Some 2,000 university professors have signed petitions sent to President Nixon asking him to act to make air travel safe for the academic community “if it is to contribute to the solutions of the problems of mankind.” The petitions were forwarded from nine universities to Deputy Undersecretary of State Elliott Richardson by Dr. A. Cliffor Barger of Harvard University. His brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Dr. and Mrs. E, Richard Weinerman, were two of the 47 persons killed in the sabotage of a Swiss air plane in Zurich on Feb. 21.
In a telephone interview, Dr. Barger said he did not solicit the signatures. “Some friends called from all over asking me what I was going to do and we decided on this.” The petitions were signed by faculty members at Yale–where Dr. Weinerman was a professor of public health–and at Harvard, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Brandeis and California Universities. The petition from Harvard said that the United States must take “the lead in insuring that resolute measures are taken to deal with this growing menace.” The message also said that “the lack of firm international action against air piracy and sabotage and against governments harboring, assisting and encouraging those responsible has resulted in this tragic episode in Zurich.
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