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The Battalion
i 82 No. 75 USPS 045360 10 pages
College Station, Texas
Tuesday, December 16, 1986
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i Administm
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freshman cadets
harged with assault
fadet files charges over bonfire incident
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| By Curtis L. Culberson
Staff Writer
j\ female cadet who said she was
Igged from a barrel and then
fown from the bonfire site on
It. 18 filed assault charges Mon-
linst six freshman cadets.
■one Weaver, first lieutenant of
ipany W-l, filed misdemeanor
itllt charges injustice of the peace
■against Brian MacManus, 19;
■ L. DeRose III, 19; Andrew C.
jber, 19; Cody Scogin, 18; Clin-
■ Taylor, 19; and William Paul
ler, 18.
The assault charges are Class C
isdemeanors, said Bob Wiatt, di-
Ctor of security and University po-
"The maximum fine is $200,”
^aid. “There is no jail time in-
o7p.ft
Justice of the Peace Michael Calli-
ostponed the cadets’ court ap
pearance until Jan. 21 because of the
holidays. The cadets will receive a
summons today to appear in court
based on the charge.
When contacted, the cadets re
fused comment.
Weaver said she believes the
freshman did not act completely on
their own initiative.
“They’re (freshman cadets) not
talking; they’re not saying who sent
them to do it,” she said. “Freshman
don’t do things like that on their
own.
“I wish I knew who sent them on
the detail. Things would be a lot dif
ferent for those freshman if I knew.”
Weaver said she wouldn’t have
filed charges if she knew who was
behind the cadets’ actions. But she
said she had to make sure there was
some kind of public record so that
some definite action would be taken.
“I want these people to at least re
alize that it is wrong,” she said. “We
will deal with it if it happens. We are
not going to look the other way.”
Weaver was standing on a 55-gal
lon barrel working as the “scare
crow” when the incident occurred.
The “scarecrow” directs the trucks
carrying the logs so they can be
added to the stack.
Weaver said five men approached
her and knocked her off the barrel.
She said she got back on it, was
knocked off again and then dragged
outside the perimeter of the bonfire
site.
Weaver said what hurt her the
most is that no one else did anything.
“There were non-regs there that
did nothing,” she said. “There were
females not five feet away who didn’t
even blink.”
Weaver said she didn’t plan on fil
ing any type of civil suit.
“I had a scrape on my elbow,” she
said. “The damage was more to my
ego.”
iVhite House: Regan will
pe available to testify
T
ited
in o
Dlors
3 are
ir can
ray,
WASHINGTON (AP) — The
HI House, trying to avoid a clash
■^Congress, offered Monday to
ake|diief of staff Donald T. Regan
lailable to testify in public about
iaman arms sales and to put new
on two former aides to say
hat they know about the affair.
Eneu as the White House offer
|P being disclosed by spokesman
■ Speakes, Sen. Patrick Leahy,
•Vt., told reporters the Senate In-
lligence Committee would call Re-
Intotestify under oath.
As these new moves were being
inounced at the White House and
[Capitol Hill, several lawmakers
iced shock over weekend news re
nts saying some money from the
esofU.S. arms to Iran was used in
taestic political campaigns against
Is of President Reagan’s Nicara-
I policy.
And CIA Director William Casey,
neduled to appear Tuesday before
I Senate committee, got sick at his
iltein suburban Langley, Va., and
i taken by ambulance to George-
*n University Hospital.
CIA spokesman George Lauder
m Casey, 73, was fully conscious
Kn he left the agency’s headquar-
fS and said Casey had been “on
edication that had not been
peeing with him.”
Nancy Sanger, a hospital
lokeswoman, said, “He has suf-
ired a minor cerebral seizure and
been admitted for diagnostic
luation. He will undergo further
htingfor the next several days, is in
able condition and is resting com-
irtably.”
The White House said that Regan
as prepared to appear, unaccom-
anied by legal counsel, at open
B|tlgs of the Senate committee,
bich has been frustrated in its in
stigation by the refusal of former
ational security adviser John M.
ainde.xter and his aide, Marine Lt.
ol.Oliver L. North, to testify.
Late Monday, the committee an-
aunced that Regan would appear
: !bre it this morning, followed later
i the day by Secretary of State
Wrge P. Shultz and National Secu-
f Council official Howard
Teichner. On Wednesday, the com
mittee said, it is scheduled to hear
from Defense Secretary Caspar W.
Weinberger and Attorney General
Edwin Meese III.
