Sea-Tac installs body scanners

Leave your weapons at home this Thanksgiving because air travel may now require a strip searchDue to the fear of violent acts of terrorism, the Transportation Security Agency (TSA), in conjunction with Homeland Security, has began to take extraordinary measures to ensure safety. Protecting life and liberty is a top priority of any government, but measures taken during the last year have begun to cross the line.Sea-Tac Airport implemented the use of highly controversial machines known as full body scanners last month. These machines, also known as ?backscatter? devices, use X-rays to see through clothing in order to search for weapons and bombs. Many feel the technology is a necessity for airport security, but those who value freedom have an obligation to resist this. In addition to safety concerns involving radiation damage, these machines are a blatant violation of human rights.Various agencies of the government have insisted the technology is not dangerous, but many researchers are highly skeptical. In order to obtain a visual image beneath clothing, the machine covers the person with radiation. According to Dr. David Brenner, head of Columbia University?s Center for Radiological Research, the use of x-ray machines on the population could pose a significant societal risk. Academia believes that damage from radiation could lead to cell mutations or skin cancer. For frequent travelers such as businessmen, these dangers pose a profound threat. For the purposes of safety, this technology is completely self-defeating, providing increased security at the expense of our own health.Besides the health risks of exposing your body to radiation, these machines violate basic human rights and dignities by strip-searching innocent people. Without probable cause or any reasonable suspicion, innocent civilians are being subjected to the same treatment that would usually be reserved for criminals. In other words, everyone is guilty until proven innocent.As of now, individuals have a choice to ?opt-out? from the strip search, but those who do will be forced to submit to an even more thorough screening. A TSA official announced they will be moving away from the ?traditional hand-pat to more of a hand sliding motion.? Regardless of the erroneous names the TSA uses for groping, this system of subservience represents a microcosm of totalitarianism.Many have complacently submitted to the measures on the argument that ?the ends justify the means.? This ideology lacks the foresight that something bigger and more draconian is always around the corner. If the people do not stand up to resist tyranny this time, the future holds a tyranny that is worse. For instance, according to the Washington Post, senior officials of Homeland Security have invested interest in ?safety bracelets? for traveling. The device would hold your airline information, track your whereabouts in the airport and serve as an electrocution device similar to a police Taser in the event that someone gets out of line. At this point in time, the idea sounds highly outlandish, but then again, not even George Orwell and his wildest dreams could have predicted a nation that used ?full body scanners? to avoid terrorism.As WSU students fly home for winter and Thanksgiving breaks, resentment for TSA actions should not be overlooked but should be publicized. The Atlantic Monthly highlighted this campaign by publishing a letter from the President of the Allied Pilots Association. Representing 11,000 pilots, Captain David Bates urged his own members to reject compliance with full body scanners. This union should receive help from all of us by doing the same thing to end the humiliating policy of strip searching innocent people.This government is under its own impression that privacy, among our other basic rights, are not rights but merely privileges that can be taken when the situation suits. As human beings, we have an obligation to protect these freedoms so they can be passed on to our children and future generations. I, like anyone, want to limit our vulnerability to radicals and lunatics, but an exchange of freedom for security is no compromise worth making.

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