Guest Speaker Tim Nickens

Today we had a guest speaker, Tim Nickens, who is the editorial page editor for the St. Petersburg Times and trustee of the First Amendment Foundation.

I learned a lot more in this lecture than I would have expected. What kept my mind from drifting off was the truly beneficial information he shared. When I realized this wasn't just random information, but info that could help ME personally, I somehow found interest.

I have known from past government courses that we as a people are entitled to access to a lot of government documents, but what I learned today was the redaction process. It is almost a loop whole for government agencies to get out of providing documents requested by public citizens. With the outrageous fees they may charge, sometimes even companies consider this effort not worthwhile.

Redaction is when you request a public document that includes private information, social security numbers, school records, or anything of the sort. The agency can then charge you for their time spent to take out all of the private information in the document you requested. The prices range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, which is insane.

And if you are denied access to that record all together, court is always an option, but of course, it even more costly and time consuming.

I also found the idea of being cheated by public officials interesting. The many loop holes they seem to find in an effort to avoid the public's attendance at "public" meetings or from having any knowledge of the whereabouts of taxpayer's dollars is mind blowing. Texting is a form of communication that has sent this secrecy to a whole new level.

While public meetings are to be held where the are accessible to the general public, officials have now found blackberries to be the new way of meeting, whether it be phone conversation, pin communication, or texting.

It's amazing the depth of corruption (still not as serious as other countries, but nonetheless still present) we experience in the USA and how oblivious Americans are to it all. This is exactly why I look forward to gaining knowledge that will open my eyes in the classes to come.