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Ninety-seven years of editorial freedom
1 Ita1
/Ol. XCVII - No. 60
Copyright 1986, The Michigan Daily
Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, November 26, 1986
Eight Pages
I_
P
oindexter resigns amid turmoil
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Reagan's
national security adviser, Vice Adm. John Poindexter,
signed yesterday, anda key operative who handled
ecret arms sales to Iran was fired as the administration
disclosed that up to $30 million the Iranians paid for
U. S. arms was diverted to U. S.-backed Nicaraguan
rebels.
Reagan, nonetheless, continued to defend his Iranian
policy while admitting that one element of its
implementation "was seriously flawed" and that he was
not kept fully informed of his own aides' activities.
"I am deeply troubled that the implementation of a
policy aimed at resolving a truly tragic situation in the
fiddle East has resulted in such controversy," Reagan
sail. "As I've stated previously, I believe our policy
goals toward Iran were well-founded. However, the
information brought to my attention Monday con-
Arms deal money was diverted to Contrcas
vinced me that in one aspect, implementation if that
policy was seriously flawed."
MEANWHILE, Attorney General Edwin Meese
revealed that the first U. S.-sanctioned arms shipment
to Iran took place in 1985 without Reagan'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 for the 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
fire from the State Department for its operations. He
said the Justice Department will launch a full-scale
probe of how the money was handled to determine
whether federal crimes were committed in funneling
money to the Contras at a time when Congress had
banned direct U. S. military aid to them.
Meese, speaking after Reagan, told reporters that,
with North's knowledge, $10 million to $30 million
collected from the Iranians for U. S.-shipped weapons
was siphoned by Israeli middlemen and transferred to
bank accounts set up by Contra rebels fighting the
Sandinista regime in Nicaragua.
"The only person who precisely knew about this
was Col. North," Meese said of the money matters.
Sources say North, an expert on unconventional
warfare in the Political-Military Affairs section of the
NSC staff, secretly oversaw American efforts to help
the Contras, handled counter-terrorism matters for the
White House, and was a key link in the secret arms
shipments to Iran.
MEESE SAID Reagan knew nothing of the
transfer of funds to the Contras and "didn't have com-
plete information at the time regarding" a November
1985 arms shipment by the Israelis. That shipment
apparently was returned to Israel.
See REAGAN, Page 2
MSA
have
may
huge
deficit
By WENDY SHARP
The Michigan Student Assembly
may owe Student Legal Services
$19,000 due to an error by last
year's treasurer, said an assembly
member.
Bruce Belcher, treasurer of
Student Legal Services- and
chairperson of MSA's Rules and
Elections Committee, said the
assembly may not have given
enough money to Student Legal
Services last year. MSA is
supposed to allocate 61.7 percent of
its budget to the legal service each
year.
MSA President Kurt Muenchow
said the previous treasurer may have
calculated the assembly's allocation
to Student Legal Services based on
the 1984-85 student fee of $4.75
instead of the 1985-86 fee of $5.07,
which would create the deficit,
Muenchow said.
IF THERE was an error, this
year's MSA's reserve fund of
$20,000 will have to be used to pay
the debt, Belcher said.
"What I would like to do about
this is to pass an amendmentito
(MSA's) compiled code on financial
operations," Belcher said. The
amendment would require MSA to
put a certain percentage of its
budget into the reserve fund, he
said, and that would insure that the
assembly's reserve fund would not
be wiped out again.
Daily Photo by PETE ROSS
Graduate student Mark Fernau, dressed as Uncle Sam, hands participated in the rally which reminded people about hunger problems
out crosses painted with the names of dead Nicaraguans at in the world.
yesterday's rally on the Diag. About 75 Community High School students
Students remember victims
By JIM BAUER
Dozens of University and
Community High School students
joined together yesterday to
remember the people who cannot
celebrate Thanksgiving because
they are beset by hunger, war, or
oppression.
Referring to American Indians,
Ann Arbor resident Mark Weinstein
urged the audience to "think about
the original peoples who are still
struggling."
Weinstein drew cheers from the
audience, which included about 75
sign-carrying Community High
School students who arrived late,
when he quoted textbooks on
American history.
"The textbooks teach us that
Indians were warlike. How can the
white man call anyone warlike with
his record of killing and
destruction?" he asked.
Sue Olienick, a Community
High student, told the crowd her
school was taking action for peace.
After the rally, about 40 of the
high school students marched to the
front of the Union and staged a die-
in at the intersection of State Street
and South University.
Four police officers arrived
within seconds, but the students
refused to "come alive" and halted
traffic for about 10 minutes.
