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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 29, 1971)
World News Senators discuss Cambodia with Laird More ‘deliverymen ’ bound for Cambodia SAN FRANCISCO AP—Defense Secretary Melvin Laird said Thursday there are no American military advisers on the ground in Cambodia, but that there are 16 equipment deliverymen there and 50 are needed. “I intend to recommend assignment of additional military equipment teams to Cambodia” to deliver and protect $200 million worth of military supplies the United States is providing Cambodia,” Laird said. Last year when Congress prohibited use of American ground troops in Cam bodia, Laird said he served notice “We would have military equipment teams operating in Cambodia.” In a question period after his speech to the Commonwealth Club of California Laird said it has “been made clear” to Southeast Asian nations that “the United States will not be responsible for the ground combat operations in that part of the world.” WASHINGTON AP—Reassurances by Secretary of State William Rogers failed Thursday to ease fears by Senate Foreign Relations Committee members that the Nixon administration is increasing U.S. involvement in Cambodia. There was general agreement, however, that the administration has kept at least within the technical limits on U.S. actions established by Congress last year in the Cooper-Church amendment. Sens. J.W. Fulbright, Frank Church, Stuart Symington, Edmund Muskie, George Aiken and Jacob Javits—the first four Democrats, the latter two Republicans—all said they remain fearful of deepened U.S. involvement despite Rogers’ effort to minimize the use of Amercan helicopters and planes in last week’s battle to open a key Cambodian highway. “My own feeling,” chairman Fulbright told reporters, “is they are quite prepared to do whatever is necessary. He didn’t say that. That’s just my own im pression.” And the Arkansas Democrat said that despite Rogers’ insistence there is no U.S. commitment to defend Cambodia, “I think we are. I think the events have created a situation where we and the world believed we are.” Rogers, who spent 3Vi hours before the committee, told reporters afterward: “I don’t believe there has been any change in policy.” Asked about fears by committee members that the United States could become involved in a new Vietnam in Cambodia, the secretary replied, “I don’t think that is possible. All the imperatives are the other way. All our budget planning. “And we would not have the support if we got bogged down, as the other ad ministration did in Vietnam,” he added. Vermont’s Sen. Aiken, senior Republican on the committee, also cited the likelihood of a strong public reaction in stating that while apprehensive, he doubts there will be an expanded U.S. involvement in Cambodia. “The uproar in this country would make last May seem like a Sunday school picnic,” Aiken told reporters. He referred to protests following announcement of the U.S. incursion into Cambodia. Committee members said Rogers made clear the administration has no intention of seeking any easing of the Cooper-Church amendment, which bars U.S. combat ground troops and military advisers from Cambodia. Sen. John Stennis, D-Miss, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said Wednesday following a closed briefing by Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird that restrictions might have to be eased if the situation in Cambodia worsens. Democratic leader Mike Mansfield expressed concern about Stennis’ com ments. “I think we are treading dangerous ground,” he told reporters. Mansfield did not attend the session with Rogers. Fulbright said the administration believes, as did the Johnson ad ministration in the early days in Vietnam, that the situation in Cambodia can be handled by air power without use of American troops. Rogers was accompanied to the hearing by Lt. Gen. John Vogt, director of the Joint Staff of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who presented a 55-minute military briefing. Both Sen. John Sherman Cooper, R Ky., and Church of Idaho said they were satisfied that there has been no technical violation of the Cooper-Church amend ment despite the presence of U.S. advisers on some of the helicopter gunships used in last week’s battle and the use of civilian clothed Americans to retrieve damaged helicopters. Interior secretary confirmed WASHINGTON AP-The Senate confirmed without dissent Thursday President Nixon’s nomination of Rep. Rogers C.B. Morton to be secretary of the interior. Morton, former Republican national chairman and the first easterner appointed to the in terior post in decades, succeeds Walter Hickel, who was fired by Nixon last November. The Maryland congressman faces two separate problems: The protection of the en vironment and the running of a department still disturbed by Hickel’s ouster. And he faces the opposition of conservation groups like the Sierra Club, which called his appointment a political choice War crimes investigation Hundreds of honorably discharged veterans of the war in Vietnam will meet this weekend in Detroit for “an investigation into war crimes committed (by the U.S.) as the inexorable result of national policy,” according to the New York City-based Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Inc. The investigation, sponsored by the Vietnam Vets, will include testimony from GI panel members, Vietnamese victims and “ex perts” on the situation in Indochina. The Vietnamese, from both the North and the South, will testify for the investigation over closed-circuit television, since the