By Jackie Liu & Catt Phan
Baron Publications visited the Richard Nixon Library on January 29 for the School Editors Forum.
The students took a tour of the library, led by docent volunteer Sylvia Derby. They were shown the East Room, Nixon’s birthplace in his parents’ home, and exhibits explaining the Watergate scandal.
Student journalists from Esperanza High School, Oxford Prep, and Edison High School also attended the forum, presented by two CIA officials, Charles E. Allen and Andrew Liepman.
After a brief introduction, the conference was opened up for questions.
While questions about enhanced interrogation, software security, and civil rights were asked, the focus of the conference was to enlighten young people about what the CIA really does instead of what the movies portray their jobs to be.
Allen, who spent over forty years in the intelligence community, spoke about why he joined the CIA.
“I came for the mission,” he said. “We were answering the most perplexing problems facing the president, whether it’s President Nixon, President Clinton, or the president today, Obama.”
Andrew Liepman, the former Principal Deputy Directory at the National Counterterrorism Center, explained government transparency.
“We have to make absolutely sure that not only are we doing a good job, but we’re building the trust of the general public,” he stated. He confirmed that while the CIA is diverse in race and political parties, “[our] priority is to keep the country safe.”
When asked about whether the CIA was given “leeway” by Congress or the president, Liepman answered, “We lean very far forward to make sure our two oversight committees know what we’re doing.”
“At this point in our history, it is virtually impossible for the CIA to hide anything from Congress or the President.”
“To learn about what a CIA does exactly was something that I can’t recapture,” said Leny Biala (’13) from John F. Kennedy High School in La Palma. “The two interviewees that we spoke to were nothing like a James Bond movie.”
BBN co-producer Julie Jackson ‘(13) was impressed with the opportunity to be able “to see high school journalists ask questions on important topics and receive answers from CIA members.”
“And who knows, maybe one of us will find ourselves a career in the CIA,” she said.
