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One hundredfive years ofediltori freedom
Thursday
September 19, 1996
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I
Fraud
By Anupama Reddy
Daily Staff Reporter
A student who worked in the University's
Office of the Registrar is being implicated in a
federal crime for the fradulent use of alumni
*ords.
The employee allegedly tapped into the
University's records and used at least one alum's
social security number to apply for an
Ameritech calling card.
The University's Department of Public Safety
confirmed that an investigation is underway.
Fraud is a federal offense, and an FBI official
said the department had heard of the case,
although he would not comment on an investi-
rtion.
acey Latocha, who graduated in August,
said she was questioned yesterday by DPS Sgt.
investigation
targets
Alum's records allegedly lifted from 'U' office
student
"Everyone who
goes to Michigan puts
"b" their lives in the hands
aof the registrar"
She - Stacey Latocha
University altrm
Kevin McNulty regarding a felony case. She
said McNulty told her that a calling card with
her name and social security number was found
in a suspect's purse.
"A girl who worked in the registrar's office
was taking social security numbers, birthdates
and a mother's maiden name and apparently
adding a fake address," Latocha said yesterday.
"(The student employee) was applying for
credit cards and phone cards and sending them
to a phony address," she said.
McNulty would not confirm the details of the
investgation yesterday.
"We don't comment on open investigations,"
he said.
But McNulty added, "The registrar's office is
not being investigated."
University Registrar Tom McElvain said he
did not know how many student records from
the office were used since further investigation
is still pending.
"We're trying to confirm that," McElvain
said. "We're in the process of trying to answer
those questions."
Latocha said she discovered she had a bad
credit rating last week, but was not aware of the
misuse of records until yesterday. Latocha, who
now lives in Virginia, said she is considering
legal recourse against the University.
"Everyone who goes to school at Mich
puts their lives in the hands of the regist
Latocha said.
DPS spokesperson Elizabeth Hall said
investigation is not being headed by DPS, so
could not elaborate on it.
"We're aware of an investigation, but bec
it is not ours we are unable to comment on
Hall said.
Joan Lowenstein, an Ann Arbor lawyer,.
improperly accessing a student's acade
records is a federal violation under the Far
Education, Rights and Privacy Act.
Muse
1 11.
said
mic
nily,
"If there's a federal law inm olved, it has to be
the FBI to investigate it:I said Lowenstein. a for-
mer communication lecturer at the University.
"If you violate FER PA. then its a lederal law
See REGISTRAR, Page SA
Regents
to review
f
ospitals,
athletics
By Jodi S. Cohen
Daily Staff Reporter
The University Board of Regents
holds its first meetings of the semester
ay and tomorrow, and while the
sues haven't changed much, a new
leader sits at the head of the table.
"If there's any change from where
students left off, the most noticeable
element will be the presence of Dr.
(Homer) Neal as president of the
University," said Regent Rebecca
McGowan (D-Ann Arbor).
Neal took the role of University
president July 1 when James
uderstadt stepped down. A 12-mem-
committee appointed by the regents
is searching for the next president.
Since today's meeting is expected to
be closed to the public to discuss mate-
rial exempt under the Open Meetings
Act, the board will have its hands full
tomorrow with a varied agenda
"A great deal of talk this time around
will probably center around hospital
issues ... and the potential for changes
the governance of the hospital and
dical campus," said Regent Daniel
Horning (R-Grand Haven).
McGowan predicted that throughout
this semester the board will discuss the
University Hospitals and ways the
University will
respond to
changes in health
care.
"We need to
make sure the
structure we have
now will lead us
into the next cen-
tury," Horning
said.
Neal Ath I e t i c
Director Joe
Roberson also will present the depart-
ment's budget for 1996-97, which was
first discussed during the summer.
"Over the summer the regents had
*ed for more information regarding
the Athletic Department," said
Associate Vice President for University
Affairs Lisa Baker.
Although the meeting is the first of
the fall semester, McGowan said no
agenda items focus on back-to-school
issues. The board doesn't take a sum-
mer vacation, she said.
"A lot of the issues continue,"
McGowan said. "What changed over
summer was some of the faces:'
Win addition to Neal's move to presi-
dent, there are three new deans who
"have changed the look of campus"
McGowan said. Nancy Cantor is the
Rackham dean, Daniel Mazmanian
leads the School of Natural Resources
and Environment, and Stephen
Director is the new dean of the College
of Engineering.
A significant part of tomorrow's
Seting will take place outside the
'eming Building. "We won't just be
sitting around a room, McGowan said.
The afternoon portion of the meet-
ing will be devoted to the official open-
ing and dedication of the Huetwell
Visitors Center and an unveiling of a
FDA set to
approve French
abortion pill
The Washington Post
WASHINGTON ---- The controver-
sial French "abortion pill" moved a
giant step closer to final approval yes-
terday.
The Food and Drug Administration
officially declared that mifepristone -
also known as RU-486 - is safe and
effective, and said it can approve the
drug once its sponsor. the New York-
based Population Council, provides
additional information on such issues as
manufacturing practices and labeling.
To induce abortion, the drug would
be taken in combination with misopros-
tol, which has already been approved by
the agency for other purposes.
The FDA action paves the way for
the first approval of a "medical abor-
tion." or a method for terminating preg-
JOEWEsTRATE/Daily
Jae Jae Spoon, an LSA senior and an organizer for Voice Your Vote, helps LSA junior Courtney Kerker with her voter registra-
tion yesterday afternoon on the Diag.
