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One hundred six years of editornlfreedom
Thursday
October 3, 1.996
p -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- . -\
I
Neal sends letter to shed light
on
deals
M Interim president speaks to
faculty about Duderstadt
deals, perks
By Jeff Eldridge
Daily Staff Reporter
In a five-page letter distributed to University
faculty yesterday, interim President Homer Neal
confronted questions surrounding private com-
pensation packages given to many top adminis-
trators.
Neal's letter discussed several different
aspects of the salary agreements, including the-
ture of administrative leave, the achievements
o several top administrators. the nature of
recent press reports on the incident and the
impact the discovery of the salary deals has had
on University morale.
The statement came nearly two weeks after
reports on the salary deals first appeared. Letters
were obtained documenting compensation perks
former University President James Duderstadt
made with Neal and six other executive officers..
The agreements were reached without the
knowledge of the University Board of Regents.
Neal's letter is the biggest step taken so far by
the central administration to address the com-
pensation issues.
"I believe that our campus community
deserves a fair accounting of this situation:'
Neal said in the statement. "We have many
stakeholders, deeply concerned for the well-
being of the University, who have placed their
trust in our institution."
The deals include paid yearlong leaves of
absence and administrator-level pay for some
executives who return to the faculty full-time.
The discovery of the deals
angered some members of
the University Board of
Regents. who felt they
should have been consultedt
before the salary packages
were agreed upon.
Chemistry Prof. Thomas
Dunn, who chairs the Senate
Advisory Committee on
University Affairs, called theY
letter "very honest." but said N
some faculty expect more.
"1 know a lot of faculty
feel those extra things should be given back by
the executive officers,"D unn said.
Although the letter did not explicitly defend
the agreements, Neal said he believed
Duderstadt made them with good intentions.
I have no doubt that President Duderstadt
took these actions believing them to be neces-
sary to document various prior understandings
and to keep the Executive Officer team intact
during the delicate transition period?' Neal said.
Neal also said many of the salary agreements
were reached long before the letters outlining
them were sent.
Duderstadt said some of the deals were agreed
upon years ago.
"Almost every one was made at the time (the
officials) were initially hired, or when a negotia-
tion occurred for them to be appointed to anoth-
er term," Duderstadt said.
Neal. Provost J. Bernard Machen. Chief
Financial Officer Farris Womack. Vice President
for University Relations Walter I larrison. Vice
President for Dev elopment Thomas Kinneai,
interim Vice President for Research Fred
Neidhardt and Deputy to the President Jon
Cosovich all received letters from Duderstadt
during the closing months of his eight-year term.
Neal said he wanted to present a full account
to the University community about the intrica
cies of the salary deals. He said some press
reports have sensationalized the issues involved.
and worried that the University's -integrity,
trust, and accountability" have unnecessarily
been brought into question.
"Unfortunately, these actions have created the
impression that those in the Fleming Building
See LETTERS, Page 7A
Summit
fails to set
toncrete
resolution
The Washington Past
WASHINGTON -- An emergency
- mmit of Israeli and Palestinian lead-
Whosted by President Clinton ended
yesterday with an agreement to contin-
ue talking but without any narrowing of
the explosive differences that plunged
their peoples into armed conflict last
week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu expressed satisfaction with
the two-day summit, arguing that it had
provided an opportunity for him and
Palestine Authority Chairman Yasser
*afat to get to know each other better.
Palestinian officials, by contrast, made,
little effort to hide their deep disap-
pointment with the lack of concrete
results.
Addressing a news conference after
almost 40 hours of round-the-clock
negotiations in the White House and
nearby Blair House, Clinton insisted
that the meeting had been worthwhile
because it pro-
duced "a higher
level of under-
standing and a
' higher level of
trust" than before
the talks began.
But he acknowl-
edged that the
results had fallen
short of his hopes.
Clinton ' "Please, please'
give us a chance to
ke this thing work in the days ahead,"
said Clinton on live television, address-
ing the Palestinians who participated in
three days of bloody street riots and
clashes with Israeli security forces last
week that left more than 70 people
dead.
U.S. officials claimed that the presi-
dent's politically risky decision to con-
vene the summit in Washington at short
tice has helped to break the new cycle
violence in the Middle East and
reduce tensions between Israelis and
See MIDEAST, Page 2A
Candidates
take up arms in
war on crime
JOE WESTRATE/ Dai ;
LSA junior Olga Savic speaks to a sparse crowd gathered at the Modern Languages Building last night to discuss the financial
concerns of students. Savic said she works 18 hours a week to earn money essential to her life at the University -
3 atteni&A~d finiances florum
By David Rossman
Daily Staff Reporter
Posters all over campus advertised the
efforts of two University committees,
inviting all students to attend a forum
and voice their financial concerns.
