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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (May 3, 1977)
id to pi; good 1 I don ^ meet The Battalion Vol. 70 No. 116 14 Pages Tuesday, May 3, 1977 College Station, Texas News Dept. 845-2611 Business Dept. 845-2611 Nixon lawyers demand retraction United Press International WASHINGTON — Richard Nixon never discussed hush money payments to the Watergate burglars the week they went on trial for the break-in, according to his lawyers. Breaking their long silence on Watergate, Nixon lawyers in San Clemente yesterday demanded that the Washington Post retract a story in which the newspaper said previously unreleased White House tape transcripts showed Nixon discussed the payments with Charles Colson Jan. 8, 1973. This was 2- 1 /6 months before John Dean discussed the payments with Nixon-which Nixon has always claimed was his first knowledge of the demands. Colson, then special White House counsel, also denied that hush money payments were brought up at the meet ing. The flap arose two days before the broadcast of a 90-minute Watergate inter view Nixon held with David Frost-his first statement on Watergate since the scandal drove him from office Aug. 9, 1974. “The transcript of the purported con versation . . . printed by the Post was not the final version produced by the Watergate’s special prosecutor’s office,” said Nixon lawyer Herbert J. Miller in a letter to the Post Editor Ben Bradlee. “The draft was subsequently revised . . . the final transcript contained no refer ence, whatever, to hush money.” “The record of the special prosecutor will confirm this,” he said. A Nixon aide said the final transcript prepared by the prosecutors showed the discussion did not even involve Watergate, but a series of newspaper arti cles concerning campaign spending by Sen. Birch Bayh, D-Ind. It was for this reason, the aide said, that prosecutors did not use the tape at the Watergate cover-up trials. “The Watergate special prosecutor’s of fice deleted it because it was irrelevant,” said the Nixon aide. While the Post printed the text of sev eral other “new” Watergate transcripts, it did not print that of the Jan. 8 meeting. “The discussion opened with Colson reassuring Nixon that none of the defen dants in the first Watergate trial will tes tify,” the Post said. The burglars pleaded guilty without testifying at the trial. Nixon is quoted as saying: “God damn’ hush money, uh, how are we going to (un intelligible) how do we get this stuff.” “This and other new transcripts show that Nixon was keenly aware that these payments were central to the cover-up and, if revealed, would present his greatest personal criminal vulnerability,” the Post said. A spokesman for the Post said Benjamin C. Bradlee, executive editor of the Post, issued a statement saying, “The Post stands by its story,” “Newsweek magazine reported that when Frost quizzed Nixon about the later March 21 hush money discussion with Dean: “he admits that his remarks to Dean were followed by another payment to Howard Hunt, yet he maintains that he did not actually authorize it.” NIXON tudents sell plasma to pay bills, get ‘fun money’ By MARK PENNY ore than 1,300 people have passed gh the building at 313 College Main liege Station during the last year, are selling their plasma, the fluid |of blood, to Plasma Products, Inc. of i — a plasma-collecting company, e use the “blood money to pay bills and living expenses. Others hsing it for weekend “fun money,” rid- lessons and vacations. Jasmapheresis, the giving of plasma, an hour and fifteen minutes to an land a half, said Maxie L. McCary Jr., lager of Plasma Products. Approxi- ely one pint of blood is drawn from the In into a sterile plastic bag. le bag is spun in a refrigerated cen- Ige that separates the blood cells from Iplasma. The plasma is frozen and k The remaining blood particles are mixed with a saline solution and injected back into the donor. It takes about two pints of blood to extract one pint of plasma so the process is repeated. Beth Scott, a junior biology major and plasma donor, said she uses the money for weekend expenses. “I could get it (money) from my parents, but I don’t like to,” she said. “I come here because it is within walk ing distance,” she said. Scott lives in Mosher dorm on the Texas A&M Univer sity campus. Matt Werner said he likes to get paid for doing something easy. Werner, a freshman liberal arts major, applies his money toward off-campus living expenses. Psychology major Nancy Hopkins said she started this past summer when she lived off-campus and used the money to buy groceries. Now she lives on-campus and uses the board plan. “I use the money to eat on Sunday nights. I’m also taking riding lessons that it helps pay for,” she said. Greg Clayton is not enrolled in A&M this semester. He had