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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 12, 1986)
Mp V Texas A&M - - W • The Battalion College Station, Texas Friday, December 12, 1986 Casey: NY executive revealed arms deal CIA head, businessman testify to committee us situation i says. Theva parents ortn: nib, somethin; ficult in ante y college siuic optimistic, v how someol o stav in sch* It’s For My Mother 1 Hiss ! Texas 1987, Michelle Royer, signs an auto- aph for John Elam, an offensive lineman for the Photo by John Makely Aggie football team, during her Thursday af ternoon visit to Cain Hall. See story, page 4. he number d lenson attrib nd shortfall as held don! oy a reduction it amounts, f • grant from ih about $800.8 fe grant cant WASHINGTON (AP) — CIA Di rector William J. Casey said Thurs day he did not learn of possible di versions of Iranian arms sales profits to Nicaraguan rebels until he was tipped by a New York businessman in early October. Casey spoke to reporters after he testified for more than three hours before a heavily guarded, closed- door session of the House Intelli gence Committee. A few minutes later, Casey’s purported tipster, Roy M. Furmark, went before the Senate Intelligence Committee to tell his version of the story. Furmark, a former legal client of Casey’s, refused to talk to reporters as he entered the closed Senate hear ing. But Casey said it was Furmark who first raised questions in his mind about transfers of funds from then- secret arms sales to Iran. An unnamed source said Fur mark apparently was an intermed iary between Casey and Middle East arms dealers. Furmark told the committee that he had been approached by Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian arms dealer who was central to the Ira nian sales, and was told to warn Ca sey that a group of Canadian inves tors were threatening to file a suit against Khashoggi that would have made the entire sale public. The Canadians were threatening to sue Khashoggi, and Khashoggi went to Furmark “because Kha shoggi knew Furmark could carry a message to Casey that something had to be done,” the source said. The Canadians were threatening a lawsuit because they had received only $10 million when they had ex pected payment of $20 million, the sources quoted Casey as saying. Congressional sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Senate Intelligence Committee had learned before Wednesday of Ca sey’s conversation with Furmark, leading at least some panel members to question the CIA director’s claim of Wednesday that he was unaware of the diversion of funds. Casey denied a report in the Wall Street Journal that he knew as early as last spring that profits from the Iranian arms sales were being fun- neled to Nicaraguan insurgents, or Contras. “No, that’s wrong,” Casey told re porters who pursued him down a corridor in the Capitol after his ap pearance before the House commit tee. Asked when he learned about the arrangement, Casey responded, “I first learned about this when Meese told everybody.” It was on Nov. 25 that Attorney General Edwin Meese III disclosed that between $10 mil lion and $30 million in arms sales profits were diverted to the Contras. “Before Meese informed you, did you start asking questions?” Casey was asked. “Oh, I had questions about it, yeah,” he replied. “When you had questions, was that because of your conversations with Mr. Furmark?” he was asked.. ‘That did precipitate the ques tions, sure,” Casey replied. The sources said that the next day, Oct. 8, Casey contacted Vice Adm. John M. Poindexter, then na tional security adviser to President Reagan, about the Canadian threat. Casey, they said, was told that such a disclosure through a lawsuit would “blow the cover” on the Iranian arms deal and jeopardize chances of win ning the release of Americans held hostage in Lebanon by pro-Iranian extremists. One House Foreign Affairs Com mittee member, who spoke only on condition that he not be identified, said that sometime after Casey’s con versation with Furmark, the CIA di rector summoned Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, a member of the National Security Council staff who was coordinating the administra tion’s efforts to aid the Contras. The House member said Casey testified that he asked North whether he knew of any third-party support for the Contra rebels, and that North replied that he did not. Meese has said that North was the only administration official who knew “precisely” of the diversion of arms profits to the Contras. Cohen said the Senate panel, after two weeks of hearings, still lacks suf ficient evidence to conclude where the arms deal money went, to whom and under what circumstances. Retired major implicated in fund shifts WASHINGTON (AP) — Rich ard V. Secord’s last full-time de fense department job was in a little-known division that super vises arms sales to many foreign countries. It