The Michigan Daily-Friday, January 7, 1983--Page 3 MSU, research group deny conflict of interest By FANNIE WEINSTEIN An audit of Michigan State University released Tuesday warned there might be a conflict of interest between MSU and a related research corporation, similar to a proposed research enter- prise at the University of Michigan. But spokespersons for MSU, the MSU Foundation, and NEOGEN, its off- spring research corporation, say the potential conflict of*'interest is a dead issue. THE REPORT, prepared by the state auditor general's office, said the MSU" Foundation may have violated its by- laws in 1981 by spending $100,000 to create NEOGEN, a private research corporation designed to develop and market the ideas of MSU agricultural and veterinary researchers. The by-laws of the MSU Foundation, a non-profit corporation supporting charitable and educational activities, forbid profit-making ventures. According to James Laughter, executive director of the MSU Foun- dation, the foundation is legally bound by its articles of incorporation, not its by-laws. He said the articles allow the foundation to invest in a NEOGEN-type corporation and blamed the confusion on poorly drafted by-laws. THE MSU AUDIT also said there were potential conflicts of interest among personnel of the university, the foundation, and NEOGEN. James Herbert, president of NEOGEN, said there was initially some overlapping of personnel, but only until NEOGEN was able to get off the ground. For example, Herbert said NEOGEN's interim president before he took over in June, 1982, was Dr. Willis Wood, a biochemistry professor at MSU. LAUGHTER, who served several months as NEOGEN's secretary treasurer said, although he hadn't seen the audit, he believed the situation "had long since been taken care of." The university appears satisfied that the possible conflicts have been correc- ted. "The board of trustees is quite com- fortable with the creation of NEOGEN and the intent of its operation," said Roger Wilkerson, secretary to the board. NEOGEN has served as a model for The University of Michigan's proposed Michigan Research Corporation. The MRC, in which the University would be a minority stockholder, recen- tly was endorsed by the faculty and is now being explored further by a com- mittee of faculty members and local businessmen. AP Photo Heave, ho! Officials attempt to save a beached whale spotted near a Georgia island Wednesday. However, the rescue efforts failed. Reagan signs 1 to boost gas k tax, rate hike set for April Dance Theatre Studio 711 N. University (near State St.), Ann Arbor " 995-4242 co-directors: Christopher Watson & Kathleen Smith day, evening & weekend classes New classes begin January 10 From AP and UPI WASHINGTON - President Reagan yesterday signed a bill which boosts the gasoline tax by a nickel to 9 cents per gallon April 1, promising motorists and mass transit customers a smoother and safer journey in return. Flanked by those who pushed the bill through the lame-duck session of Congress, Reagan set the wheels in motion for a $5.5 billion-a-year program that is expected to put more than 300,000 people to work on the nation's highways and bridges. "TODAY, AS this bill becomes law, America ends a period of decline in her vast and world-famous transportation system," Reagan said during a ceremony in the State Dining Room. The law also will open many of the nation's major highways to bigger and heavier trucks. In exchange, truckers will have to pay sharply higher use and excise taxes. Reagan, taking a seat at a table in the State Dining Room, signed the bill, "before the bridges fall down.' "ANYONE WHO'S driven the family car lately knows what it's like to hit a pothole, the frustration, expense and danger caused by poor road main- tenance," Reagan said. "Woeful tales of highway disrepair have become part of the trucking lore. Bridges are crum- bling from under us in many of our older cities while growth is being stifled in our newer ones because the transpor- tation system can't cope with the ex- panding population. r "It will allow us to complete the Inter- state system, make most of the Inter- state repairs and strengthen and im- prove our bridges, make all of us safer and help our cities meet their public transit needs," he said. Under the law, 4 cents of the nickel increase will be used to repair and rebuild highways and bridges. The fifth penny will go to mass transit programs. THE NEW 9-cent rate will apply to gasoline and diesel fuel. Gasohol, which is exempt from the present highway tax, will be taxed at 4-cents per gallon. Government predicts sharp lincrease in natural gas Reagan said the work financed by the new revenue is expected "to stimulate 