December 11, 1972

Louisiana State Biracial Comm of Inquiry investigating deaths of 2 Southern Univ students on Dec 10 disputes official version of Nov 16 incident; last few witnesses will testify before comm this wk; rept of comm will then be made available to grand jury; comm members say privately that findings are critical of roles of state police and sheriff's deputies and some of Gov E W Edwards' public statements since incident; comm findings detailed; will bear on controversy over rept of Black People's Com of Inquiry, which blamed deputy sheriff's for deliberately firing shotguns into crowd

HAPPY BIRTHDAY R.G.

NY Times survey of Soviet dissident movement finds Soviet secret police have mounted determined campaign of repression against domestic dissident movement this yr at same time USSR is moving toward improved relations with West; dissident sources rept that since '72 began over 100 persons have been arrested in Ukrainian Repub and 8 key activists in Moscow and other major cities have been arrested or tried in campaign to suppress Chronicle of Current Events, most important dissident publication; rept most severe blow to dissidents was arrest of P A Yakir, who reptdly gave information to police that has resulted in at least 25 persons being summoned for questioning; Yakir reptdly told his daughter that he was shown material from previous pol trials showing that Soviet dissidents were being used, willingly or unwillingly, by anti-Soviet forces abroad, notably by Russian emigre orgn, the People's Labor Union; dissidents cite variety of reasons for their present defensive position; note Jewish emigration movement often competes for energies of activists and deprives them of support of those who manage to get exit visas; note sense of despair and impotence among dissident intellectuals after their failure to save Sinyavsky, Daniel and others tried in '66, '67 and '68 from long prison terms in Siberia; note relative inactivity of some dissidents when they return from prison; cite relentless pressure shrewdly applied by Soviet secret police (KGB), which reptdly has been ordered to proceed selectively and in stages against less well-known dissidents; KGB's 2 primary targets reptdly are Ukrainian nationalist movement and Action Group for Human Rights, which was led by Yakir; Yakir por

new kind of trade legis which reptdly has strong backing within Nixon Adm backs granting of lower most-favored-nation tariffs on goods from USSR and other Communist countries

Apollo 17 landing site in Taurus-Litterow area of moon is expected to yield oldest lunar rocks to be brought back by any Apollo mission; scientists are hopeful Cernan and Schmitt will find rocks dating to early stages of lunar formation; landing site and experiments to be carried out by astronauts described