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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 1985)
Wednesday, September 25, 1985 Page 2 Daily Nebraskan 1 est Bv The Associated Press mdj indicates Star Wars wor&wMle hmt not leakproof WASHINGTON - President Reagan's "Star Wars" missile defense program could "substantially increase" Ameri ca's safety under certain conditions, but it will never be able to protect the entire country from nuclear attack, science advisers to Congress concluded Tuesday. A study by the Office of Technology Assessment said the United States would need "great technical success" in its research program along with a change in the Soviet Union's strategy to also emphasize defense rather than offense. A companion OTA study raised new questions about U.S. anti-satellite, or ASAT, weapons and cautioned that while this country may lead now in a technology field related to Star Wars, the Soviets are likely to catch up. "What this means is that after spend ing billions and billions of dollars, we could find that we have bought our selves greater instability than the world has ever confronted in the atomic age," said Rep. Les Aspin, D-Wis., chairman of the House Armed Services Commit tee. The 324 page study of the Star Wars program, which is known formally as the Strategic Defense Initiative, was done at the request of Aspin's panel and the Senate Foreign Relations Com mittee. Release of the report comes in the midst of a debate over the place of the high tech missile-interception pro gram in the nuclear balance between the two superpowers. The SDI program "carries a risk" that it could start an entirely new arms race and could create "severe instabil ities" if it made the Soviets think the United States was seeking a first-strike capability, the study suggested. It noted there is confusion over the specific goals of Star Wars. Some sup porters of the program want a so-called "Astrodome" defense that would defend the entire nation, while others call for a defense of U.S. missile sites. Critics say the latter would violate the 1 972 treaty limiting missile defenses. The study concluded that while anti missile weapons would "substantially increase" the safety margin in a nuciear attack, "assured survival of the U.S. population (the 'Astrodome' defense) appears impossible to achieve if the Soviets are determined to deny it to us." That is because any U.S. defense could be countered by Soviet offensive maneuvers that would likely ensure that some attacking missiles would make it through the American shield, it said. As the November summit meeting between Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev approaches, the Soviets have Increasingly called for cuts in the Star Wars program and said any new nuclear arms limitation agree ment depends on the United States limiting its research. But the president, contending the Soviets are mounting their own research into missile defenses, said again last week that he would not agree to limit ing the scope of the research program, although he did say he would negotiate before any system is deployed. Reagan: Tax plan means $600 gain ATHENS, Tenn. President Reagan unveiled a new study of his tax over haul plan Tuesday, saying it showed each American household would even tually gain about $600 a'year if his proposal is implemented. Calling his struggle with a reluctant Congress over the tax bill "a kind' of drama, with good guys and bad guys and even a damsel in distress," Reagan asked members of his audience, "Do you find our present (tax) system utterly disgusting and demoralizing?" "Yes," the crowd replied. "Well, I'm with you," said the president. "The heroes are the citizens across this country who are asking for tax justice," Reagan said. "The villains are the special interests the 'I got mine' gang. And the damsel in distress? "A lass named Endless Economic Growth who's tied to the tracks and struggling to break free." Referring to the study in his speech at the McMinn County Courthouse in Athens, Reagan said his economic advisers told him the growth inspired by the tax changes "should create the equivalent of almost four million new full-time jobs. They found that the per sonal economic gain for each house hold will be about $600 a year." As Reagan began a two-stop visit to eastern Tennessee on his weekly trip out of Washington to campaign for the tax bill, the White House issued a rosy new assessment of the plan drawn up by the President's Council of Economic Advisers. It predicted the proposed overhaul of the federal income tax sys tem ultimately could boost the gross national product by as much as 3.2 percent. The council, whose forecasts of eco nomic growth during the Reagan admin istration have proved over-optimistic in the past, acknowledged that its tax study projections "should be viewed as plausible outcomes rather than as pre cise predictions." Nonetheless, according to a sum mary released by the White House, the administration economists said Rea gan's tax plan "will increase incentives to work and invest while reducing incentives to cheat on taxes." It said the predicted gains "may take 10 years to become fully effective" but might eventually have "the same value as a $600 to $900 per year inflation-indexed perpetuity for each American household." Congressional leaders have expressed skepticism that both the House and Senate can agree on a tax bill before the end of the year, but Reagan has sought to keep the issue alive by press ing his campaign across the country. 