Wednesday, Feb. 19, 1986
Nation/World
2 University Daily Kansan
News Briefs
At least 69 killed in Chile train crash
LIMACHE, Chile — Two trains carrying hundreds of vacationers collided head-on, killing at least 69 people, authorities said yesterday. Officials blamed the disaster on human error.
More than 510 people were injured, as many as 150 critically. Witnesses said some were trapped alive for hours.
The accident occurred when the trains, each carrying about 300 passengers, were allowed to travel on the same stretch of track.
Civil rights foe ill
GREENWOOD, Miss. — Former Sen. James Eastland, a graff Southerner who fought communists, liberals and civil rights legislation during his 36 years in Congress, was in critical condition yesterday, suffering from multiple medical problems, a hospital spokesman said.
Eastland fought civil rights and prevented civil rights bills or resolutions from leaving his committee with a favorable vote. Mississippi civil rights leaders called Eastland's retirement the greatest thing to happen to the country.
AUSTIN, Texas — Singer Willie Nelson says he will combine his annual 4th of July picnic this year with a second Farm Aid concert to be held in Austin, Texas.
Farm Aid II to occur
After Nelson's concert last fall in Champaign, Ill., which generated from $8 million to $10 million in pledges, he wanted to organize Farm Aid II and hold it at Yankee Stadium in New York. But Nelson could not get the stadium because of the baseball season.
Tax evasion dropped
SAN DIEGO — A man was acquitted of tax evasion when he admitted in court that $400,000 in unreported income came from drug deals, the San Diego Union reported yesterday.
Philip Baiocchi, 36, said the money came from investments in marijuana shipments, not from legitimate real estate ventures as the prosecution alleged. The statute of limitations for the drug charges had expired.
From Kansan wires.
The Associated Press
Officials not told of icy recordings
WASHINGTON — NASA executives told Congress yesterday that senior officials responsible for the decision to launch Challenger on its ill-fated mission were never told that temperatures on the surface of the shuttle's right booster rocket had plunged to below 10 degrees.
At a hearing before the Senate science subcommittee, National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials also said the makers of the rocket booster approved a decision to launch after initially expressing concerns about the effect of low temperatures on flight safety.
Jesse Moore, NASA shuttle director, said technicians had found temperature readings in
When asked about reports that top launch officials were never told of the readings, Moore said that was a "correct assessment as we understand it now."
the range of 7 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit on the right hand rocket booster a few hours before launch.
When questioned by Sen. Donald Riegle, D-Mich., Moore said if he had 'known of the low readings, he would have asked for more information.
But Moore said the "ice team" that recorded the data did not relay the information to top launch officials.
Moore and William Graham, acting NASA administrator, said the readings were made with hand-held infrared devices that have large error bounds and are subject to doubt.
In his testimony, Graham at first sidesteped the question of whether Morton Thiokol, the solid rocket booster manufacturer, had opposed the decision to launch the shuttle.
Later, when pressed by Sen. Ernest Hollings D-S.C., and others, he said that after lengthy discussions, the company provided a written statement recommending the launch proceed.
Graham and Moore later said Morton Thiolok officials had initially expressed concern about launching in cold weather.
In contrast to the polite reception NASA officials usually receive from Congress, this first hearing into the space shuttle disaster took on a confrontational tone.
"At this particular juncture it looks like an avoidable accident rather than an unavoidable one," said Hollings, who pressed Graham to
provide information that the official said he* preferred not to discuss.
Panel members also expressed irritation at William Rogers, head of a presidential investigating commission, for refusing to let congressional aides attend the panel's sessions.
Rogers said the Challenger's right solid fuel rocket booster appeared to be the area where the trouble started. But he also told the panel it would be a mistake to focus all the attention on the rocket. He said the shuttle's external fuel tank might have been a contributor to the accident.
Rogers said the strut that attached the booster rocket to the larger fuel tank was broken some time during the flight, which ended with the loss of the shuttle and the deaths of its seven-member crew.
U.S. aiding Angolan rebels
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The United States is supplying covert aid to rebels fighting the Marxist government of Angola, an administration official said yesterday in the first public statement that the CIA assistance program has begun.
Chester Crocker, assistant secretary of state for Africa, refused to be explicit about the type of aid but he told Congress it was effective.
"Decisions are being made, and the process is in motion," Crocker told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "I cannot go beyond that."
