the daily Attorney denounces case NEW YORK (AP)—John N. Mitchell's defense attorney denounced a federal criminal conspiracy case against the former attorney general yesterday as "a prosecutorial vision...a vision they set out to give life to." "They have failed," Peter Fleming Jr. said in his summation 'as the trial of Mitchell and co-defendant Maurice H. Stans, former commerce secretary, neared an end. It is expected to go to the jury today. "This case is one ball of wax." Fleming declared. "John Mitchell is either a corrupt fixer and liar or he is neither." Mitchell, 60, and Stans, 66, are accused of conspiring to obstruct a Securities and Exchange Commission fraud in vestigation of multimillionaire Robert Vesco in return for Vesco's secret Oil figures dispute Mobil claims WASHINGTON (AP) While the Mobil Oil Corp. claims in nationwide television advertising that only one in 60 oil wells drilled ever pays off, industry figures show results at least 36 times better. The data which appears to dispute Mobil's claim was obtained from the American Petroleum Institute and from several major oil companies. Mobil is the nation's third largest oil company. Mobil spokesman J. A. Gillespie said his company would stand by the validity of the ad and said the "one-in-60 figure is a generally accepted figure used by the industry as a whole." The television spot is one of a series of energy crisis-era ads produced by the major oil companies to try to explain energy shortages and high prices. Mobil's television spot shows a man walking through a desert-like area while an unseen announcer reads five sen tences of copy : "Here's what drilling for oil is like. It's like digging a lot of holes in the ground, Directed to Egypt, Syria, Palestine refugees Nixon asks Mideast foreign aid WASHINGTON (AP) President Nixon asked Congress yesterday for $5.18 billion in new foreign aid funds, including a $250 million economic boost for Egypt and another $lOO million that possibly could be used for Syria and the Palestine refugees. "In the Middle Ease we have an op portunity to achieve a significant breakthrough for world peace," said the President in a message requesting the aid for fiscal 1975. "Increased foreign aid will be a vital complement to our diplomacy in maintaining the momentum toward a negotiated set tlement which will serve the interests of Extravaganza C. FRED WILLITS, a Republican candidate for state senator in the 34th district, indicts the University for wasteful spend ing. Thursday, April 25, 1974 Vol. 74, No. 143 , 12 pages $200,000 cash contribution to President Nixon's re-election campaign. Mitchell and Stans left the Cabinet early in 1972 to direct the campaign. They are charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury, and are liable if convicted for up to 45 years each in federal prison. In an apparent reference to Watergate, Fleming declared: "A prosecutor's vision, you may find, engendered in the heat of a terrible national trauma. Two Cabinet officers. I'm a Democrat. I don't care about politics. But I care about justice. A vision—and any fact that does not fit that vision either is changed or not brought to your attention. "This case is a mess, a confusion, this case is vile," Fleming continued, stabbing his right forefinger on the throwing a lot of money into each hole and hoping some of the holes become oil wells and throw money back. About one hole in 60 actually pays off. Last year Mobil threw over $lOO million into holes in the ground. Drilling for oil is a very risky way to make money." American Petroleum Institute figures show that 'of all new exploratory and production wells drilled worldwide last year, 61.2 per cent struck oil or natural gas. In other words, about three of every five wells was productive 36 times better than the one-in-60 figure in the Mobil ad. The television spot was created for Mobil by the Doyle Dane Bernbach advertising agency in New York. Mary McCarthy, the executive who handles Mobil's account, said the one-in-60 figure came from a publication of the American Petroleum Institute. An API spokesman, J. Speir Collins, said the one-in-60 figure refers only to a narrow segment of oil exploration. "The figfre is way off if you're talking both Israel and the Arab nations." U.S. assistance is no less critical to South Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos as they try to make a difficult transition from war to peace, he added. The Nixon request called specifically for $907.5 million to the Middle East Israel $350 million, Egypt $250 million, Jordan $207.5 million, and $lOO million in a special requirements fund. He also sought $939.8 million for In dochina in the form of $750 million for Vietnam, $llO million for Cambodia, $55 million for Laos, and an additional $2B million to administer the program. No funds were sought for recon •-` railing in front of the jury of nine men and three women. "A criminal case must be a case of fact, not vision. It has got to be a case of truth, and not conjecture. It has to be a case with some kind of coherence, not of suspicion, surmise, innuendo or—and I say this advisedly—brutishness. "This case makes no sense. I think you know that in your hearts, and no sense means not guilty. The government of the United States, whoever they are, cannot be allowed to insist that because they think something