Before I call it a night,

suppose I need to post something pertaining to mainland China's first confirmed case of Swine Flu as a 30-year-old man pursuing a doctorate at Mizzou. (Story from St. Louis Post-Dispatch) Apparently, the state-run media in China confirmed the guy's name as Mr. Bao, while Mizzou officials would only confirm what China said and not release any additional information, citing privacy laws. (In this case it'd be FERPA, but possibly HIPAA as well.)

At around the time the news broke (roughly 1 p.m. this afternoon), one state newswriter Twittered a comment about Mizzou for being outed by, of all people, the totalitarian megalith of the East, saying: "It's a sad day in American when Communist China is more transparent & open than a major university."

This begs the question: isn't that why the Feds passed HIPAA in the first place? Certainly journalists and the public have a right to know what's necessary to help them better their lives and serve the public interest. Hence why China's taken drastic steps like texting all citizens with cell phones advising those who flew on the same flights Bao took to essentially submit themselves for quarantine. But at the same time, many of the Founding Fathers desired to craft a society where the collective good wasn't paramount, but that of individual freedom. As a result, we have the Bill of Rights, we have universal suffrage, we have Coke, Pepsi, RC, Dr. Pepper, and Sam's Choice.

And our laws do that, in both ways. For journalists, Shield Laws protect journalists who seek to protect their sources and individual sources who choose to remain anonymous. Conversely, several states are seeking to put under lock and key registration lists of gun permits. In this instance, I can understand the rationale behind protecting the list itself, as gun owners who don't hunt regularly, likely paranoid about violent crime in general, would find access to their phone book-type information, especially when it's summarily published afterward, an affront to their security.

Releasing the full name of Mr. Bao would not do a whole lot of good in Missouri, as it's not even been determined where he contracted the H1N1 virus. His itinerary, according to news sources, was four-legged, originating in St. Louis, with stops in Minneapolis, Tokyo and Beijing before finishing in southwestern Sichuan Province (interestingly on the first anniversary of their disastrous earthquake.) Certainly those who might know him on the Columbia campus should have an idea by now who Mr. Bao is. (FERPA does make directory listings of students public, but allows the student to hide the information.)

The right to know is an important tool, and must be utilized responsibly. Certainly the media can find out through multiple means, but we must be respectful and careful in how we do it, as to preserve the dignity of those affected and the sanity of our readers and viewers. Purell can't make hand sanitizer fast enough.