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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1973)
1HE BATTALION Tuesday, February 20, 1978 College Station, Texas Page 5 Illinois Ex-Governor Convicted Of Accepting A Bribe CHICAGO UP>—Federal Judge Otto Kerner was convicted Mon day of accepting a bribe from racetrack interests while he was governor of Illinois. He is the first active judge of i U.S. Court of Appeals to be indicted and convicted of a crim inal charge. He and his longtime associate, Theodore J. Isaacs, a lawyer, were convicted of conspiracy, fraud, bribery and income tax evasion. Kerner also was con victed of perjury and making false statements to a federal agent. Judge Robert L. Taylor of U.S. District Court set no date for sentencing. Kerner and Isaacs were free on their own recog nizance. mmm NOW SHOWING 1:30 - 3:30 - 5:30 - 7:30 - 9:30 “JEREMIAH JOHNSON” (PG) QUEEN LAST 3 DAYS “AMERICAN WILDERNESS” Skyway Twin WEST SCREEN AT 6:45 P. M. “CONCERT AT BANGEDESH” At 8:25 p. m. “CELEBRATION AT BIG SPUR” (Both PG) EAST SCREEN AT 6:45 P. M. “YOU’LL LIKE MY MOTHER” At 8:35 p. m. “ANDREMEDIA STRAIN” The seven women and five men jurors who heard the evidence of 71 witnesses in the seven-week trial began deliberations Satur day afternoon. They spent 16\ hours in the jury room before their verdict was returned at 12:45 p.m. EST Monday. James R. Thompson, U.S. dis trict attorney who prosecuted the trial, told newsmen he favored prison sentences for Kerner, 64, and Isaacs, 62. “When the time for sentencing comes . . . it’s not conceivable that I would agree to probation,” Thompson told newsmen. Kerner’s lawyer said he would ask Judge Taylor for “a judg ment of acquittal” and if that was denied, he would move for a new trial. In a statement Kerner declared, “This battle is even more impor tant than life itself because it in volves my reputation and honor, which are dearer than life itself, and I intent to continue this bat tle.” Isaacs made no statement. Kerner, author of the 1968 presidential commission report on violence, faces a maximum sen tence of 83 years in prison and $93,000 in fines. Isaacs could be sentenced to 73 years in prison and fined $73,000. Kerner and Isaacs were ac cused of accepting racing stock worth $300,000 for the cut-rate price of $50,000. The government WELCOME to the MAROON PUB 1313 S. College Free Beer For Stag Ladies 21 and Over. MONDAY SPECIAL (Buy one get one free Falstaff Draft) CAMPUS STARTS TODAY — 1 :30 - 3:30 - 5:30 - 7:30 - 9:30 Whnt did happen on the Cahulawasnee River? ia«ninauimi«s W BOOflMAN f»LM '•/Vj'rf’j h| Am. I*# jfWjjAVI8K)N*'Tf „ „ JON VOIGHT BURT REYNOLDS “DELIVERANCE’’; ONS'r (Xi/- ■ ftemir-vkut by .l<Vr#w (X-H&y . PrxK;<*hI <iorl Dir»*;$<<! in iV\«vr,p |i I <mr| said the stock was made avail able to them to insure that cer tain racing groups received fav orable race meeting dates from the members of the Illinois rac ing boards who were appointed by Kerner. The government also charged the defendants concealed owner ship of the stock through compli cated financial transactions and they improperly filed tax returns in 1966 and 1967 when they re vealed their profits. Kerner was charged with lying to a federal grand jury by deny ing he ever discussed racing dates with racing board members. He was convicted of all 17 counts charged and Isaacs was convicted of the 15 counts against him. Kerner, governor of Illinois from 1961 to 1968, was impassive in the courtroom. His two adopt ed children, Tony and Helena, both in their early 20s, sat in the first row as they had throughout the trial. Kerner spent 3Vz days on the witness stand denying charges against him. The defense con ceded that Kerner and Isaacs had obtained the stock and made a profit from it in a six-year per iod. But Kerner contended the stock was not a bribe, that he never committed an act to influ ence racing dates in Illinois and that he properly paid taxes on his stock profits. Kerner, a former