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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 1971)
" ' ' : ■ ■ ■ . ::V;- the Battalion Cloudy and mild >nor, s tote Vol. 67 No. 15 Offi " Belj it is] With ;am, team may; ; r geti College Station, Texas Thursday, September 23, 1971 Friday — Cloudy to partly cloudy. North* rly winds 5-10 mph. High 73, low 64. Saturday — Partly cloudy. Easterly winds 10-15 mph. High 77, low 61. Saturday — Lincoln, Nebraska, kickoff time—Partly cloudy to cloudy. Northerly winds 10-12 mph. 66°. 40% relative humidity. 845-2226 Medina is acquitted of My Lai charges ft. McPherson, Ga. up>— j Capt. Ernest Medina, the career officer who commanded U. S. troops at My Lai in 1968, was acquitted Wednesday of all charges arising from the opera tion. The jury of five Vietnam vet eran officers deliberated for about an hour before acquitting the captain of murder, involun tary manslaughter and assault. The verdict was read by the jury president, Col. William D. Proctor of Atlanta, as Medina stood at stiff attention before AT I the jury wtih his lawyers. J| I “It is my duty as president of "this court to advise you that the court in closed session and upon secret written ballot, has found you not guilty of all specifica tions and charges,” Proctor said. Medina, 35, a slight smile on his face, snapped a smart salute fij/lto the jury, made an about-face, JJ land resumed his seat at the de- £“5 ifense table. At the reading of the verdict, there were several loud gasps among the spectators. Medina’s attractive blonde wife, dressed in a bright orange dress, I burst into tears and rested her head on the shoulder of a man - M sitting beside her. She raised her hands to her face and wiped at the tears. Col. Kenneth Howard, the mili tary judge, in an attempt to restore quiet to the courtroom [looked toward the spectators and said, “There will be no outbursts I in this courtroom.” !£S! M ^1 Medina sat without expression as Howard dismissed the jury and the spectators filed out of the cramped, paneled courtroom where the trial has been in progress since last month. When the courtroom was empty, Medina walked into an adjoining room, and drank a glass of water, and with his wife beside him then moved outside into the bright sun shine to face a throng of news men. The captain, speaking into a battery of microphones, said, “I am extremely happy—I just don’t know what other words can ex press my feelings at this point.” The trim Mexican-American officer’s voice shook as he talked to the reporters and was asked whether he thought at any time he would be convicted. Taking a deep breath, and then exhaling, Medina sid: “No, I never had the actual feeling that I would be convicted. I never felt that. “Men, three years is a long time—I’m glad it is over,” Me dina said, referring to the inter val between the My Lai massacre and his trial at this grassy, tree- shaded Army post. Medina was accused of pre- meditatedly murdering a woman by shooting her . as she lay wounded in a rice paddy outside My Lai. He also was accused of involuntary manslaughter in the death of 100 civilians during the operation, and was charged with assauting a Viet Cong suspect by twice firing a rifle over his head. After the verdict Medina’s wife was asked to describe her feel ings, and she replied, “My hus band has said it all.” Medina told newsmen that he had previously indicated that he would resign from the Army, whatever the outcome of the trial —and he said he would request an immediate discharge. Medina’s lawyer, F. Lee Bailey, then stepped forward. Bailey, asked if he ever ex pected conviction said: “I had some concern about the assault charge, because they seemed to be hammering away at that one. But as to the other charges, no deep concern.” “There wasn’t much evidence against Capt. Medina,” Bailey said. “In the Galley case, you couldn’t escape the evidence— that he had murdered children and, in my opinion, that’s why they got him.” “I’ve never got an acquittal for a nicer guy,” grinned Bailey. Medina was the fourth soldier acquitted of charges arising from the My Lai operation and was one of six court-martialed. Acquitted earlier were Sgt. Charles Hutto, Sgt. David Mit chell and Capt. Eugene Kotouc. Only one soldier, Lt. William L. Galley Jr., who served under Medina as a platoon leader at My Lai, has been convicted of wrongdoing in the operation. Galley was convicted earlier this year of murdering at least 22 civilians and a reviewing author ity recently cut his life sentence to 20 years imprisonment. Medina’s acquittal leaves only one case undedided—that of Col. Oran Henderson, who is being court-martialed at Ft. Meade, Md., on charges of covering up the massacre. Twenty-five men were charged initially with either wrongdoing in the operation, or attempting to cover it up. In his closing arguments, Maj. William Eckhardt, the