European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 2, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 columns the stars and stripes monday june 2, 1986 Flora Lewis stud ends indulge selves with divestment demands self hic Cal so on campuses at the end of this cold be Haiir it South Africa. Oberlin Ohio College is no exception. About half the pm Diutch receiving their degrees a Ore rib buns in 1 pc red Black Green colors of inc african National con Gress or badges rending in divestment no the san gain refers to i Campaign of per Suade alumni not to give any Money to the school in los the Iru Sices Jill rid of invest ments in companies doing business in South Africa an estimated i percent of he. Colic s rus funds. The trustees pc cd it i their duly to make the Besl possible economic not political. Decisions there Drc shanties symbolizing the continuing disgrace of apartheid. Oberlin is something of an exception however in that there have been no physical confrontations to dramatize the Issue because presi Dent Sipchen f. Starr has refused to pro vide any excuse fur one. He lays the most it nil student item to be disappointed. The had hoped fur a . So Zecy Puz up d sign on one of the shanties denouncing the College fur is Lack of moral Corr Cliness and accusing in in tired cliches of Toa dying to business inter est it is intriguing the Way causes and specific symbols of protest suddenly become fashionable and sweep Ai rim Ceri Uin parts of Loci Ely. It hard to account for the priority of Choice at any Given moment. There arc.1 Many things eur proc is about concerning Africa ski apart trom the rest of the world. For the moment the focus is on South Africa s racism and thai May be As well., Given he attempt by inc Pecloria regime to deflect foreign concern by Banning television coverage of Riols and escalating jul Cnoc. Certainly the excuse thai television was responsible for inspiring and spreading inc violence has been blown away. And the students arc making Clear thai americans Are is ill watching with or without Unic Ramun on the spot. Further he fight again racism ii reason enough to single Mil South Africa for special opprobrium although there Are other min Sardus and just As disguising and oppressive regime in Africa. And it is healthy to support Good causes it link William Safire people to humane concerns beyond their selfish interests opens them 0 he work and helps them understand How Oiler Ltd. Bui there is something distorted some thing arrogant about people who live in a free society trying to provoke trouble with out any Rule to items Clvis on the claim that hey Are identifying with people who a re making real sacrifices and placing their lives at real risk. There is in this Noel ement of self indulge nor economic pressures do seem to have some effect on the South african establish men. Although the main one obviously comes from deteriorating business Confidence in a conflicted society. Individuals can add their bit by choosing to Boycott products of companies that do business in South Africa particularly those that can. Not show exemplary records of How hey treat to Weir Black workers there. It is hard to see How trying to impoverish american universities and colleges can help anyone. Scholarships and educational opportunities for South african Blacks which Oberlin strives to Provido a lot More to push South Africa toward change than inc Oberlin students a preach. But even beyond the argument of what is effective and what is appropriate there is a problem of understanding that the Choice of a cause h a Mailer of conscience. There is an endless number of Good causes competing for the Energy and attention of Well meaning people. As Starr suggests no one can claim a monopoly of virtue in attempting to impose his particular preference at the Lime of Bis choosing. Who is to dictate the dimension of moral correctness Crow the seasons Starr Points out thai there is a lesson not Only for exuberant College students i Bucit with an idealistic will to improve the world which can indeed use a lot of better ment i is also a useful warning against the Streak of moralistic righteousness thai runs through much of american society. The right to choose the Good cause is As essential to Freedom As the right of speech and peaceable Assembly. Be new York to Lect some Wall Street insiders working a new Angle the arbs1 used to perform a stabilizing function says Felix Rosayln the banker who helped merge Sperry and Burroughs. Bui now More often they re the arbitrageurs who used to smooth out markets by buying or Selling la take advantage of Price discrepancies arc now considered inc Sharks of Wall Street travelling with corporate raiders Wheeler dealer lawyers and any junk Bond far a acc Bankers they help satisfy he egos of businessmen who want la merge their Way to Empire or leverage their companies out of Public ownership some of the above arc apparently Crooks the scandals that Are soon to shake the financial Community and Dis credit some of its highest fliers Are not Only about a culture that cuts ethical Corners on its Way to getting Rich Quick. They concern stealing Money. The Laws against insider trading based on Rule Lqb-5 of the securities and Exchange communion address a Clear cd form of theft. If you Are an insider thai is privy by virtue of your position to non Public information that enhances the value of a Security and you buy Stock from some uninformed investor you be stolen his profit from him. Who Are the insiders in a merger they ate the corporate executives lawyers accountants and Bankers working on the Deal supplemented by parasites and find ers drawn up in vast cumbrous array All in a position to know How a bundle could be made. Lately they have been tic targets of the criminal eases brought under Rule Iob-5, since 1980. We have had 50 prosecutions 3� of hem since january of i jigs year the latest last week. But some of the smarter financiers May have been working a new Angle. Suppose you work in the mergers and acquisitions department of an investment Bank. You re an insider in a dozen deals a year. Trade in those securities nol on your life you know How easy it is for computers to be the trades. But you have two friends in similar positions in a Law firm and another Bank and they know a couple of so the five of you form a ring. You informally Swap inside information and buy the stocks of the deals being made by your other ring members maybe you find some member of your business school class to be the coordinator lend him some Money show him the Best Ovenias Banks for moving and laundering Money. You think you be beaten the system. But the Law has a Slit Chaste Arm swapping insider information in anticipation of making a profit May Ais operate As a fraud or deceit that is the conspiracy i think li.5 attorney Rudolph Giuliani is attempting to crack right now. With the help of an elite corps of postal inspectors under John Muvinski and his Progress has Many prestigious firms on Wall Street sweating Little Blue chips. Dennis Irvine 33, a managing director of Dreidel bum Ham Lambert was charged with insider trading in a civil complaint and arrested on the criminal charge of obstruction of Justice. The arrest was Lale in the Day which scam he had to spend a night in jail learning what life there could be like. Levine has not yet had a preliminary hearing and May be wholly innocent. Among the questions being asked by nervous Wall Stroeters How came most of the cases cited by the Sec Are not Dreidel bum Ham deals who started him with capita in inc first place is there a ring of corrupt arbs and liw jars and Bankers is Levine part of it and if the Deal maker b offered a Deal would he sing if so and an odor of corruption emanates from downtown new York what would this do 10 Public Confidence in financial institutions would it Cate Congress o hold hearings on the need Tor net regulation Giuliani is Comrie Dably Light lipped these Days about the Cyffic grand juries but cells me the group abusing its input b capable of being its members will calculate the Odds of being caught and going to jail and unlike other addicts and muggers May turn honest if the Bottom line is Loo Likely the Slammer. Let s Hope so. Because the unchecked growth of larceny on the fast track poses a danger to the american Economy. One Day a downturn i l come and a junk Bond will default starting a race to dump junk As re Haydn warns bubbles always at such a time on the thin Edge of panic when Confidence in the financial system itself is such a National asset it will not help to have millions of investors convinced that Wall Street is run by a gang of thieves. 4ct new Vowk time
