John Byrne
Student Say's He's Being Investigated For Terrorism
Wed Mar 10 14:21:28 2004
205.188.209.8

http://www.rawstory.com/exclusives/byrne/nevada.htm

UPDATED
Student says he's being investigated for terrorism

By John Byrne
RAW STORY EDITOR

A physics student at the University of Nevada Las Vegas alleged Monday that he has been marked as a suspicious by University officials and his name turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for his research into rocket propulsion.
According to the student, one of his requests to a aerospace library, Linda Hall, coincided with the first anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This apparently raised eyebrows at the university.

Reached by telephone Monday, FBI spokesman Todd Palmer declined to comment. UNLV physics department chair Dr. James Selser also said he would not comment on the case.

The student says he's always had an interest in space propulsion, and that his request was not out of the ordinary. He said that his request was first noticed when he neglected to pay for some of the articles he had requested.

“Ever since high school, I have had a keen interest in space travel and (advanced) space propulsion,” the student wrote in an email message. “Since 2001, I have requested articles/reports/documents on the subject matter (space propulsion) from various agencies, [including] NASA, NTIS, Linda Hall Library, AIAA etc.”

A Mar. 5 memo obtained by The Raw Story indicates that university officials were particularly concerned as the campus is directly below the flight path of a major airport.

“While giving due respect to the student's privacy, is there a way to ascertain if this sort of information is currently necessary for any academic projects/class [the student] may be in?” one university official wrote.

“It may prove to be somewhat reassuring if we are only looking at fraud and not also having to consider the potential risks of someone appropriating this sort of rocket propulsion information particularly when we are a campus that is often-times directly in the flight pattern of McCarran Airport.”

The student says that University police contacted the F.B.I. on the same day, saying that he had been acting suspicious.

On Saturday, he posted a call for legal aid on a national web site; he says he’s still looking for counsel today. He may be reached via email at k_z2005@yahoo.com .

The UNLV police have a rocky history, having had three chiefs in the last four years.

In 1999, UNLV fired their police chief, who had president over a series of controversial actions. That May, a student alleged that an officer had called kicked him and called used a racial slur. Another case that January involved a Community College of Southern Nevada student who claims she was abusively treated when taking pictures at a concert for a student newspaper.

The following year, acting Chief Don Drake was placed on leave after bungling a raid on a student dormitory during a drug search. A spate of officers put in applications to transfer elsewhere quickly thereafter.

But Chief Drake hasn’t be en wholly criticized. Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada told the Las Vegas weekly that year they were pleased with the progress under his tenure.

"He has evidenced a willingness to listen to our concerns with an open mind, and has even begun to address some of those concerns," Peck said.

Peck was not in when called for comment today.
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