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Qoyornment*Orops....,puclear.secrets suit
Charles Hansen is a computer programmer from Mountain View, Calif.,
wrote the letter.which allegedly detailed secrets of the hydrogen bomb and was
published in a Madison, Wise., newspaper.
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By TIM KONSKI
"Daily Collegian Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG Straight party
voting in general elections may' be
eliminated under legislation introduced
recently, into the state ' . General
Assembly.
House Bill 190 would "force electors to
vote for each individual candidate in
stead of a party," Representative Jess
M. Stairs, R-Acme, the bill's co-sponsor,
said.
• "This would help give_, Us' a more
responsible government because voters
will choose candidates on 'merit rather
A l i t than by party affiliation," he said.
The bill's other sponsor, Rep. Roger R.
Fischer, R-Washington County, said the
legislation was initiated, to protect in
dependent candidates who haVe been
"traditionally hurt" by the .two-party
• system.
"In many cases, good, solid can
didates have not been elected,":he said,
"because the parties* choose candidates
who have proven their loyalty.
"Fin . example, Democrats in a heavily
Republican area have less of a chance of
getting elected. It has nothing to do with
their ability; they're just registered in
40 • what turns out to be the wrong party,"
'Fischer said.
Fischer also said primary elections
should be open to independent electors
and that cross-party voting should be
permitted
"'Phis would give us better candidates
1 1111 .and may encourage middle and lower
income candidates to run," he said.
Support for The bill among members of
the legislature has varied, Stairs said.
"Most of our support comes from
independent thinkers," he said.
"Members are in favor if their party is
Hurricane
VERACRUZ, Mexico (UPI)
Hurricane Henri bOunced erratically
across the Gulf of Mexico yesterday
and sideswiped Cuidad del Carmen
where more than 2,000 persons fled to
the safety of Veracruz and Tampico.
Hurricane watchers at Mexico's
Gulf Disturbance Center said Henri,
the season's eighth tropical twister,
was spotted about 242 miles southeast
of the northern city of Tampico,
Tamaulipas province:
They said Henri, packing winds of
up to 105'mph, was working its way
northwest toward the northern shores
of Mexico. The Winds could intensify
in the area between Nautla,
Veracruz, ' and, Punta'Jerez,
Tamaulipas, a distance of some 198
miles, they said.
At mid-day, the hurricane was
centered 123 miles northwest of the
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daily
iri a majority. Minority party members
tend to reject the bill."
However, Commonwealth Secretary
Ellie! D. Allen, who operates the state's
election bureau, opposes the legislation.
'Opponents to straight party voting
argue that this bill will require voters to
become more knowledgeable about the
candidates and the issues and that the
Straight party vote gives an unfair ad
vantage to the party with the
registration edge.
"However, this bill would confuse
voters and, in fact, deny them the
freedom of choice which they currently
enjoy. It seems to me that House Bill 190
attempts to do in a haphazard way what
should be done in an orderly and com
prehensive fashion," Allen said.
She said the bill is deficient because it
does not amend the section of the state
election code that allows electors in
paper ballot districts to vote a straight
Public campaign funding possible
HARRISBURG (AP) Two lawmakers said yesterday they
will introduce a bill to establish public funding of statewide
election races. .
Sen. James Lloyd of Philadelphia and Rep. Allen Kukovich
of Westmoreland County, both Democrats, said the proposal
will help lessen the influence of special interest groups on
political candidates.
"Many of us find that we're torn between those who voted for
us and those who financed us," Lloyd said.
Kukovich said the effect of large donations from special
interest groups shows up in lobbying.
"I don't think anybody can say that a representative or
senator is bought," he said. "It's much more subtle than that."
A group that has contributed to a lawmaker is usually
guaranteed an audience when it wants to make a point about
pending legislation, he said.
forces 2,000 to flee
huge Petroleos Mexicanos runaway
gusher that has been spewing oil into
the Bay of Campeche and Gulf of
Mexico since June 3.
Police in Ciudad del Carmen, a
shrimp-fishing town in the Gulf of
Campeche, said strong winds, driving
rains and accompanying floods
forced about 2,000 persons from their
homes. They said waters in the city
swelled at , least a foot above street
level.
No deaths or injuries were
reported.
"We have felt only the secondary
effects of the hurricane," • a
spokesman for the mayor's office told
UPI.
He said rescue squads had been
sent out to the surrounding areas
where flood waters had risen nearly
three feet.
°lle • lan
WASHINGTON ( UPI) The
government yesterday dropped its
court fight to block the Progressive
Magazine and other publications
from printing secrets to the hydrogen
bomb, but said it may file criminal
charges against those involved in
exposing same of the sensitive data.