170,000 jobs with an additional 150,000 jobs created in related industries." However, his chief economic adviser, Martin Feldstein, told him in a memo last month that the program might boost unemployment. Feldstein ex- plained the money taken out of con- sumers' pockets by the new tax would cost jobs in other areas while it would be many months before anyone goes to work on the roads. Reagan's action marks the first time the gas tax has been raised in 23 years. Police notes Hospital fire causes little damage Thirty-one children were evacuated from Mott Children's Hospital Wed- nesday night when a fire broke out in a linen closet in the hospital's west wing. No injuries were reported. A fire department spokesperson said the blaze was reported about 10:30 p.m. by the mother of one of the patients. When Ann Arbor firefighters arrived several minutes later, the fire had already been brought under control by an automatic sprinkler system in the closet and hospital security officers armed with a hose. Hospital officials reported damage to the closet. The cause of the fire is being investigated. Burglars bungle break-in Thieves forcing their way into a local jewelry store late Wednesday night got nothing for their efforts, according to police. Burglars broke into the Golden Chains Inc. store at 3016 Packard St., ransacked an office, then fled after ac- tivating an alarm, police said. Storeowners reported nothing missing. Police say they are continuing their in- vestigation. F-I Dance Theatre Studio offers a complete schedule of Modern, Ballet & Jazz classes for adults and Ballet and Creative Movement classes for children. Our studio, across from the UM campus, is staffed by experienced, well-qualified instructors. 4m WASHINGTON (AP)- In gloomy news for Americans who heat their homes with natural gas, the Energy Department yesterday revised upward the already steep price increases predicted for the rest of the winter. The forecast now envisions homeowners' bills climbing by 25 per- cent in the first three months of this year compared to the same period last year. IN ITS "Short-Term Energy Outlook," the department predicted a price of $6.17 per thousand cubic feet- 20 cents more than the projection DOE made just three months ago. Consumer groups said the depar- tment is at last recognizing that prices are rising much faster than anyone had expected because of contract mistakes committed by many of the country's in- terstate pipelines. In the first three months of 1982, con- sumers paid an average of $4.93 per thousand cubic feet. Since then; many interstate pipelines have been caught between slumping demand caused by the economic recession and contract clauses that require them to pay for a certain amount of gas whether they have a market for it or not. IN MANY cases, pipelines have closed wells producing low-cost gas and passed on to consumers the costs of the expensive gas they are buying. In November, the wholesale price of natural gas posted its steepest jump since early 1980, rising 5 percent in, a single month. Members of Congress, outraged over steep gas prices coming despite record surpluses, introduced more than 150 bills last year to change the law. The most militant call for an immediate freeze on prices and forced renegotiation of contracts between pipelines and producers. IS THIS WHAT YOUR .KISSES TASTE LIKE? If you smkke ciuareute5 you ti elike one. ecm mcli sialc ndh unpleaSant,( (,. Yo m ld e)I t1'nt c i. NO sin' ke. And iwin- in kern are Ic he t peOle t) lu er AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY This s[race ontributed as ' ubLi servce 42. 7 -Dan Grantham HAPPENINGS Highlight The Tae Kwon Do Club will provide a martial arts demonstration today at 7 p.m. in the CCRB Activities Room. Films Public Health-Danger! Radioactive Waste, 12:05 p.m., SPH II Aud. Cinema Guild-A Clockwork Orange, 7, 9:30 p.m., Lorch. Cinema II-The Last Waltz, 7,9:05 p.m., Angell Aud. A. AAFC-Alien, 7, 9:15 p.m., MLB 4. Speakers Hillel-Mark Wilkinson, "The Diaspora: Jews in Shanghai?" 7:30 p.m., 1429 Hill St. Anthropology-Louis Marano, "Windigo 'psychosis': the ethnographic context and some ethnohistorical cases," 4 p.m., 2003 Angell. Meetings Univ. Duplicate Bridge Club-New players welcome, 7:15p.m., League. Int'l. Student Fellowship-Open to all foreign students, 7 p.m., 4100 Nixon Rd. Miscellaneous League-Int'l. Night, Greece and Turkey, 5 p.m., League. Y 1 r < q k ,y c F.s t ^ 9 Y . a z s f P" a , q F M ::'..ucaoc- setaeec«sgv ..;,; ,. adaF;: . s r b on oc OAM- fRS Thic aii'thPnfir rimbir iprcPV .,i Inn 01~ rntffnt% i .07 i 10 4 3 1 -- VM rg F. V Don't forget our second floor. That's where we hide the frames, trade books, art prints and posters.