The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, February 17, 1988- Page 11 Adam's Rib BY ADAM SCHRAGER Eastern's shady dealings draw no legal attention Eastern Michigan's Associate Athletic Direc- tor John Nordlinger received a car in exchange for giving out property that was not his. So what? Who cares? That question is so far unanswered. Since the publicizing (Feb. 8 Michigan Daily) of Nordlinger's possible violation of the Michi- gan conflict of interests law (Article Four-Sec- tion Ten of the Michigan Constitution), there have been no repercussions. According to the former sales manager of the Davis Buick-GMC-Nissan dealership, Nordlinger gave the use of the Eastern Michigan football fa- cilities, logos, and uniforms to the car dealership for a television commercial in return for his own personal Buick Skylark. The Michigan Attorney General in 1968 said that a "conflict of interests exists where a public official places himself in a position where he must decide whether to advance his personal in- terest or interest of the public." BECAUSE NORDLINGER'S possible conflict of interests does not violate National Collegiate Athletic Association rules, there have been no investigations by its committees or those of the Mid-American Conference to which Eastern belongs. The Michigan state authorities will not investigate the situation because it is "the institution's job to investigate first," according to Assistant Attorney General Paul Zimmer. So on to the institution where the situation is being handled as delicately as a pancake on the wrong side of the pan. Eastern Michigan Director of Communications Kathleen Tinney responded to the allegations by saying, "We did not feel that there was any impropriety on our part." Thus, no one is going to investigate this po- tential violation of the law. Great. Even though the law is extremely detailed and seems to relate to the situation, I guess the no autopsy, no foul rule is in effect. THE LAW, Section Two-Paragraph Four of the No. 196 Public Act of Michigan, effective as of Jan. 8, 1974, reads as follows: "A public offi- cer or employee shall not solicit or accept a gift or loan of money, goods, services, or other thing of value for the benefit of a person or organiza- tion, other than the state, which tends to influ- ence the manner in which the public officer or employee or another public officer or employee performs official duties." Not being Perry Mason, I cannot say whether John Nordlinger violated this law, but common sense shows that there is some correlation be- tween the two. The question of whether Nordlinger can be considered an employee of the state needs to be answered. The question of whether Nordlinger contradicted the Michigan attorney general's statement in 1968 needs to be answered. There are a lot of questions to be answered. But these unanswered questions have no one to answer them. No committees, no investiga- tions, no questions asked. Everything is being swept under the rug as if nothing was ever said. WHILE THIS NONCHALANCE may seem strange and unusual, this type of situation happens all the time, according to Michigan As- sistant Athletic Director Will Perry. "Don (Canham, Michigan Athletic Director) doesn't have a car or a country club member- ship," said Perry. "He turned it all down. He doesn't need it and he doesn't want it. But you would be kidding yourself if you didn't believe that it was going on all over the country. "There have already been many colleges that have gotten in trouble for this type of situation and if everything was revealed I'm sure that there would be a lot more trouble." But nothing will be revealed in this case due to the present power and influence of college athletics at Eastern. After coming off its best football season in its 95 years of existence and a California Bowl victory, as well as a prospering basketball team, the Eastern athletic department is steadily rising. Eastern is currently out of the shadow of its Washtenaw county rival, Michigan. The question that must be crossing the minds of Eastern fol- lowers is, "Why ruin this up-and-coming athletic department that now has national notoriety?" No, let's forget the fact that this situation is a possible violation of the law. After all, it is a measly college newspaper that printed the story. No one will listen to them. And at the present time, they are right, no one has. Downhill from here -**iat Prss Switzerland's Pirmin Zurbriggen, atop the world after winning a gold medal in Olympic downhill skiing Monday, is shown here trying for another. He won the downhill portion of the men's combined yesterday. Athlete who idolized Bias dies FORESTVILLE, MD. (AP) A suburban Washington, D.C. high school on Tuesday mourned the death of football star Rico Leroy Marshall - a senior who idolized } Len Bias and faced an athletic career just as promising until apparent involvement with drugs took his to the same end as his hero. Many students at Forestville' High School were in tears on their first day of school since Marshall's death Saturday. Normally raucous groups o f students were silent. Counselors stood by to talk about the tragedy to any student or faculty member who needed them. Marshall's family continued to deny their son was involved in drugs, despite the story of a girlfriend who said that hours before he died he said he swallowed six chunks of crack to hide them from police and despite his arrest in December for possession with intent to distribute cocaine. Marshall, 18, appeared to have everything going for him. A record-setting running back, he signed a letter of intent last Wednesday to attend the University of South Carolina. The next night he won a school talent contest for his singing. South Carolina football coach Joe Morrison said he was shocked by the news of Marshall's death, according to Sports Information Director Kerry Tharp. When asked if he would award a scholarship to a student with a record of drug use or dealing, he said he would not, Tharp told The Washington Post. "I can't believe that he was involved with drugs," said his mother, Carolyn Marshall. "If it comes down to the stories being true, it will really shock me. It really will devastate all of us." Toxicology tests to determine the cause of death were expected to be complete by Friday. The Marshalls live in the Glenarden Apartments, in a notorious drug dealing area of the county. But his family said he wasn't a part of the trafficking that surrounded him. "He hated it here," said his mother in an interview with the Prince George's Journal. "He knew a couple of little guys around here who are into drugs and he tried to get them to straighten up." Marshall's bedroom is decorated with his football jerseys, dozens of trophies, and newspaper clippings highlighting his athletic career. A Time Magazine cover of Len Bias with the headline "The death of the dream" is among the posters on his wall. "He met Len Bias before, and when he died it tested him so bad," friend Rodney Simms, 19, of Marshall. "He just couldn't understand how it could happen." Bias, a basketball star from the University of Maryland, died June 19, 1986, from cocaine intoxication two days after signing to play with the Boston Celtics. Simms said if Marshall did have drugs and saw police coming he rmight have panicked. "If he had something like that he knew he couldn't get caught with it," said Simms. According to police reports, Marshall's girlfriend, Belinda Hill, said Marshall picked her up at 2:15 similarly a.m. Saturday and told her he had swallowed the drugs when he saw two uniformed officers approaching him about an hour earlier on a street known for drug transactions. On Dec. 22, at the same location, police said they arrested Marshall. A minor at the time, he was charged with possession with intention to distribute cocaine after police found 29 grams of the cocaine derivative crack on him in 66 plastic bags. Police sources, quoted by the Journal, said he was released to the custody of his parents after receiving a reprimand and probation from a community arbitrator in the Juvenile Services Unit. His father Leroy Marshall denies knowing about the arrest. Forestville High School Principal Paul Lewis said Tuesday he wished he had known. He said Marshall was one of his favorite students. 141 Check out our February calendar of specials at.. . n 1220 S. 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