"The Department of Justice has
decided to seek dismissal of the cases
against the Daily Californian and
Progressive Magazine," department
spokesman Terrence Adamson told
reporters following a day of private
meetings by government lawyers.
The government had obtained court
orders blocking the two publications
from printing H-bomb secrets in a
battle that began last spring.
Adamson said the issue became
moot when the Madison, Wis., Press
Connection Sunday published a letter
from an amateur expert that included
a diagram and list of key components
of an H-bomb.
The same letter, from computer
Faculty reaction to bomb disclosure mixed
By PAUL. BOYNTON
and 808 HANNIGAN
Daily Collegian Staff Writers
The printing of information how to construct a
hydrogen bomb, in direct conflict with a federal
government restraining order, drew mixed reac
tions from University professors last night.
"Apparently this was worked from unclassified
information," William A. Lochstet, assistant
professor of physics, said. "I would be distressed if
the government would stop such work, because it
would be an infringement on the freedom of press
and the freedom of expression. Maybe the govern
ment should not have published as much as it did,"
he said.
On the other hand, Robert O. Blanchard, director
of the School of Journalism, .said he thought "things
party ballot
The bill does not .state. how a can
didate's party will be identified in the
absence of straight party levers on
voting machines, Allen said.
"If there is no party lever it is
assumed that the candidates of all one
party would still appear on one row or
column of the voting machine. It should
be made explicitly clear in any amend
ment which eliminates straight party
voting how the party of the candidate is
to be identified," she said.
Although the bill may weaken the two
party system, House leaders have not
committed their support or opposition to
the bill.
"I've gone both ways on this," House
majority leader Matthew Ryan, R-
Deldware County, said. "One minute I
think it's right, the next minute I think
it's wrong."
He said the bill would not weaken
Earlier, Henri's 125-mile radius of
high winds and accompanying rough
seas halted "Project Sombrero" at
the site of a huge oil spill that has
polluted beaches as far north as
Texas.
The aim of "Project Sombrero"
was to place a 30-ton bell over the
gusher and prevent the escape of
more crude pil.
A Pemex spokesman said ships
carrying the bell were buffeted by 9-
foot waves and 50 mph winds, and
were unable to anchore solidly
enough to complete the job.
In anticipation of the storm, all
Mexican navy and army units in the
city. of Veracruz were ordered back to
their barracks and ready to lend
emergency help, Mexican authorities
reported.
However, the proposal would not apply to the General
Assembly.
"It wouldn't pass," Lloyd said, adding that many
lawmakers well versed in campaign fund-raising would be
reluctant to switch to public financing.
The bill calls for a check-off on state income tax returns
similar to the one on federal returns.
Taxpayers could indicate whether they want $2.50 of their
tax to. go into a special Public Election Finance Fund ad
ministered by the secretary of the commonwealth.
Each candidate who qualifies would receive $2.50 from the
fund for every dollar he or she raises above a certain level.
A candidate for governor would have to raise $60,000, while
other statewide candidates would have to raise $20,000. The
minimums are cut in half for primaries. Matching money
would apply to any additional funds raised.
programmer Charles Hansen to Sen.
Charles Percy, R-111., had been
circulated to a number of
newspapers.
Adamson refused to say if the Press
Connection or Hansen would be ,a
target of the Justice Department's
preliminary criminal inquiry into
possible violations of the Atomic
Energy Act that bars disclosure of
nuclear weaponry technology.
He said the material published in
Madison has been widely
disseminated and is in the public
domain.
Once the suits are dropped, he said,
the government will no longer fight
publication of any of the material
"it's a matter of editorial judgment,
not legal responsibility."
Administration sources said the
government also abandoned its
seven-month-old legal struggle to
block publication of the Progressive
article, by free-lance writer Howard
Morland, because the Hansen article
have gotten a little out of hand."
Blanchard said he believes there will be a public
reaction against disclosing information that con
flicts with national security.
However, Nunzio J. Palladino, dean of the college
of engineering, said he does not understand why the
government is upset if the information was taken
from unclassified sources.
"I imagine the government showed discretion in
choosing what information was to be made public,"
he said.
One University professor said he believes that it is
only a matter of time before determined groups can
obtain information about hydrogen bombs.
"Sooner or later the people who would want it
( hydrogen bomb information) would find out,"
Thomas T. Thwaites, associate professor of physics.
party strength if candidates continue to
be listed in party groups on election
ballots.
"But, the parties would definitely
suffer if candidates were listed ran
domly," Ryan said. ,
He also said straight party voting has
been effective because electors who are
unfamiliar with a candidate's platform
can vote for party philosophy.
"If you don't know the candidate," he
said, "you can vote your party line
because you should know and agree with
your party's ideology."
