dtes% trojan
Volume XCVII, Number 33	University of Southern California	Thursday, October 18, 1984
LEE-ANNE LEONG / DAILY TROJAN
A workman sprays deodorizer in the first floor of the Delta Chi fraternity where a fire broke out early Wednesday morning.
Senate wants clarity on divestment
By Karen Kucher
Assistant City Editor
The Student Senate, feeling uncertain "of the administration's philosophy concerning South Africa divestments,” requested the university's policies regarding South Africa be documented and presented by President James Zumberge to the senate within a month.
The resolution, which passed in a unanimous vote with no discussion, was sponsored by senator James McPherson, "because there has been a growing concern regarding the university's relationship with South Africa and our investments in corporations."
Zumberge has said in the past that the university is opposed to apartheid — the policy of racial segregation in South Africa.
"It is important that President Zumberge speaks and gives any clarification to senators (regarding the university's policy) so students consequently can get that information as well," McPherson said.
"Senate, as well as the administration, will then decide what constructive course of action can be taken regarding investments in South Africa."
The resolution stated "despite public condemnation of the apartheid government now in power in South Africa, the Student Senate remains unclear of the administration's philosophy concerning its South African investments."
The South African question has been raised by the senate in previous years, noticeably in December 1981 and the spring of 1982, when the senate passed resolutions which requested immediate divestment by the Board of Trustees of all university investments in South Africa.
"The idea behind this resolution is that many students, as well as student senators, don't know what action is being taken," McPherson said.
He said there is a great deal of
strife and grief going on in South Africa and "we have a social responsibility to show concern with (the people's) condition."
McPherson hopes the administration is pleased that the Student Senate is "conscious enough to be concerned with the issue" and hopes it can give the students insight into what the university can do.
He said students have not forgotten and are concerned about the university's involvement in
Ignore effects of their policies
By Stephen Lawson
News Editor
High government officials lie and are not held accountable for it, and "just don't give a goddamn" about the effects of their policies, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Seymour Hersh declared in a campus speech Tuesday night.
Hersh, who gave the 6th annual Otis Chandler lecture — named for the Los Angeles Times publisher — in the Annenberg Main Auditorium, has investigated covert operations of the goverment since he broke the story of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam in 1970.
Foreign policy continues on the same track from administration to administration, he said, citing what he called examples of lies and secret activities continuing throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
He said the Reagan administration has carried out at least 50 covert operations against foreign governments since 1981. One possible reason for these operations has been a change in the advisory body for the presi-
South Africa. The recent publicity surrounding the issue prompted McPherson to introduce the resolution although "this issue has been a concern of mine as a black student." McPherson is one of four black student senators.
The Black Student Union recently requested that the university form a commission of students and faculty members. The BSU said the proposal was rejected because it did not come (Continued on page 7)
dent, he said.
In the past, representatives from the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies were included on the committee advising the president on covert operations, he said.
But the Reagan administration is advised on these covert operations by the National Security Planning group, headed by CIA director William Casey and staffed by the CIA.
"So the president is forced invariably to make decisions without the benefit of staff analysis," Hersh said.
Another factor, he said, is an unprecedented new intelligence unit within the army, formed to carry out covert operations.
"We know now that they've done operations in the last three years in Southeast Asia and Central America. We also know they've been supplying equipment in secret to a number of foreign countries. We don't know much more about it," Hersh said.
Hersh gave as an example the invasion of Grenada last year, from which the press was banned.
Hersh said he the facts of the U.S. invasion, which he called "one of the all-time screw-ups, (Continued on page 3)
Top government leaders lie, writer Hersh says in speech
None injured as flames damage Delta Chi house
Estimated cost is $30,000 in first-floor fire
By John Kirby
Assitant Editorial Director
A fire raced through the first floor of the Delta Chi fraternity house early Wednesday morning, causing an estimated $30,000 in property damage but no injuries to the residents of the house.
The fire, which started around 4:30 a.m., damaged only the bottom story of the building. Five fire companies, totaling 20 firefighters, responded to the alarm at 920 W. 28th St., and a fire department spokesman said the blaze was extinguished within 17 minutes of their arrival. None of the surrounding buildings were damaged by the fire.
Members of the fraternity re-
fused to speculate on the cause of the fire, saying only that they had been instructed by the fire department and university offi-cals not to discuss the matter.
"We're not allowed to talk about it," said Trey Richardson, Delti Chi vice president.
However, the fire department spokesman said the fire was "definitely caused by careless smoking."
The Delta Chi house is owned by the university and falls under the jurisdiction of Bill Thompson, director of housing and residence halls. Neither he nor Alex Ratka, director of insurance and risk management, were available Wednesday to comment on the fire.
One of the first people to notice the fire was Rob Stroyke of the Phi Kappa Tau fraternity, which is located next door to Delta Chi. It was Stroyke who called the fire department.
(Continued on page 5)
Candidates base decisions on TV, Ehrlichman states
By Craig Hotti
Staff Writer
Trying to shed light on the 1984 presidential campaign, John Ehrlichman, a former Nixon administration aide and Watergate conspirator, said what candidates say and where they speak is dictated by polls and television coverage.
In a speech Wednesday in Bovard Auditorium before approximately 350 people, Ehrlichman said candidates try to put their finger on the pulse of the nation using polls, and gear what they say around that indicator.
Ehrlichman, who worked on the Nixon campaign in 1968, said candidates have their own polls and use them a lot to determine the crux of their speeches.
"Every presidential candidate polls extensively. You would be surprised to know how much the Reagan people know about you
—	probably more than you know about yourself," he said.
Ehrlichman was Nixon's chief adviser until he resigned in May
1973	during the Watergate probe. In 1974, he was convicted of perjury and conspiracy charges for his involvement in the Water-
(Continued on page 8)
JOHN EHRLICHMAN
FULTON DAILY TROJAN