OVER 30 GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS HAVE RESEARCH FACILITIES AT RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK (RTP) NEAR RALEIGH. AT RTP, MONSANTO DOES RESEARCH IN FIBERS, EMPLOYING 200 TO 600 PERSONS. FACILITIES ARE PROTECTED BY FOUR GUARDS AND A PASS-CARD SYSTEM. INFORMATION IS CLASSIFIED ON TWO LEVELS, CONFIDENTIAL AND SECRET, BY RESEARCHERS OR THEIR SUPERVISORS, BUT CONTROLLED AND DISTRIBUTED BY A CENTRAL LIBRARY. INFORMATION CLASSIFIED SECRET, HOWEVER, IS HANDLED ONLY BY MANAGEMENT. COMPUTER ACCESS, VENDOR ACCESS TO MONSANTO INFORMATION, AND TOXIC CHEMICALS ONSITE ARE STRICTLY CONTROLLED. IN CONTRAST, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES (IBM) EMPLOYS OVER 7,000 PERSONS AT RTP AND USES AN ELABORATE SECURITY SYSTEM. AN ELABORATE OPERATIONS CENTER MONITORS NUMEROUS PHYSICAL SECURITY SYSTEMS AROUND THE CLOCK. A SPECIAL CONTROLLED ACCESS SYSTEM ADMITS EMPLOYEES TO THE FACILITY WHICH IS PATROLLED BY 25 SECURITY GUARDS. INFORMATION MAY RECEIVE ONE OF FOUR CLASSIFICATIONS, AND DOCUMENTS IN THE TWO MOST SECRET CLASSES ARE STORED IN A SECURE CENTRAL LIBRARY. EMPLOYEES USING THIS INFORMATION MUST FOLLOW COMPANY GUIDELINES IN PROTECTING IT. FINALLY, ALL HIGHLY SECRET DATA ON IBM COMPUTERS IS SCRAMBLED. BOTH IBM AND MONSANTO REQUIRE EMPLOYEES TO AGREE NOT TO WORK FOR COMPETITORS FOR A CERTAIN TIME AFTER THEY LEAVE THEIR JOBS. BOTH COMPANIES ALSO TRY TO MAINTAIN EMPLOYEE AWARENESS OF SECURITY. (PAP)