Voice
Your Vote campaign
nancy that does
not require
surgery.
The treatment
promises to
expand access to
abortion in the
United States.
because it could
be offered outside
the usual setting of'
abortion clinics.
We're1
delighted
news."
President, AdN
actions by anti-abortion groups. Federal
law does not require the manufacturer
to be publicly identified, although the
FDA will have to inspect and approve
its manufacturing plant and processes.
Anti-abortion groups condemned the
FDA move. "We consider this a tragedy
for unborn children, whose tiny beating
hearts will stop - and for their moth-
ers, since we don't know what the long-
term side effects will be," said Michele
Arocha Al len, communications director
for National Right to Life.
Giracie Hsu of the Family Research
Council called the news "very sad," and
said the agency had "put politics before
women's health."
In determining that the medical abor-
tion procedure is safe, the FDA fol-
lowed the advice of one of its advisory
panels, which
in July voted 6
absolutely to o with two
, abstentions Ini
With the support of a
statement that
the benefits of
- Susan Allen the two-drug
regimen ,out-
vances in Health weighed the
Technology risks. That
panel reviewed
two French trials of the drug involving
2,480 women and an additional trial
involving more than 2,000 women con-
ducted in the United States by the
Population Council.
The clinical trials showed that the
two-drug treatment was 95 percent
effective in terminating pregnancy. Its
side effects included painful uterine
contractions, nausea, vomiting, ,diar-
rhea and headache. A small number of
women in the trials had to be hospital-
ized or given transfusions because of
bleeding, and 1.5 percent of partici-
pants in the U.S. trial required a subse-
quent surgical abortion.
Under the proposed regimen; women
taking the drugs would have lto see a
doctor three times. Some critics con-
tended that poor and uninsured women
might not receive adequate monitoring
during the treatment.
urges students to have a say
Non-partisan group
sets up camp on Diag
to target students
By Laurie Mayk
Daily Staff Reporter
Students across campus are offering
the latest in election year barters - a
political voice for a vote.
'Voice Your Vote, a non-partisan orga-
nization developed on campus in antic-
ipation of the '96 election, has released
its soldiers on the Diag, in the residence
halls and all over campus to register
University students. The deadline to
register for theNov. 5 election is Oct. 5.
The group has registered 3,200 stu-
dents this semester, and is working
toward a goal of 8,000, said co-chair
Jae Jae Spoon. Spoon, who also serves
as chair of the College Democrats on
campus, said a non-partisan organiza-
tion can be more effective in attracting
students to register.
"More students can be registered if
it's not politically related," she said.
Spoon said registration workers don't
ask students political about their affili-
ations as they register.
Voice Your Vote representatives are
scheduled to register voters outside Hill
Auditorium during Rev. Jesse Jackson's
speech Monday and to work later this
month with the MTV "Choose or Lose"
bus on campus.
The program can register students to
vote in Ann Arbor or in their home-
towns. Students can also obtain forms
to request absentee ballots at the regis-
tration sites.
Although the Motor Voter Law
allows students to register from campus
for home districts in Michigan and
other states, the group encourages stu-
dents to register, or re-register, in Ann
Arbor, said Ryan Friedrichs. Voice Your
Vote co-founder and MSA Voter
Registration Task Force chair. Students
tend to be more aware of the issues, and
make more of an impact on local elec-
tions near campus, he said.
Jeff Shore, an LSA junior, said he is
registered in his hometown, but would
re-register in Ann Arbor if it were con-
venient and easy.
"If I ran into (the registration work-
ers) then I guess I'd just do that." Shore
said.
Although the College Democrats are
participating ii Voice Your Vote.
and doctors could prescribe it without
drawing the attention of anti-abortion
activists to their practices.
It comes at a particularly tense time
in the debate over abortion. Congress is
preparing to vote today on overturning
President Clinton's veto of a bill ban-
ning a late-term procedure that oppo-
nents call "partial-birth" abortions.
"We're absolutely delighted with the
news," said Susan Allen, president of
Advances in Health Technology, the
non-profit organization that has lined
up a manufacturer and a distributor for
mifepristone once it gains final
approval. AHT has declined to name
either company. Allen said she will dis-
close the name of the distributor at a
later date.
The name of the manufacturer is
being kept secret because it could
become a target for a boycott or other
See VOTE, Page 2A
N. Korean crewmen
found dead in vessel
I
The Washington Post
TOKYO - Before dawn yesterday,
a small North Korean submarine
foundered in the surf off the rugged
and remote eastern coast of South
Korea. What followed was one of the
strangest and bloodiest days in the
recent history of the two bitter enemy
nations that share the divided Korean
peninsula.
By late last night, the bodies of 11
men, believed to be North Korean sub-
marine crewmen, had been found on a
hillside three miles from the grounded
Korean territory, had innocently drifted
across the border after developing
engine trouble. Lee Kang Soo, identi-
fied as a North Korean military officer.
reportedly was telling his captors noth-
ing else last night, except, "I want to
sleep."
Another eight or nine men believed
to have been aboard the 111-foot sub-
marine were still at large, being sought
by one of the largest dragnets assem-
bled in years by South Korean authori-
ties.
As thousands of police and mili-
1
I 3 CA~;'