"Thanksgiving is a time to be
thankful for what you have, but it
is also a time to think about what
other people don't have, both
domestically and internationally,"
Melissa Fernau, a member of the
Latin American Solidarity
Committee, told a group of about
20 people on the Diag.
Fernau condemned U.S.
intervention in Central America as
antithetical to fundamental
American values. "It's ironic that at
Thanksgiving we celebrate our
country's founders fleeing
persecution and starting new lives
while today we are the persecutors
Thanksgiving: It just
ain't what it used to be
By STEVE BLONDER
"The four f's - family, friends,
feast, and, of course, football" -
that's what Thanksgiving means to
LSA freshman David Weiss.
It turns out that other students
have many of the same feelings
about the November tradition.
"Thanksgiving means to me that
there are 27 days left to shop until
Christmas," said LSA senior Terri
Pulice.
The Pilgrims probably werer i
considering the Detroit Lions or
Macy's Department Store when
they celebrated the first
Thanksgiving. University history
Prof. John Shy explained that the
celebration "was in fact an authentic
occasion which really did happen. It
is one of the happier moments in
American history."
The original celebration was in
response to the new found strength
and health experienced by the
Pilgrims and their small harvest,
Shy said.
Graduate student John Corser's
thought regarding Thanksgiving
serves as a reminder that the
American Indians were included in
the original Thanksgiving.
"Thanksgiving serves to represent
the way that our own culture
See TURKEY, Page 3
of people in Central America," she
said. "These are countries which are
trying to start new lives."
Kurt Berggren, an Ann Arbor
attorney who recently visited
Juigalpa, Nicaragua, Ann Arbor's
sister city, spoke on the plight of
the people of Nicaragua.
"The most disturbing aspect was
their lack of basic necessities," he
said. "They are in desperate need of
medical supplies, educational.
materials, and even basic everyday
items such as toilet paper."
Berggren charged the Reagan
Administration with advocating a
"brutal economic blocade" of
Nicaragua and sponsoring a war by
subsidizing the rebels trying to
overthrow the Nicaraguan
government.
"During the 10 days that I spent
in Nicaragua, there were two Contra
attacks that killed a total of 10
innocent people," he said.
Cindy Phillips, a member of the
World Hunger Education-Action
Committee, said there are 20
million chronically hungry people
in the United States and that "there
isn't adequate support on the federal
level. President Reagan expects the
private groups to shoulder most of
the responsibility."
Youths speak on
living with war
Beicher
... MSA in deficit-
Belcher will draw up an
amendment and propose it to the
assembly after Thanksgiving break.
M S A' S current treasurer, Seth'
Surchin, whose term began in
February, said his predecessor may
have "done something careless."
Surchin said he could not be more
specific until outside auditors
complete their report on MSA's
budget. The audit will be returned
to the assembly in January.
The assembly is audited annually
because of a requirement in its
constitution, Muenchow said.
See MSA, Page 3
By KELLY McNEIL
In Lebanon children are used to
"the sight of blood, the sight of
torn flesh, and to the sight of
injured people," said a girl from
Lebanon yesterday. She was among
youths from war zones around the
world who spoke on their childhood
experiences.
Speaking before an audience at
the Ann Arbor Public Library,
representatives from South Africa,
the Philipines, Lebanon, the
Marshall Islands, Guatemala, and
the United States implored
members of the audience to take an
active role to help end war in their
countries, and to limit U.S.
involvement in other countries.
The youths are part of an
organization called Children of War.
Their visit to Ann Arbor and other
areas around Detroit was coordinated
by the Detroit Anti-Hunger/Youth
Advocacy Center.
Rima Zankoul from Lebanon
gave a particularly emotional
speech. She was six years old when
the war in Lebanon began in 1974,
and has witnessed the effects of war
See INNOCENT, Page 3
TODAY
The "Ann Arbor flu"
he flu VYnck T urvhn c, eme t o vnt
of the influenza virus, with a changed surface
antigen. In other words, it can make you sick.
Symptoms are nearly the same as for all other flu
strains:. Night sweats, fever, nausea and
everything else associated with the common
ailment. The strain is denoted Type B because of
the virus involved. As of now, the existence of
official seal on this year's elections by certifying
the vote totals from the Nov. 4 balloting. The
final vote for governor turned out to be: Gov.
James Blanchard, 1,632,138, and Republican
William Lucas 753,647. Any losing candidates
have two days to seek a recount, officials said
yesterday.
INSIDE
IRAN: Opinion suggests that President Reagan
listen to his Secretary of State.
TUE VIII 1AM A tArta A i. m - I.aA
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