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Student Gets Surprise From Mao's Book
What do you get when you try to check out Mao Tse-Tung's infamous "The Little Red Book" from the library? A visit from Homeland Security agents. At least that's what happened to a senior at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, according to the Standard-Times newspaper of New Bedford, Mass. The college student was visited by federal agents two months ago, after he requested a copy of Mao's tome on communism. Two history professors at UMass Dartmouth, Brian Glyn Williams and Robert Pontbriand, said the student told them he requested the book through the college library's interlibrary loan program. The student, who was completing a research paper on Communism for Pontbriand's class on fascism and totalitarianism, filled out a form for the request, leaving his name, address, phone number and Social Security number.
Story Continues Below He was later visited at his parents' home in New Bedford by two agents of the Department of Homeland Security, the professors told the Standard-Times. 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. Although the Standard-Times knows the name of the student, the paper declined to name him because he is not coming forward because he fears repercussions should his name become public. He has not spoken to The Standard-Times. The student told Pontbriand and 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. 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. 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. Editor's note:
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