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<div align="center"><font size=5><b>STS Special Event - Monday, September
8th<br><br>
</font><font size=6 color="#0000FF">"SECRECY"<br>
</font><font size=5>a documentary film by Peter Galison and Robb
Moss<br><br>
</font></div>
<font size=4>4:00 pm, MIT, Bartos Theater (lower level of
E15</font><font size=5>*</font><font size=4>)<br>
</b>From the
</font><a href="http://www.secrecyfilm.com/about.html">
<font size=4 color="#0000FF"><u>film's
website</a></u></font><font size=4>: <br>
In a single recent year the U.S. classified about five times the number
of pages added to the Library of Congress. We live in a world where the
production of secret knowledge dwarfs the production of open knowledge.
Depending on whom you ask, government secrecy is either the key to
victory in our struggle against terrorism, or our Achilles heel. But is
so much secrecy a bad thing? <br><br>
Secrecy saves: counter-terrorist intelligence officers recall with fury
how a newspaper article describing National Security Agency abilities
directly led to the loss of information that could have avoided the
terrorist killing of 241 soldiers in Beirut late in October 1983. Secrecy
guards against wanton nuclear proliferation, against the spread of
biological and chemical weapons. Secrecy is central to our ability to
wage an effective war against terrorism. <br><br>
Secrecy corrupts. From extraordinary rendition to warrant-less wiretaps
and Abu Ghraib, we have learned that, under the veil of classification,
even our leaders can give in to dangerous impulses. Secrecy increasingly
hides national policy, impedes coordination among agencies, bloats
budgets and obscures foreign accords; secrecy throws into the dark our
system of justice and derails the balance of power between the executive
branch and the rest of government. <br><br>
This film is about the vast, invisible world of government secrecy. By
focusing on classified secrets, the government's ability to put
information out of sight if it would harm national security,
<i>Secrecy</i> explores the tensions between our safety as a nation, and
our ability to function as a democracy. <br><br>
WINNER of the Special Jury Award for Documentary Features, Independent
Film Festival Boston <br><br>
Please join us on <b>Monday, September 8, at 4:00 pm in MIT's Bartos
Theater (E15-070 at 20 Ames Street)</b> for this very special event. A
panel discussion with Professor Galison and Moss will immediately follow
the film. Contact
</font><a href="mailto:meinbres@mit.edu"><font size=4 color="#0000FF"><u>
Debbie Meinbresse</a></u></font><font size=4> for further information.
<br><br>
Brief bios on Peter Galison and Robb Moss can be viewed at the
</font><a href="http://www.secrecyfilm.com/about.html">
<font size=4 color="#0000FF"><u>film's website.<br><br>
</a></u><b>PLEASE NOTE: </b></font><font size=4>This film will kick off
the STS fall 2008 colloquium series on <b>"Cold War Knowledges: A
New Look" </b>(see the STS website for a complete listing of talks
in this series, as well as other events of interest
<a href="http://web.mit.edu/sts/calendar/index-css.html">
http://web.mit.edu/sts/calendar/index-css.html</a>)<br><br>
<br>
</font><font size=5><b>*</b></font>For the location of Building E15 on
the MIT campus map:
<a href="http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?mapterms=E15&mapsearch=go" eudora="autourl">
http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?mapterms=E15&mapsearch=go<br>
</a><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
Debbie Meinbresse<br>
STS Program, MIT<br>
617-452-2390<br>
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