U.S. government has refused to issue visas to them to enter the country. and said he has been too closely tied to the oil industry to make independent decisions on en vironmental questions. Morton told the Senate Interior Committee last week that he often feels such groups as the Sierra club are advocating “the end of man,” or at least the end of civilization. “I’m not prepared to go that far,” he said, calling for a balance between economic growth and what he said is the need to protect the environment, placing it on a priority scale at least equal to that of the economy and national defense. Two issues Morton said will need his immediate attention are these: What to do about the con tinuation or cancellation of oil leases in California’s Santa Barbara Channel and whether or not to approve a huge oil pipeline across Alaska. Morton’s reception by the Interior Committee was almost uniformly friendly, with senators from the West saying they had been assured he would take western interests into account. News Roundup from AP reports CLEVELAND, Ohio—A federal judge struck from the record Thursday a special grand jury report on violence at Kent State University, saying it could “irreparably damage the rights of 25 indicted persons, mostly students.” U.S. District Judge William Thomas also declared the report bordered on criminal accusations against 23 unnamed Kent State faculty members, who the grand jury did not indict but said shared the blame for the violence. He refused to throw out the 25 indictments, saying there was no basis to stop prosecution, and refused to convene a three-judge panel to rule on the constitutionality of Ohio’s anti-riot law. WASHINGTON—President Nixon pledged Thursday to make every endeavor to end the draft by midsummer of 1973 as he urged Congress to enact reforms to bring the nation closer to an all volunteer Army. “No one knows precisely when we can end conscription,” Nixon said in a special message to Congress. But, he said “the objective of this administration is to reduce draft calls to zero, subject to the overriding considerations of the national security.” CAPE KENNEDY, Fla.—The Apollo 14 launch crew, hoping for a flawless mission, moved smoothly ahead Thursday in a near-perfect countdown toward Sunday’s blastoff to the moon. “It’s one of the cleanest Apollo count downs we’ve ever enjoyed,” said Walter Kapryan, directing his third straight launch of the Saturn 5 booster rocket. Committee to be given night watchlady statement By KARI O’CONNOR Of the Emerald A statement concerning the night watchwomen in the dorms will be presented to the University Housing Committee today by a group of dorm residents. Hie group of students represent a large number of dorm residents who feel ‘the night watchwoman is an infringement upon our rights and privacy.” The statement includes summaries of several past meetings that were held between dorm residents and housing authorities concerning the night watchwomen. Also in the statement is a copy of the bill passed by the ASUO Senate on Jan. 21 stating, “The ASUO Senate deplores the presence of the Night Manager, and respectfully requests that the housing authority ter minate the "Night Manager” immediately.” A poll taken in Bean Complex by a poll task com mittee is included in the statement Some results were: 1. Do you want the night lady position— a. Terminated 84 per cent Girls. 8 per cent Boys b Increased - 8 per cent Girls. 4 per cent boys c. Remain as is - 2 per cent Girls. 7 per cent Boys 2. Do you favor the handling of all dormitory violations by residents through the dorm tribunals and being responsible for the handling of unescorted guests? a. Yes - 85 per cent - Girls - No -11 per cent. Yes - 85 per cent - Boys - No -12 per cent. TTie statement concludes: “From the conclusive evidence drawn, we feel that action should be taken immediately according to the concerns of the residents as to the presence of the night watchwomen.” In a poorly-attended meeting Wednesday night the Inter-dormitory Council CIDC) and assistant Housing Director Dick Romm discussed the night watchlady question. Council members suggested that students be allowed to vote on whether they wanted the night wat chlady to patrol their halls, and that a two-thirds majority in opposition, plus Housing Department ap proval, could eliminate her from some halls. IDC President Rick Wilson suggested that the group work toward a 24-hour lounge privilege. However this possibility was not discussed in detail by the group. Referring to an independent group recently established by Henderson Hall residents who oppose the night watchlady, Romm said, “The conduct committee will listen a lot more to the IDC than it will to Henderson Hall.” “In some of the dorms she’s evidently wanted and needed,” stated Romm. "Others, such as Henderson, don’t want her.” Regarding security in general, Romm noted that the number of incidents in furniture being taken from dorm lounges have decreased since the Office of Campus Security began patroling the outside areas at night He also commented on the amount of pressure en countered by the Housing Department by reading two letters he received from concerned parents. Both letters lamented having to replace goods stolen from dorm residents. Copies of one letter were sent to a state senator. Gov. Tom McCall and the State Board of Higher Education, as well as the University Housing Director H. P. Barnhart. The flow of this kind of mail has increased markedly since winter term of last year,” said Romm. “We’ve tried to talk to parents and show them that most of the problems are caused by the students,” Romm added.