Thursday
Scattered
Thunderstorms
High 93
A*
A season of greatness
6 Cajun curse — The University of Southwestern Louisiana
ocks Aggies out of NCAA regional playoffs
□ A group of winners — Sports editor Jayme Blaschke reflects
on the ups and downs of the 1991 team
Court news
Bryan man accused of Zip’N
robbery
page 2
The Battalion
90 No. 146 USPS 045360 6 Pages College Station, Texas
'Serving Texas A&Msince 1893"
Wednesday, May 29, 1991
Supreme Court decision could lead to new trial for North
WASHINGTON (AP) — Oliver
North's Iran-Contra prosecutors suf
fered a Supreme Court setback Tues
day that could lead to a new trial for
North or even dismissal of his convic
tions.
The court, without comment, let
stand a ruling that the former White
House aide might have been denied a
fair trial.
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
here ruled that North's conviction can
not stand if independent counsel Law
rence Walsh and his staff used testi
mony North gave to Congress under a
grant of immunity.
Now that the Supreme Court has
denied Walsh's appeal, a federal trial
judge will conduct new hearings to de
termine whether testimony against
North was influenced by his televised
appearances before congressional com
mittees.
The conviction of former National
Security Adviser John Poindexter,
North's ex-boss, also could be in jeop
ardy. Poindexter also is appealing on
grounds that his prosecution was ille
gally tainted by the use of his immu
nized congressional testimony.
The appeals court ruled in North's
case that a new trial must be held — or
the criminal charges dismissed — if
any of the evidence was tainted.
"We are of course disappointed that
the Supreme Court would not take the
North case at this time," Walsh said
Tuesday.
He said his office was ready to go
ahead with the "item by item" review
of evidence ordered by the appeals
court. That hearing will be conducted
by U.S. District Judge Gerhard A. Ge-
sell, who presided over North's trial.
David Zomow, a member of the
North prosecution team who now
practices law in New York City, said he
is confident North's convictions will be
reinstated after Gesell reviews the tes
timony.
"We felt from the beeinning that the
prosecution wasn't tainted and that
that can be demonstrated," Zornow
said.
The justices Tuesday also rejected,
without comment, an appeal by North
challenging his prosecution on other
grounds.
In other action, the high court:
□ Made it easier for prosecutors to
exclude Hispanics, and anyone else
who is bilingual, from juries in criminal
cases.
The 6-3 ruling upheld an attempted
murder conviction against a New York
City Hispanic who said Hispanics were
excluded unlawfully from the jury.
Prosecutors said bilingual jurors might
not trust English translations of testi
mony given in Spanish.
□ Unanimously threw out the mur
der conviction of a South Carolina
death row inmate charged in the killing
of a woman in a robbery. It was the
second time the justices have ruled
against the conviction.
ed the scope of federal antitrust law,
ruling 5-4 that an eye surgeon who was
denied staff privileges at a Los Angeles
hospital may have been the victim of
an anti-competitive business scheme.
□ Left intact a Georgia law that lim
its access by children to sexually expli
cit material in bookstores.
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RICHARD S. JAMES/The Battalion
Take it away
Steve Alvarado of A-1 Wrecker Service picks up a car to be moved from Old Main Drive. Cars were moved so workers could paint bicycle lanes.
Regents
could face
legal action
Discussing harassment, discrimination
policy in private could violate state law
By Chris Vaughn
The Battalion
Insurgents capture Ethiopian capital
; luesuay, men moved on to
;ntal task of temporarily gov-
\try wrecked by 30 years of civil
:ed bv famine.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — Rebels
seized the Ethiopian capital in fierce but
brief fighting Tuesday, then moved on to
the monumental
eming a count
war and stalked by:
The takeover came a week after Ethiopia's
longtime ruler, Mengistu Haile Mariam, re
signed as president and fled the nation, and
one day after the United States gave the re
bels its blessing to move into Addis Ababa
to restore order.
Official casualty lists were not issued, but
reporters counted at least three government
soldiers killed at the presidential palace. A
Worker at Emperor Zewditu Hospital said at
least three civilians killed by gunfire were
brought there along with "many"
Wounded. He spoke on condition of ano
nymity.
The Red Cross said up to 750 civilians
were injured in the capital in recent days,
including perhaps 250 in an ammunition
dump explosion Tuesday. It said its surgical
teams in Asmara, Bahr Dahr and Dessie re
ported "a considrable increase" in wounded
recently. No casualty figures were available
for dvilians, rebels or government troops,
but the Red Cross said up to 750 civilians
had been hurt in the capital in recent days.
Millions of Ethiopians are imperiled by
drought and famine, and the fighting has
hampered efforts to get aid to them.
But experts said the rebel victory might
help get relief efforts back on track.
When the rebels moved into Addis
Ababa, the stiffest resistance came at the
presidential palace on the city's north side.
Rebels struck at the first light of dawn,
slamming the palace with the fire from
tanks, multiple rocket launchers, machine
guns and automatic rifles.
