The possibility that Vice President Dick Cheney might speak at an MSU commencement is disturbing (“Cheney might speak to ‘U,’ SN 4/11).

Not only is he an active part of an administration that has mounted an unprecedented campaign to restrict the public access to information about goings-on in the federal government, he has personally refused to reveal the sources of advice he received during the formulation of a draft version of the Bush administration’s energy policy.

Records of those meetings made available through legal action reveal why - the input was almost entirely one-sided and skewed in favor of the energy industry, with which he has long been linked.

Inviting a political figure who so steadfastly seems to oppose the democratic and open flow of information - bedrock virtues within a university community - would go against our core values.

Jay Harman
geography professor