The law allows universities to withhold the release of documents if they "would be contrary to the best interests of this state." It also allows contracts between universities and third parties to be withheld from public view if it can be demonstrated that they contain "confidential" information. "We’re just confirming with Blue Origin that there is no Blue Origin confidential information in the MOU that we would have to redact, per ," he said.ĭerra cited ARS 15-1640, which provides for several exemptions in public records law for state universities. Skip Derra, an ASU spokesperson, said at the time that ASU was "eager to disclose the MOU." New Times asked ASU to provide a copy of the document on May 13. Officials later told New Times that ASU has no budget in place for any payload mission, and that the funding for such a project - which is likely to cost millions of dollars - would probably come from private or government sources. ![]() In a news release that day, ASU indicated the memorandum commits the university to "develop one or more payload experiments to be launched aboard Blue Origin’s Blue Moon, a flexible lander delivering a wide variety of small, medium, and large payloads to the lunar surface." In a graphic displayed at the event, ASU's name was on a list of payload customers along with Airbus, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and various aerospace companies. The founder unveiled the moon lander at an event in Washington, D.C., while painting the picture of a sci-fi future involving millions of humans living and working in space stations and on the moon. ![]() The memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the parties makes ASU a "customer" of Blue Origin, according to Bezos. ![]() The lengthy delay to release a basic public record is somewhat ironic for both ASU, home to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and Bezos, owner of the Washington Post.īezos' company ignored several emails and calls from Phoenix New Times about the document.īack on May 9, the announcement that Arizona State University and Blue Origin had signed a deal to provide transportation of payloads to the moon received international headlines. Follow him at /MattKrupnick.Arizona State University and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin company claim they'll put a payload on the moon by 2024.īut they can't even release the payload contract they signed after two months. “I don’t know why they’re hesitating to release it when the whole reason they went to court was to oppose our motion” to delay the release, said the attorney, John Bakhit.Ĭontact Matt Krupnick at 51. The stalling also confused an attorney for the UC police officers who had sued to delay the report. “There’s nothing that permits them to withhold it.” “There’s a tremendous public interest in releasing it,” added Jim Ewert, general counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association. ![]() “They even have a court order that leaves them no doubt,” said Peter Scheer, an attorney and executive director of the First Amendment Coalition. The judge ordered further hearings on some portions of the document, but said the university was free to release most of it. The university had argued to the Alameda County judge that the report should be made public immediately, but university police officers sued to delay the release, saying the report contained private personnel information. “They see that as a vitally important part of the healing process,” he said. Reynoso and other members of the task force want to allow people at UC Davis to discuss the panel’s findings before the report is released, said UC spokesman Steve Montiel.
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