WEpw i cr iI One hundred four years of editorial freedom Student opens code records to public view *l Despite dismissal of court case, 'U' to conduct closed code hearing tomorrow By RONNIE GLASSBERG Daily Staff Reporter Washtenaw Country District Court Judge Elizabeth Pollard-Hines on Friday dismissed assault and battery charges against American culture doctoral student Melanie Welch. * But that decision will not bring Welch's case to a close. Tomorrow, English Prof. Peter Bauland will preside as Welch's case continues - under the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities, the University's code of non- academic conduct. Welch's case marks the first time aperson accused under the code has opened her case to public scrutiny and asked for the hearing to be held in public. Welch, a 49-year-old single mother, is being charged under the code by her former neighbor in University Family Housing, Yaakov Lavie, for assault and harassment. Welch quested that her hearing be opened, but the University has denied that request. "At best, these are extremely marginal offenses. It's a lot of time and effort on everyone's part, essentially duplicating what the court has already done," said David Cahill, an attorney representing Welch on a pro bono basis for her code hearing. Lavie, who is not a student, filed charges under the code after a June 16 incident in which Welch allegedly attempted to spray water at his wife and children, kicked in and scratched his wife. Welch maintains she kicked Lavie in self-defense and that she never sprayed the Lavies. She also attempted to file charges against Lavie under the code, but could not since he is not technically a student. "It seems that they're protecting the rights of the plaintiff rather than the rights of the accused," Welch said. "He gets to make all the complaints and I have to defend myself." In July, Welch was charged in Washtenaw County istrict Court with two counts of assault and battery. On ept. 30, Welch pleaded no contest under advisement, and Pollard-Hines issued a no-contact order with the Lavies. By pleading no contest, Welch was able to avoid a trial, and at that time the case was to be dismissed "if she stayed out of trouble." Department of Public Safety records, however, provide a different depiction of the plea from the court record. In a description of the September hearing, DPS officer Timothy Shannon wrote: "At this time a plea agreement was reached where Welch would plead guilty to two *ounts of disorderly person and the judge would take the case under advisement. The plea was made and the case was closed.... The official court record indicates a no- contest plea was entered." Cahill said the difference between the report and the court record will be brought up at Welch's hearing. See CODE, Page 7 Housing chief talks at 'U' on Demis. plans By DAVID SHEPARDSON Daily News Editor Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry G. Cisneros came to campus yesterday morning to talk up President Clinton's mid-term, 81- minute State of the Union address and promote the administration's educa- tion policies to a crowd of more than 200 students at the Michigan Union. He also strongly defended the Clinton administration's plan to downsize public housing programs amid vocal criticism from local activists. Flanked by top University lobby- ists and state housing officials, Cisneros reiterated the president's commitment to the Direct Student Loan program, AmeriCorps and federal job train- ing grants. He also repeated calls to expand individual retirement ac- counts so they can be used for edu- cation and a proposal to allow par- ents to deduct tuition. The tuition tax-credit plan would allow up to $10,000 a year in higher education costs to be deducted by fami- lies making up to $120,000. The pro- posal would be phased in over five years. The expanded IRA would allow families earning up to $100,000 a year to spend the retirement accounts - without penalty -for tuition, for a first home and for medical expenses. Clinton wants to change federal job training programs to provide "fully portable job grants" of up to $2,600 a year so the unemployed can acquire new skills, Cisneros said. While Republicans have been gen- erally receptive to the president's higher-ed tax credit, job training pro- posals and expanded IRA, they have been critical of AmeriCorps and the Direct Student Loan. "The speaker is a big supporter of education. But he doesn't believe we should be spending money on big- government, so-called 'volunteer' pro- grams like AmeriCorps," said Toni Blankley, a spokesman for House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Blankley said Gingrich believes the Direct Student Loan program would be better served by the private sector. Cisneros rejected Republican criti- cismof the loan program and applauded the University's role. "The University is the largest user of the-program. More students here get those loans than any- where else." Walter Harrison, vice president for University relations, said in intro- ducing Cisneros, "Thousands of Uni- versity students use. the loans and we are proud to be leading the way." Later, in an interview with the Daily, Cisneros said he is not pre- pared to "write off' the interest-free status of student loans while in col- lege. "I know Republicans want to elimi- nate having the government pay the interest while students are in school. But we need to fight like hard to protect it," Cisneros said. Also on hand for Cisneros' speech were 10 AmeriCorps volunteers, in- cluding Willie Smith, a 28-year-old Flint Northern High School graduate who works in an HIV-AIDS outreach program in Genessee County. He said the program "has changed my