Posted on 11/17/2014 8:55:35 PM PST by Colofornian
PROVO — Police at Brigham Young University are investigating whether any laws were broken after professors discovered a voice-activated recording device stuck under a chair in a lecture hall on campus.
Two professors were working on a PowerPoint presentation in the Joseph Smith Building two weeks ago when they discovered a digital recorder stuck to the bottom of a stool with Velcro, police said. After attempting to play back the recordings, they grew concerned and began searching other classrooms in the building.
Upon discovering similar Velcro setups under chairs in other classrooms, the professors called police. The investigation, however, has had its challenges.
“We really can’t imagine why they would be doing it to begin with,” said BYU Police Lt. Arnold Lemmon. “In a classroom setting, why they were doing it is a mystery to us.”
According to Utah state law, if one party is aware of the presence of a recording device, there’s no violation of the law. BYU police are trying to find out if that was the case here.
“If it was used in a conversation where none of the parties were aware of it, then of course we have a violation of the law and we would pursue it from there,” Lemmon said.
We're interested in who the person is that put it there, what they were trying to do with it, what conversations they were trying to capture and why. –Lt. Arnold Lemmon, BYU police The key to getting that information lies in tracking down the person who placed the device under the stools, but investigators said the chances of doing that are slim. As of Monday, they had no suspects or leads.
“We’re interested in who the person is that put it there, what they were trying to do with it, what conversations they were trying to capture and why,” Lemmon said.
As for the content on the recordings — that remains a mystery. The professors inadvertently erased everything on the device when they tried to play it back. Attempts to recover the information were unsuccessful.
“I think (the professors) were trying to do due diligence,” said Lemmon. “I think they were well-intended.”
William Hamblin, who teaches history at BYU, posted about the audio recorders last week on the faith-based Patheos blog.
"If anyone at BYU wants to hear what I say in the classroom, they don't need to attach a voice-activated recorder under the classroom teacher's chair with Velcro. Feel free to put the recorder on the table. I'll even start it for you. Or you can sit in on my class. All are welcome. Or, for that matter, you can listen to classroom recordings I have made myself. Really, there is no need to go to the expense of buying a voice-activated recorder, sneak it in the classroom at night, and surreptitiously tape it under the chair. I'm serious. You don't need to do that."
The Joseph Smith Building houses most of the religion courses taught on campus.
From the article: PROVO — Police at Brigham Young University are investigating whether any laws were broken after professors discovered a voice-activated recording device stuck under a chair in a lecture hall on campus. Two professors were working on a PowerPoint presentation in the Joseph Smith Building two weeks ago when they discovered a digital recorder stuck to the bottom of a stool with Velcro, police said. After attempting to play back the recordings, they grew concerned and began searching other classrooms in the building. Upon discovering similar Velcro setups under chairs in other classrooms, the professors called police...The Joseph Smith Building houses most of the religion courses taught on campus.
Hmm... Interesting... Why would somebody with access to all these religion classes at BYU be interested in learnin' boring stuff about Joseph Smith, baptizing the dead, peculiar Mormon ordinances, the Book of Mormon, etc. etc. etc?
Unless, of course, it wasn't somebody external to the campus.
Think about BYU's history & its "relationship" with the Mormon general-authorities-powers-that-be:
1. BYU had one inquisition in the early 90s. Former byu history prof D. Michael Quinn was ex-communicated.
That occurred a year after the 1992 BYU ..."clause in its faculty contracts requiring LDS faculty to 'accept the spiritual and temporal expectations of wholehearted Church membership'"
Academic freedom at Brigham Young University
2. And the same source added:
"Soon after adopting their statement on academic freedom in 1992, BYU took actions which some have viewed as related to the implementation of the new academic freedom policy...the University has also dismissed, denied continuing status, or censured faculty members who have taken critical positions relating to official church policy or leadership as well as those who for personal reasons did not pay a tithe to the LDS Church....In 1996, BYU dismissed Gail T. Houston, an English professor, despite positive votes from her English Department and the College Committee.[8] One of the reasons for this action was her advocacy of prayer to Heavenly Mother.[13] Also in 1996, professor Brian Evenson resigned in protest after receiving a warning from BYU administration over some violent images in one of his short stories.'
Why, of course!! Those recordings were prolly still quite "intact" thru the police being called. Yet, once the investigation began to get kicked off, that content was simply "inadvertently erased."
Wow! Such intrigue!
(Not sure which Mormon reps that may have benefitted more? A few BYU profs? A BYU student or two? Or maybe even some Lds gen authorities who decided to "step in" & "memo-ize" the device erasures upon finding out their monitoring devices were discovered? What a Mormon mystery!)
Not having access to the sophisticated equipment the IRS uses to “lose” emails, the professors thought it best to “accidentally” destroy all the evidence upon discovery. Better safe than sorry.
Probably a student wanted to record some lectures they would otherwise have missed due to a conflict.
How come all the good comments are deleted by the time I get to a thread?
Well, since he discovered it, must not have been well hidden.
If it was truly “hidden” no one would have found it. I hate lazy journalist and headline writers.
It’s like when they expose “secret” information. If you know, it’s not secret is it? DUH
Yes it is particularly slim now that you have made it public knowledge that the recording devices have been discovered.
It would have been much easier to discover the person who planted the devices had you kept the discovery secret.
The discovered devices could have been replaced, small digital cameras placed to watch the devices to see if the culprit came back to retrieve the recorders.
Of course there is the chance that word would get out because some people are bound to see the police looking for the devices but now that the word is in the public realm this avenue of investigation is closed.
Likely an enterprising student recording lectures and selling them to students who skip class.
Back in the day you could buy lecture notes, today it is the whole lecture, word for word.
Whatever incriminating information on the devises is lost now. The professors were probably caught telling the truth, and didn’t want a public record of it.
“Smithmas time will soon be here, and BYU is full of cheer”
The professors inadvertently erased everything on the device when they tried to play it back.
When we start finding hidden recorders any where in this sue happy vengeful world it may be something to worry about.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.