News stories from Sunday December 13, 1981

Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:

Poland was placed under martial law by its new military leaders. Civil rights were drastically restricted and the operations of the Solidarity union were suspended. The union's activists reacted with an appeal for an immediate general strike. The Martial Council for National Redemption, the new top authority, banned all kinds of gatherings and demonstrations and ordered the internment of persons whose loyalty to the state was under "justified suspicion." [New York Times] Communism's failure to deliver its promise of a better life for the Polish working people led to the workers' revolt in the summer of 1980 and the organization of the Solidary union. After three decades of sacrifice, conditions of everyday life had scarcely improved and it was in the area of social welfare that Communism had failed most dramatically. [New York Times] The U.S. is "seriously concerned" about the declaration of martial law in Poland, Secretary of State Alexander Haig said. He also renewed the West's warning to the Soviet Union not to interfere in Poland. After talking by phone with President Reagan at Camp David, Md., Mr. Haig said at a news conference that the United States had urged the Polish government to resume negotiations arid pursue a policy of compromise with Solidarity. [New York Times] The State Department held talks with the Polish Ambassador and the Soviet Deputy Chief of Mission, expressing serious concern over the imposition of martial law in Poland. President Reagan returned ahead of schedule from Camp David. The administration was said to be surprised by the suddenness and severity of the martial law measures. [New York Times] The Kremlin made no comment about the developments in Poland, reported in a series of brief and mainly factual dispatches by the official Soviet press agency Tass. Western diplomats believed that the Soviet leaders were withholding comment until they were sure the Polish armed forces were in control. [New York Times] Officers of a blasters' union got trips and no-show jobs from a New Jersey construction company while Raymond Donovan, the Secretary of Labor, was a senior executive of the company, according to grand jury testimony by Mario Montuoro, a former official of the union. He described seven incidents, in addition to a $2,000 cash payoff to the union's president by an official of the company in Mr. Donovan's presence in testimony given as long ago as 1978. His charges led to a Justice Department investigation of Mr. Donovan's business activities before he became Labor Secretary. [New York Times] The Democratic leadership will sue the Republican National Committee for $10 million, charging harassment and intimidation of black and Hispanic voters in the recent gubernatorial election in New Jersey. Eugene Eidenberg, executive director of the Democratic National Committee, said that the committee had affidavits from more than 80 voters who said they had been harassed or had witnessed harassment by the Republican-backed National Ballot Security Task Force, which said it was patrolling polling places to prevent fraud. [New York Times] The need for legal aid among the poor is increasing but fewer are receiving it from federally financed legal service centers as the recession worsens and social programs feel the bite of federal budget cuts. Directors of legal services programs in Philadelphia and other cities say their staffs have been cut back because of reductions in federal aid. [New York Times] Gasohol's promise as a fuel supply is fading as the result of the recent glut of crude oil and the administration's budget cuts. Gasohol, a 90-10 mixture of gasoline and ethanol derived from corn, was proposed as an alternative to gasoline during the energy crisis. But it has a low priority in the Reagan administration, which has slashed funding for government-subsidized gasohol plants. In addition, there have always been doubts about gasohol's energy efficiency. [New York Times] Gene-splicing's first major products are expected to go on world markets next year. Some experts believe a new era in the prevention and treatment of disease will begin. Cattle breeders will probably be the first to benefit from products of the young gene-splicing industry, which has developed vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease and scours, two serious diseases that afflict cattle and which are worldwide problems. [New York Times] The Sakharovs were emaciated after their recently ended hunger strike but elated that their strike brought about its objective, according to the woman for whose sake they underwent the ordeal. The woman, Yelizaveta Alekseyeva, who will soon be joining Dr. Sakharov's stepson in the United States, said that the nuclear physicist and his wife, Yelena Bonner, had not been force-fed during their involuntary hospitalization, despite threats from doctors. [New York Times]