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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 3, 1987)
The Battalion /ol.82 No.90 GSPS 045360 12 pages College Station, Texas Tuesday, February 3, 1987 lA’s No. 2 official named as new director ■■WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert .^■ates, a CIA official who reportedly urged disclosure of secret arms sales to Iran before they were revealed, ^^ns picked by President Reagan Holiday to replace William J. Casey H director of the spy agency. HThe 73-year-old Casey, recuperat- Hg from surgery seven weeks ago for a brain tumor, was invited to be- /sHme a counselor to the president {(ij when and if he can return to work. yHGates, 43, has been the No. 2 offi- mHil at the CIA since April 1986 and been running the agency in Ca- V sey’s absence. (jH As director of central intelligence, —Hates will be the chief executive offi cer of the CIA. He also will coordi nate all intelligence agencies and as sign their tasks through a separate “intelligence community staff.” The Senate Intelligence Commit tee scheduled a confirmation hear ing for Gates on Feb. 17. A 20-year veteran of service in the CIA and the White House National Security Council as a Soviet affairs expert, Gates is widely respected on Capitol Hill and easily should win Senate confirmation. However, he is certain to be grilled about the CIA’s role in the se cret sale of arms to Iran and the di version of profits to the Nicaraguan Contra rebels. A report by the Sen ate Intelligence Committee said Ca sey, in testimony about the affair late last year, “was general in nature” and left many questions un answered. “I particularly look forward to working with Robert Gates, who is a professional in this field and for whom I have high regard,” said Sen. Claiborne Pell, D-R.I., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Com mittee. Casey submitted his resignation to Reagan in a two-sentence letter dated last Thursday. “It has been a great honor serving you,” it said. In a return letter Monday, the presi dent credited Casey with helping re store pride to the nation’s intelli gence services. A longtime friend of the presi dent, Casey became director of the CIA in 1981 after managing Rea gan’s White House campaign. He suffered a seizure last Dec. 15 — a day before he was to appear be fore the Senate Intelligence Com mittee — and underwent surgery three days later for removal of a can cerous tumor. According to an associate, Casey’s last words before being wheeled into surgery were, “I hope Dave Duren- berger doesn’t think I’m copping out on him.” Durenberger, a Minnesota Republican, was the chairman of the Intelligence Committee at the time. The committee’s report, released last week, said a CIA analyst went to Gates last Oct. 1 and said he was con cerned that money from the secret arms sale to Iran were being diver ted to Central America. “Gates was surprised and dis turbed and told the analyst to see Casey,” the report said. It quoted the analyst as saying he and Gates did not discuss whether or not a diver sion would be illegal. Gates on Oct. 15 directed the CIA’s general counsel to review all aspects of the Iran deal to make sure nothing was being done that was ille gal. The counsel later reported there was nothing amiss from the CIA standpoint. According to Gates’ testimony in the report, he and Casey urged then-national security adviser John Poindexter to have Reagan make the Iran initiative public, rather than have it leak out “in dribs and drabs.” At that time, they warned there might have been some diversion of funds, the report said. Casey testified to the Senate Intel ligence Committee on Nov. 21 but did not mention the possibility of funds being diverted. a lift! oi’p hid lard i# eec ,ur. ? I cat* \i eifl M.I HARRINGTON EDUCATION CENTER . <s, V- ? f ’v, ,* M * % "-"-o — # r: > . 1 _ 1i j Tv, d I > It — —-gnp . J. ml -...V ■ , §' “L A'.' i.» v ' ^ " ' S' Bicycle Built For Two? From left, Neeley Hall resident Sherri Behrendt and roommate Mari- KH sela Moreno take advantage of the recent warm weather hitting Col- Photo by Bill Hughes lege Station as they take a bicycle ride around campus. Temperatures Monday reached into the mid to upper 70s. A&M cadet falls from window, rests in intensive care By Curtis L. Culberson Stall Writer A freshman cadet suffered a se vere concussion Monday morning when he reportedly fell from the fourth floor ledge outside his dorm room window, University Police said. Director of University Police Bob Wiatt said Timothy Bernard Bailey of Company G-2 was yelling for help when he was found by students on the west side lawn of Dorm 12 just before 7:00 a.m. Bailey, 22, is from Marlin, Texas, and is a transfer student from Mc Lennan Community College in Waco. He remained in the intensive care unit of Humana Hospital Monday night, where he was listed in stable condition. Bailey sustained no broken bones or internal injuries, but lies in a semi-comatose state, Wiatt said. “Bailey is able to respond to com mands, but doctors state