Pago 2
Daily Nebraskan
Friday, October 10, 1986
News Diges
By The Associated Press
Captured American: I flew
several contra supply flights
MANAGUA, Nicaragua An Ameri
can captured after a Contra weapons
supply plane was shot down over Nica
ragua said Thursday he worked with
CIA employees and took part in 10 such
flights from Honduras and El Salvador.
Eugene Hasenfus, 45, of Marinette,
Wis., said in a nationally broadcast
news conference that four of the flights
were made from Aguacate air base in
Honduras and six from Ilopango air
base in El Salvador.
"We would be flying into Hondu
ras. . . . and we would be loading up on
small arms and ammunition and this
would be flown to Nicaragua," he said.
"These we would drop to the Contras."
Hasenfus said 24 to 26 "company
people" assisted the program in EI Sal
vador, including flight crews, mainte
nance crews and "two Cuban national
ized Americans that worked for the
CIA."
Hasenfus said he was offered the job
in June by William J. Cooper, identified
as the pilot of the aircraft. Cooper was
one of three people killed when the
aircraft was show down Sunday by a
surface-to-air missile and crashed in
southern Nicaragua.
Nicaraguan officials have claimed
the supply operation was part of a CIA
effort to help the Contras, who have
been fighting for 4 12 years to over
throw the leftist Sandinista govern
ment. Under restrictions Imposed by
Congress, the CIA may not aid the
Contras.
CIA spokeswoman Kathy Pherson
said the agency could only respond to
Hasenfus' remarks by repeating its ear
lier denials of involvement.
Hasenfus said he was told he would
be paid $3,000 per month plus housing,
transportation and expenses for work
ing with the air crews.
He said he was employed by Corpo
rate Air Services, which has the same
Miami address as Southern Air Trans
port, formerly owned by the CIA.
Explosion on distant stars
could solve physics mystery
LOS ANGELES A Navy astronomer predicts the latest
in aseries of gargantuan explosions on a distant double star
will be detected Saturday, and scientists around the world
are watching to see if he's right.
They also will try to determine whether the blast produ
ces mysterious particles called cygnets, an unexplained
form of matter. Some physicists believe they found evidence
of cygnets after prevous explosions on star system Cygnus
X-3. Other say cygnets can't exist.
"Either we're right and great heroes for finding new and
previously unknown things or we're just stupid." said Mar
vin Marshak, University of Minnesota physics department
chairman and among those who believe cygnets exist.
At least a month will be needed to determine whether
cygnets are produced in an explosion on Cygnus X-3, a pair
of stars that orbit each other at the edge of the Milky Way.
at least 217,560 trillion miles from Earth, said University of
Pennsylvania physicist Michael Cherry.
Scientists believe Cygnus X-3 is a major source of the
once-mysterious cosmic rays that bombard Earth and- the
newest of the galaxy. It is the first know source for them.
Cherry said astronomers will consider the prediction by
Ken Johnston, an astronomer at the Naval Research Labora
. tory in Washington, accurate if the blast occurs anytime
this month.
"We're talking about explosions beyond our ability to
even comtemplate, explosions that would make a thermon
uclear bomb look like dropping a pebble in a lake," Mar
shak said during a telephone interview.
No one will be harmed by radiation from the blast,
Johnston said.
In Brief
Nebraskans may get camera refunds
LINCOLN Nebraskans who purchased some models of Minolta
cameras will be able to claim refunds of up to $ 15 under a settlement that
has been submitted to the U.S. District Court for Maryland.
Nebraska joined in an antitrust action against the Minolta Corp.,
according to a newsrelease from Attorney General Robert Spire.
The actions allege that Minolta improperly attempted to set and
maintain retail prices charged by its distributors for two popular models
of cameras the Minolta Maxxum 7000 and the Af-Tele.
The agreement provides that Nebraskans who purchased Maxxum 7000
cameras prior to March 21, can claim a $15 per camera refund and
Nebraskans who purchased an Af-Tele camera prior to March 2 1 can claim
an $8 refund.
Amtrak derailment
FALL RIVER, Wis. An Amtrak passenger train headed from Seattle to
Chicago derailed in southern Wisconsin on Thursday, killing one crew
member and injuring nine other people, a railroad spokesman said.
About 227 people were aboard the Empire Builder, said Amtrak spo
kesman John Jacobsen in Washington.
He said the train's two locomotives and three cars fell on their sides.
Five other cars derailed but remained upright, he said. Jacobsen said the
train had 15 cars.
He said the dead man was a fireman in one of the locomotives.
Jacobsen said it wasn't known whether the injured were passengers or
members of the crew.
Zaccaro pleads innocent
NEW YORK John Zaccaro, the husband of former vice presidential
candidate Geraldine Ferraro, pleaded innocent Thursday to charges of
bribe solicitation and attempted extortion in connection with the granting
. of cable television franchises.
Ferraro, a former Democratic congresswoman who was Walter Mon
day's running mate in 1984, sat in the front row of the courtroom as her
husband's lawyer entered the innocent plea.
The arraignment took place a few hours after Zaccaro surrendered at
the borough of Queens' central booking office in the basement of the
courthouse on charges handed up by a grand jury.
The indictment charges Zaccaro with one count of bribe solicitation,
and two counts of attempted extortion.
Senate convicts, removes Judge Claiborne from office
WASHINGTON t- The Senate on Thursday convicted U.S. Dis
trict Judge Harry E. Claiborne of "high crimes and misdemea
nors," making him the fifth federal official in history removed
from office through impeachment.
