The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • 6

THE SUN, Wednesday, December 23, 1981 A6 CIA aide let ideology tinge briefing, 3 Democratic senators tell Casey I i i 4 fcP' Jll Ml VJ 'refused to discuss the letter. Mr. Helms, a leading Senate conservative, said Mr. Menges was stating not just his own or the CIA's views, but also the conclusions of other U.S. intelligence agencies.

"The problem for these senators was that they were hearing things they didn't want to hear about the Communist takeover in this hemisphere," said Mr. Helms, chairman of the Foreign Relations subcommittee on Latin America. In the letter, the Democratic senators cited the importance of the CIA's "professional, impartial and balanced approach to highly controversial and sensitive issues. These vigorous standards insure the separation of intelligence assessment from foreign policy advocacy. "In our judgment, Dr.

Menges's spoken presentation seriously violated the agency's long-cherished principles and standards" of objectivity and professionalism. "We firmly believe that Dr. Menges's performance undermines his credibility as a national intelligence officer and calls into question his future effectiveness." The letter asks Mr. Casey to review Mr. Menges's testimony and inform the senators of any CIA action regarding Mr.

Menges. heard. It wasn't an attempt to brainwash any senator." Mr. Menges, considered a conservative theoretician, joined the CIA in September after working as a consultant for the Hudson Institute, a conservative research and policy center. In an article in the August issue of Commentary magazine, Mr.

Menges blamed Cuba for fomenting terrorism and revolution in Central America, an argument that parallels administration charges contained in a recent 37-page "white paper" on Cuba. Congressional sources, who declined to be named, said the purpose of the December 10 briefing was to present evidence for those charges and to assess U.S. military and political options in Central America. Instead, a Democratic source said, Mr. Menges gave a "policy statement" that traced all the problems to Havana with scant evidence for the charges.

Upset with the briefing, Mr. Tsongas told Mr. Menges he considered the presentation "an insult" and left the meeting, according to sources. Mr. Tsongas declined to discuss the briefing.

Mr. Pell, Mr. Dodd and Mr. Menges did not return phone calls to their offices asking for comment. The CIA also Washington (AP) -Three Senate Democrats have complained to CIA Director William J.

Casey that a CIA briefing they received on the Caribbean "seriously violated" the agency's obligation to provide them with objective analysis. The three-Paul E. Tsongas Claiborne Pell (R.I.) and Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) -wrote Mr. Casey, charging that the closed briefing "evidenced a rhetorical tone and selective use of information that bordered on policy prescription." The complaint, virtually unprecedented in congressional dealings with the Central Intelligence Agency, could revive criticism that the Reagan administration has politicized the agency by bringing in ideological conservatives to fill sensitive positions.

The briefing on the military situation in Central America and the Caribbean was given December 10 by Constantine Menges, the CIA's national intelligence off icer for Latin America. The senators' letter to Mr. Casey was dated December 11 and was obtained this week by the Associated Press. But Senator Jesse Helms (R, N.C.), who chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee briefing, says Mr. Menges gave "one of the best presentations I've Drug deal said to precede murders Collapse kills 2 This three-story brick Manchester section collapsed yesterday, crushing two workers to death under a pile of bricks and lumber.

Three other men escaped without injury. A city building inspector said, "We really don't know what caused the building tor said he had been at the and had no indication of any to The father, police said, was "completely unaware" of his son's drug use or dealings. They also said they could find nothing to implicate the marina he owns in any wrongdoing. The killings, Lieutenant Donoho said, occurred sometime between 11:30 p.m. Saturday, when John Carback's father called the house, and 11:30 a.m.

Monday, when the bodies were discovered. Although the lieutenant said some neighbors reported hearing some shots over the weekend, none of those reports appears to coincide with what they have uncovered in their investigation so far. Lieutenant Donoho declined to discuss specific circumstances surrounding the shootings. However, a source indicated that a "shoot-out" might have taken place in the house, based on bullets that have been recovered from the walls. A number of vehicles that were seen in the neighborhood over the weekend and are "construed as suspicious" need to be checked out, Lieutenant Donoho said.

