nt to work for the government? Intrigued by the recent posts on WikiLeaks? If you answer yes to either one of those two questions, you may have to think long and hard about what you believe in and stand for.

According to a CNN article posted on December 8, your chances of getting a federal government job may be at risk if you read WikiLeaks. The report indicated that by posting or linking to WikiLeaks articles a person could be at risk because he or she may have not proven to have common sense when dealing with sensitive information. Even if you haven’t looked at the documents, but believe that site founder Julian Assange is protected by the freedom of speech, your chances of getting a job could be in jeopardy because it be construed to mean that you don’t understand the “seriousness” of the material on WikiLeaks.

Some universities, such as Boston University, have been reportedly e-mailing students warning against the reading of WikiLeaks. These emails are a clear infringement on the students’ rights to decide for themselves what is right to read. The clear attempted censorship is also concerning in this modern age, but as a spokeswoman for Boston University said, students are free to “make their own choices.” Who is actually being protected here? It sounds like employers are out to protect themselves — and make sure their staff isn’t infected by WikiLeaks documents that can ruin their standing in the eyes of our national government. Sound a little 1984-ish to anyone else?

The new rules surrounding WikiLeaks are reminiscent of the Bush Administration’s Patriot Act. Under that law the government could wiretap or monitor someone’s internet activity if they suspected they were a threat to the government. Does that mean that people who have viewed the WikiLeaks documents are on a database somewhere, perhaps barring them from eventually getting a government job? Let’s hope not.

As American University students, this puts us in a sticky situation. Many students have hopes of securing a job with our federal government–we are the number 1 most politically active campus after all. At the same time, however, many students are strong supporters of free speech, or simply interested in what our government is doing. The availability of the WikiLeaks documents satisfies the craving for both insight into the government as well as proves a shining light for free speech.

You have the right to view the documents, but at the same time you must ask — is it worth possibly not getting a job?

Photo by Inquietamente.