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The Battalion
! Vol. 82 No. 63 GSPS 045360 6 pages
College Station, Texas
Wednesday, November 26, 1986
ational security adviser resigns
(WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi-
Ident Reagan’s national security ad-
resigned Tuesday, and a key
loperative who handled secret arms
to Iran was fired as the admin-
limation disclosed that up to $30 mil
lion of the money the Iranians paid
Ifor U.S. arms was diverted to U.S.-
|ba(ked Nicaraguan rebels.
^Keagan, nonetheless, continued to
ijdelend his Iranian policy while ad-
|mil ifig that one element of its im-
Bmentation was seriously flawed
Hi that he was not kept fully in-
IfMTiied of his own aides’ activities.
congressional sources reported
ylilesday that Sen. Phil Gramm was
lui|ingthe administration to appoint
former Sen. John Tower of Texas to
succeed Vice Adm. John M. Poin
dexter as national security adviser.
Tower said he had not been con
tacted by the administration and re
fused to say whether he would be
open to taking the job as national se
curity adviser.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Ed
win Meese revealed that the first
U.S.-sanctioned arms shipment to
Iran took place in 1985 without Rea
gan’s knowledge and was approved
by the president only after the fact.
Administration sources, speaking on
condition they not be identified, said
that Marine Lt. Col. Oliver North,
who was fired in the shakeup, gave
Israeli officials the go-ahead tor that
shipment on his own authority.
Reagan said he would name a
commission to examine the role of
his National Security Council staff,
which directed the operation and
has come under direct fire from the
State Department for its operations,
and the Justice Department will
launch a full-scale probe of how the
money was handled to determine
whether federal crimes were com
mitted in tunneling money to the
Contras at a time when Congress
had banned direct U.S. military aid
to them.
Reagan appeared in the White
House briefing room on short notice
to announce he was permitting his
chief national security adviser, Poin
dexter, to resign to return to the
Navy, and that North, one of Poin
dexter’s deputies, had been relieved
of his duties on the National Security
Council staff.
A knowledgeable source who de
clined to be identified by name said
that North was questioned person
ally by Meese on Sunday in the attor
ney general’s office.
The day before, sources said.
North was questioned by a group of
Justice Department lawyers for
about 12 hours at his office in the
Old Executive Office Building
across the street from the White
House.
A White House aide close to
North described the NSC officer as
being in good spirits despite his dis
missal.
“He’s going to take his hits and
support the president,” said the
aide, who insisted on anonymity.
Meese, following Reagan to the
lectern, told reporters that, with
North’s knowledge, $10 million to
$30 million collected from the Irani
ans for U.S.-shipped weapons was si
phoned by Israeli middlemen and
transferred to bank accounts set up
by Contra rebels fighting the Sandi-
nista regime in Nicaragua.
House Majority Leader Jim
Wright, D-Texas, said Meese told
congressional leaders at a private
White House briefing that negotia
tions were carried out by Israel and
the Iranians to reach a price, which
was greater than the cost to the U.S.
government. Wright said Meese de
scribed at least one of the trans
actions this way: arms were sold to
the Iranians for $19 million, after
which the CIA reimbursed the Pen
tagon $3 million, covering its costs.
Of the $ 16-million “residue,”
Wright said, some $12 million was
deposited in a numbered Swiss bank
See Fired, page 6
■ T/ioiii' I
,ggies gear up for Longhorns
ith muddy, short-lived bonfire
Centerpole falls
after 45 minutes
By Rodney Rather
Staff Writer
“When the bonfire burns, the
)nd lasts forever.”
These words spoken by Texas
|WM coach Jackie Sherrill may
e true, but, as thousands of Ag-
ies can testify, bonfire does not
st forever. The 1986 bonfire
lazed for less than an hour be-
Jore the centerpole snapped and
Irought the whole structure to
the ground in a shroud of sparks.
If the centerpole falls before
idnight, A&M tradition pro-
laims, the Aggie football team
Iso will fall to the University of
texas Longhorns. But the
I'welfth Man spirit of the student
tody — not to mention the more
jlcoholic spirits present in many
R&M student bodies — may gen
erate enough heat to overcome
tliis bad omen.
I During those few moments
while the bonfire stood upright,
urning furiously, Sherrill con-
Irmed what all true, maroon-
|looded Aggies think.
“There’s no question that
Ihat’s happening today makes
)ts of people throughout the
odd very envious,” he said.
Sherrill also explained how he
few the Aggie light when he first
tme to A&M in 1982.
