[Active-l] (NEWS) Government monitoring Inter-Library Loan

[Dara (R'ykandar Korra'ti)]

	So gosh, I wonder how many books are on the watchlist?

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

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

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