The victim's house, which police said was built by Richard Carback for his son about three years ago, has been valued in excess of $100,000. Police said the house Under-10 inflation rate virtually assured for 1981 Aged to pay Blue Cross 48.8 more BLUE SHIELD, fromAl care plan with lesser benefits two options: keeping current coverage at frozen rates and paying out of pocket for the increased deductibles next year, should they get sick; or accepting higher rates to continue the same amount of coverage they are accustomed to. This is an option which Blue Cross-Blue Shield officials themselves had offered. "I am deeply mindful of the needs of those elderly and poor persons in the community who need hospital and medical insurance and who may not be able to afford it if the premiums keep increasing," Mr. Birrane said.

He approved the Blue Shield $1.52 monthly increase for doctor bills that was sought for the over-65 program, and a higher Blue Shield increase for the Preferred Medicare Supplemental plan. A subscriber to the lesser-benefit Medicare supplemental program, who chooses to pay the higher insurance rate to get the same coverage he now gets, will find his or her monthly payment increasing from $14.80 to $19.20, according to Nicholas Greaves of Blue Cross-Blue Shield. The two policies for which Mr. Birrane did not approve higher rates are the open enrollment plan under which there is no medical history check, which covers 3,000 persons, and the direct-pay program, which is the firm's lowest cost plan except for student coverage, and has 4,600 subscribers. Under both of these policies, the subscriber pays 20 percent of the bill and is limited to 30 days coverage in a hospital.

Mr. Birrane said he was freezing rates on these two plans for one year "because there are persons in the community who are not eligible for Medicare but who cannot afford the higher premiums requested in the filings." He also pointed out that the open enrollment plan gives Blue Cross "a considerable savings in hospital costs for all Blue Cross subscribers" under a formula of the state Health Services Cost Review Commission that allows Blue Cross a discount on hospital bills because it offers the community open enrollment. Rate increases for students who are full-time in college were approved, meaning that their payments will go up from $8.98 a month to $12.50 a month. Cities' aid saved by Reagan as he rejects tax rise UDAG, fromAl that issue. No firm proposal was ever presented to Mr.

Reagan, though, and none is likely to be now that the president has spoken so strongly on the matter to his aides. Among those reportedly allied with Mr. Stockman were presidential counselor Edwin W. Meese III and James A. Baker III, the White House chief of staff.

At the meeting yesterday, President Reagan brushed aside the suggestion that taxes must be increased significantly to offset budget deficits of more than $100 billion, a participant in the session said. "None of us can tell what the deficit will be nine months from now," he was said to have told his aides. "He's pretty strong on this," a presidential assistant said. "He doesn't want any tax increase, especially one that may violate the fundamentals of supply-side economics." The effect of Mr. Reagan's strong words was to quash the drive for a hefty tax increase.

Such an increase might have involved boosting excise taxes on cigarettes and liquor and might have included a new tax on natural gas following full deregulation. "The tax thing did not come up, will not come up," Larry Speakes, the deputy White House press secretary, told reporters. "The president does not want to raise taxes." Rather, "he may look at a few loophole-closers, but he does not plan to raise taxes," said Mr. Speakes. Treasury Secretary Donald T.

Regan is to present Mr. Reagan with a proposal on loopholes after the president returns from a Christmas vacation in California. One senior White House official said the tax measure will be quite similar to the $22 billion tax increase that Mr. Reagan unveiled in September. The president apparently does not regard this as a direct tax increase, however, since it would only eliminate loopholes.

"It might be slightly larger than it was in September," said a senior White House official. "But I don't see anything huge like $40 billion or $50 billion." In fact, one presidential aide said Mr. Reagan might not propose any sort of tax increase at all, even one involving only loophole closings. "One of the things the president has said repeatedly is 'No the aide added. Should he decide to propose the loophole-tightening again, it probably would include a cutback in the use of industrial revenue bonds, an end of the energy tax credit and elimination of tax deferrals for defense contractors.

Mr. Reagan's order to halt appeals for large tax increases comes after days of confusion about the administration's plans for dealing with budget deficits. At a nationally televised press conference last Thursday, Mr. Reagan said, "I have no plans for increasing taxes in any way," including a windfall profits tax on natural gas. But a few minutes after that appearance, Mr.

Speakes told reporters that Mr. Reagan did not mean to rule but tax increases altogether. Several administration officials feared that Mr. Stockman would be able to use the projections of whopping deficits to persuade Mr. Reagan to raise taxes significantly more than was-proposed in 11 18 Pier 6 concerts shelved; BSO to weigh season's fate MURDER, from A 1 had been expecting trouble.