happened, it did. "This case is not Alice in Wonderland. it is not the Wizard of Oz, it is not Christmas, it is not the Easter bunny. This is a felony case. I believe that from every bit of evidence the government gave, nothing is proved." Fleming ridiculed the government's about all wells drilled worldwide," Collins said. "Where the one-in-60 figure applies is. only for wildcat drilling in the United States in brand new fields where there are no proven oil or gas reserves." Asked why the Mobil ad did not make clear that the one-in-60 figure applied only to one segment of oil drilling, McCarthy said she had not felt it was necessary. "Most people would assume we're talking about exploratory wells since we have the picture of the man walking around looking for something," she said. "We couldn't explain what . an ex ploratory well is because the public wouldn't understand it." Exploratory drilling, sometimes called wildcatting, is searching for oil or gas in new, untried areas. Production drilling is •the sinking of wells where reserves have been proven. Checks with the public records of major oil companies showed their success rate at wildcatting is con- struction in North Vietnam. Gerald L. Warren, the deputy White House press secretary, said economic aid to Hanoi cannot be considered "until there is compliance" with the Paris Peace agreement. The President and Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger outlined the aid package to congressional leaders in a 90- minute breakfast meeting. Afterward, House Speaker Carl Albert of Oklahoma said economic aid for Egypt "would be helpful for us, for the Middle East, for the Arab states and for the state of Israel. "Of course the continuance of Israel is a matter of national interest on It ili,,, University Park, Pennsylvania Published by Students of The Pennsylvania State University Ten cents per copy contention of a conspiracy to fix the SEC case against Vesco. He pointed out that on Nov. 27, 1972, SEC filed a $224 million fraud complaint against Vesco. It was one of the largest suits of its kind. "This must be the only fix case in modern times, or ancient times, or Biblical times, or prehistoric times, when the payoff was made in April and afterwards everything gets worse, - Fleming argued. Six counts of perjury against Mitchell in the indictment are based on the variance between his grand jury testimony and that of three of his chief accusers—former New Jersey Republican bigwig Harry Sears; ousted White House counsel John W. Dean 111, and volunteer campaign -fund solicitor Daniel Hofgren, the initial promoter of the Vesco donation. siderably better than one-in-60 or 1.6 per cent. Standard Oil of California, the nation's fifth largest oil company, drilled 33 wildcat wells in the United States last year and five produced oil or natural gas for a 15 per cent success rate. World wide, Standard's wildcat success rate was close to 17 per cent. In 1973 the Exxon Corp., the world's largest oil company, drilled 161 wildcat wells and 23 were commercial successes for a 14.3 per cent success rate. Mobil's figures show that 51 ex ploratory wells were drilled and nine of them produced for a 21.4 per cent or a better than one-in-five success rate. APl's one-in-60 figure covers the entire petroleum industry, including the smaller, independent companies which do most of the wildcat drilling and whose success rate therefore is lower. By their own figures, the success rates of the major companies, even in the high-risk wildcatting field, is far better than one-in-60. our part," Albert added Senate Democratic Leader Mike Mansfield said he would consider the proposal "with an open mind." He said he remains generally opposed to foreign aid. Sen. Robert P. Griffin of Michigan, the assistant Republican leader, said the aid proposal was justified and desirable in terms of building an enduring peace in the Middle East. In asking $250 million in assistance for Egypt, Nixon said the funds would be used "for the tasks which come with peace" clearing the Suez Canal, repairing damage in adjacent areas and restoring Egyptian trade. University wastes funds, Willits tells Republicans C. Fred Willits last night charged the University ad ministration with wasting money "hand over fist." Willits is a Republican candidate for state senator in the 34th District. According to Willits, the University lists departments twice in the budget, overpays professors who rarely teach, provides patronage for the Democratic Party, allows a student business to operate illegally, sells little-used property to regular purchasers and uses state property for political purposes. "We stand in awe of the University," Willits told members of the Nittany Council of Republican Women at a candidates' meeting. He explained he was indicting the University ad ministrators, not faulting its academic achievements. Accusing the University of double-budgeting many departments, Willits refused to say which departments followed the practice. Hypothetically, he said, the main tenance department will ask for $5 million and become the scientific repair department to get $5 million more. Willits said he had gotten his facts from state Auditor General Robert Casey. The University is overpaying professors who make $60,000 a year, some who get $3,000 to $5,000 a month in consulting fees, according to the