A symbol of a tougher approach
AT&T faces biggest antitrust suit
By United Press International
WASHINGTON - The Justice
Department demanded in court
Wednesday that American
Telephone & Telegraph Co., the
largest privately owned cor
poration in the world, be ordered
to break up its giant com
munications network.
The biggest antitrust suit ever
filed in U.S. District Court also
charged Western Electric Co. Inc.,
which manufactures most of
AT&T's equipment, and Bell
Telephone Laboratories Inc., with
monopoly.
It accused the three defendants
"with combining and conspiring
to monopolize, attempting to
monopolize and monopolizing the
telecommunications service and
equipments market," and asked
the court for "substantial
divestiture.” The suit will take at
least three years to come to trial,
legal experts estimated, and it
could take much longer than that
to exhaust all legal appeals and
recourses.
Meanwhile, in New York, AT&T
expressed astonishment at the
action and said it "could lead to
fragmentation of responsibility for
the nation's telephone network."
"If that happens telephone
service would deteriorate and cost
much, much more," he said,
expressing confidence the
company has violated no antitrust
laws and declaring that the action
"represents an attempt to change
through the courts what has been
national policy for six decades."
Justice officials declined to
predict that rates would be
lowered for telephone users if the
government wins its case, but
they said the public interest would
be served in other ways, such as
allowing freer access to various
kinds of telephone equipment b9
consumers.
Trading of AT&T stock was
suspended on the New York
Stock Exchange at 3 p.m. EST
Wednesday until 10 a.m. EST
Thursday at the direction of the
Securities and Exchange Com
mission. The SEC referred
inquiries to the Justice Depart
ment, where announcement of
the civil suit was made ap
proximately an hour later.
The suit symbolizes a tougher
approach toward anti competitive
and monopolistic practices by the
Ford administration than was
practiced in President Richard
Nixon's term. Ford already has
asked Congress to approve stiffer
( Continued on Page 24)
U.S. government disrupts
new left says Weinglass
Recent revelations of official documents show that the
U.S. government had been carrying out a 'massive”
program of disruption and destruction of new left
organizations, according to attorney Leonard Weinglass.
By MIKE DOLAN
Of the Emerald
Weinglass, who became nationally known as a legal
counselor to the Chicago Eight in 1970, spoke to about 50
students Wednesday in the EMU.
p
Photo by George Dombrovsk!
Leonard Wemglass
Woinglass was also involved in the Pentagon Papers
and the American Indian Movement (AIM) cases, and he
is representing Jame Fonda in a civil suit against the
federal government.
He talked 80 minutes about one of his current cases,
the representation of five Vietnamese students fighting
deportation, and he spoke about government adtivities
directed against the "new left."
Speaking of the Vietnamese students, Weinglass gave
this account:
Partly to counteract the success of the 1968 Tet of
fensive, the U.S. government started the "hearts and
minds program." As part of that program, Vietnamese
students were awarded scholarships to American
universities.
"For the first time students from an average background
came to the U.S. —not from the privileged classes." In
may of 1972, six of these students protested th U.S.
presence in southeast Asia and the Thieu regime itself.
"Retribution was swift." Their scholarships were
revoked and their visas cancelled. One of the students,
Nguyen Dong, is attending Oregon State University.
Weinglass believes the student will be jailed if the are
forced to return to South Vietnam.
During the presentation of the students' case in Los
Angeles last week, Ohio Asst. Attorney General Robert
Gould revealed that he personally wrote the Vietnamese
civilian detention laws in 1968.
Weinglass called this, “the most dramatic evidence
ever presented in a case like this." He said Gould had
been working with William Colby who is now director of
the CIA.
This indicated that Americans generated and created
the conditions which now exist in Vietnam according to
him.
Weinglass said Gould's testimony was only one
example of a number of instances where the govern
ment's own documents prove cases against it.
Some other examples Weinglass gave in which
documents will be used against the government include
-Jane Fonda vs. Richard Nixon;
— Dave Dellenger vs. John Mitchell, a case in which
the Justice Department was forced to admit to
“massive" wiretapping;
— the Pentagon Papers;
— the White House conspiracy trial which is relying on
White House tapes;
— and suits against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
which has revealed that it has harassed members of the
new left.
Weinglass also noted the FBI was forced over the
weekend to admit to its nine-year program of covert
operations against domestic political groups. The
operation was known as "Cointelpro," or counter in
telligence program.
"The FBI committed 2,300 acts of political dirty tricks
between 1963 and 1971," he said.
Weinglass was not optimistic about change in
America.
"I'm sure the activities are still going on —the problem
is there is no current proof." He said that FBI director
Clarence Kelly, Attorney General William Saxbe and
President Gerald Ford defend such programs and do not
find them to be violations of person's civil liberties.
In this issue...
Philosophy and finance
Leslie Zaitz takes an in-depth look at the financial
state of the University’s philosophy department. One
professor notes, "Comments and facts tell a story
that is anything but encouraging,"
Pages 18 & 19
Environmental Studies Center
The preservation of the environment has emerged
as a powerful social and political issue, but the
University's Environmental Studies Center faces an
uncertain future and possible extinction. Dave
Ludwig examines its future and its uncertain survival.
Page 17
Collective Bargaining
Collective bargaining creates as many problems as
it does benefits. Chris Jupp analyzes the present
situation. _ _
Page 5
It's not a nice story
Dave Braff on the Boards was going to write a nice
story about Atlanta Hawks hardship case John
Drew, but John Johnson of the Blazers threatened
Braff last week in the Portland locker room. It's not a
nice s,orv Page 20