Congress rushed passage of the USA Patriot Act in the weeks after Sept. 11 intending to squeeze terrorists out of the underworld and onto the surface for identification.

The U.S. government was granted greater powers to search and detain people. Credit card habits and Web browsing can now be monitored. Lists of books we check out of libraries can be seized. Government records that were once public have been shielded. All this to aid identification of terrorists and their targets.

The shock of the hijackers’ actions was so complete that citizens did little to protest passage of this wide-reaching federal legislation.

We’re protesting now.

If the Patriot Act’s design was to identify the likes of the Sept. 11 terrorists, it missed the mark. These crooks did not file freedom of information requests to access government records. They did not check books out of libraries to research the fuel loads of their weapons or the potential populations of their targets. They used cash to buy their limited materials.

The tentacles of the Patriot Act would not have latched on to these men as threats to national security, but they will unveil the privacy of law-abiding citizens.

And Congress isn’t finished.

Lawmakers are considering expanding government powers to include wiretapping phones, collecting DNA without court orders, revoking citizenship and detaining people in secret.

In the name of homeland security, we are sacrificing privacy and empowering government.

States – including Maine – are passing laws at an astonishing rate to build barriers to government and lower protection for citizens.

Later this month, local librarians will hear a presentation from Auburn attorney Leonard Sharon on their legal duty to turn over patron records to law enforcement. We recognize Poland Library Director Linda Hayman’s concern and applaud her initiative in organizing the event because the potential for ordinary folks to get caught up in this new surveillance net is very real.

Does the Patriot Act really increase our security, or just disintegrate our citizen-powered democracy?


Light fantastic
SAD 17 has built a lot of schools and school additions in recent years, paying special attention to crafting a sense of wonder and welcome in each project.

Architects Lewis and Malm have been recognized by their industry for innovative lobby lighting design in the new Hebron Station Elementary School, installing various size recessed bulbs to mimic our solar system.

The award is noteworthy, but what is more important is that the architects understand that schools are more than buildings. They are learning environments.

Students could stream into boring square buildings each day, take assigned seats among rows of desks and stare forward at lessons chalked on a board.

Some students learn well that way. Many don’t.

The solar system on the ceiling in Hebron is designed for students who learn through exploration. The display encourages children to look up, something they naturally do anyway, and discover something new.

The fun factor of the school buildings in the Oxford Hills is not just window dressing.

There is a subtle hint in the concrete sculpture of children playing tag in front of the Oxford Elementary School and in the swaying upside-down stained-glass umbrella at the Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School that school is an enjoyable place to be, where learning is more than books. It embraces the novelty and amazing visual delights of our surroundings.
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