SCIENTISTS ARE ANGERED BY CIA GUMSHOE WORK

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP73-00475R000100510002-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 6, 2014
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: January 8, 1967
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/01/06:
CIA-RDP73-00475R000100510002-9
Declassified in
?Irs,r7
...Washington, Close.Up
?
e0 1-.4
L.) = 1\ 7
By
--17.-A (1
, , /re 777ffh
Special to
WASHINGTON ? A subject
not officially on the program
gripped he attention of many
scientists attending the annual
meeting of 'the American .A.sso--
elation for the Advancement of
Science here. It related to the
propriety of undercover intelli-
gence; activities in foreeen
countries in the guise of legiti-
mate scientific research.
A deplorable amount. of CIA-
;type gum: hoe workkeepare.eitly?
goes on abroad, camouflaged,-
with varying degrees of authen-
ticity as anthropological ?in-
vestigation, botaniCal? or zoo-
logical field research, geolog-
ical exploration, and whatno,t,
The situation has become so
notorious overseas that travel-
ing, American scientists are
worried about their future ef-
fectiveness and their rapport
with foreign colleagues. -
It was probably more than
mere coincidence that the
AAAS' official magazine, "Sci-
ence," featured in the issue
current at the in eeting a
lengthy article on the science- dent of the American Anthro-
yseespionage controversy. . pological Association, The
* Beals study was instituted after
.:. r-
The article focused on prob-
the "Camelot" fiasco, a puportedly scientific research'
loins faced by anthropolog,ists,
using as its news-peg a report
of a meeting of the American
Anthropological 'Association a
-few weeks earlier at Pitts-
By WILLIAM HINES
the coaricr.l'imi and Washington Star
The question of scientific
funding' is a vexing one in this
cormection, since the vast pre-
ponderance of Scientific re-
search and study money these
days conies from the federal
.zaettry. Nec ad 'this money
channeled through agencies
which scientists would nor-
mally regard as scientifically
responsible. ?
"Research grants from the'
' National Institute of Mental
' Health, the National Science
Foundation, and the Smithson-
ian Institution (are) less sus-
pect abroad than .. ;research
grants from .the .U.S. In for:
mation (Agency), the CIA and
the Defense and State Depart-
ments, and . . . most anthro-
pologists would prefer govern-
ment support from the three
first-named agencies," Science
said.
The statement was baeed on
findings of a Panel of scien-
tists headed by Ralph L. Beals
of the University of California
(Los Angeles), a 'former presi-
0-1
project in Chile which was un-
masked as a psychological war-
fare exercise, to the horror of .
the Chilean government. An-
burghother was later revealed in the
. . ' . Republic of Colombia.
t- The difficulty -arising wheel
government snoops invade the
It seems to be shockingly
breaks down::
into three broad areas: , easy for an anthropologist?for
'
; example?to get a "scientific"
I. Spies posing as scientists grant these days, even after ,,
usually perform so ineptly in e reputable public and private
the scientific role that Amen-. foundations turn him - down.
can science is disgraced. " Beals' report, quoted 'in Sci--
'2. Scientist's succumbing to ence, said:
the blandishments and pres- . "Some anthropologists, par-
sures of spy-procurers 'usually ? ticularly younger anthrepolo-:
perform so ineptly in the ?es- ' gists, who have encountered
piorrage role that their good. difficulties :securing financing
faith as scientists is shattered. : for legitimate. research *under-
, 3. Scientists remitting the ap- , takings, have been approached
Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 50-Yr 201
CIA-RDP73-00475R000100510002-9 nplied pos- were expected to provide in-
As .it- does abroad with false-
front "private businesses"
(which fool nobody in the
countries concerned), the CIA
apparently maintaies dummy
"educational foundations" at .
home, equipped to disburse
money to young scientist.s?
and to do little else.
A Leren Eisele:7 or a Mar-
garet Mead, loaded with pres-
tige and . too busy for cloak--
b
and-dagger foolishness, can
thumb his or her nose at these
questionable sources of.. funds.
.But as loi.g ae the academic
rule of 'publish or perish"
hangs over young " men and
women, --the.- scientific bucket-
shops of the "intelligence com-
munity" are likely to flourish.
5 5 *
'Typical of so much of ',the
ham-handed spy Work of U.S.'
gumshoes, this sort of hanky-
panky backfires on the- nation
whose tax money supports it,
A former. executive secretary .
of the Anthropological Associa-:
lion . complained to a Senate
committee last summer -about
discourtesy and worse on the
part of some anthropologists
operating. abroad.
Quite frequently, Science'
magazine noted, U.S. scholars
fail .to , cooperate ,with fellow, '
scientists in "nost" countries,
even to 'the extent of neglect- ,
ing to send back reports of
their work., There may be more
than just bad manners involved
-here, however; there is always
the possibility that some spy- .
niaster may, have slapped a
"Top Secret"' stamp on the
grantee's research, thus pre- ,
venting his fulfilling a basic
nicety of science. .
Although no vote was taken
or formal consensus reached
at the AAAS meeting here,
there is little doubt where
most U.S. scientists stand on
the issue of science-vs.spying.
The world image of American
science is so good ? and of
4/01/06 : intelligence work so
1./dU ? that the gumshoes
should desist before they ruin