The USA Patriot Act and Other Post 9/11 Policies: Coming Soon to a Campus Near You.

Here's a look at what has happened at colleges across the United States and what could happen on your campus as a result of the USA Patriot Act and other post 9/11 policies. Now's your chance to get the facts about your school and community and take action to protect your civil liberties.

Your Privacy
Your school can collect a wealth of personal information about you, including your medical records, your family's financial records and your disciplinary records. They are permitted to release this information to the federal government. According to the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), about 200 colleges and universities have turned over student information to the FBI, INS and other law enforcement officials.

In February 2004, the U.S. Army demanded records from the University of Texas Law School about an academic conference entitled, "Islam and the Law: The Question of Sexism." Undercover officers went to several UT campus offices, seeking videotaped footage and a list of every person who attended the academic conference. The agents had neither warrants nor subpoenas.

The Campus Cops
The FBI is employing campus police on a part-time basis to monitor political and religious activities on campus and investigate student, faculty and staff backgrounds. Campus police cooperating in FBI investigations on terrorism are prohibited from reporting to the head of campus police or any other member of the university about their activities. Law enforcement agents may employ video surveillance to track and record an individual's activities on campus.

According to the FBI, Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) are teams of state and local law enforcement officers, FBI Agents, and other federal agents and personnel who work shoulder-to-shoulder to investigate and prevent acts of terrorism. In Iowa, JTTF officers issued four subpoenas to nonviolent protesters to appear before a federal grand jury, and one subpoena to Drake University to hand over records indicating who attended an anti-war conference on the campus.

Free Speech on Campus
Universities may institute policies that restrict when and where students, faculty and staff may rally, protest or speak about a certain issue. Universities may sanction students or faculty for written or spoken commentary. Both the government and universities may institute policies that prohibit the research and writing about certain topic areas in the interests of "national security."

Foreign and Exchange Students
Colleges and universities are required to compile records of all foreign students and enter them into a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) database. The database, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), is a registration system that collects, maintains and manages data on foreign students and exchange visitors. The data collected -- including students' names, dates of birth, countries of origin, passport information, fields of study and employment information -- is used to identify immigration violations and terrorist threats. The program is currently funded by the very students that it targets: foreign and exchange students pay $100 a semester for their own registration