The committee held a business
meeting late Monday to assess the
status of its investigation. At the end
of the 2'/2-hour session, panel chair
man, Sen. David Durenberger, R-
Minn., said Regan would be impor
tant particularly in helping members
fill information gaps they have com
piled during a two-week probe.
The Wall Street Journal, quoting
unidentified intelligence sources, re
ported Monday that North told Ca
sey in early October about money
from the Iranian arms sales going to
the Contras.
Casey has stated that he first
learned officially of the diversion of
the Iranian arms proceeds when the
Justice Department began its investi
gation in late November.
Leahy, the committee’s vice chair
man, told reporters that he and Sen.
Dave Durenberger, R-Minn., the
panel’s chairman, “will recommend
to the committee that we ask Mr. Re
gan to come up and testify.”
Speakes said that Regan would be
willing to testify in closed session as
well as in public, and said there
would be “no caveat” for that ap
pearance.
Sen. William S. Cohen, R-Maine, a
member of the Intelligence Commit
tee, said: “I think we’ve pretty much
resolved what happened during the
transfer of arms to Iran, how it came
about, who initiated it.”
But Cohen also said lawmakers
have not cleared up the mystery
about what happened to the profits.
The administration has said that
up to $30 million went to the U.S.-
backed Contras, who are trying to
oust the leftist Sandinista govern
ment in Managua.
Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Barnes, D-
Md., called for an investigation of al
legations, initially reported by the
Sun newspaper of Lowell, Mass.,
that money siphoned from U.S.
arms sales to Iran went to conserva
tive groups boosting supporters of
Reagan’s pro-Contra policy, and was
used against opponents of that pol
icy.
The White House said it knew
nothing about the allegations.
Of Regan, Speakes said the chief
of staff would not invoke executive
privilege to avoid testifying before
the Intelligence Committee.
Leahy said it would be “a danger
ous and shocking” development if it
were proved that North, fired as a
top National Security Council dep
uty, raised funds to use against op
ponents of administration foreign
policy.
White House communications di
rector Patrick Buchanan said he at
tended meetings with North and
Carl Russell Channell, the leader of
a conservative group, the National
Endowment for American Liberty,
which is alleged to have received
some profits from Iranian arms
sales.
A Late-Night Haunt
Long study hours and a time exposure help turn
some students into ghosts. These two students in
Photo by Tom Ownbey
the Sterling C. Evans Library take a look at some
scholarly ghouls Monday evening.
White House official met with North
Communications director denies knowledge of arms sales
WASHINGTON (AP) — White
House communications director Pat
rick Buchanan said Monday he at
tended meetings with Lt. Col. Oliver
North and the leader of a conserva
tive group alleged to have received
some profits from U.S. arms sales to
Iran.
Buchanan denied that what he de
scribed as “briefings” about Nicara
guan insurgents, or Contras, in
cluded any discussion of the arms
sales or use of profits from Iran.
He was questioned during an ap
pearance at the National Press Club.
Buchanan said he met with North,
who was fired Nov. 25 from the
White House National Security
Council staff, and Carl R. “Spitz”
Channell, a Washington fund-raiser
and media consultant who heads the
conservative National Endowment
for the Preservation of Liberty.
Buchanan did not say when the
meetings took place.
A report published by the Lowell
(Mass.) Sun said money skimmed
from the arms sales was used to
boost conservative U.S. political can
didates and to oppose critics of Pres
ident Reagan’s Central-American
policy.
The Sun said Channell’s organiza
tion was among the conservative
groups that received Iran-Contra
funds.
Buchanan has denied knowledge
of the arms deals, in which $10 mil
lion to $30 million in arms profits
were allegedly diverted to assist the
Nicaraguan Contra guerrillas in
their battle against the Sandinista
government.
Buchanan refused to say whether
President Reagan would testify be
fore House and Senate committees
investigating the arms deals.
“I don’t think I’ll be commenting
on that right now,” Buchanan said.
Both North and his former supe
rior, Vice Adm. Johm Poindexter,
have cited their constitutional rights
in refusing to testify before congres
sional investigators.
Poindexter resigned in the wake
of the Iran-Contra scandal.
The White House also said it
knew nothing about the allegations.
White House spokesman Larry
Speakes said, “We found nothing
here in the White House in our in
vestigation, to indicate anything in
the files which points to political
campaigns being funded with
money from the Iranian arms sale.
“Our position is, if public funds
were utilized in political campaigns
illegally, it would be morally wrong,
it would be legally wrong, and the
White House would condemn it in
the strongest terms and would ask
those responsible be brought to jus
tice at the earliest possible date.”