“I had an opportunity to spend
fome time on the bonfire, and af
ter that night, I learned a whole
loi about the meaning here at
A&M,” he said.
. In response to pre-game rhe-
s foric from a few UT players who
have bad-mouthed A&M in the
Ifliedia, receiver Shea Walker had
| short reply.
I “We don’t do a lot of talking,”
Walker said. “We’re going to do
our part on the field.”
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Israel says It
transported
arms to Iran
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel said
today it shipped arms to Iran for the
United States and that the Iranians
paid for the weapons with money
deposited directly into a Swiss bank
account.
A statement read by Prime Min
ister Yitzhak Shamir’s spokesman
said Israel did not handle any of the
money.
The statement was issued after
Shamir ended three hours of consul
tations late Tuesday night with his
foreign and defense ministers, Shi
mon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin. It was
the first acknowledgment of Israeli
involvement in delivering weapons
from the United States to Iran.
“Israel helped in transferring de
fensive weapons and spare parts to
Iran according to a request by the
United States,” said the statement
read by spokesman Avi Pazner.
“The payment was transferred by
an Iranian representative directly to
a Swiss bank, according to American
instructions, without passing
through Israel,” the statement said.
It said Israel was surprised when
U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese
III declared Tuesday that Israel re
layed some of the money paid for
the weapons to Nicaraguan rebels.
“Israel had no knowledge of this,”
read the statement. “It is clear that
Israel was not and will not be pre
pared to serve as a channel for this.”
President Reagan told journalists
Tuesday in Washington that he was
not told all the details of the Iranian
arms deal. Meese followed Reagan
to the lectern in the White House
briefing room and said that, with Lt.
Col. Oliver North’s knowledge, $10
million to $30 million collected from
Iran was siphoned by Israeli middle
men and transferred to bank ac
counts set up by rebels fighting the
Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.
After the revelations in Washing
ton, Shamir said on Israeli television
that the United States should not
blame Israel in the arms sale.
“I don’t think there’s anything to
blame Israel for,” he said. “It is not
our policy to export arms to Iran,
but sometimes there can be excep
tions.”
Israeli television said some U.S.
officials appeared bent on creating
the impression that Israel carried
out the weapons deals behind Rea
gan’s back.
Ze’ev Schiff, a respected military
analyst for the newspaper Haaretz
who returned from Washington this
week, said: “We hear more and
more voices in Congress and else
where saying ‘You entangled us in
an adventure.’ ”
Israeli sources in Jerusalem told
The Associated Press on condition
of anonymity that Israeli officials
suggested to the United States that
they could act as a conduit for ship
ping U.S. weapons to Iran.
The 1986 bonfire blazes Tuesday night. The bonfire fell after 45 minutes.
Pentagon wasn’t
advised on effects
of arms proposals
students charged with theft of phone service
By Mona Palmer
Assistant City Editor
and
Ken Sury
Sports Editor
iTexas A&M University Police charged two
A&M students Tuesday with misdemeanor theft
(fservice.
Rudy Velasquez, 22, and Robert Bostic, 21,
both turned themselves in to the University Po
lite Velasquez was booked at 1 p.m. and Bostic
was booked around 3:30 p.m. Both students al
legedly charged $20 to $200 in long-distance
service.
Bob Wiatt, director of security and University
Police, said MCI Telecommunications Corp.
filed the complaints last week. He added that the
police have three additional warrants to serve.
Charges are also pending against five mem
bers of the A&M football team, Wiatt said. He
said Star Tel filed the complaints with the Uni
versity Police Monday.
“A lot of people think ‘Oh gee, you’re not pick
ing the athletes until Monday,’ ” Wiatt said. “But
there are other factors. The kids picked up today
and tomorrow had complaints filed against them
last Thursday or Friday.
“On the athletes, these complaints were re
ceived yesterday (Monday) afternoon,” he said.
“They have to be processed, and with the holi
days 1 do not look until Monday or Tuesday be
fore those warrants will be issued and served.”
In a statement Tuesday, University President
Frank E. Vandiver wrote, “We certainly do not
condone action such as that alleged against a few
of our students, but we regard it as an individual
problem rather than one that directly involves
the institution. . . . We think it unfortunate —
perhaps could even say unfair — that this partic
ular company’s officials have apparently decided
it is to their advantage to make examples of ath
letes.”