Police declined to discuss why the murderers left the weapons and other narcotics behind. No murder weapons had been recovered by last night, they said. Dr. Ann Dixon, an assistant state medical examiner, said Mr. Carback had been shot four times, with the lethal wound a bullet wound to the head.

His wife was shot three times and also had multiple stab wounds, Dr. Dixon said. Both victims were found lying on the first floor of the fashionable three-year-old split-foyer house Monday morning. Mrs. Carback's body was found on the kitchen floor and her husband was in the adjacent living room.

The house had been decorated for Christmas. Several gifts had been placed beneath a Christmas tree in the living room. Police said Richard T. Carback, the dead man's father, discovered the bodies at 11:30 a.m. Monday when he left the Poplar Ridge road marina he owns to check on his son, who had not shown up for work there.

Mrs. Carback worked as a clerk for the Chessie System. Donovan denies bribery DONOVAN, from A 1 laborers union. In his statement, Mr. Donovan said, "Mr.

Mario Montuoro is a damnable and contemptible liar." Mr. Donovan's denial of the alleged bribery and of reports that he and former business associates have close ties to organized crime in New Jersey was set forth in a letter he sent yesterday to Mr. Smith, asking that a special prosecutor be named to investigate the charges. "It seems to me that the American public would be well served if a special prosecutor were appointed," Mr. Donovan said in his letter to the attorney general.

"Such a prosecutor, armed with the full resources available from the Department of Justice and released from the restrictions of the Ethics in Government Act, could, on an expedited basis, determine the truth once and for all." The allegations that Mr. Donovan has had dealings with organized crime figures first surfaced during Senate hearings that preceded his confirmation as Secretary of Labor. However, a full field investigation by the FBI at that time failed to substantiate the allegations. Mr. Donovan has consistently denied the charges.

Mr. Smith informed members of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee two weeks ago that the allegations against Mr. Donovan were serious an indication to some that under the Ethics in Government Act it would be necessary to name a special prosecutor to probe the charges. Senate staff sources said last week they expected a special prosecutor to be named early this week because the charges against Mr. Donovan were quite specific.

In his meeting with the press yesterday, Mr. Donovan was sharply critical of Mr. Montuoro, whom he characterized as "a man who has convictions for possession of five ounces of heroin and a deadly weapon." Mr. Donovan added that be was "sick and tired of being bludgeoned constantly" by Mr. Montuoro's allegations.

In urging that a special prosecutor be appointed to probe the charges of bribery and misconduct raised by Mr. Montuoro, Mr. Donovan said, "I am very confident that in this manner Mr. Montuoro will be quickly consigned to the depths from which he has so recently emerged." Reagan on TV at 9 Washington (Reuter) President Reagan will address the nation on television at 9 tonight about the situation in Poland. "The president is making this talk because he wants to wish Americans a happy holiday season and he wants to address the situation in Poland," spokesman David Gergen said.

1 was nicely furnished. In the fenced-in yard is a garage built to accommodate two cars and a large boat. One boat situated on a trailer sits across from the garage. Police said the garage and house are equipped with expensive burglar-alarm systems that are in working The alarm systems, police said, reportedly were installed after two break-ins at the house. However, they are uncertain if either break-in was reported to authorities because they have been unable to locate any official reports.

A 23-foot boat was set afire in the rear yard of the house on Halloween. But police said they could find no link' between the fire and the murders. A county volunteer fire fighter is suspected of starting the blaze. A check of police records also showed that on November 28, 1979, a 28-year-old Glen Burnie man reported to police that he was robbed of more than $3,800 after leaving the Carback home after completing some remodeling work. Police reports show the robbery victim said the theft was committed by a hitchhiker he had picked up shortly after leaving the house.

of the two sides. But if he would go above our offer, it would potentially bankrupt us." Mr. Fetter said binding arbitration was "something we can't comment on now." Sergiu Comissiona, BSO music director, received an honorary doctor of fine arts degree at the College Park ceremony yesterday. Following the presentation, the conductor said, "I accept this honor with gratitude not as an individual but as artistic leader of the magnificent and distinguished Baltimore Symphony Orchestra." Real estate developer and philanthropist Joseph Meyerhoff, BSO president and chief benefactor, received an honorary doctorate of humane letters at the same ceremony. The Baltimore Symphony was to have played about three times as many concerts at Pier 6 next summer as it did last summer.

