Airport and Airlines
Boston Logan International Airport BOS http://www.massport.com/logan/default.aspx
MESA has not contracted with airlines for this year's meeting because the best airfares are almost always found on the internet, whether directly through the airlines or through travel portals like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, etc.
Ground Transportation
Shared Van
Easy Transportation, Inc. http://www.easytransportationinc.com/
(617) 869-7760
easytran1@comcast.net
Pick up at Logan Airport is at the shared van. Once you have claimed your luggage, please call us at (617) 869-7760 to let your driver know that you are ready to be picked up. The van makes terminal rounds every 30 minutes and operates from 8am to 11pm.
Star Shuttle Inc www.starshuttleboston.com
1-877-970-STAR (7827)
(617) 230-6005
Service to/from Logan Airport and the following hotels every
20 minutes starting at 5 :30am till 2am, 7 days a week.
Parking
Parking at the Marriott is $32 self-service,
and $39 valet, per day.
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New Regulations for Travelers under the Visa Waiver Program
If you are traveling to the US from one of the countries* covered under the Visa Waiver Program (i.e. you do not need a visa to travel to the US if traveling from one of these countries), please note that the Department of Homeland Security has instituted new requirements. If traveling from a country covered by the Visa Waiver Program, you must now apply for travel authorization using the department's Electronic System for Travel Authorization.
What is a travel authorization?
To strengthen the security of travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program, requirements to travel visa-free have been enhanced. Nationals of Visa Waiver Program countries will still be eligible to travel without a visa but will have to obtain an approved travel authorization prior to their travel to the United States.
Here is how the travel authorization process works:
The Department of Homeland Security and the United States Customs and Border Protection have provided a secure public Web site with an automated form for you, or a third party, to complete in order to apply for a travel authorization. Once you enter the required biographic and travel information on the secure Web site, your application is processed by the system to determine if you are eligible to travel to the United States under the Visa Waiver Program without a visa. The system will provide you with an automated response, and prior to boarding, a carrier will electronically verify with the United States Customs and Border Protection that you have an approved travel authorization on file.
How long is my travel authorization valid?
Unless revoked, travel authorizations are valid for two years from the date of authorization, or until your passport expires, whichever comes first. The Authorization Approved screen displays your travel authorization expiration date.
When do I need to apply for a travel authorization?
Applications may be submitted at any time prior to travel to the United States. The Department of Homeland Security recommends that travel authorization applications be submitted at least 72 hours prior to travel. Unless revoked, travel authorizations are valid for two years from the date of authorization, or until your passport expires, whichever comes first.
*Andorra, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. In addition to these 27 countries, 7 countries recently deemed eligible for VWP were added, bringing the total number of VWP countries to 34: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovak Republic and South Korea. After May 15, 2003, citizens of Belgium must present a machine-readable passport in order to be granted admission under the VWP. This requirement also applies to citizens of Andorra, Brunei, Liechtenstein and Slovenia.
Alert Regarding Traveling with Laptops
There is recent controversy regarding the search and seizure of laptops by border and customs agents for people entering the US from abroad. This applies to US citizens and non-citizens. Agents seem able to make arbitrary seizures of laptops for indefinite periods of time based upon any criteria they choose.
While the Fourth Amendment requires federal authorities to have a warrant to conduct a search and seizure of personal property, in a case that appeared before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in April the court held that "reasonable suspicion is not needed for customs officials to search a laptop or other electronic device at the international border." (see Wikipedia for discussion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_search_exception).
What does this mean? It is recommended that all laptop data be backed up in a secure location before you travel. Further, sensitive research data should be encrypted, and references to research participants should be encoded in such a way as not to identify or harm them. Consider the practical aspects of having your laptop seized at the border. What will you do if your laptop is seized and kept for an indefinite period of time (days, weeks, or even months)?
The AAUP released this statement:
October 14, 2008
Over the past few months there has been a great deal of publicity surrounding the searches of electronic materials at the border. Until recently, Customs and Border Patrol agents could seize and copy electronic and printed materials if they had probable cause to believe that the law was being broken. In July 2008, the Department of Homeland Security revealed that its internal policies no longer require any suspicion of illegal activity to search and seize travelers' materials. While privacy issues are everyone's concern, and all citizens should actively defend their civil liberties, faculty members have particular areas of concern about this policy due to their research and collaboration with colleagues around the world. Below, we offer links to press coverage and a congressional hearing on the issue.
Please consider calling your representatives and senators to express your concerns about this issue. Talking points are directly below. Obtain the contact information for your elected officials, as well as some general pointers on grassroots advocacy by visiting the AAUP's online advocacy center.
You could also call or e-mail the offices of Senator Russ Feingold and Senator Patrick Leahy to thank them for convening a hearing on this vital issue and encourage them to continue their oversight work.
Talking Points
- Professors commonly collaborate on research with colleagues in other countries. In places with restrictive governments, researchers and scholars may be taking risks to work on certain projects. Knowing that such collaboration will no longer be kept confidential may have a chilling effect on collaboration across borders.
- Similarly, faculty working in areas such as human rights may have a much more difficult time making contacts or finding sources, if they cannot guarantee the anonymity of sources of information. This would greatly impede the amount and quality of information obtained about various political and socio-economic situations around the world, of which academics are a vital source.
- There is little or no information about how information that is copied and kept by Homeland Security will be kept secure, leading to concerns about the protection of original research. This extends to projects that may have patents pending or are in an otherwise precarious stage of development.
- It is unlikely that the Customs and Border Protection agents conducting such searches at the border would have the specialized knowledge to determine whether or not certain types of data, particularly in areas of science such as engineering or biochemistry, pose a genuine threat.
- The invasion of privacy may extend well beyond the individual whose possessions are being searched. Many faculty members have outside practices or jobs. An adjunct at a school of law may have confidential client records. An instructor from a psychology department may have patient records. Thus, obligations of confidentiality may be breached through no fault of the professional's own under these searches.
Press coverage of this issue:
"Expanded Powers to Search Travelers at Border Detailed" Washington Post, 9/23/08
"Search and Replace" [editorial], Washington Post, 8/13/08
"US Border Agency Says It Can Seize Laptops" PC World, 8/3/08
"Travelers' Laptops May Be Detained At Border: No Suspicion Required Under DHS Policies" Washington Post, 8/1/08
Congressional Hearing:
Senate Judiciary Committee
"Laptop Searches and Other Violations of Privacy Faced by Americans Returning from Overseas Travel"
Cary Nelson, AAUP president
Nicole Byrd, AAUP government relations associate |
Several other entities have weighed in on this issue:
American Anthropological Association letter to Homeland Security
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Protect Digital Privacy at the Border and Beyond!
Asian Law Caucus, Tips for Travelers Returning to the United States
Muslim Advocates, "Muslim Advocates Testifies Before US Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Laptop Seizures & Other Privacy Violations"
The New York Times article on laptop seizures
The Washington Post article on laptop seizures
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Policy Regarding Border Search of Information,
July 16,2008
Share your stories of border crossing troubles with MESA's Executive Director, Amy Newhall at newhall@u.arizona.edu |
