December 6, 2001

My favorite euphemism these days is the "Office of Homeland Security." Since the creation of this new bureau and the appointment of Bush's good friend Tom Ridge (who always reminds me of a Dad having a heart to heart with his daughter's date) to lead it, we've been asked to be nonspecifically vigilant to aid in the war against terror. We're asked to watch for people doing things they shouldn't be doing, especially if they're of a certain foreign extraction. We're supposed to notify authorities of strange packages or suspicious white powder. But while I agree that these uncertain times may call for extra vigilance, it's not because I think that some Al-Queda operative may blow up another building, bridge or stadium at some unspecified day in the future.

I believe we should be vigilant because while our government makes us fear outsiders who may harm us, they're busy eroding the very securities and freedoms that make the United States the country that it is. Never have I seen such attacks on our basic rights as I have seen now in the name of "homeland security." A war conducted under a cloak of secrecy by Pentagon officials who "can't comment" on that and "aren't at liberty to discuss" this. The return of wire tapping. The specter of military tribunals for suspects who have been 'detained' but not as yet charged with any crime. Whatever happened to the right to a trial by jury? Isn't that one of the foundations of our system of government, guaranteed by the Bill of Rights?

In an earlier Valley Viewpoint, I noted that we're not being asked to do anything to help in the war effort. But I was wrong. To quote Rev. Jonathan Rehmus of All Souls Church in Greenfield, "We are being asked to sacrifice our standards of due process, democratic oversight and human rights." Unless (and Jon Rehmus would most certainly agree) we the people decide to do something about it. And some folks are doing just that.

A lawsuit was filed yesterday in federal district court by sixteen organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for National Security Studies, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Arab American Institute, the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Council on American Islamic Relations, Human Rights Watch and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. It requests disclosure of detainee information under the Freedom of Information Act. It specifically requests the release of, among other things, the identity of the detainees, where they are being held, the names of their lawyers, which courts are involved, how long the detainees have been held and the nature of any charges filed against them.

I applaud this action taken in opposition to the new USA Patriot Act. But there's another part of this legislation that should be of equal (or greater) concern to all of us in the Pioneer Valley. It’s the part of the Act that amends the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), allowing the government unprecedented access to student information. True, FERPA already gave law enforcement officials the tools with which to access student records in special circumstances. But the USA Patriot Act extends this access, allowing for a broader net to be cast. In fact, since September 11th, more than 200 colleges and universities across the country have turned over student information to the FBI, INS and other law enforcement agencies. Federal investigators have been able to easily obtain information about foreign students as well as U.S. citizens of particular ethnicities. I've even heard stories of foreign-born students being "requested" to attend on-campus meetings for informal questioning. Will this happen here? It can if we're not vigilant.