Agents' visit chills UMass Dartmouth senior

[Eugen Leitl]

"My instinct is that there is a lot more monitoring than we think,"

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/12-05/12-17-05/a09lo650.htm

Agents' visit chills UMass Dartmouth senior
By AARON NICODEMUS, Standard-Times staff writer

NEW BEDFORD -- A senior at UMass Dartmouth was visited by federal agents two
months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao Tse-Tung's tome on Communism
called "The Little Red Book."
Two history professors at UMass Dartmouth, Brian Glyn Williams and Robert
Pontbriand, said the student told them he requested the book through the UMass
Dartmouth library's interlibrary loan program.
The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Professor
Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the
request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number.
He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the
Department of Homeland Security, the professors said.
The professors said the student was told by the agents that the book is on a
"watch list," and that his background, which included significant time abroad,
triggered them to investigate the student further.
"I tell my students to go to the direct source, and so he asked for the
official Peking version of the book," Professor Pontbriand said. "Apparently,
the Department of Homeland Security is monitoring inter-library loans, because
that's what triggered the visit, as I understand it."
Although The Standard-Times knows the name of the student, he is not coming
forward because he fears repercussions should his name become public. He has
not spoken to The Standard-Times.
The professors had been asked to comment on a report that President Bush had
authorized the National Security Agency to spy on as many as 500 people at any
given time since 2002 in this country.
The eavesdropping was apparently done without warrants.
The Little Red Book, is a collection of quotations and speech excerpts from
Chinese leader Mao Tse-Tung.
In the 1950s and '60s, during the Cultural Revolution in China, it was
required reading. Although there are abridged versions available, the student
asked for a version translated directly from the original book.
The student told Professor Pontbriand and Dr. Williams that the Homeland
Security agents told him the book was on a "watch list." They brought the book
with them, but did not leave it with the student, the professors said.
Dr. Williams said in his research, he regularly contacts people in
Afghanistan, Chechnya and other Muslim hot spots, and suspects that some of
his calls are monitored.
"My instinct is that there is a lot more monitoring than we think," he said.
Dr. Williams said he had been planning to offer a course on terrorism next
semester, but is reconsidering, because it might put his students at risk.
"I shudder to think of all the students I've had monitoring al-Qaeda Web
sites, what the government must think of that," he said. "Mao Tse-Tung is
completely harmless."

Contact Aaron Nicodemus at anicodemus at s-t.com

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