreinhard@dailyemerald.com.
Michael J. Kleckner Emefald
The CIA didn't allow photographers to take pictures inside the
meeting room, so in this surreptitious picture snapped from an
undisclosed location, the identity of everyone involved has been
obscured to protect operatives from the prying eyes of enemies.
Danielle Hickey Emerald
Work is beginning on Moss Street to make room for the new child care center.
Childcare
continued from page 1
the city.”
He added residents’ primary con
cern with the University building
nearby is the increased traffic in the
neighborhood.
One University employee disagreed.
“My understanding is that the Uni
versity put the houses on our site out
to bid, and these houses have been
sold,” EMU Child Care Center Coor
dinator Dennis Reynolds said.
Some residents spoke in support
of the proposed structure.
“It’s fine as far as I’m concerned,”
Fairmount resident Ellen Maddex
said. She said the current child care fa
cilities are in disrepair, and construct
ing a new center is a good move.
There is still some concern among
the neighbors.
“Instead of beautification, they’re
doing uglification, and some of the
neighbors in that area are unhappy,”
Osanka said.
But the University maintains its
intentions are to improve the area.
Associate Vice President for Insti
tutional Affairs Jan Oliver said the
University only intends to cut down
several small trees, and the building
is designed to accommodate two of
the old trees growing in the area.
The appeal will be reviewed by
the Eugene Planning Commission
during a public hearing at 6 p.m.
Oct. 29 in the Sloat Room of the
Atrium Building, located at 99 W.
10th Ave.
Contact the reporter
atjilliandaley@dailyemerald.com.
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News brief
Alumnus speaks on
U.S. foreign policy
University alumnus Victor Tom
seth will give a free public lecture ti
tled “What Went Wrong? The Road
to Baghdad” today at 3:30 p.m. in the
Adelaide Church Memorial Reading
Room at the Knight Library.
Students will also have the oppor
tunity to speak with Tomseth in an
informal coffee hour discussion in
the International Lounge at 10 a.m.
In his lecture, Tomseth will be ad
dressing relations between the Mid
dle East and the United States and
how they’ve deteriorated. Islam, ter
rorism, international security, world
politics and U.S. foreign policy all
will be covered in the presentation.
Tomseth has served at U.S. con
sulates and embassies in many coun
tries throughout his career — Thai
land, Iran, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal
and Laos — as well as with the State
Department in Washington, D.G.
In 1979, he was one of 52 Ameri
cans held hostage following the
seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Iran
by Islamic militants. After his re
lease, Tomseth continued his career
in foreign diplomacy until retiring
in 1996.
Tomseth was one of three Uni
versity alumni members to be
honored with the Profiles in
Achievement Award at a banquet
Friday. The award is the highest
alumni honor given by the College
of Arts and Sciences.
—Jennifer Bear
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