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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 1982)
T H Daily n University of Nebraska-Lincoln Vol. 109 No. 48 I Thursday, March 18, 1982 Ex-spy reveals CIA intelligence cover-ups to U.S. general public By Chris Welsch Ex-CIA spy, physicist, adventurer and author, Peter James, spoke Wednesday at the Student Union on "The Embryo of the American Police State". James, who authored The Air Force Mafia and Vie Soviet Conquest from Space, said he used to make his intelligence reports to the CIA, but now he presents the reports to audiences across the United States. James said he felt many U.S. intelligence agencies are infringing on individuals' rights through coersion and cor ruption. "The FBI and the CIA have been involved in numer ous burglaries and buggings," James said. "The CIA was charged with opening U.S. mail going to Moscow, without the Post Master General knowing about it." Describing his activities with the CIA, James said, "I became involved with the CIA after I had been working for Pratt -Whitney as a aero-physicist. I attended sever al international conferences and I had met with many top Russian scientists. "I attended science conferences, getting to know the Russian scientists and photographing them when I could," James said. James went on to describe some covert activities and espionage that occur in the U.S. and are detailed in his book The A ir Force Mafia. "I began to realize there were some problems with American intelligence agencies when I discovered some of my fellow agents were turning in false intelligence re ports," he said. "I began to poke around to find out who was behind this corruption and I found only a few bad individuals," James said. "The Air Force Foreign Technology Division (AFFTD) was especially involved in the industrial espion- Lincoln, Nebraska Copyright 1982 Daily Nebraskan Half-cent sales tax increase would raise $5 million for Lincoln Lincoln and the other 28 first-class Nebraska cities may be given the chance to decide whether to raise their city sales tax by a half cent per dollar. With a 25-18 vote Wednesday, the Nebraska Legi slature advanced an amended version of a bill sponsored by Lincoln Sen. Dave Landis. The original bill would have given only Lincoln the power to raise its sales tax in an election. By a 25-19 vote Tuesday, the Legislature passed an amendment to include Nebraska's 29 first-class cities, those with populations between 5,000 and 100,000. Landis called the amendment "reasonable." The amendment, proposed by Sen. Howard Peterson of Grand Island, preceded an attempt by Sen. Tom Vickers of Farnum to include second-class cities and villages. Second-class cities have populations between 600 and 5,000, and villages have 100 to 600 people Vickers' amendment is pending. In addition, an amendment exempting certain pro perties and commodities from the tax increase was given unanimous consent Monday. Exempted were aircraft and motor vehicle fuels, some personal properties, food con sumed in schools, churches and state institutions, and cer tain fuels, among other items. Landis said the Lincoln tax increase would replace decreased federal funds for infrastructure needs, inclu ding roads, storm sewers and mass transit. The measure is projected to raise $5 million a year for Lincoln, which now has a 1 cent per dollar sales tax. Last year, the Legislature gave Omaha permanent authority to keep its VA cent sales tax, which was in creased a half cent by voters from the 1 cent per dollar tax. Landis said the state should consider his bill as "part of a fabric that was born a year ago" with the passage of the Omaha sales tax increase. Photo by Oave Bentz Ex-CIA agent, Peter James age between Pratt-Whitney and General Electric Corpora tion." "The AFFTD was threatening Pratt-Whitney because a certain engineer was protesting some of the intelligence gathering activities," he said. "They (AFFTD) were sup plying General Electric with some of Pratt-Whitney's com pany plans - Uncle Sam lending a hand in industrial es pionage." James ended his presentation by saying U.S. democra tic freedoms are threatened by public apathy and govern ment secrecy. "The destiny of our country is in our hands. If we stay apathetic, we may lose our freedom," he said. I Jf . ' t ' Wedekind addresses ASUN goals By Betsy Miller Dan Wedekind said he'll bring experience and open mindedness to the position of ASUN Senate president. Wedekind, a 21 -year-old senior from Newman Grove, was installed as the senate's top executive and student regent at last Wednesday's senate meeting. He listed experience in the senate and his ability to objectively view different sides of an issue when making decisions as his best job qualifications. Since last spring, Wedekind has been first vice president of the senate. The new senate needs the ability to think through complex issues and not become bogged down in smaller arguments, he said. As a returning ASUN executive, Wedekind said he and returning senators will be responsible for informing new senators about what types of action may or may not be effective. Last year, the senate was fragmented when senators argued some issues and realized that they did not share the same opinions, he said. Real Party members, who were elected to 27 of 35 senate seats in the March 3 election, must realize that even though they are in the same party, they will not agree on every issue, Wedekind said. Wedekind, a member of the majority SURE Party last year, said some members of that party believed all party members would agree on every issue, Wedekind said. However, he said the Real Party majority in the senate can't help be but an advantage for the body. This year will be crucial to the university because issues like reductions in financial aids and minimum ad missions requirements may be resolved, he said. The new senate must begin work immediately on some issues, such as the financial aid cuts, he said. "The situation pretty much demands that they (senate) not have much slack time. This is a crucial time right now with the state legislature looking at the university's budget," he said. The possibility of distributing a newsletter inform ing students of senate legislation and news, called for in the Real Party platform, will be investigated before the end of the school year, he said. Continued on Page 6 Students threatened, Mockler says By Betsy Miller The quality and accessibility of education at UNL will be severely threatened in the near future, according to the past ASUN Senate president. Rick Mockler said in a recent interview after his term ended that UNL students face more off-campus issues than they have in the past, including reductions in financial aid and U.S. foreign policy. The difference between the student senate during Mockler's presidency and past senates was that this one addressed those off -campus issues, he said. In the past, senates were involved with topics such as alcohol policies, residence hall visitation policies and the parking situation, he said. "I think the tone and philosophy we established was that there are a number of issues the students need to address outside the campus environment," Mockler said. During his tenure, Mockler said, the senate tried to focus more on student concerns and less on its own internal matters. The senate is not a student government, Mockler said, and he stressed that the body sometimes was guilty of getting bogged down in intergovernmental conflicts. "ASUN can't afford to be caught up in the illusion that somehow it is governing the student body," he said. He said the fact that the senate is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches does not make it an official government; he said the divisions are unnecessary. When the senate begins to address relevant political questions, as it may in the coming year, students will begin to follow it with more interest, Mockler pre dicted. This interest also could help increase voter turnout, he said. This year only 9 percent of the students voted in the March 3 senate election, but Mockler said this small turnout shouldn't make the senate weaker. Mockler said national studies have shown that when people are generally satisfied with the way things are being run, then they don't participate as much as if they want a change. 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