Speakes added, however, that the
White House investigation was lim
ited and incomplete.
Rep. Mike Barnes, D-Md., called
for an investigation into the allega
tions reported by the paper.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said it
would be “a dangerous and shock
ing” development if it were proved
that North, fired as a top National
Security Council deputy, raised cam
paign funds to use against oppo
nents of administration foreign pol
icy.
Sen. Dale Bumpers, D-Ark.,
agreed, saying, “I would be very un
settled if that accusation were
proved to be true.
“I would consider that to be dan
gerous.”
Leahy added, “That is the area
that would draw the parallel to Wa
tergate.
“I would sincerely hope it is not
true.”
ure for retirement program remains unclear
itore.
By Frank Smith
Senior Staff Writer
Questions about the future of the Optional Retire-
lent Program still linger, despite the passage of the
ideral tax reform law, and Texas A&M System offi-
als remain busy trying to untangle the complicated
gislation.
A preliminary analysis of the effects the new law may
Jve on retirement programs was distributed earlier
|is month to all chief executive officers of academic in-
itutions, agencies and services within the System.
The analysis — prepared by John Honea, special as-
stant to the deputy chancellor for legal and external
fairs; Mike Lytle, special assistant to the chancellor
T federal relations; their counterparts in the Univer-
ly of Texas System; and a tax consultant hired by the
T System — reflects tentative interpretations of the
wbased on the best information currently available.
The ORP is the primary retirement plan used by
ost faculty and professional staff at Texas colleges
id universities.
It was established by the Texas Legislature in 1968 as
i alternative for faculty and administrators to the
Teacher Retirement System of Texas.
The TRS was viewed by some as not being adaptable
enough to the needs of faculty who move from the
state.
The TRS still is used by universities’ non-profes
sional staffs as well as by those faculty members and ad
ministrators who prefer it.
Of chief concern to A&M System officials is the tax
reform law’s addition of a non-discrimination clause to
the tax code sections that govern the ORP.
The clause becomes effective Jan. 1, 1989.
According to the preliminary analysis, the tax re
form law will require the ORP to satisfy at least one of
the following non-discrimination tests:
• It would have to benefit at least 70 percent of all
“non-highly compensated employees.” Highly compen
sated employees are defined as those who are 5 percent
corporate owners, earn more than $75,000 annually, or
earn more than $50,000 annually and are among the
top 20 percent of employees by pay. Certain corporate
officers earning more than $45,000 annually also are
classified as highly compensated employees.
• The plan would have to benefit a percentage of
non-highly compensated employees, which is at least 70
percent of the percentage of highly compensated em
ployees benefiting under the plan.
• It would have to meet an “average benefits test”
that first must be presented to the Secretary of Labor
for approval.
Honea said System officials don’t know yet whether
the ORP satisfies any of the tests.
“The main reason that we don’t know yet is that (de
termining it) takes some very technical formulas . . .
and requires a substantial amount of demographics,”
he said. “We have to pull that information off the com
puter files.
“I would suspect we will start within the next couple
of months.”
Basically, Honea said, to satisfy the non-discrimina
tion clause, officials will need to show that ORP and
TRS benefits are comparable.
Other changes in tax codes that will affect ORP par
ticipants include the addition of a $9,500 cap onto
existing tax exclusion allowance formulas and the es
tablishment of a penalty for early withdrawal of ORP
benefits.
Employee contributions to the ORP are made with
the use of a salary reduction agreement and possibly
could be considered by future Internal Revenue Serv
ice interpretations to be fair game for inclusion in the
$9,500 cap.
But the authors of the A&M-UT preliminary analy
sis believe employee contributions to the ORP will not
be included in the cap.
“In other words,” the authors of the report wrote,
“only contributions made to supplemental tax-shel
tered annuities made over and above to the ORP will be
limited by the current formulas or the new cap.”
Beginning Jan. 1, however, ORP participants will,
with few exceptions, be subject to a 10-percent penalty
tax on early withdrawals made before reaching age
59‘A.
And beginning Jan. 1, 1989, according to the analy
sis, they won’t be able to draw from salary reduction
contributions before turning 59Vs except in “cases of
hardship” as defined by the IRS.
Honea said legislative staffers currently are compil
ing a “bluebook” — guidelines that the IRS will use in
enforcing the law — so IRS interpretations of the law
still are not available.
But for now, the interpretation of the tax reform
law’s ultimate effects remains a sticky proposition.