'Baseball on trial ' Drug tests sought for players NEW YORK - Baseball Commis sioner Peter Ueberroth on Tuesday asked major league players to voluntar ily submit to drug testing. The players' union responded that the action may be unlawful and indicated it would tell players to ignore the request. At a news conference, Ueberroth said he had designated a representa tive from each club's management to deliver letters to every major league player. The letters ask players to sub mit to urinalyses three times a year beginning in 1986. Ueberroth said he had asked for responses to the letters by Friday At th; same time, Ueberroth said he had decided to postpone any punitive action against seven players who testi fied in the federal drug trial in Pitts burgh of Philadelphia caterer Curtis Strong. "Baseball is on trial," Ueberroth said, "and it has sufered public humi liation in the last few weeks, not to anybody's surprise, least of all to mine. I've wrestled with what to do as commis sioner." "If we fail and most experts pre dict we will what we will have done is started a decade in which baseball has become synonymous with drugs. We will have turned off a generation of kids and we will have dealt a financial body blow to the game." Ueberroth said the program would be similar to one already being used to test minor leaguers and non-playing major league personnel. Tests would be done without notice, but would always be conducted in the player's club house. They would be conducted by medical people, and he said there would be no punitive steps taken against players who tested positively. He said baseball's winter leagues, with the exception of Venezuela, have joined the program. Venezuela was excluded because "they have severe penalties, and we will have no penal ties," Ueberroth said. The acting executive director of the players union, Don Fehr, called Ueber roth's action "a plain, old-fashioned attempt not to bargain...but to bypass the union." He said Ueberroth's plan "is possi bly unlawful, it is entirely inapprop riate and it is demonstrably unlikely to advance the ball further. What it does Newsmakers seem to be designed to do is to make news." Early indication was that players were favoring Ueberroth's proposal, with a hitch. The New York Mets voted unanimously in favor of the plan, sub ject to details being worked out with the Major League Players Association. A spokesman for the commissioner, Rick Cerrone, said Ueberroth's office would be more than willing to work out details with the players association. Cubs General Manager Dallas Green said in Chicago that the union should stay out of the situation, adding: "Drugs are not a union problem." "Regardless of what the union may, think," Green said, "it is up to every player on this team to agree to the voluntary testing to show the entire baseball world that drugs have not taken over our game." Baseball negotiated a Joint Drug Agree ment with the Major League Players Association last year. It provides for treatment and amnesty for players who come forward with drug problems. In it, there also is a provision for reopening the agreement to collective bargaining 11 one side reels testing is necessary. A roundup of the day's happenings The Eev. Jesse Jackson, who tried unsuccessfully to win the Democratic presidential nomination last year, says he hasn't ruled out another try in 1988. Union college President Ben Wygal has resigned after less than a year as head of the Lincoln-based Seventh-day Adventist school. Wygal, 48, said he is leaving for "purely personal, professional reasons." John Wagner, a former Union vice president, will succeed Wygal. Jared L. Johnson, 31, who is accused of threatening to kill President Reagan has been committed to a mental hospital, where he will remain for four months before being re-evaluated to determine his ability to stand trial. Threatening to kill the president is a felony punishable by five years in prisoa A presidential emissary was sent to Syria in an effort to gain the release of the Rev. Benjamin Weir, says an administration official who asked not to be identified. NBC News says Vernon Walters, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, met in secret for four hours with Syrian President Hafex Assad. t:tu::::! -t?-;- r-3t :-tc: ':-;t:::if.::ef;r 1 t.1. 2 Soviet -t '1 a ..t is v 1 1 ... : :i an ' the ce.l M i. il-..cst- .1.i t4.---.-5 . -...15..;-. . - v.ir-.r'l. fi.rii '.: '. i t j( ' r i A'tjnf.:lir -' "5fKl- '.Ml;i!.: ';' t! :iyts at r.-u-: ! iC..Uch'h;.-- ' i. - It: j . 'A ..'.'v if .cr.tof a(!'.. u r. 1 1; ; f .-A '..i ; . . .11 . V 1 i J cf Jill i j X' ' i . ii '' ' . fl: ";Li. 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