they are not ; sure how reliable his responses are,” Wiatt said. Bailey’s dorm window faces a lawn between the dorm and Coke Street. If the window had faced the other side, there was a good chance he would have landed on concrete, Wiatt said. Wiatt said Bailey attended forma tion, or roll call, at about 6:30 a.m. About 15 minutes later, Bailey said he was ill and left, Wiatt added. A few minutes later, a student knocked on Bailey’s door, but no one answered, Wiatt said. When Bailey failed to answer, the student left, Wiatt said. He added that it was around this time students on the First floor of Dorm 12 heard Bailey screaming for help. “Bailey was alone and his room was locked from the inside, with the window open,” Wiatt said. “There are no adjoining rooms or bath rooms. He was completely locked in.” Wiatt said police found indica tions that Bailey possibly was trying hold himself outside his window, but police aren’t sure why. Wiatt said the investigation is continuing and they hope to talk to Bailey sometime today. ^Iranian terrorists threaten to kill 2 American hostages | BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Pro- Iranian kidnappers said Monday they will kill Americans Terry An- derson and Thomas Sutherland, who have been hostages since 1985, if the United States makes a military attack on Lebanon. ■ Lebanon’s justice minister said the kidnappers had “arrested” Terry Waite. The Church of England en voy left his Beirut hotel Jan. 20 to negotiate for the freedom of the two Americans and other foreign cap tives in Lebanon. ■ Another group made the same threat last week against three Ameri can teachers and an Indian faculty njcniber taken from Beirut Univer- sftv College on June 24. The abduc tors have said since that they will kill the four men unless Israel releases 400 prisoners by midnight Saturday. The official press of Syria, which supports pro-Iranian groups, has ac cused the United States of planning a military attack on Lebanon after 1 1 foreigners were kidnapped in 12 days. U.S. naval forces in the Medi terranean have been strengthened. A typewritten statement in Arabic delivered to the office of a Western news agency Monday made the death threat against Anderson and Sutherland in the name of the Shiite Moslem group Islamic Jihad. Ac companying it was a photograph of Anderson, 39, chief Middle East cor respondent of the Associated Press. “Any military attempt against the Moslems in the re gion, particularly in Lebanon, will result in the death of the captives and America’s interests in the re gion.Our answer will be cruel. We shall have no mercy. ” — Iranian statement “Any military attempt against the Moslems in the region, particularly in Lebanon, will result in the death of the captives and America’s inter ests in the region,” the statement said. “Our answer will be cruel. We shall have no mercy.” The black-and-white photograph showed Anderson with a moustache, wearing a dark striped shirt, not wearing his glasses. It showed a cut on his face, appar ently from shaving, that has ap peared in three other pictures of Better Business officials: Consumers beware him released in the past three months. Islamic Jihad generally accompa nies its statements with a photo of a captive as evidence of authenticity. Anderson was seized March 16, 1985, in Moslem west Beirut. Su therland, the 55-year-old acting dean of agriculture of American University of Beirut, was kidnapped June 9 of that year. Islamic Jihad, which means Is lamic Holy War, also claims to hold at least three Frenchmen, but Mon day’s statement did not mention them or France. . It said the United States, “the great Satan,” was planning “satanic actions” against Lebanon. Door-to-door solicitors may be ‘bad deal’ iif! m 0] By Frank Smith Senior Staff Writer ■ Terri Maggard had been inter ested in subscribing to a magazine. So when a fast-talking magazine salesman with an unusual presenta- tibn came to her apartment door, she let him in. , <■ The senior electrical engineering major was told her purchase would I help the salesman accumulate “bo- , nus points” toward winning a trip to Bermuda. ^^■“If it hadn’t been for the fact that ’ Iliad been wanting to subscribe to a niagazine for a while, I would’ve said / I (wasn’t interested,” she said later. “But I was interested.” I After choosing a publication from a; laminated list supplied by the salesman, she was told she needed to .. pay the full amount up front — in cash. ■ A few minutes later, she was out $30.20, and possibly out of luck. ■ Two days later, she saw her mag azine advertised for just over half the rate she had paid. She remem bered the salesman had told her he had the cheapest rates available. ■ Thinking she would take advan tage of a cancellation option listed on her receipt, she examined the receipt more closely. It was then that she discovered the salesman had re corded that only $18.20 had been collected and that she was obligated to mail in an additional $12 before her subscription would be entered with the publisher of her magazine choice. When