The White House notified Congress in December that it intended to start supplying covert aid to rebels lead by Jonas Savimbi, who has been battling the Cuban and Soviet-supported Angolan government for more than a decade.
The CIA has an initial $15 million for the covert operation, cleared after Congress last year repealed a 1976 law banning American involvement in the guerrilla war.
Intelligence sources declined to discuss the type of aid, although Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., told Crocker that Savimbi required anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to withstand Soviet-built tanks and fighter planes piloted by Cubans.
The decision to supply aid to Savimbi's National Union for the Total Independence of Angola represents a significant change in U.S. policy
"We want to be effective." Crocker said. "I can't go beyond that. We are aware of what effective means."
Secretary of State George Shultz and Crocker had argued that any aid to Savimbi would wreck five years of negotiations for withdrawal of 30,000 Cuban troops and 1,500 Soviet and
Eastern bloc military advisers from Angola, and for South Africa to withdraw its forces from neighboring South West Africa.
But the negotiations are stalled. Crocker said the Marxist government had since sought to crush Savimbi's forces in southeastern Angola.
While still hoping for successful negotiations, Shultz supported covert aid for Savimbi but opposed open or congressionally mandated assistance. President Reagan said on Nov. 22 that he favored an aid program for Savimbi and welcomed the guerrilla leader to the White House on Jan. 30.
Crocker said the willingness of the United States to negotiate a peaceful end to the conflict "should not be used by others to pursue their own aggressive ends."
Bomb explodes outside embassy
LISBON, Portugal — A bomb planted in a car driven by an American security employee at the U.S. Embassy exploded yesterday outside the complex, destroying the vehicle but causing no injuries, police said.
The driver jumped clear of the car after a suspicious Portuguese security guard stopped the car outside the gates of the $15 million embassy known by Portugese as the "bunker compound," an embassy spokesman said.
United Press International
The explosion occurred about 60 yards from the 2-year-old complex and did not significantly damage to the embassy in northern Lisbon, which is surrounded by high walls, officials said.
The embassy spokesmen said the driver was an American. One official said the American was linked to embassy security and was beyond suspicion.
"He stopped at the first checkpoint at about 7 p.m. for a routine check," the official said. "A Portuguese guard noticed something strange in the baggage compartment."
Police sources quoted by the Noticias de Portugal news agency said a medium-power bomb appeared to have been placed in the car shortly before the vehicle headed to the embassy.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, the third attempted strike in 16 months against the complex
But Portugues sources said that the ultra left-wing April 25 Peoples Forces claimed responsibility for two failed mortar strikes against the embassy in October and November 1984.
Philippine aid cuts backed by Congress
United Press International
WASHINGTON — A spokesman for President Reagan said yesterday that it was premature to consider halting aid to the Philippines, but Congress pressed ahead with bids to block or divert U.S. assistance to the Marcos government.
Sen. Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Rep. Dante Fascell, head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led the effort to suspend military and economic aid or shift its control away from President Ferdinand Marcos, who was charged with corruption, election fraud and murder.
Senate Democratic leader Robert Byrd called for new, legitimate elections unless a coalition government was formed — an idea opposition leader Corazon Aquino rejected.
Reagan, trying to buy time to develop a new policy toward the country, was awaiting a report from envoy Philip Habib, who has been in Manila for talks with Marcos and Aquino.
There were indications the administration was seeking to solidify a two-party system in the Philippines — which the president has said showed new strength in the voting — and Habib was probing for flexibility on both sides.
It was understood that although there was circumstantial
evidence, the United States does not have actual proof the voting was rigged.
Nonetheless, Congress — sensitive to the military value of key U.S. bases in the Pacific archipelago — was moving ahead of Reagan. Senate Republican and Democratic leaders drafted a resolution saying the elections were so fraudulent they could not be considered a fair reflection of the will of the people and called on Reagan to convey this concern to Marcos. The Senate is to vote on the resolution today.
Lugar, R-Ind., usually a supporter of administration policy, called for changes in aid to the Philippines after accusing Marcos of manipulating the balloting.
Lugar and Rep. John Murtha, DPa, headed the U.S. team observing the election and were to appear before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee today to discuss how to use aid to pressure Marcos into enacting reforms.
Fasell, D-Fla., appealed to Reagan last week to suspend all aid to the Philippines pending a review of U.S. policy.