candidate. "It is time originally paid for to teach students," Willits said. "They don't." Willits named no individual faculty members. The University annual clearance sale is another example of extravagance, he said. According to Willits, the University is selling nearly new properties to regular large purchasers at a closed sale and then buying new supplies every year. In addition, Willits said, "Penn State has become the patronage headquarters for the Democratic Party." Pboto by Eric Flack By RICH GRANT Collegian Staff Writer Japanese porcelain demonstrated Assembly refuses ARHS election poll By JERRY SCHWARTZ Collegian Staff Writer The president of Academic Assembly indicated last night that the Assembly would not conduct a poll for the Association of Residence Hall Students on ARHS popular elections. Joe Kaplan told a meeting of student council presidents that former ARHS president Jef Wall has requested the Assembly to poll 300 to 400 dorm residents on whether ARHS officers should be elected by popular vote. Kaplan said the Assembly, as part of the Undergraduate 1 - Student Govern ment, was not the unbiased poll-taker that ARHS sought. Popular elections were mandated by USG Senate and Supreme Court judgments. Kaplan said he felt the ap proved referendum for popular elections made the poll unnecessary. "1 can't see us just being used as a patsy in this argument," Kaplan said. The presidents also discussed im provement of relations between the student councils and the Assembly. Kaplan said he favors a written contract between the two parties. Under such an agreement, Kaplan said, the Assembly would expect at tendance from council members at Assembly meetings as well as time and work from members on the Assembly's projects. In return, Kaplan said the Assembly would provide facilities and money for the councils' projects. The Assembly also would help lobby for council proposals and would help the councils' research projects. THE ART OF' JAPANESE PORCELAIN was demonstrated last night in Kern by Kenneth R. Beittel. assistant professor of art education. Beittel explained the techniques he learned while an apprentice to a porcelain master. See story. page 12. Kevin lachini, a representative from the College of Education student council, said there is a "conflict in priorities" between his council and the Assembly. "Naturally for you the Academic Assembly comes first, while we want time and hours spent for us," lachini said. Kaplan said, "There is a dichotomods relationship here. We really don't think the Assembly is most important." Kaplan said We Assembly will have to face the question of whether new staff members should be allowed to vote in the Assembly. Currently only four representatives from each . college can vote in the Assembly. The Assembly has started an advertising campaign to recruit staff members to work for it. "It is wrong for them to do the work and not get the benefits in the form of voting," Kaplan said. 'They'll be of fended it they don't vote, and the regular members may be offended if they do." Kaplan said the Assembly could use a system similar to the one used by the Organization of Town Innependent Students. He said OTIS staff members gain the right to vote after attending a set number of meetings. Asked to name individuals, Willits said one professor with connections to the Pennsylvania Department of Transporta tion had directed that his son become a PennDOT super visor. However, the candidate said he did not have his notes and did not remember the precise name of the professor. Willits went on to say that the people in charge of liaison between Pennsylvania and the University were patronage appointments. Regarding student business in competition with downtown, Willits said the East Halls radio station was violating Federal Communications Commission law and American Society of Composers, Artists and Performers rules. He said the station runs advertisements without paying royalties to the per former whose music is aired. According to Willits, when he informed the University that the situation existed, they responded that he could take them to court. Willits added that Casey had received a similar reaction. Willits further criticized the University for maintaining a contingency fund which he termed a private fund. "What is state money, taxpayer's money or private money?" Willits asked. "Any place in that University you can be arrested because its state property." According to Willits, the University maintenance depart ment charges other departments cost plus 15 per cent for repairs. He said the profits go into the contingency fund which is used for paving the University airport runway and finan cing the University party's trip to China. Willits questioned the state-related status of the University. Noting that the University was suing Ernest Kassab, a former candidate for U.S. Representative, for not paying for use of the Nittany Lion Inn for a dinner, Willits said he asked how the Inn could be used for political purposes. According to Willits, the University responded that the Inn was privately leased. However, Willits said, the University is suing Kassab as a state institution. Weather Sunny and milder today, high 58. Tonight clear and cool, low 35. Tomorrow mostly sunny and warm, high 67. Photo by L. Pharo, 111
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