he presented the rec eipt, the salesman had said nothing about the mail-in money. Maggard had signed without scrutinizing it. She called College Station police, but was told hers was a civil, rather than criminal, complaint. A check with the City of College Station re vealed that the group the salesman was traveling with had secured a valid solicitation permit. When she called the circulation company listed on the receipt, she was told it couldn’t do anything about her $12 since she had signed her receipt. She called the local chapter of the Better Business Bureau, and was told that if she filed a written com plaint about the matter, the BBB would approach the circulation com pany on her behalf. Maggard’s story illustrates the hazards of doing business with door- to-door solicitors. And though there are plenty of honest door-to-door salespeople around, local BBB offi cials caution consumers to investi gate before they invest. As it turns out, the BBB had a re port on file about the clearinghouse listed on Maggard’s receipt — a re port chronicling a history of the company’s “unsatisfactory” business performance in settling problems and eliminating causes of problems. In addition, the BBB report identi fies the company as having a record of “questionable” selling practices. The salesman who came to Mag gard’s apartment was an employee of an independently owned and op erated sales organization subcon tracting out to the clearinghouse. The clearinghouse processes the or ders and sees only the signed agreements, and doesn’t get any re cord of verbal promises made to the customer. Dan Bogart, arbitration adminis trator for the BBB of Brazos Valley, is familiar with such problems. “The whole subject of door-to- door solicitation is a big problem,” Bogart said. “Unfortunately, you guys in college are a prime target for these types of door-to-door mag azine or cleaning (salespeople) or whatever. . . . “It’s everybody’s job to look out for themselves, protect themselves. If somebody you don’t know comes to your door, call the Better Business Bureau and try to get a report on the company before you make your de cision. “Everybody that comes to your door is not necessarily bad. But at the same time, you shouldn’t assume that they’re all good. Investigate be fore you spend.” Bogart and LeRoy Balmain, exec utive director of the local BBB, have heard a lot of stories through the years from people who ran into problems with door-to-door sales people. Balmain painted a grim picture of some doof-to-door operations. “Here’s the thing about magazine sales,” he said. “Those kids hit the road. They’ve got a crew chief that’s pushing them. He puts’em out there and they do what he tells them to do. After a week or so of training, then they have to make so much money or they don’t get paid. “You sleep many in a motel room. You travel in a van or something like that. You go from town to town. . . . We have heard where they have been kicked out on the road many states away from their home. “They will tell you anything you want to hear to sell you a magazine. They get hungry. They get desper ate. So consequently, they’re going to do what they can to sell you a mag azine.” Bogart described how a typical traveling sales crew might handle the College Station area. “They’ll pull into the south end of College Station and let their crews out and pick’em up on the other end of town,” he said. “They’ll work their way through the town. And then they’ll go to the next little town and do the same thing. Just keep on moving. “That, again, is why the consumer See Solicitors, page 12 Islamic Jihad renewed its demand for release of 17 comrades impris oned in Kuwait for the 1983 bomb ings of the U.S. and French embas sies there. The Persian Gulf emirate’s government has refused to free them. The group has freed three Ameri cans in 16 months: the Rev. Benja min Weir, a Presbyterian minister; the Rev. Martin Lawrence Jenco, a Roman Catholic priest; and David Jacobsen, director of the American University Hospital. Its statement did not mention Waite, the personal envoy of Arch- hbishop of Canterbury Robert Run- cie. Applications for diplomas due Friday The Degree Audit Office has announced that all graduating se niors and graduate students who expect to complete degree re quirements by May 1987 must make formal application for their degrees no later than Friday. Late applicants will be unable to re ceive a diploma. Undergraduate and graduate degree applicants who did not have their diploma fee assessed with their tuition fee must pay a $15 diploma fee in the Fiscal Of fice, 4 Coke Building. Under graduate students then must take their paid fee slip or diploma fee receipt to the Registrar’s Office, 105 Heaton Hall. Graduate stu dents must take their paid fee slip or diploma fee receipt to the Graduate College, 125 Teague Building. All graduating seniors must complete the necessary degree application forms which are avail able in the Registrar’s Office, 105 Heaton Hall. Graduate students can pick up forms in 125 Teague Building.