Don't know about usenets, but to get the full periodical with the advertisers, mastheads, editors, upcoming legislation, etc you have to belong (paid subscription), don't you? Some eductaional institutions do and that is what he wants, the product for free. This is sleuth we are talking about here.
Afraid not, the closest university with a real engineering dept is in College Park. You would think with all the engineers in the area there would be a good undergraduate engineering school.