by DICK GREGORY
Those who look for signs of
Increasing police state
maneuvers in America are fond
of citing such things as the "no
knock" section of the Controll
ed Dangerous Substances Act
of 1969, the continued presence
of concentration camps, the
McCarran Act with its vague
reference to "possible"
saboteurs, or the FBI computer
banks on groups and in
dividuals. Few Americans are
aware, however, of the extent
to which the U.S. Army has .
engaged in, and perfected, the
highly technical art of citizen
watching. Christopher II. Pyle, who
recently completed two years
service as a captain in Army
intelligence, had an eye-opening
glimpse at the role and
results of soldier-agent ac
tivities in a special article for
The Miami (Fla.) Herald. All
of Mr. Pyle's information is
unclassified and comes from
briefings, interviews and
observations made during his
years of service.
IF THE average American is
aware of these soldier-agents at
all, Mr. Pyle suggests they are
known "only' as personable
young men whose principle
function is to conduct
background investigations of
persons being considered for
security clearances." B u t
soldier-agents have had much
more varied roles.
Says Mr. Pyle: "Military
undercover agents have posed
as press photographers cover
ing anti-war demonstrations, as
students on college campuses,
and as 'residents' of Resurrec
tion City. They have even
recruited civilians into their
service sometimes for pay
but more often through appeals
to patriotism." So Uncle Sam
might not only be watching
you; he might also have your
best friend gathering the in
formation! You don't even have to be a
militant radical to make the
Army files. "Today, the Army
maintains files on the
membership, ideology, pro
grams, and practices of
virtually every activist political
group in the country," Mr. Pyle
warns. "These include not only
such violence-prone organiza
tions as the Minutcmen and the
Revolutionary Action Move
ment (RAM), but such non
violent groups as the Southern
Uncle Sam watches you
Christian Leadership Con
ference, Clergy and Laymen
United Against the War in
Vietnam, the American Civil
Liberties Union, Women Strike
for Peace, and the National
Association for the Advance
ment of Colored People."
MR. PLYE'S article raises a
number of issues which should
cause alarm to Americans who
still feel that some degree of
personal privacy is close to an
inalienable right.
One is the highly developed
technology of Army informa
tion gathering about the doings
of the private citizenry. The
Army now has an extensive
teletype reporting system
which will soon be linked to a
computerized data bank. The
computer, to be installed at the
Investigative Records
Repository at Fort Holabird in
Baltimore, will be able to pro
duce instant print-outs of in
formation in 96 separate
categories.
At the present time, the
Army periodically issues an
eight-by-ten inch glossy
covered paperback booklet
which is a sort of encyclopedia
of profiles of persons and
organizations who, in the opi
nion of the Intelligence Com
mand officials who compile it,
might "cause trouble for the
Army." Mr. Pyle says the
booklet is known in Army
circles as "the blacklist,"
similar to the less formal lists
the Department of Health,
Education and Welfare has
kept up to make sure politically
unpopular scientists don't get
research contracts or consul
tant work.
THE ARMY computer bank
will differ from similar stores
of information now in use at the
FBI's National Crime In
formation Center in
Washington and New York
State's Identification and In
telligence System in Albany.
Such computer banks are
restricted to the case histories
of persons arrested or con
victed of crimes. The Army's
bank will contain files devoted
exclusively to describing the
lawful political activity of
civilians.
The Army intelligence file
differs in another respect. It is
not subject to congressional or
presidential oversight and
thereby enjoys uninhibited
freedom for growth. Yet the
Army file is located in one of
the government's main
libraries of security clearance
information and access to it is
not limited to Army personnel.
Personality files can be readily
available to any federal agency
Issuing security clearances,
conducting investigations or
enforcing Taws.
Mr. Pyle closes his article
with a quote from John Stuart
Mill spoken over a century ago.
Mill said:
East Campus now has its
own Daily Nebraskan office lo
cated in the East Campus Ac
tivities Building.
East Campus news can be
turned in at this office, thus
facilitating Rag coverage.
"A state which dwarfs its
men, in order that they may be
more docile instruments in its
hands, even for beneficial
purposes, will find that with
small men no great things can
really be accomplished . . ."
Perhaps it would be well to
carry John Stuart Mill's
observation a bit further. The
small men of history, those of
insane vision and limited
morality, who eventually suc
ceeded in destroying their own
nations, always began their in
sane exploits by setting up
police state measures which
specialized in keeping close
watch on the citizenry. Then
individual rights and eventually
any semblance of human
freedom disappeared. Mill is
right. No really great things
can be accomplished in such an
atmosphere. Only loud, noisy,
clamorous and sure destruction.
-ki RAPPING
Dear Sir:
An article, "Homosexuals hassled at
NU", that appeared in the Rag on Friday,
February 6, carried statements about
Counseling Center policy that are absolutely
erroneous.
Our policy and practice is described
on an information sheet that is posted
on the door to the Center with additional
copies on the coffee table in our waiting
area. It reads as follows:
From time to time, the University
Counseling Service receives requests from
outside agencies for information about
students .who have sought our services.
Information about students is held con
fidential and will remain so with but two
exceptions: (1) where files may be sub
poenaed by a court of law (this has not
happened, to our knowledge, in Nebraska,
and we know of only two or three instances
in other states); (2) where a student signs
release to thte Counseling Service, for
transmission of test scores to a
a
the
qualified psychologist (as might be the case
in applying for graduate study).
Notes made by counselors following an
interview usually contain rather subjective
impressions and are intended to be nothing
more than that subjective imprcs ions.
Because Counseling Service policy permits
only the transmission of objective informa
tion (i.e., test scores), counselors' notes
or recollections cannot be communicated
to persons not on the staff of the University
Counseling Service, even where a signed
release has been provided by the student
concerned.
On those occasions where a student
seeks assistance from an agency similar
to the University Counseling Service, the
usual professional courtesies can b e
observed.
Any student with any problem can con
tinue to come to the Counseling Center
assured that what he says will remain
confidential.
Harry J. Canon
Director,
University Counseling Service
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Because driving an old familiar roule can make you
drowsy, even If you've had plenty of sleep.
If that happens on your way home
for Thanksgiving, pull over, take a break
and take two NoDoz'. It'll help you drive homo
with your eyes open.
NoDoz. No car should be without It.
1969 Brlitol-MytrtC.
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1970
THE DAILY NEBRASKAN
PAGE 5