Ms. Hillman said she could not provide information yet on who would perform under the polyurethane-fiber-glass music tent instead of the symphony in 1982. Hughes to wirirAnc WLLr AKL, irom Al Sklar sad. noting that several other states have alreadv takpn similar action. have already taken similar action.

The state change involves a figure known as the "state standard of need," which is set artificially to help determine who is eligible for assistance through the welfare program. It is much lower than both the federal poverty level and the state's own assessment of the minimum income needed by Maryland families. The new Reagan administration rules specify that a family with income of more than 150 percent of a state's standard of need cannot receive welfare assistance to supplement its income. But each state sets its own "standard of need." Governor Hughes now has decided to raise Maryland's standard from the current level of $326 a month per family to a new level of about $450 a month. The governor can make that administrative change in the need standard without getting legislative approval, officials said.

That decision in turn will raise the welfare eligibility ceiling in Maryland and make about 3,000 families eligible for welfare again. Because of other factors in the complex system used for computing eligibility, the increase in the standard of need also will make about 3,200 families who were not previously receiving welfare eligible for the partial assistance. And because of other regulations, about a third of the famines who will qualify under the new standard will lose the supplemental assistance four months after the new standard takes effect February 1. AP workers building under renovation in Pittsburgh's collapse." A spokesman for the contrac fire-damaged building earlier in the day problems. the new experimental index could be the same or even higher than the current index.

Economists say the present index has been distorted because few consumers buy a house every month or every year. Labor unions have expressed concern that the new index, which is scheduled to take effect in January, 1983, would mean a reduced level of inflation as measured by the CPI because of the use of rental data. Wage increases in a number of union contracts are tied to increases in the price index. Last month, as home prices moderated, the home ownership component of the current index rose by 0.2 per cent. At the same time, using the "rental equivalent" formula, which places less emphasis on interest charges, the housing component went up by 0.7 percent.

Apparently, rents are not immediately sensitive to the declining cost of housing. Prices of food and beverages rose 0.2 percent in November, the same as in October, but well below their pace of 0.8 percent from July to September. Prices of meat, poultry, fish and eggs fell by 0.3 percent. Restaurant meals were up 0.5 percent. The transportation component of the index jumped 0.8 percent after a 1.2 percent rise in October.

November brought the sixth consecutive increase in the price of used cars. Medical care costs climbed 1 percent last month, the 11th consecutive month of increases of 0.9 percent or more. Charges for hospital rooms went up 2.5 percent. In the Baltimore area, housing costs fell by 0.4 percent in October and November because of moderating mortgage rates and home prices, compared to a rise of 5.4 percent in the preceding two months. grant raise ments more money than making the change in the standard of need so that the families could again receive partial welfare grants to supplement their incomes.

A 9 percent increase in AFDC benefits would raise the grant for a family of four to about $355, up from the current maximum grant of $326. Cheryl Lynch, a lobbyist with Associated Catholic Charities who urged an increase in the grant, praised the governor's proposal as "a very courageous and important step in providing for the poor in Maryland." She added, however, that the increase would leave welfare recipients with incomes well below the minimum income the state has said is necessary for families to live in Maryland. That figure, set by a gubernatorial commission in 1978 and recently updated by the Department of Human Resources, is $756 for a family of four. With a 9 percent welfare grant increaseand food stamps of about $160 a month a family of four would receive about $515, or $241 less than the official state minimum. Bob Cheeks, executive director of the Baltimore Welfare Rights Organization, cited that gap in criticizing the proposed 9 percent grant increase.

"It's ridiculous" and "an insult to poor people," Mr. Cheeks said. He noted that state will continue to rank low about 34th nationally-in the size of its welfare grant The governor also is proposing a 9 percent increase in General Public Assistance grants, a relatively small state program that provides benefits to persons without children, most of them disabled. PRICE, from A 1 also expect that the recession may bring about progress in reducing the underlying inflationary rate by lowering wage increases. "The trend is for more moderate price increases next year," said Sandra Shaber, of Chase Econometrics, an economic consulting firm.

