Feds kept tabs on UAlbany anti-war events; School president, students alarmed after finding protests on Department of Defense watch list.(Capital Region)

Byline: KENNETH AARON Staff Writer

ALBANY - How menacing are the University at Albany's Campus Action and Campus Greens chapters?

Menacing enough that the Department of Defense included a pair of protests by the groups on a database of potential threats ear lier this year.

The list, posted this week on MSNBC's Web site, showed that the Pentagon ultimately deemed the on-campus protests last spring against military recruiters to be less than threatening.

But the notion of the government spying on peace activists alarmed the students, UAlbany President Kermit Hall and free-speech advocates alike.

"It's threatening democratic rights," …