(ate
Wednesday, november 28, 1979
lincoln, nebraska vol. 103 no. 62
Truong: Carter attempting to regain power of Nixon
By Debora Hemminger
President Carter is trying to reobtain the power for the
presidency that President Nixon lost during Watergate, a
Vietnamese nationalist said Tuesday.
David Truong, who is appealing a charge of espionage,
spoke to a crowd numbering 100 people at the Nebraska
Union.
for the first time, has written a blank check to whoever
sits in the White House to use electronic surveillance."
Truong said his arrest on January 31, 1978 was based
upon the testimony of one person arid, information ob
tained illegally. Truong said before his arrest, the govern
ment put a microphone in his apartment and opened his
mail.
When he was arrested, Truong said the arresting parties
were very proud to arrest a Vietnamese. He said they
called the incident, "Magic Dragon." -
Truong said, "Nobody likes to lose a war ... . Since
1975, the U.S. has been trying to pay it (Vietnam) back."
Truong said because of. the lobbying and propaganda
that he was a Vietnamese spy during the trial, "It shows
the case is more political football than anything else."
Truong said President Carter was told to put a tele- "Some lawyers call , it a case of government . over
vision camera on Truong so the government could watch
him at all times.
Truong said in May, 1978, the government ordered
his phone bugged. ; "
It was looking for evidence to convict him, he said,
but it found nothing in eight .months.
When recipes were discussed over the phone Truong
said, the government even thought it was a secret code.
Truong said the government wanted to convict him
because, "I've fbeeri very visible participating in lobbying
against the Thieu regime." Even though Truong did not
mention it, he set up the Vietnam Political Freedom
Committee in 1969. Also, Truong was active in the
Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars in 1971.
The Daily Nebraskan learned through an interview with
Truong last week that he was given information by former
Attorney General Griffin Bell which Truong passed onto
a Vietnamese newspaper in Paris. Truong said that in
Washington, "political information is given or leaked on a,
regular basis."
' An audience member asked Truong what the informa
tion he was alluding to. Truong answered, "The books
that I sent home told about how to build a cement plant,
or , . . stuff you can buy from the U.S. government."
Truong said the information was "cultural technology "";
, . . which would be adaptable to third world governments
. . . (The information) helps develop a small country."
Truong said the information was a group of "policy
analyses and events and so forth."
Truong who was sentenced to r5 years in jail, but is '
out on $250,000 bail said if he is found guilty again
when he appeals next week, "It means that any group,
reaching," Truong said.
In this case, Truong said, "The judge ruled that the
fruit of illegal surveillance can be brought as admissible
evidence.
"This case proved that the president has the power to
wiretap anyone without going to court," Truong said.
"In this case, it. was decided that national defense.can
just about encompass nearly everything under the sun,"
Truong said. ; .
V-"' ' si
Vietnamese nationalist
Daily Nebraskan
David Truong.
Photo
Nun in law school: Pope insensitive
to struggles of women in America
By Lynn Mongar
Working with poor people in Omaha and New Orleans
was at times a "painful" experience for Sister Cathy
Gibran.
"It made me acutely aware of the'powerlessness and
the oppression of these people," the 26-year-old nun said.
A member of the Sisters of Mercy order, Sister Gibran
said that she believed she could better aid the poor if she
were a lawyer.
"I found myself wishing I was a lawyer so often that I
finally thought, why not?" This fall, Sister Gibran entered
i
Photo by Tom Gessner
Practice makes perfect, or so Jan Gellhaus hopes as she stretches into shape.
For more pictures, turn to page 10.
UNL College of Law to serve the poor in a "more direct"
way.;.,-":-. . v -. ;?;y: '
.Sister Gibran said there are two levels of America
today. -v : v
"There is one America governed by law giving certain
basic human rights to its citizen. The other America is
without law or justice. Its citizens are deprived of these
r n man nonrc cnn coin w i uqfit rr CTinn rr rnir
other America."
Sister Gibran said she is not original, or "Lone Ranger
in her pursuit of a law degree. She said she knows of
another nun who received her law degree from UNL and
is working in Omaha. ,
Sister Gibran said women are seeking more active roles
in all areas of service within the Roman Catholic Church.
There aren't any "piputistic" or "cozy" little groups of
religious women anymore, she said,
"They're out into the mainstream and that is where
they should be," she said.
Sister Gibran also said that Pope John Paul II is
unaware of the desires of American religious women .
"The pope is sensitive to social justice issues, but I
don't think he is sensitive to the struggles of American
women," she said. "I think he quite doesn't know what to
do with us," she added.
Sister Gibran said that women in the church should
proceed in their new directions, 'with or without the
sanctions of the pope."
Sister Gibran said she sees herself as an assertive
woman and that "religious women are no longer the pansy
types. , -
Religion is in an "exciting stage," she said.
"People are moving out of traditiqnal roles into various
kinds of social work, such as legal work." '
Sister Gibran said that after she graduates from law
school she plans to live and work among poor people.
"I can't see living a life of coziness in suburbia," she
said.
She said she could not feel "authentic," or "straight"
with the people she wants to help, if she isn't living as
they do.
"I want to live a life -style which won't be foreign to
them, she said. "I guess I believe in living simply."
She said that one of the most challenging things about
living with the poor is that there are no tidy answers to
complex problems.
, "I'm learning to live with ambiguity "she said. "I think
a big part of it is learning to live with the quest."
Government her life: The head of the lobby desk will
return for the start of another session Page 6
Heart of glass shatters successfully: Blondie becomes the
darling of the vocal scene , . page 12
Go for the Gold: Nebraska swimmer hopes to compete for
Sweden in 1980 Olympics. Page 14