"A lot of the reduction is due to the recession. Energy prices would have firmed up a lot if the oil glut had been worked off. And commodity prices are still weak." Mrs. Shaber said she expects the inflation rate to be about 8 percent in 1982. A forecast just issued by Data Resources, another economic consulting firm, estimates inflation between 5 percent and 7 percent next year.

A third forecast, by Michael K. Evans, president of Evans Economics, predicts that the Consumer Price Index will rise at an annual rate of 6.5 percent in 1982. This progress in the administration's battle against inflation comes at the same time it is expecting unemployment to reach 9 percent in the next few months-equal to the highest rate since the Depression. Same economists are looking to an even higher rate before the recession ends. The 0.5 percent rise in November in the national index, calculated after adjusting for normal seasonal changes, was exactly the same as the rise that would have occurred under an experimental variation of the index known as CPI X-l, which bases the housing component on a rent estimate instead of the costs of purchasing a home.

The two identical increases bore out the prediction of Janet Norwood, director of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, who has said that as home purchase costs decline, seek welfare The money to pay for the state's half of the welfare grants and for the rest of the $25 million package would come in part from savings the state will achieve by not having to provide matching funds for several federal programs that have been cut by Washington. The other $12 million to $13 million would come from a "surplus" of $158 million the state expects to accumulate in the next fiscal year through increased revenues. The news of the regulatory change drew praise last night from representatives of welfare advocacy groups and from Delegate Sklar, who along with state Senator Jerome F. Connell, Sr. (D, Anne Arundel) prodded the Hughes administration to help the working poor.

In early fall, officials of the state Department of Human Resources had said such a change in the need standard would not be feasible. After legislative hearings in which welfare rights advocates argued for the change, Delegate Sklar, Senator Connell and other members of the General Assembly's Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review Committee told officials to devise some way to cushion the impact of the federal changes on the working poor. Mr. Sklar noted that without the state change to counteract the federal regulations, some persons working at minimum-wage jobs to support their families would be better off financially by quitting their jobs and relying entirely on welfare assistance. He said that situation actually cold cost both the state and federal govern SYMPHONY, from A 1 haven't seen so far." Saying he was "very distressed over the situation" and that he "did not wish to take sides in the dispute," the mayor observed that "the players must understand there is only amount of dollars in Baltimore now.

The players believe there's more dollars available than there really is. "My offices are available every moment, but there must be a spirit of compromise. I went over to the negotiations once and got shut out real good. I felt a little bit discouraged. There was no compromise." David Fetter, chairman of the BSO players' committee, denied that the players had resisted compromise.

"We've come down considerably in wage demands," he said. "Our first request would have cost $3 million to $4 million. We moved down in September, then again November 12. What we now ask would cost less than $2 million over 3 years. "We have both moved but the distance between us now seems rather more firm.

And if Mr. Baker Frank Baker, chairman of the management negotiating committee says over and over, 'This is I don't see a spirit of compromise there." The mayor said. "What I askmi thm do was stay in session 24 hours a day. This business of meeting 8 hours, then adjourn- 3Tfrvld.ayS' th nn again do If you re really serious you'll stay mere ana nammer it out." The only other major American orchestra to cancel a complete season theNew Jersey Symphony, which lost its 1980-1981 season because it didn't have the money to uyen us uoors, ana wnicn went out of busi ness for 16 months-ended up reconstituting itself on a smaller scale. Despite this ominous precedent, the mayor said he did not believe the future of Baltimore's professional symphony orchestra was permanently threatened if this season never begins.

"There will be a symphony in Baltimore," he said. "If they don't cancel the season tomorrow and if I get a signal from the players, I'll say 'postpone the cancellation." If there is any way I can get involved, I will," the mayor said. The day after the symphony management made what it described as its "final offer," Mr. Baker wrote the 96 BSO musicians, "If our offer is rejected we will have no alternative but to cancel the season." On December 14, the players unanimously rejected the offer. The last interruption of a BSO concert season occurred 10 years ago, and ended after an agreement was worked out, with Mayor Schaefer's help, to submit unresolved differences to binding arbitration.

Today, the two sides are lukewarm about binding arbitration. "At this stage I don't know about it," Mr. Baker said. Normally an arbitrator goes somewhere in between the positions.