some medical prob lems this spring and is using the plasma money to meet those costs. Lanya Whik said she is putting the money into a savings account. She plans to take a European vacation. McCary said that after the plasma leaves it is sold to different pharmaceutical com panies. There some of the plasma may be fractionated. “That is, it is broken into proteins,” he explained. The proteins are used as controls for testing the validity of tests given to people in hospitals, McCary said. For example, a heart patient can have a clotting test in the morning, he said. The hospital labs will then run the same test on the plasma controls to determine if the test is valid, McCrary explained. To insure the quality of the plasma, a donor is required to pass a physical exam ination annually. A tube of blood is drawn every four months to be tested for syphilis, hepatitis and normal proteins levels. At the time of each donation a blood sample is drawn from the donor and tested for protein content. The donor’s blood pressure is checked, and he must also check off a list of health-related questions. A person is only allowed to donate twice during a seven-day period. However, at least 48 hours must pass between any two donations. This is to allow the body to re plenish the removed plasma. \years needed for implementation arter outlines welfare reform goals jy Holly B n Houst be heli m and United Press International WASHINGTON—A decent income for who cannot work and access to jobs those who can are among President er’s 12 goals for welfare reform. But ays they cannot be achieved for at least e years. ;nnis te fter offering his statement of principles (White House briefing yesterday, Car- the next order of business is con- tions with governors and community iers “to accommodate the special and jue needs of each state.” Ictual reform — in Carter’s view noth- !ess than scrapping the present system not be achieved until at least 1981, because “The extremely compli- changes must be made carefully and nsibly.” chief welfare adviser, Health, Edu- and Welfare Secretary Joseph Califano, said in a more colorful descrip tion of the pitfalls awaiting the plan: “Wel fare reform is the Middle East of politics.” Carter conceded it won’t come quickly, or politically easily. The admninistration will send a legisla tive proposal to Congress by the first week in August, he said. If Congress approves a bill by early 1978, another three years would be needed to put it into effect. Hearings begin in the House of Representatives to morrow. Carter said HEW concluded after three months of study “the present welfare pro grams should be scrapped entirely and a totally new system implemented.” Welfare is inadequate, unfair, irra tional, incoherent, wasteful, capricious and subject to fraud, the President said. than had adding: “It is much w anticipated.” In its place, Carter would consolidate at least three types of welfare’Aide to Families with Dependent Children, food stamps and Supplemental Security In come for needy aged, blind and disabled persons-into a single cash grant. It would vary geographically only to re flect differences in the cost of living. Every family with children and an able-bodied adult would have access to a job. Carter said reform should provide in centives to private business and industry to supply the jobs but that 2 million public service jobs could be made available in prisons, parks and among the elderly. “There will be a heavy emphasis on jobs, simplicity of administration, financial incentives to work, adequate assistance for those who cannot work, equitable benefits for all needy American families, and close cooperation between private groups and officials at all levels of government,” he said. Administration officials shied away from cost estimates. Creation of one public service job could cost $6,000, said Labor Secretary Ray Marshall. The expected 1978 cash value of the three potentially consolidated programs is $22.5 billion, said Califano. For his part, the President set a goal of limiting the cost of welfare reform to “no higher initial cost than the present sys tems.” BOBBY JOHNSON FDA gets praise, complaints on cancer-drug laetrile United Press International KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Supporters of using the banned drug laetrile to treat cancer booed and heckled a scientist who called the substance “sugar-coated cyanide.” Dr. John Yarbro, chairman of the de partment of oncology at the University of Missouri-Columbia and director of Mis souri Cancer Programs, was booed yester day at a Federal Drug Administration hear ing for saying laetrile was neither safe nor effective. “This sugar-coated cyanide can kill people,” Yarbro said. “I know we want a miracle but there just isn’t one. “The claim that any single chemical sub stance would be capable of