We called this paper the Deadly Toxin in the 1960’s. Seems they’ve awakened a little since then.
Viewpoint: Keeping students under watch
The Texas Observer has a shining cover story in its current issue by Thorne Dreyer, based on recently unearthed documents that all UT students would be wise to read. The documents can be found on the Observer Web site, www.texasobserver.org, and some are printed above.
This summer, when relatives of former UTPD Chief Allen Hamilton arranged to sell files primarily relating to the chief’s experience during the Charles Whitman shooting to Half Price Books, employees found an interesting set of files relating to the surveillance of UT students by the campus police department. The documents show that in the 1960s, UTPD infiltrated meetings of political student organizations and compiled lists of students to watch.
We’re not surprised, we’re just disappointed.
What is surprising is that the documents show that the editor of The Daily Texan from 1966 to 1967, John Economidy, was an informant to the campus police. He shamefully attended meetings with student groups, noted those who attended and tipped off UTPD as to the place and time of future rallies.
Now, as students are resisting another immoral occupation of a foreign country (or, at least students did about three years ago), the documents raise intriguing questions. Such as, if there was communication over a UT e-mail server in 1968, would UTPD Chief Hamilton’s files have been a little fatter?
