[AAACE-NLA] [rsct] ERIC Data base being taken over by CSC

Sun Apr 4 21:44:18 EDT 2004

More good news from Washington, D.C.

George Demetrion

--------- Begin forwarded message ----------

To: RScriticalteach at lists.execpc.com
Subject: [rsct] ERIC Data base being taken over by CSC
Date: Sat, 3 Apr 2004 18:52:36 EST
Message-ID: <7e.4b0256b3.2da0a844 at aol.com>

According to the American Association of Colleges for Teacher 
Education list-serv (3/31/04):

"The U.S.  Department of Education recently awarded Computer Sciences 
Corporation (CSC), along with its subcontractors, a 5-year, $34.6 million

contract to develop and implement a revised Education Resources 
Information Center (ERIC) database. The revamped ERIC will be a one-stop 
shop for educators, researchers, and the general public alike to search 
for journal articles, document abstracts, and full-text documents as 
available."

"The development process for the ERIC database will include a steering 
committee to recommend operational guidelines for the database. Groups of

content experts will recommend guidelines for identifying journal and 
non-journal materials for the database, followed by the organization of 
public forums to solicit ideas on how to make the redesigned ERIC 
database even more useful."

So who is the Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) who will ensure that 
all have open access to information in this time of Ashcroft, Bush, and 
Rice? A quick web check to their web site tells us that they are a " 
consistent performer in the global  information technology market for 
more than 40 years" [http://www.csc.com/aboutus/content/glance.shtml]. 
That is, they are 
a for-profit Fortune 500 business with revenues of $11.3 billion and 
90,000 world-wide employees. The industries to which they provide 
services include retail, insurance, health services, government, 
financial services, consumer products, communications and high tech, 
chemical and energy, capital markets, banking, and aerospace and defense.

If you missed seeing education on the list, you didn't blink, it's not 
there. And if you did see defense, you saw correctly.

Last year, in fact, CSC purchased DynCorp. Who are they? According to 
CSC's web site, they are a major provider of "security-related services."

In fact, according to Van B. Honeycutt, CSC's CEO, ""Now that the U.S. 
Homeland Security Department is in place, the resources and security 
expertise of CSC, coupled with those of DynCorp, will position us 
extremely well as the federal government expands and accelerates its 
efforts to enhance U.S. national security" 
[http://www.csc.com/features/2003/7.shtml].  And what might those 
security services be? According to the web site for the "International 
Police Programs Information Source" website 
[http://www.policemission.com/iraq.asp], those services include 
recruiting security personel for Iraq. To quote, " DynCorp International 
FZ-LLC (DIFZ), a CSC Company, is seeking individuals with appropriate 
experience and expertise to participate in an international effort to 
re-establish police, justice and prison functions in post-conflict Iraq."

The pay, for police and other law enforcement officers, is at least 
$75,000 plus room and lodging, but 
candidates must not only be quite experienced, they need at least "two 
years experience in specialized skills"-what those specialized skills are

remain unspecified. If that isn't enough, DynCorp is also the 
organization that provided contract personnel to Plan Colombia 
who participated in aerial spraying of Colombia's cocoa fields, this from

the State Department's web site 
[http://usinfo.state.gov/regional/ar/colombia/fact09.htm]. They have 
been sued by the International Labor Rights Fund on behalf of Colombian 
peasant families reportedly harmed by aerial fumigation 
[http://www.ciponline.org/colombia/irlfdyncorp.htm].

So if you're wondering by now what does an organization that specializes 
in recruiting soldiers of fortune to drop poison spray on agricultural 
lands or  put down resistance to illegal occupations has to do with 
ensuring the free flow of information for education 
research...you're not the only one. But you should know who's managing 
that store...and what else they do.

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