employed several people whose names have sur faced in the Iran-Contra affair. Secord, a retired Air Force ma jor general who reportedly played a key role in the diversion of profits from the sale of U.S. arms to Iran to the Nicaraguan rebels, retired in May 1983 as a deputy assistant defense secretary at the department’s International Security Affairs section. Secord oversaw Near Eastern and South Asian affairs at ISA, according to the Congressional Directory. Between July 11, 1983, and Nov. 11, 1984, after his retire ment, Secord was authorized to serve a consultant to ISA for a to tal of 220 days at $242 a day. But Pentagon records show that he “did not serve any days in pay sta tus,” a spokesman said. But Se cord was a member of a special operations advisory group until his term expired in August. Federal investigators have said privately that Secord, 54, is under investigation in connection with the transfer of money from Iran to the Contras. ad of committee Withdraws proposals d merge universities South Africa imposes harsh censorship ses to A&M xl, the «r-B Texas yf fUSTIN (AP) — The chairman lancialaid's; ItalSelect Committee on Higher is” in situaii: Nation said Thursday he is giv- (upon his proposal to merge the Spltown University of Houston ink like ii'sW Us with Texas Southern Uni- ' Benson ^ an h North Texas State Uni- rse" Kfwith Texas Woman’s Univer- f; My whole concept was a better ery of the higher education sys- but . . . apparently a lot of peo- in Benton and Houston and the ority of the people on this com- . J|don’t share that view,” Larry | :n 'ple told reporters. |Temple said he intends to pursue -itierger of Texas A&I at Kingsville k Kttrpus Christi State University. V , No record votes were taken pprsday. Temple said he wanted to ■H ic U ^Wnt committee members a \ ; 3nce to make today’s meeting. I ^Bever, on non-record votes, ® ■Bmmittee agreed to recom- t ^T n( i no change in the University of ^tasor Texas A&M University re- . - htloards but decided to realign )X\v 0 e | governing boards of other state ’ 4 ^l^olkgei ^pmmittee member Arthur Jfflple Jr. of Diboll, said he ■ )l, ght it is “intolerable” that TSU |Pj|} as other colleges are racially balanced. ll think this group ought to go on jord as saying that the state of Pat is . . . much further down the M tftward true integration than I nit we’re given credit for,” topic Jr. said. fep. Wilhelmina Delco, D-Austin, it any public college — “white” as das ‘black” — should be reviewed J|5oes not reflect the demogra- jc and ethnic and racial balance bin our state.” tep. A1 Luna, D-Houston, said, : Miiwe open up the University of and Texas A&M and all these •erl institutions, then I’m not ifiglto talk about segregation at - - school, because in my opinion have segregation at Texas A&M Ti other institutions around the te.” Utna said only 1 percent of A&M’s enrollment of 36,000 is black and only 4 percent is Hispanic. Committee member Peter O’Don nell Jr. of Dallas said UT has 40 dif ferent programs “encouraging mi nority enrollment and retention.” “The implication here is that all the fault rests with the institution,” he said. “I don’t think that’s the case.” O’Donnell said UT Austin has 40 different programs “encouraging minority enrollment and retention.” PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — The gov ernment imposed severe censorship Thursday, requiring journalists to get official approval be fore reporting on most peaceful actions against apartheid as well as violent unrest. An independent Johannesburg daily, the Star, See related story, page 12 said in a front-page editorial, “This is just possi bly the last edition of any relatively free newspa per you will read in South Africa.” New rules issued by President P.W. Botha go beyond press censorship. They also bar anti apartheid activists from making “subversive statements” urging resistance to the white gov ernment through forms of non-violent civil dis obedience. Among those are rent, consumer and school boycotts; strikes; protest meetings; complaints about compulsory military service and establish ment of civic associations and people’s courts. Previous curbs on journalists under the emer gency restricted coverage of violence and actions by security forces, but not peaceful protest. The United Democratic Front, a multiracial group that has organized peaceful rallies for two years, said it would challenge the regulations in court. Azhar Cachalia, the national treasurer, ex pressed the organization’s displeasure. “The UDF fears that any possibility of a rela tively non-violent or negotiated transition to de mocracy will now disappear,” he said. “It is clear that the Nationalist government has not only lost control but has gone completely mad.” His statement was issued directly to foreign news organizations and the independent South African Press Association. SAP A distributed the item, but it asked subscribers 