U.S. attorney and a major general in the Na tional Guard, was appointed in 1968 by the late President Lyn don Johnson to the 7th U.S. Cir cuit Court of Appeals. It was the same court where his father, Otto Kerner Sr., served after a term as Illinois attorney general. Kerner, a Democrat, is mar ried to the daughter of Anton Cermak, a Democratic mayor of Chicago killed in 1933 during an assassination attempt on Presi dent-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. The defense for Kerner was based heavily on discrediting the government’s two key witnesses, Marjorie Everett, former head of Chicago Thoroughbred Enter- prise, and William S. Miller, rac ing chairman during Kerner’s ad ministration. Miller, 72, was indicted with Kerner and Isaacs, but the gov ernment agreed to dismiss charges against him in exchange for his testimony. Kerner has been on leave with pay from his $42,500-a-year post on the appeals bench since he and Isaacs were indicted Dec. 15, 1971. News Reporting Becoming Difficult NEW YORK UP) — Censorship, harassment of reporters and “a spreading cloak of secrecy” made news reporting more difficult in 1972 than any time since World War II, West Gallagher, presi dent of The Associated Press, said today. “Tight control of the news in many areas by the U.S. govern ment, coupled with attacks on the press, were echoed abroad by in creasing censorship in foreign states,” Gallagher said in his an nual report to AP members. “Three of these states were closely associated with the Unit ed States—South Vietnam, South Korea and the Philippines. But Latin America, too, came under increasing dictatorial control with resulting censorship and secrecy.” Gallagher said that in the United States pressure on the press came from “government, politicians, self-appointed watch dog groups and assorted com mentators who kept up a barrage of often partisan criticism.” “In one form or another,” he said, “the din was bound to erode further the public’s faith in the media.” He noted the Supreme Court’s decision rejecting newsmen’s First Amendment rights to withhold sources from grand juries. Abroad, Gallagher said, there were tough censorship measures by military regimes in Brazil, Peru and Argentina. “Chile, while avowing press freedoni, monitored corespond ent’s outgoing copy and occasion ally threatened vague ‘sanctions’ against AP correspondents whose Freshman Wins Essay Contest Eddie R. Pearey, a freshman from Conroe, was honored Mon day at the Freedoms Foundation in Valley Forge, Pa., for his winning essay in national compe tition sponsored by the Marine Corps ROTC program. Pearey, a pre-veterinary medi cine student, received the Free doms Foundation’s George Wash ington Honor Medal, one of the organization’s top awards. His prize-winning paper is en titled “The Price of Freedom.” He wrote it last year while at tending the Marine Military Academy at Harlingen. He is the son of Marine Col. and Mrs. Eddie E. Pearey. His father is currently assigned to the Pentagon in Washington, I). C. FREDDIE HART Top Country-Western Entertainer IN CONCERT with THE HEART BEATS MISS TEXAS 1971- BELINDA MYRIC FRIDAY FEBRUARY 23, 1973 — 7:30 P.M. G. ROLLIE WHITE COLISEUM RESERVED TICKETS: A&M Student and Date $2.75 & $3.00 Patrons $4.50 & $5.00 GENERAL ADMISSION: A&M Student w/Activity Card FREE A&M Student Date $2.50 Patrons $3.00 TOWN HALL SEASON TICKETS HONORED Tickets & Information — MSC Student Program Office 845-4671 A TOWN HALL SERIES PRESENTATION In Cooperation With Military Weekend factual dispatches irritated the regime,” he said. Gallagher said there was “per vasive censorship” in the Philip pines. Egypt, he said, “main tained close surveillance of out going copy though dispatches were not tampered with.” For the second year, AP was not allowed a correspondent in Iraq, he said. Andrew Torchia, AP correspondent in Nairobi, Kenya, was held several days in a military prison in Uganda where he was covering a story. “There was