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Show Editorials Eye the Enemy Not the Student With the information that good old liberal, not to say Commie, National Students Association has been receiving money from the Central Intelligence Agency comes the feeling that no corner of academic life is safe from the scrutiny of the government. As more of the details become available, we increasingly in-creasingly get the notion that big brother not only could be, but is watching. The web of funds the CIA has woven about various student organizations looks rather like a nest of vipers. One organization gets funds from CIA which it disburses to other organizations whose members are former members of the first organization, ad infinitum. In addition to its involvement in student organizations on the national level, CIA has been shown to have close ties with academic programs at individual colleges and universities. In further addition, CIA sends recruiters around to campuses each spring under the guise of apparently innocuous organizations. We would be among the last to say the government govern-ment should not have the right to gather intelligence about enemies. And we can agree that in the present state of international affairs it pays to keep pretty close watch on your friends. But when this surveillance is carried out in part by subtle twisting of American aca-demia, aca-demia, we suggest the public interest is served pretty poorly. We are glad, at least, that rather than pretend they knew nothing about the CIA money, the officers of NSA made a full and public statement of the whole mess. It may mean the end of NSA as a worthwhile organization, but better that than have it continue as a prostitute to a secret government organization. |