90 minutes later to kill it because of a ban by government censors. By then, the statement had been used in some foreign news broadcasts and relayed in print form by several foreign journalists. In response to Associated Press comments pointing out the difficulties of withdrawing a statement already widely distributed, the censors said 25 minutes later publication could not be permitted. Stoffel van der Merwe, deputy information minister, told foreign journalists Wednesday he opposed censorship personally, but he said the new restrictions were necessary because the gov ernment faced “a calculated, well-planned revo lutionary onslaught.” Activities banned apparently include further calls by the United Democratic Front for a 10-day Christmas boycott of white-owned stores and coverage of the boycott if it occurs. A report by the South African Institute of Race Relations said 2,291 people had died in po litical violence from September 1984 to the end of last month. Jobs, study programs maybe scarce Students find aid alternatives limited Editor’s note: This is the final segment of a three-part series on the possible effects of federal tax reform and the state budget crisis on financial aid at Texas A&M. This section deals with alterna tives to scholarships, grants and loans. By Sue Krenek News Editor Becky Burks is still worried that her scholarships and loans may dry up because of tax reform and budget cuts, so she’s checking out her other financial aid op tions. But the Texas A&M junior is finding that other sources of aid may be few and far between. Taft Benson, A&M’s director of student financial aid, predicts that changes in tax law will accele rate the trend away from schol arships and grants and toward loans. But with reform raising the cost of a loan — and with the Guaranteed Student Loan pro gram becoming need-based — loans themselves may be harder to get. And Benson says other sources of money are hard to find. Like the GSL program, such programs as work-study and short-term loans may be hit hard by students unable to find other aid. A&M financial aid coordinator Ann Vanwinkle says the work- study program already has been inundated, both by students seek ing jobs and by departments that want work-study workers. Under the work-study pro gram, the department pays 20 percent of the student’s wages, with the other 80 percent coming from the federal program funds. Vanwinkle says more depart ments have requested work-study students as state budget cuts have hit them. “We’ve had a lot larger num ber, it seems like, just because of the budget cuts on campus,” she says. The problem, Vanwinkle says, is that there aren’t enough fed eral funds to cover all the depart ments that want work-study stu dents. In addition, since the work-study program is need- based, students who don’t qualify for other federal aid programs probably won’t qualify as work- study students, either. Students who don’t qualify for aid on the basis of need, however, still are eligible for the Universi ty’s short-term loan program. The University provides three types of loans through the pro gram: • Institutional loans of up to $750 for six months. Funding for these loans is donated by former students. • Emergency tuition and fee loans for up to 90 days in an amount covering the student’s tu ition and fees. • “Little loans” of up to $50 for 30 days. While students can use these loans to get through temporary hard times, however, they don’t provide enough money to be used as a main source of financial aid. Benson says short-term loans currently are available to all stu dents regardless of need. But if demand for the loans increases, he says, need determination may become part of the application process. Students also can try to get stu dent loans from banks and other savings institutions. But one com mon form of aid, in which a stu dent borrows from a parent as he would from a bank, is not allowed under the new tax laws. The laws also severely restrict parental gifts of money to their children. Students who have exhausted all other types of aid — schol arships, grants, loans and paren tal financing — are faced with finding a job on or off campus. But Benson says the job outlook isn’t good. For most of the year, campus departments have labored under a hiring freeze implemented by Gov. Mark White to keep the state from running out of money. Although White lifted that freeze in November, cuts made by the Legislature’s special session have kept the University from hiring many student workers. And Benson says the local economy doesn’t provide a prom ising outlook for students seeking jobs. In addition to the current economic recession, he says, the area is simply oversaturated with college students seekingjobs. “In a community of 100,000,” he says, “36,000 students satu rates it quickly.” Benson says his department participated three years ago in a survey designed to develop off- See Aid, page 16