Three members of the University staff yesterday warned against the influence that the Atomic Energy Commission and the Defense Department have acquired in determining national policy. The three recently signed a statement supporting the Geneva talks on halting nuclear testing.

One of the signers, David Riesman '31, Henry Ford II Professor of Social Sciences, said he believed the members of the AEC are "patriotic men. They feel that tension between the United States and Russia must be kept up in order to maintain morale in the armed forces and places like Los Alamos," he continued, "and they have turned to mendacious activities in order to maintain this tension."

Members of the AEC have taken the "natural position," claimed another signer, M. Stanley Livingston, Director of the Cambridge Electron Accelerator. He remarked that they are "narrowly interested in doing their job well."

Noting the influence the AEC and Defense Department wield for continuing the tests, Paul M. Doty, professor of Chemistry, bemoaned the fact there is almost no "peace lobby" in the United States.

Sponsored by the National Committee for a Sane Nuclear Policy, the statement supports Senate Resolution 96, introduced by Minnesota Democrat Hubert M. Humphrey. The proposed resolution affirms the Senate's backing of the current Geneva negotiations to end nuclear weapons tests.