no censorship in Vietnam, but newsmen’s move ments in the field became more circumscribed as the American presence, and logistics support, waned,” Gallagher said. “At times, for example during the heavy bombing of the north, official secrecy was imposed on information that had been readily available before.” Gallagher said AP’s coverage of the presidential campaign and election was faster and more ac curate than ever. He said chan neling all copy through a special desk in Washington provided better backgrounding and co herence, and the use of computer ized copy processing provided vote tables “virtually without er ror — something unheard of in the days of manual punching.” Bulletin Board TUESDAY Peace Corps and Vista will be recruiting in the Memorial Stu dent Center from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Thursday. Electrical and Electronics En gineers will hear R. K. Campbell in Lecture Room 2 of the Zachry Engineering Center at 7 p.m. Engineering Technology So ciety will hold elections in Room 107 of the Mechanical Engineer ing Shops at 7:30 p.m. Air Force Student Wives will meet in the apartment of Shery Hale, V-3-K Hensel. Sgt. Ches ter Holland will speak on moving in the Air Force. Pre-Vet Society will view a program on horse lameness at 7:30 p.m. at the Zachry Engi neering Center. Women’s Awareness invites both men and women to a meet ing at 7:30 p.m. in Room 402 of the Library. American Society of Mechani cal Engineers will hear George Boroughs and Jim Mitchell in Room 203 of the Zachry Engi neering Center at 7:30 p.m. WEDNESDAY Black Awareness Committee will meet in Room 2B of the MSC at 7:30 p.m. to see a movie, “Too Late to Wait.” Human Issues Discussion Group will meet at 7:30 p.m. in Room 2A of the MSC. Accounting Society and Resi dence Hall Association will pro vide free income tax preparation from 7 to 10 p.m. in the Social Room of the MSC. This service will be given the same time Thursday. THURSDAY Cepheid Variable Science Fic tion Committee will meet at 7:30 in Room 112 of the Plant Sci ences Building. Pictures by AP’s Horst Faas and Michel Laurent of a public execution by bayonet in Bangla desh won a Pulitzer Prize in 1972—the sixth Pulitzer for pho tography by AP staffers in the last eight years. The AP sports department met its biggest challenge in history in 1972, the report said, dealing with such stories as the Olympics and the first baseball players’ strike, while expanding the sports wire by four hours to a 24-hour circuit, and further computeriz ing the processing of sports copy. In World Services, AP hit a new high in the number of sub scribers, and expanded satellite circuits to Tokyo, speeding re lay of Asian news. In the technical field, Galla gher said, the extension of ca thode ray tube editing of major trunk wires reduced errors and increased the number of words transmitted, accompanied by a one-third reduction in the New York teletype operating staff. Since the first computers were introduced in 1970, the AP has eliminated 150 teletype operating positions, Gallagher said. ALLEN Oldsmobile Cadillac SALES - SERVICE “Where satisfaction is standard equipment” 2401 Texas Ave. 823-8002 Watch & Jewelry Repair Engraving Diamonds Set In Senior Rings Seiko & Bulova Watches Embrey’s Jewelry “The Friendly Store” North Gate 846-5816 CANTERBURY ASSOCIATION Each Tuesday, 5:30 p. m. Holy Eucharist and Supper EPISCOPAL STUDENT CENTER 904 - 906 Jersey Street (Southern Boundary of Campus) 846-1726 MARK YOUR CALENDAR FEBRUARY 28 r i 2 3 / 4 5 6 7 ' 8 9 10 ^ / 11 12 LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 ( D We will have our representative on Campus February 28 to discuss Career Oppor tunities with a MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR insurance company. Contact the Place ment Office for an appointment with our representative. INSURANCE COMPANY HOME OFFICE - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA Home Office: Birmingham, Alabama sSsm