prosecu tor, charged that Medina was guilty of criminal negligence at My Lai because he knew his men were murdering civilians, but chose not to restrain them. Bailey described My Lai as a “tragedy of connected errors.” He told the jurors that if they convicted Medina of homicide, “I suggest you put every soldier with a lawyer at his side to ad- Please see page 5 PARTICIPANTS in the “action” at the first Lincoln Union debate Wednesday night in cluded, from left, Russ Usnick, Shannon McKinney, Mike Murphy and Emil Pela. (Photo by Joe Matthews) Bonfire causes heated oratory at Lincoln Union debate series Bombers keep pressure up on North Viet troops i SAIGON (JP)—American bomb ers and warships pounded the southern half of the demilitarized zone Wednesday keeping up pres sure on North Vietnamese troops and supplies. Thailand-based B52 bombers and smaller tactical bombers joined planes from a U. S. carrier in the Tonkin Gulf in striking at rocket sites and storage depots in the DMZ and targets along the Ho Chi Minh supply trail in Laos. The U. S. Command said it | still had no assessment of the damage inflicted by 200 bombing strikes Tuesday that ranged 35 miles above the DMZ. Hanoi called the air strikes a “serious menace” to the peace talks carried on weekly in Paris. The North Vietnamese and Viet Cong delegations in Paris, as a way of protesting the attacks, called off Thursday’s scheduled session of the talks. A communique issued by the U. S. Command said the number of antiaircraft guns within the 35-mile area north of the DMZ had increased almost 40 per cent during the past li/z months. A threat of increased enemy sapper attacks appeared to be developing around Saigon. About 30 sappers slipped into the base at Quang Loi, 62 miles north of Saigon, and hurled satchel charges into the installa tion manned by 300 South Viet namese troops. Official reports said two sol diers and two dependents were killed and one soldier and one dependent were wounded. One U. S. adviser was wounded. Enemy losses were unknown. The raid was the second in as many days in the region, guard ing the north and west ap proaches to Saigon. South Vietnamese field com manders, with strong urging from U. S. advisers, have stream lined their intelligence system and are launching secret opera tions in an attempt to counter the sapper campaign. By BILL GOULD Staff Writer Wednesday night’s rain may have discouraged some people from attending the first Lincoln Union debate, but it failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the participants or the audience. Using a style of debate first introduced at Cambridge Univer sity in England, the club’s first topic was the Aggie bonfire issue. Supporting the bonfire in its present form were Russ Usnick, member of the English faculty; Gary Reger, junior marketing ma jor and president of the club; and Harry Schroeder, sophomore chemistry major. Presenting the argument against the bonfire were Mike Murphy, member of the landscape architecture faculty; Shannon Mc Kinney, junior history major; and Emil Pela, senior marketing ma jor. The debaters used an entertain ing, though inconclusive, mixture of invective, humor, insult and oc casional argument while “discuss ing” the relative merits and shortcomings of the bonfire. “There is a conflict of purpose between the destructive effects of the bonfire and the constructive goals of this university,” Murphy maintained. “Regardless of its symbolic purpose, the burning of the bon fire says to the rest of the world that Texas A&M is living in the past, as if our resources were without end,” he added. While iSchroeder pointed to the bonfire as the “focus of an Ag gie’s pride in his school and a symbol of unity,” Miss McKinney insisted that the tradition was “a negative symbol, bringing about unity that only lasts about half an hour.” Usnick, who admitted that he had never seen the bonfire, main tained that “no real ecological harm was done if the trees used are taken from land to be cleared anyway.” He added that the bon fire could become a divisive issue within the university community if something were not done to re solve the situation in the near fu ture. Pela, as the last speaker, found his opposition’s presentation to be “largely an apology rather than a justification for the bonfire. In suggesting alternate projects to the bonfire in its present form, Pela argued that Aggies could derive more spirit, pride and uni ty from constructive activities than from the burning of one of our most important and valuable resources.” Ed Cooper, problem solver, students’ voice to Williams CANADIAN HONKERS MAKE USE of the pedestrian right-of-way in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. From the looks of campus drivers this year, a crossing like that wouldn’t be quite as easy here. Motorists and cyclists seem to think anything on foot is fair