A&M head coach and athletic director Jackie
Sherrill said Tuesday that he stood by Vandiver’s
statement and wouldn’t comment further.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The na
tion’s top military officer told Con
gress Tuesday the Pentagon wasn’t
consulted on the military effects of a
major nuclear arms control proposal
before President Reagan offered the
plan to Soviet Leader Mikhail Gor
bachev at the Iceland summit.
The U.S. offer to eliminate all
atomic-tipped nuclear missiles
within a decade caused concern
among U.S. military leaders, said
Adm. William L. Crowe Jr., chair
man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The proposal was discussed by
Reagan and Gorbachev at their sum
mit meeting in Rekyjavik last month
and is still under consideration at
Holiday food poisoning can be avoided
By Mark Beal
Reporter
1’, It’s almost Thanksgiving, time to
head home, watch football and stuff
yourself silly. But public health offi
cials warn that it’s also time to watch
out for food poisoning,
i Dr. Leon H. Russell Jr., professor
of veterinary medicine and veteri
nary public health at Texas A&M,
says Thanksgiving’s festive environ
ment often creates the perfect atmo
sphere for harmful bacteria that
breed in food.
I “Holiday meals are the cause of a
lot of food poisoning,” Russell says.
"People cook a bunch of food,
maybe carry it a long distance, let it
lit at room temperature, and then
put it in the refrigerator in big con
tainers.”
Such practices can allow the food
to reach temperatures close to nor
mal body temperature, which is also
the ideal temperature for bacteria to
multiply.
The result, he says, is that a lot of
people end up being “sick as the de
vil” during the holidays.
No accurate figures are available
because food poisoning is rarely re
ported unless there is a major out
break, Russell says. But he estimates
that instances of food poisoning
probably double around holidays.
Russell says most cases of food
poisoning in the United States are
the result of one of three types of
bacteria: clostridium perfringens.
salmonella and staphylococcus au
reus.
The bacteria attack the body in
two different ways.
Clostridium perfringens and
salmonella cause an infection by re
producing inside the body.
Staphylococcus aureus (along with
the less common but far more se
rious clostridium botulinum, which
causes botulism) creates a toxin in
the food that then poisons its host.
In this case, it is the toxin — not the
food itself— that causes the illness.
Russell says that after the onset of
food poisoning, there isn’t much
that can be done except to “tough it
out.”
“Other than botulism . . . food
poisoning is not that severe unless
the victims are at extreme ages ... or
have some other debilitating dis
ease,” he says.
He says food poisoning should
run its course within 24 to 48 hours.
However, he does suggest that
people who have been infected with
salmonella take antibiotics since they
can become a carrier and spread the
bacteria to others for one or two
weeks after they recover.
Russell says one guiding principle
exists for the prevention of food poi
soning: “Keep the food either hot or
cold; the longer you leave it in be
tween, the more danger there is of
getting sick.”
Russell says a turkey should never
be left standing at room tempera
ture or taken out of the refrigerator
to thaw.
After it’s cooked, it should be cut
up rather than placed in the refrig
erator as a whole; this allows it to
cool quickly and gives the bacteria
less time to multiply.
Other potential causes of food
poisoning include inadequate cook
ing and poor personal hygiene.
He says the botulism toxin can
easily be destroyed by heat, but that
the staphylococcus toxin can’t, so the
organism must be killed before it
See Poison, page 6
ongoing nuclear arms reduction
talks in Geneva, Crowe said.
During the 10 days before the
meeting was announced, there were
general discussions about various
combinations of nuclear arms reduc
tions, Crowe told the House Armed
Services Committee.
“The general feeling was there
would be some addressing of arms
control issues at Reykjavik, but not
much progress,” he said.
But when Rep. Les Aspin, D-Wis.,
the panel’s chairman, asked if the
five-member Joint Chiefs, the na
tion’s top military body, had studied
the military impact of eliminating all
nuclear missiles, Crowe said it
hadn’t.
“We didn’t think the proposals at
Reykjavik would go that far, that
fast,” Crowe said.
He said later: “If I knew then
what I know now, I would advise the
president differently.”
The Pentagon is rushing to com
plete a study about the military ef
fect of eliminating all nuclear weap
ons and expects to have it finished
by mid-January, Crowe said.
Had the Pentagon known that the
United States planned to propose
eliminating all nuclear missiles
within a decade, Crowe said, it
would have put more effort into a
detailed analysis of the effects.
Crowe said the Pentagon is not
studying an even more sweeping
proposal, reportedly considered in
Iceland, involving the elimination by
both superpowers of all nuclear
weapons. That would also include
bombers and atomic-tipped cruise
missiles.