life." "It's given me an opportunity to give back to my community and really make a difference," Smith said. Cisneros vowed to retain the pro- gram. "The president will not allow the Republicans to starve to death AmeriCorps," Cisneros said. "It's a line in the sand." LSA junior Sam Copi was one of a half dozen protesters who held up signs. Copi accused the president of pander- ing during his State of the Union ad- dress on immigration. Copi and other, protesters urged Cisneros to raise funding for public housing. While emphasizing the administration's plan to shrink HUD's 63 programs into three as part of "re- inventing government," Cisneros bluntly said: "Up on Capitol Hill, they are talking about cutting HUD See CISNEROS, Page 2 MICHAEL FITZHUGH/Daily (Above) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Henry Cisneros speaks in the Michigan Union yesterday. (Right) Robert Morgan, a member of Ann Arbor's Homeless Action Committee, holds a sign in silent protest. MICHIAEL FiIZHUGH/alay News Analysis 'Judicial adviser Antieau faces tricky legal questions By FLINT WAINESS Daily Staff Reporter As the judicial adviser for the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities, Mary Lou Antieau has a job that places her in the lime- light. In addition to keeping in close contact with students being investigated or charged under the code, Antieau is the one who must provide the day-to-day interpretations of situations where the code's language and intent lend them- selves to ambiguity. This means Antieau is the key player in determining many of the central issues sur- rounding the statement. For instance, when should a hearing be open to the public? Are code records educational or disciplinary in na- re? Are students who take part in code pro- ceedings subject to confidentiality restrictions? Recently, several students have stepped for- ward to claim that Antieau's interpretations have been questionable. These students claim that Antieau's posi- tion is one that holds too much power, and that her interpretations of the statement as well as the Family and Education Rights and Privacy Act are far-fetched. First, there is Darcy Niven, an LSA junior whose code case was first reported in the Daily. Niven's ex-boyfriend admitted guilt under the code for physical assault, harassment, bat- tery or endangerment of any person, and was subsequently sanctioned. But now Niven is being investigated by Antieau's office for ha- rassment of her ex-boyfriend. This does not necessarily mean Niven will be charged. However it does mean that Antieau is trying to determine whether the Daily ob- tained documentation of Niven's case directly from Niven. If Niven is determined to have provided the name of her ex-boyfriend to the Daily, this will most likely be construed to be a breach of confidentiality, Antieau said. As a result, she will be charged with harassment under the statement. "Once you come under (the code), it's stated ... this is a confidential process," Antieau said. "I also counsel the individual parties at the conclusion of the hearing and remind them that this is confidential," she added. But communication Prof. Joan Lowenstein vehemently disagreed. As to charging Niven with harassment, "It's a violation of her First Amendment rights," Lowenstein said. MSA Student Rights' Commission chair VinceKeenanechoedLowenstein's sentiments. "It seems fishy confidentiality could be violated by one of the participants. They are not sworn by anything. Panelists are, attorneys are, but if you make a complaint, it is my understanding you can even petition to get an open hearing." Charging Niven could be a roundabout way for Antieau to make a point about Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, otherwise known as the Buckley Amendment, Keenan continued. The federal government, under FERPA, can withdraw funds from universities that don't protect students' educational records. Some University administrators, including Antieau, have concluded that records related to the statement are educational in nature. Thus, the University must protect certain portions of the records from the public eye. Antieau said that on Aug. 11, 1993, the Department of Education put out a notice in the Federal Register inviting "interested persons ... to submit comments and recommendations regarding" the secretary of Education's pro- posal to "amend the regulations implementing the FERPA." Antieau said the Department of Education has not clarified further how FERPA is to be interpreted. Lowenstein, however, argued that the ball is not in the secretary's court. She noted several court cases that specifi- cally exempt disciplinary structures at universi- ties from FERPA regulations. On March 15, 1993; the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled, "We do not believe the documents sought are 'education records' within the meaning of the Buckley Amend- ment." The ruling arose from a case brought by the University of Georgia's student newspaper, the See ANTIEAU, Page 2 INSIDE WEEKEND The 18th annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival opens Saturday at Hill Auditorium. SPORTS 5 Michigan freshman Jerod Balanced budget nears final passage Michigan Reps.split on amendment WASHINGTON (AP)-Only one Democrat from Michigan's delegation has sided with Republicans so far in unnortine a balined hiniet ramend- WASHINGTON (AP) - In a de- bate with enormous economic and po- litical significance, the Republican-con- trolled House advanced yesterday to- .x aA a c n.an... - n a h,.nm A s.A_ House Democratic Leader Rich- ard Gephardt of Missouri told law- makers the proposal was "perhaps the most important issue we will rnne .. Ar .n ,,r. 1,whn- .ti ,in the : .. . .