Claiborne, a convicted tax evader and federal prisoner, was
thrown off the bench at 4:14 p.m. EDT, following adjournment of
the first Senate impeachment trial in 50 years.
The chief U.S. district judge for Nevada was found "guilty" on
three of four impeachment articles by the necessary two-thirds
majority. He was acquitted on a fourth article, although a majority
of senators voted "guilty."
Claiborne,. 69, was found guilty on Articles I and II, accusing
him of the same willful tax violations that caused a federal court
jury to find him guilty in 1984.
Article III, of which he was acquitted, said the judge's criminal
conviction alone warranted his removal. Article IV contended his
conduct betrayed the judiciary and the nation.
The votes were: Article 1, 87-10; Article II, 90-7; Article III, 46-17;
and Article IV, 89-8. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, voted "present"
on all four counts. However, on count III, 34 senators joined him in
"present" votes.
A conviction on any article would have been sufficent to oust
Claiborne from his lifetime job.
Most senators were somber as they responded to President Pro
Tempore Strom Thurmond's questions, "How say you: Is the
respondent Harry E. Claiborne guilty or not guilty?"
"Guilty, Mr. President," responded Sen. William Armstrong,
R-Colo., the first to respond on impeachment Article I.
There was absolute silence in the blue-carpeted chamber,
making unnecessary Thurmond's warning to spectators in the
gallery that "There will be no expressions of approval or disapproval."
Just before the result of Article I was announced, Claiborne sat
back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. Later, he
placed his glasses on the defense table. But he kept his compo
sure, from his entrance in the chamber to his exit between
Sergeant-at-Arms Ernest Garcia and a federal marshal.
Former Sen. Howard Cannon, D-Nev., a member of the judge's
defense team, said after the vote, "I feel the Senate did not give
Judge Claiborne the trial he was entitled to. It did not hear one
solitary witness before the full Senate."
Cannon said the Senate's judgment was based largely on "hear
say" and unfavorable newspaper articles, but "it was not really
based on the facts."
A Senate aide, speaking only on condition he not be identified
by name, said the Senate leadership did not introduce a resolu
tion to bar Claiborne from holding federal office in the future
because, "They're feeling was 'enough is enough.' " Such a resolu
tion, introduced in some past impeachment trials, would have
required only a simple majority.
Three district judges and an appellate judge have been the only
officials in the nation's past to face the ignominy of a Senate
conviction. Of all 13 officials who faced impeachment proceed
ings, only Claiborne entered the Senate chamber as a convicted
felon.
Claiborne contended that federal agents and prosecutors he
criticized as "a bunch of crooks" were responsible for his court
conviction.
He acknowledged that more than $106,000 in income was not
reported on his 1979 and 1980 tax returns, but blamed the errors
on firms he hired to prepare them.
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ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1SS8 DAILY NEBRASKA II
Scientist grow Hepatitis B virus in test tubes
BOSTON Scientists' long quest to
grow the hepatitis B virus in a test tube
has been achieved by at least six reser
ach teams, and researchers say the dis
covery should speed the search for new
drugs to fight the disease.
Although the virus easily infects
people, scientists had failed for at least
a decade to make it thrive in human
tissue in test tubes, a key step in learn
ing how the virus functions and testing
medicines that might kill it.
Over the past year, new information
about the germ's reproduction has pro
vided important clues to the puzzle.
The first team to publish its solu
tion, headed by Dr. Max Essex of the
Harvard School of Public Health, reports
on its work in Friday's issue of the
journal Cell.
At an August meeting in Cold Spring
Harbor, N.Y., that was closed to repor
ters, Essex's groups and five others
discussed a variety of similar tech
niques to grow the virus.
In an interview, Essex attributed his
success to the availability of human
cancer cells that would support the
virus and new techniques for transfer
ring genes, along with "hard work and
luck."
The hepatitis B virus infects 200,000
Americans annually. It can cause cir
rhosis and other liver diseases, includ
ing liver cancer. Worldwide, hepatocel
lular carcinoma caused by the virus
strikes an estimated 250,000 people
each year and kills virtually all of them.
Government survey: Regular cocaine use soaring
WASHINGTON The number of Americans who use cocaine has soared
while abuse of most other drugs leveled off in the 1980s, federal health
officials reported Thursday.
A government survey conducted in 1985 found that 5.8 million Americans
had used cocaine in the previous month, a 38 percent jump from the 4.2
million people reported in a similar 1982 survey.
But the eighth National Household Survey on Drug Abuse found little
change in the number who used cocaine at least once in the past year. Their
ranks grew only from 11.9 million in 1982 to 12.2 million.
Cocaine users are resorting to the drug more frequently, possibly as they
exhaust what Dr. Donald Ian Macdonald, head of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse
and Mental Health Administration, called a "grace period" for many young
people before cocaine plays havoc with their lives.
Macdonald said the widening use of crack, a potent, smokable form of
cocaine, is also cutting short any "grace period."
The survey found 44 percent of youthful cocaine users have smoked the
drug freebase. Thirty-eight percent of all those who used cocaine in the
month before the survey smoked it. '
Macdonald expressed alarm that 30 percent of women in the child-bearing
ages of 18 to 34 used an illicit drug at least once in the past year and 18
percent had done so in the past" month. Drugs can severly harm unborn
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babies.
The survey found that 1 13 million Americans drink alcohol. More than half
of youth 15 million have tried alcohol at some time. Over 60 million people
smoke cigarettes, and more than 11 million youths have tried smoking.
Health and Human Services Secretary Otis R. Bowen told a news confer
ence the findings "confirm once again that high historic levels of illicit drug
use persist in the United States."