treating, pre venting, or controlling all forms of cancer is simplistic, improbable and unfounded.” Laetrile supporters stood and applauded Ernst Krebs Jr., the leader of a group try ing to have the FDA ban lifted, as he es poused the benefits of the substance during the first day of the two-day FDA hearings, ordered by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver. Krebs’ father was in strumental in promoting the use of laetrile — made from the pits of apricots, peaches and bitter almonds — as an agent in cancer therapy. Krebs said some medical techniques such as surgery were useful in the treat ment of cancer, but he maintained laetrile should be made available. Dr. George Hill, chairman of the surgery department at Marshall University School of Medicine in West Virginia, tes tified some of his patients had discontinued more conventional treatment for laetrile, only to return with progressed cases of cancer. “None of my patients has ever been im proved with the use of laetrile, ” Hill said. “It is ironic to me that at this point in time, this discussion is going on. I believe it is a hoax.” One laetrile supporter, free-lance writer Michael L. Culbert, said the government’s ban interferred with personal freedom. “It is just too bad that we have to go through court hearings and smuggling raps and the harassment of physicians to reach this point,” said Culbert, also editor of the Committee for Freedom of Choice in Cancer Therapy, Inc. Also yesterday, Florida became the third state in the nation to legalize the use of laetrile — joining Alaska and Indiana. MSC Council and Directorate approves committee budgets The approval of committee budgets for the 1977-78 academic year dominated last night’s meeting of the Memorial Student Center Council and Directorate. After almost four hours, the group ap proved 20 MSC committee budgets and one budget for the Council itself. The budgets considered were recom-* mendations by the Council Executive Committee made on the basis of proposals submitted by committee chairmen. Sixteen of the budgets submitted by the Executive Recommendation Committee passed with debate, but the budgets for the Black Awareness Committee, the Committee for Awareness of Mexican American Culture and the Crafts and Arts Committee met some opposition. The final budgets approved for these committees were considerably lower than the amounts requested. However, the committees can reapply Briscoe says Carter energy plan will close plants, limit some jobs Waltfest Battalion photo by Susie Turner Floyd Prozansld, a senior sociology major, enjoys his beer, sausage onions at Waltfest — sponsored by Walton Hall. The dorm’s version of Wurstfest offered 400 lbs. of sausage and 12 kegs of beer Sunday afternoon. Both quonset huts were used, one for Bohemian-style (lancing and the other for eating and drinking. United Press Internationa} SAN ANTONIO — Gov. Dolph Briscoe says if the Carter energy plan goes into effect, Texas plants will have to close, workers will be out of jobs, and there will less natural gas than there is now. Briscoe, speaking yesterday to the National Associa tion of Regional Councils, said he was committed to fighting the proposals anyway he could. “The invasion of the natural gas market would literally close factories in Texas in the time of greatest demand for gas and put thousands of Texans out of work, he said. “I stand firmly by everything I’ve said concerning the Carter energy proposal.” Briscoe said he was not concerned about Attorney General John Hill’s statement that he would not support legal action against the Carter plan. Briscoe said he still was forming opposition to the proposals and that opposi tion still could include court action. “There are those that want to knuckle under to the federal bureaucracy and criticise me, but I say let them have at it,” he said. “I will continue to fight for a product ive national energy policy. As far as I’m concerned I’ve just begun to fight.” in the fall for more funds to be drawn from the Directorate reserve fund if needed. Approval of a budget for the Recreation Committee was tabled until the commit tee can reorganize its accounting system. Other business included the appoint ment of a gift committee to review gifts offered to the Council. Officers for the summer programming council were approved. Among the ap pointments was Terry Cozad for summer president of the MSC. A proposal was made by Council Secretary-Treasurer J. Wayne Stark to create the office of Assistant Secretary- Treasurer. Because it would create a new Council position, the motion was tabled until it could be studied by the Constitu tional Revision Committee. Speaker proposals from Political Forum Committee and Great Issues Committee were also considered and approved. the JowegaOs Ihow ip per cent tomorrow. • :•••«• • : • ::