They seized the complex after about three
hours.
Light, scattered fighting continued for
several hours in other parts of the city. By
dusk, the gunfire had tapered off and the
capital's streets were empty.
A rebel leader, Meles Zenawi, said in
London that "peace and order has now
been reestablished in Addis Ababa."
The rebels seized most key government
installations and buildings without opposi
tion.
Diplomats said many offices had been
ransacked and looted by their occupants be
fore they fled.
Most residents stayed indoors during the
heaviest fighting ana the rebels appeared to
have avoided most residential areas.
Government soldiers at the Ethiopian
Ground Forces headquarters, on the south
western edge of the city, were over
whelmed in a firefight that lasted only about
half an hour.
"The soldiers, they make me feel sorry,"
said Gebre Hiwot, 25, an 8-year veteran of
the rebel army. "They were only forced to
fight. They were taken from the street, the
office, the farm. I have no anger with
them."
The relentless three-month rebel offen
sive had devastated government forces,
triggering mass desertion of conscripts and
defection of officers.
On Monday, on the eve of the assault, the
government had told its troops to lay down
their arms.
A political officer with the insurgents said
the whereabouts of acting President Lt.
Gen. Tesfaye Gebre-Kidan were unknown.
But it became clear that the coUapsed gov
ernment would have little to say about the
country's future.
In London, the Ethiopian prime minister
and his delegation boycotted the peace
talks, but the U.S. mediator, Herman Co
hen, said that mattered little because the re
bels were the ones who would determine
the makeup of the new transition govern
ment.
Cohen, who is assistant secretary of state
for African affairs, said the largest rebel
group, the Ethiopian People's Revolution
ary Democratic Front, would assume "state
responsibility" until the transition govern
ment could be set up.
That government, in turn, was to orga
nize democratic elections within 12 months.
Leaders of the three main rebel groups
agreed to hold talks no later than July 1 on
the new government.
Texas A&M University Sys
tem's Board of Regents could
face legal problems because of a
possible violation of the Texas
Open Meetings Act, in which
the board discussed a ha
rassment and discrimination pol
icy in executive session two
weeks ago.
The Board, which met May 16
and 17, discussed a System-wide
statement on harassment and
discrimination during a closed
executive session. The measure
was approved later.
Executive session is for spe
cific personnel matters, litigation
or real estate matters, according
to the Texas Open Meetings Act.
An official with the Freedom
of Information Foundation said
Tuesday that he believed the re
gents had violated the law by
acting on the policy.
A violation of the Texas Open
Meetings Act constitutes a mis-
deameanor punishable by one
month to six months in jail and a
$100 to $500 fine. A court also
can void a policy if it is enacted
in violation of the act.
Chairman of the Board Ross
Margraves and A&M's General
Counsel James Bond did not re
turn phone calls to The Battalion
Tuesday.
Dr. Larry Hickman, faculty ad
viser for A&M's Gay and Les
bian Student Services, said he is
not an attorney and was not
completely familiar with the act,
but he did question it based on
the law's wording.
When Hickman was asked if
anyone planned on challenging
the regents' move, Hickman said
"there were some parties very
interested in the recent events."
Hickman did not elaborate fur-,
ther on any possible legal action.
The new System statement
virtually mirrors a statement is
sued earlier this year by Univer
sity President William Mobley.
The statement, which in gen
eral terms forbids harassment
and discrimination and makes
no mention of specific groups,
received a unanimous vote from
the Board and was supported by
the eight university presidents in
the System.
The System statement now re
ads: "Faculty, staff and students
should be aware that any form of
harassment and any form of ille
gal discrimination against any
individual is inconsistent with
the values and ideals of the
Texas A&M University System
community."
See Hickman/Page 3
North Korea will apply
to join United Nations
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) —
In a major diplomatic turnabout.
Communist North Korea said
Tuesday it would apply to join
the United Nations simulta
neously with longtime rival
South Korea.
The surprise announcement is
a breakthrough in four decades
of bitterly hostile relations be
tween the two Koreas and could
push forward dialogue on easing
political and military tensions.
The statement from the North
Korean foreign ministry is seen
as North Korea's first major ini
tiative toward expanding rela
tions and opening its closed, re
clusive society to the world.
Observers see the North's open
ing as essential to securing last
ing peace and security in the
North Pacific.
ipplic
bersnip could be submitted as
early as June and will be coordi
nated through the two Korea's
offices in New York, officials
said.
The Korean peninsula is the
most heavily militarized area of
Asia and the two Koreas are on a
war-footing with more than 1.5
million armed troops on either
side of a tightly sealed border.
North Korea is believed to have
capability to manufacture nu
clear arms by the mid-1990s.
South Korean Assistant For
eign Minister Lee Joung-bin
called the announcement "a sig
nificant milestone in consolidat
ing peace and stability in north
east Asia as well as the Korean
peninsula."
Battalion summer circulation begins Tuesday
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