The CIA protest was not as well received Judy Goldfarb says. "The professors were stepping beyond the bounds of other people's rights."

But criticism as well as danger does not scare the intrepid protestors. Katz claims his and other activists' phones are being tapped by the CIA and that agents were spying on activists' meetings. The CIA also has a file on each of the activists, Katz says.

An agency spokesman would not completely deny the charges without knowing more facts but said she doubted it was the case because "it is not the job of the CIA to spy on U.S. citizens."

Such intrigue clouds the real mystery. Is Brown a harbinger of a return to activism on college campuses? Veteran activist McLoughlin is cautiosly optimistic, "activism picks up steam but it takes a while. The climate of the country has to change."

Another activist who wished to remain unnamed says, "what's going on at Brown is a groundswell, leaderless and structureless." He adds, "things happen spontaneously. In hallways around campus there are more and more conversations," about issues.

"Few people feel really strongly about issues, but when pressed everybody has an opinion," Goldfarb says. Other students feel people are too goal oriented to get involved with activism.

Ferguson says, "We apply our privelege of going to Brown in a different way. There was a time when higher education was a privelege, now is the time when use that prevelege to help the rest of society."