Morales did not help with Legal Services' budget ASUO Vice President Eddy Morales removed himself from the process to avoid a conflict of interest By Chuck Slothower News Reporter ASUO Vice President Eddy Morales had no role in the ASUO Executive recommendation for ASUO Legal Ser vices' budget, several ASUO officials said. The recommendation could have presented a conflict of interest for Morales because Legal Services Di rector Ilona Koleszar is representing Morales in court. Morales is charged with assault and criminal mischief in connection with a Sept. 12 incident. ASUO spokeswoman Taraneh Fos ter said Morales had no role whatso ever in the recommendation. "Eddy hasn't even looked at the Le gal Services budget because he want ed to make sure that there wasn't a conflict of interest," Foster said. "There's nothing shady going on." Although Morales is said to have removed himself from the Legal Ser vices budget process, ASUO Student Senate Ombudsman Mike Sherman said a vice president typically has some role in budget recommendations. "They work closely with the finan cial coordinator and the controllers to develop those recommendations," he said. "If the controllers have any issues or concerns, the vice president or fi nancial coordinator can help them out a lot." ASUO Controller Sunil Karia said he created Legal Services' budget recommendation alone, with no help from Morales and only a little help from fellow controller Sara Hender son. The ASUO Programs Finance Committee approved Legal Services' 2004-05 budget at a Jan. 13 meet ing, allocating $190,295. The budg et is an 8.3 percent increase from 2003-04. "I never felt any pressure from Eddy or any of them," said PFC member Colin Andries, who acted as a liaison between PFC and Legal Services. The increased budget will be used to pay for cost-of-living raises for Legal Ser vices employees and to provide health insurance for Legal Services Assistant Di rector Linda Miller, Karia said. Andries said many University em ployees in positions similar to Miller's receive benefits. The insurance ac counts for $3,780 of the increase, Karia said. Morales, who will be in court Feb. 24, could not be reached for comment. Contact the campus/ federal politics reporter at chuckslothower@dailyemerald.com. Nation & World News Intelligence officials warn WMD information was iffy Blame for misinformation is being cast on Iraqi exile leader Ahmad Chalabi, who provided the defector By Jonathan S. Landay Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) WASHINGTON — Dubious intelli gence about Iraq's biological weapons programs found its way into the Bush administration's case for a pre-emp tive invasion of Iraq despite the fact that officials warned in May 2002 that some of the information might be un reliable or fabricated. Ihe charge that Iraq had mobile bi ological warfare research laboratories came solely from a defector provided to U.S. intelligence officials by Iraqi exile leader Ahmad Chalabi, said sen ior U.S. officials, revealing the over sight for the first time on Thursday. The officials, some of whom are crit ics of Chalabi, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the intelligence remains classified. Chalabi, the head of the Iraqi Na tional Congress, is a favorite of pro war civilian officials in the Pentagon but is deeply distrusted by many rank and-file professionals in the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the State Department, who worried that some of the defectors they produced might be Iraqi double agents. The Defense Intelligence Agency, which debriefed the defector, flagged the information he provid ed as questionable in 2002. Top DIA officials helped draft an Octo ber 2002 National Intelligence Esti mate, or NIE, on Iraq's weapons programs and reviewed Secretary of State Colin Powell's February 2003 speech to the U.N. Security Council but never raised their own agency's doubts about the source, said two senior officials. The snafu, said another senior official, also a critic of Chalabi, raises the possibility that Chalabi and oth ers, possibly including Saddam Hus sein's own intelligence service, may have tried to deceive the United States about the state of Iraq's nu clear, chemical and biological weapons programs. The Iraqis, the official said, may have tried to deter a U.S.-led attack by making it appear that they were ready to use chemical and biological weapons. Meanwhile, Chalabi and others may have tried to encourage a U.S.-led attack by making it appear that Iraq was an imminent threat to American interests. Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet referred directly to the issue in his Georgetown University speech on Thursday. "We recently discovered that rele vant analysts in the (intelligence) community missed a notice that identified a source we had cited as providing information that, in some cases was unreliable, and in other cases, was fabricated, * he said with out elaborating. A CIA spokesman declined further comment. (c) 2004, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Dean says he must win Wisconsin; Kerry leads in Michigan While Dean ducked out of Michigan, Kerry picked up key endorsements in Maine By Rick Pearson and Tim Jones Chicago Tribune (KRT) MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Winless in the nation's first nine Democratic pri mary and caucus contests, embattled one-time frontrunner Howard Dean told supporters in an e-mail Thursday that he must win the Wisconsin pri mary on Feb. 17 or fold his long-shot comeback bid. "This entire race has come down to this: We must win Wisconsin," Dean said, pleading for contributions of $50 to raise $700,000 by Sunday to pay for advertising in the Dairy State's media markets. "A win there will carry us to the big states of March 2 — and narrow the field to two candidates," Dean wrote. "Anything less will put us out of this race." Dean's statement was reminiscent of comments made before this week's South Carolina primary by Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, who said he would drop out of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination if he did not win there. Edwards did win the primary Tuesday. Dean's plea came as polls Thursday showed him trailing Sen. John Kerry in Michigan, where Democrats will vote Saturday in a statewide caucus. As if acknowledging his plight in Michigan, Dean abruptly canceled a scheduled appearance before the De troit branch of the NAACP and flew to Milwaukee to campaign. Meanwhile, Kerry campaigned in Maine and picked up key endorse ments Thursday. Maine Gov. John rainbow ODtlCS I \ 'prescription glasses ■ 1 jm frame & lenses See what you've been missing. rnmnlptft EUGENE LOCATIONS coupon expires Feb 29, 2004 Baldacd backed Kerry during a stop in Portland, Maine, and former Sen. George Mitchell released a statement saying he endorsed Kerry. Both Michi gan senators, Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin, signed on, too. On Friday Kerry will add an en dorsement from Rep. Richard Gephardt of Missouri, whose cam paign for the nomination ended after a fourth-place finish in Iowa. Officials with the Kerry campaign said Gephardt will appear with the Massachusetts senator on Friday at a rally in Warren, Mich., with Macomb County Democrats. None of the other Democratic presi dential contenders are campaigning in Maine, all but ceding that state to Kerry. Campaign officials expect the senator to win in Maine, as well as Michigan and Washington state this weekend. In Portland, Maine, Kerry said he Les’ Barber Shop Price Reduced To $10.00 Save $2.00!! s485-6757 130 E. 13th Ave supports equal rights for people and supports dvi l unions, but not gay mar riage. "I believe the court is wrong," he said, speaking about the Massachusetts Supreme Court's dedaration Wednes day that marriage must be accessible to gays. He added that it is up to the state legislature to respond now. Asked about Republicans using the issue of gay marriage against him, Ker ry said: "Big deal for the Republicans if they want to choose a wedge issue and distort my position. I will fight back." He said Vice President Dick Cheney "has the same position Ido." Thursday's polls in Michigan showed Dean, who a month ago was enjoying double-digit leads, trailing Kerry badly. A poll released late Thurs day had Kerry ahead of Dean, 62 per cent to 13 percent, followed by Ed wards, with 11 percent, according to EPIC-MRA of Lansing. A Detroit Free Press poll showed Kerry leading Dean, 58 percent to 13 percent, while the Detroit News had Kerry ahead of Dean, 56 percent to 9 percent. Dean has been facing increasing pressure from his congressional sup porters, as well as union backers from the Service Employees International Union and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Em ployees to win a state contest to help restore the viability of his candidacy. Looking to Wisconsin, Dean told supporters: "All that you have worked for these past months is on the line in a single day, in a single state." Although Michigan is accustomed to playing a dramatic role in the nom inating process, a sense of excitement seems missing in the state this year. Edwards is not campaigning in Michi gan, nor is retired Gen. Wesley Clark. Rev. A1 Sharpton has campaigned in the state since Wednesday and Rep. Dennis Kucinich is due Friday. Estimates for Saturday's voter turnout have been dramatically scaled back. Less than two months ago Michi gan Democratic Party officials were say ing as many as 400,000 people might cast ballots. But now turnout estimates are in the 120,000 range (c) 2004, Chicago Tribune. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune information Services. Tribune national correspondent Jiii Zuckman contributed to this report. [The Eugene Glass School Presents a .'February 7 7-11 Pm raUiicfrjfrtftHij' ; Beer, Refreshments! and Food Available i Art Glass Silent Auction. Oregon Daily Emerald P.0 Box 3159, Eugene OR 97403 The Oregon Daily Emerald is pub lished daily Monday through Friday during the school year by the Oregon £aily Emerald Publishing Co. Inc., at the University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon.The Emerald operates inde pendently of the University with of fices in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union. The Emerald is private prop erty. The unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable by law. 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