Charles Bacas, aide to Minority Whip
James Mandarino, D-Westmoreland
County, said 'Mandarino has remained
uncommitted on the bill.
"People want chocolate and vanilla
ice cream," the aide said. "They want
straight party voting in areas where
they are strong, but want to get rid of it
in areas where they are weak."
Leader says opposition is gone
NEW DELHI, India ( AP) New President Hafizullah Amin
of Afghanistan confirmed in a broadcast speech yesterday
night all opposition was•eliminated in his lightning seizure of
power.
In a state radio broadcast monitored in New Delhi, the 50-
year-old Amin, who rose from prime minister to president and
chief of the ruling party Sunday, said nothing about the
whereabouts of his predecessor and former mentor, Nur
Mohammed Taraki. Amin retained the prime ministry and
control of the regime's defense system.
In Moscow, the Soviet news agency Tass repOrted President
Leonid I. Brezhnev and Premier Alexei N. Kosygin had sent a
telegram to Amin congratulating him on his "election." It
quoted the message as saying in part, "We express confidence
that fraternal relations between the Soviet Union and
Revolutionary Afghanistan will be further developed."
Diplomatic sources in Kabul had said before the upheaval
there were indications the Kremlin leadership was not
satisfied with Amin and had considered seeking ways to
replace him.
The state radio reported Sunday that the 62-year-old former
president had "resigned" from the presidency and leadership
of the ruling Khalq Party, because of a nervous condition.
"is more accurate than the Morland
article."
Several of the newspapers that
received the Hansen letter refused to
turn it over to the' government, and
the Justice Department Saturday
obtained a court order barring the
Daily Californian which is cir
culated at 13rkeley, Calif. from
publishing its contents.
Yesterday, following publication of
the letter in Madison, the Justice
Department asked U.S. District
Judge Samuel Conti of San Francisco
to dissolve the temporary restraining
order against the Daily Californian
and dismiss its lawsuit. Conti
promptly obliged..
Adamson said Hansen's letter
exposed the three "critical concepts
of thermonuclear weapons . . . we
were trying to protect."
He said the United States has been
injured by disclosure of the material,
because other countries will now
have increased capability "to obtain
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Get down
These co-eds from McElwain Hall are not demonstrating a new dance step or
polishing their housecleaning skills, but showing one way to have a scavenger
hunt in Mifflin Hall.
Tuesday, Sept. 18, 1979
Vol. 80, No. 41 16 pages University Park, Pa. 16802
Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University
the knowledge which heretofore has
been carefully guarded, restricted
data under the law."
Mark Lynch, a lawyer for the
American Civil Liberties Union
which is representing the
Progressive, said his clients did not
paSs the Morland research to Ilansen.
"We're very confident that our
clients have been absolutely
scrupulous in obeying the court
protective order charring disclosure
of the Morland article►." he said.
He said the Progressive was
"delighted" at the ruling.
"The government finally realized
that prior restraint doesn't work." he
said.
Adamson said the Justice will still
take• appropriate steps to ensure
continued protection of material filed
by the government under court seal
in the Progressive case. But he said it
would no longer fight publication of
any of the material now in the public
domain.
said. The printing of the story reduced the time in
which the information could be obtained, he said.
Robert E. Harkavy, associate professor of
political science, said he believes the most serious
security threat would come from terrorist groups
rather than foreign countries:
Two University professors said they agreed with
the lifting of the , restraining order and both believed
it should not have been issued at all.
"I agree with the lifting of the order," Donald L.
Smith, associate professor of journalism, said. He
said he was satisfied that the letter contained in
formation that had already been made accessible to
the public.
R. Thomas Berner, assistant professor of jour
nalism, said he believed the information printed
contained no secrets.
Taraki appeared fit during a recent stopover in Moscow
following the Havana non-aligned summit.
Amin said he had the support of the "brave army of
Afghanistan" and pledged to maintain good relations with all
nations, "especially the Soviet Union," ease strained ties with
Iran and Pakistan, and respect Moslem institutions.
Referring to the regime's human rights record. Amin
promised: "All atrocities by members of the government will
no • longer be tolerated." All political prisoners "un
necessarily" arrested will be released, he added.
The regime under Taraki admitted it held about 1.100
political prisoners, although reliable Afghan sources said the
number was in the tens of thousands. Pul-i-Charkhi Prison on
the outskirts of Kabul, reportedly the scene of torture and
summary executions, was holding about 23,800 persons, many
of them political prisoners, the sources said.
A change is near
Today will be our last sunny, warm day for a while, so enjoy
the high of 78. Tonight will be milder with the low going to 57,
but tomorrow it will turn windy and colder, with partly cloudy
skies and temperatures holding in the low 60's.
Photo by Nick Ostros•