U.S. SPY AGENCIES RECRUIT IN NEW ENGLAND'S IVORY TOWERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100030109-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2010
• Sequence Number: 109
• Publication Date: August 25, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000100030109-7
ARTICLE APPEAR,D
ON PAGE
T} P..0VIDENCE J0U3i4.~L (R.I.)
25 :1U-TUST 1982
U.S. spy agencies recirti11WTAT
New England's ivory towers
By SUSAN PERCIVAL
Deylgbt !News Service
The Cenral ' npe Agency
will be on New England campuses
this fall looking for men and wom-
en to serve their country - with
cloak and dagger.
So will the top-secret National
Security Agency, which has been
described as the government's
"ears" abroad. The National Securi-
ty Agency gathers intelligence
from foreign broadcasts and also is
responsible for making sure all U.S.
government communications are
secure.
Both have representatives perma-
nently stationed in Boston. National
Security Agency recruitment chief
Bernard Norvell said the agency
opened its Boston office in 1980
because of the number of colleges
in New England.
"They've been a very good
soufce for recruitment in the past,"
Norvell said.
At the University of Massachu-
setts in Amherst, CIA recruiters
usually have been booked solid
when they visited the campus dur-
ing the past four years.
"There's always a waiting list"
for CIA interviews, said Arthur
Hilson, director of the University
Placement Service.
* * *
IN RECENT YEARS, the pres-
ence of intelligence recruiters on
campus has caused controversy at
some colleges., But with the job
market tight, there are always stu-
dents who are interested.
"if 20 or 30 students are con-
cerned (with the CIA being here),
you've got several thousand others
who are concerned about getting a
job," said Hilson.
"If you don't want to be em-
ployed by the CIA, you don't have
to go over and be interviewed,"
said Ray Boyer, a spokesman for
Williams College.
CIA recruiters say they don't
want "James Bond" types, but col-
lege graduates with backgrounds in
computer and physical sciences,
economics. engineering, languages'
or foreign studies. They are also
looking for mathematicians and
photo interpreters.
The National Security Agency is {
seeking graduates in electronic en-
gineering, computer science, math
and Slavic, Middle Eastern and
Asian languages.
Applicants for the jobs must be
U.S. citizens and have at least an
undergraduate degree.
* * *
THE CIA OFFERS new employ-
ees a starting salary of $15,000 to
$16,000. More experienced experts
in some fields start at $25,000.
National Security Agency salaries
fall into' the same range.
Robert Weatherall, director of
career planning and placement at
the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, noted that those start-
ing salaries are not as high as some =
in private industry.
Both the CIA and National Secu.
rity Agency recruit every year at
MIT. "Students aren't scrambling
to see them, but there are undoubt-
edly students who- want to talk to
them," Weatherall said.
* *.
HOWEVER, the acceptance, of
intelligence recruiters isn't univer-
sal. At Clark University in Worces-
ter, a spokeswoman said the CIA
hasn't been on campus since the
late 1960s because of the contro-
versy at that time.
The National Security Agency
visited Harvard University for the
first time last year, according to
John Pollack, associate director of
placement. The CIA did not recruit
at Harvard last year.
However, CIA recruiters did
make several visits to meet stu-
dents at Tufts University's Fletcher
School of Law and Diplomacy in
Medford.
"It's a pretty common occur-
rence here in the fall," said Pat
Savignano, of the school's place-
ment office.
How many Massachusetts Stu-
dents actually are hired by the spy
agencies Isn't known. At the Col-
lege of the Holy Cross in Worces-
ter, Marjorie Fernald, coordinator
of career planning, estimated that
one student a year might have been
hired by the National Security
Agency.
Fernald said she hadn't seen any
increase in intelligence recruiting
in the past few years.
However, a CIA official said that
in addition to the agency's regular-
campus recruiting, it has started
seeking candidates for intelligence
jobs through radio and newspaper
advertisements.
"These are the times to put your
training and ability to work where
it really counts," says a radio com-
mercial for the CIA prepared by a
New York advertising agency.
"The qualifications are high but so
are the rewards to come," the ad
says.
SO FAR, the radio commercial
has not run in Massachusetts, but
similar newspaper ads have run in
Boston and other cities.
They are part of a CIA recruit-
ment drive designed to beef up the
agency's staff, fulfilling a- Reagan
campaign pledge.
CIA budget and personnel figures
are classified. However, Director
William Casey has been quoted as
saying the CIA has more money
this year, after several years in
which its budget had lagged by
comparison with inflation.
Charles Jackson, chief of recruit-
ment for the CIA, said the advertis-
ing campaign has produced a lot of
resumes but wouldn't say how
many - that's classified. He said,
however, that campus recruitment
is successful.
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000100030109-7