game. (AP Wirephoto) By LARRY MARSHALL Staff Writer Sifting through the load of stu dent problems and solving as many as he can is the task of Edwin H. Cooper, assistant to A&M President Jack K. Williams. Cooper has become known as the man to see when you have a problem. His job is to intercept and digest all problems concern ing students and report to Presi dent Williams. He is a straight forward man who devotes full time to this and likes it. “I enjoy this job because of the different special activities, I usu ally don’t know what I’ll be doing the next day,” said Cooper. Campus student leaders and students themselves come to him with their ideas. “I have had close contact with the students since I’ve been at A&M,” said Cooper, and “I think it keeps me young.” He thinks this communication is the way to solve problems, and it works. Serious matters receive immedi ate attention. “If it’s urgent I can open his (Dr. Williams’) door and walk right in,” Cooper noted. “It’s a way of having an open door pol icy.” Cooper is an Aggie of long standing, and he enjoys working here with the students. “We have the best student body in the United States here,” he said, “and there are not many people who get a chance to work with a group like this. I look for opportunities to be with the students and visit informally.” Cooper works with the Presi dent’s Advisory Council, which is proving to be a major communi cations link between the student body and the administration. This : council is made up of the main I student leaders on campus and it meets once a month. This is a .! chance for the leaders to pass ' on their ideas directly to Presi- ’ dent Williams, and to sound him I out on them. “This is a unique program on Banking is a pleasure at First Bank & Trust. a university campus at this day and time, whereby students have a periodic opportunity to sit down and pick the president’s brain,” commented Cooper. Another major development has been the addition of student rep resentatives on many of the 44 standing committees of the uni versity. The Student Senate played a major role in this proj ect. Recently with the problem of rent increases on the university owned apartments, Cooper worked with the presidents of the Student Senate and Graduate Student Council and the chair man of the Apartment Council to affect a workable solution. He is aware of the administra tion’s side of the coin and ex plained the reasons for the in creases. Rising costs, addition of maintenance men, and the bond indebtedness of the university are some of these. Out of the meet ings grew a plan to establish an ‘interest free’ student loan fund to help the residents meet the additional costs. This program is now in operation. Other situations in which he has been involved include cam pus housing. He has worked to solve the overcrowding of some dormitories in the Corps area by discussing it with the Comman dant and Cadet Colonel. Parking problems have been an issue on campus lately. “A&M is a pedestrian campus,” he said, “and I see fewer and fewer cars on the mid campus with time.” The trend will be to perimeter parking lots, which has already begun.” Cooper is a Texas A&M grad uate of the Class of 1953. He began working at A&M with the Agricultural Extension Service and has risen through the ranks. He has served as assistant to the late Earl Rudder, as the first di rector of Civilian Student Activi ties, served a stint as director of admissions, and then was ap pointed to his present post. German negotiators break off talks on the Berlin agreement BERLIN LP>—East and West German negotiators broke off Wednesday their talks aimed at carrying out the four-power agreement on Berlin. Egon Bahr, West German state secretary and chief negotiator, said the talks were deadlocked over the issue of translating into German the text of the agree ment signed by the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. Bahr told newsmen that the two Germanys had come to an understanding on how the Ger man translation of the Berlin pact should be stated and implied the East Germans had gone back on what was agreed upon. The two sides are to work out details of such things as Berlin access and wall passes agreed on by the four powers. The four powers signed their Berlin pact Sept. 3. The issue, it appeared, was East German in sistence on separate pacts with West Germany and West Berlin on Berlin access traffic. The West Germans want the West Berliners to take up inner Berlin matters only. These would include visits past the wall by the West Ber liners. Bahr’s sudden return from his 20th meeting with Kohl, the fourth since Sept. 3, and the post ponement of the parallel West Berlin dialogue with East Berlin this week represented a get-tough response by the West Germans in the face of East Germany’s ada mant stand. University National Bank “On the side of Texas A&M.” —Adv.