Despite high student interest in the
topic, the event only attracted three stu-
dents last night.
The forum was the first of two meet-
ings aimed at bridging an understanding
between students and the administra-
tion. The event was planned after sever-
al students spoke at a meeting of the
University Budget Study Committee in
April and others expressed concern
about student finances.
Despite the turnout, Mary Mandeville,
an associate in the Faculty Senate Office,
said the meeting ran well.
"Professors wanted to give students a
chance to voice their own opinions,"
Mandeville said. After the response from
April's meeting, the Senate Advisory
Committee on University Affairs decid-
ed to open this form of communication
more widely to students.
The group occupied a small corner of
Modern Languages Building Aud 3, and
discussed topics ranging from financial
aid to the constraints of University din-
ing services. In addition, student tuition
issues were clarified by Regent Andrea
Fischer Newman (R-Ann Arbor).
"I don't feel that I would have that
much of an influence anyways,"
Gifford said.
The informal setting allowed each
student plenty of time to talk with
University officials.
By Laurie Mayk
Daily Staff Reporter
Crime prevention in the United States
is more than a neighborhood watch.
While Congress and the White House
have made the country their backyard in
the war against crime and drugs, candi-
dates in the '96 0
election are debat-'
ing just how the
battle should be
fought.
While both
sides agree that
federal money
should go to
localities to
increase law-
enforcement programs, candidates dis-
agree on how much influence should
accompany the check. In accordance
with the Republican Party's traditional
tendency toward
states' rights and
local control, GOP
candidates are
favoring block
grants to state and k
local police agen-
cies.
Republican Joe
Fitzsimmons, who '
is challenging
incumbent U.S. Fitzsimmons
Rep. Lynn Rivers
(D-Ann Arbor), said that if the federal
government gets too involved, it creates
"so much paperwork that it drives (the
municipalities) crazy"
"(Local governments) know what
they need to do," Fitzsimmons said. "I
put my faith and trust in the local
authorities."
The primarily Democrat-supported
crime bill, however, dismissed block
grants in favor of more specific alloca-
tions for the funds, such as the
Community Oriented Policing Program
provision. Rivers said the only way to
assure funds are used properly is to ear-
mark monies for specific projects.
When block grants have been used in
the past, they "really didn't end up
being turned into protection for the
community," Rivers said.
The University's Department of
Public Safety
benefited from
the "cops on
the street pro-
gram" of the
Crime Bill,
said DPS
spokesperson
9 6 Elizabeth Hall.
"We got a
No. 3 in a 12-part series, total of four
officers for the Community-Oriented
Policing Program," Hall said.
Rivers called the federal governmnt.
a "helpmate to states and localities"
and said earmarking money to fund
specific programs should not diminish
local control. Rivers said she would like
to see the program modified so that
low-income communities, such as'near-
by Inkster, would not be requir'ed to
match federal funds to receive a 'grant
for new officers.
Candidates are taking a second look
at another bill passed and signed into
law by President Clinton and the 104th
Congress. The Brady Bill, which estab-
lished criminal background checks and
a five-day waiting period for handgun
purchases, is on the hit list for
Republican public office hopefuls.
I would repeal the Brady Bill and
replace it with an 'instant check pro-
gram."' Fitzsimmons said.
Trent Wisecup, spokesperson for
GOP Senate candidate Ronna Romney,
said an instant check program would
eliminate the five-day waiting period
and expand the background check to
include mental illnesses and prior con-
victions for all firearm purchases.
See CRIME, Page 7A
"We should
not raise or
lower the
tuition, but
look at how to
contain costs
throughout the
rest of the
c a m p u s
Newman said.
S A C' UA
Chair Thomas
Dunn, a chem-
I don't feel that I
would have that
much of an in flu-
ence anyways. "
- Steve Gifford
Engineering junior
"For (an out-
of-state) four-
year education,
over $100,000
is outrageous,"
said LSA first-
year student
R a c h e I
Schlenker, who
attended last
night's forum.
Colleen
Brown, an RC
istry professor, put a greater emphasis
on the issue of raising tuition.
"(The University's) out-of-state
tuition rate is fringing on a lot of private
schools' tuition costs," Dunn said. "I
think we're on a very delicate situation."
Engineering junior Steve Gifford said
he did not know about the meeting, but
would not have gone.
junior, said she had doubts about her
residence hall dining experiences.
"The dorm food is scary. One prob-
lem I experienced as a freshman with
the food is that you have no option if
you don't eat:' she said.
"Housing only gives you some per-
centage of your money back if you
don't eat each meal."
Student money funds AATU
This is the second in a thiree-part series on MS1s budiget.
By Will Weissert
Daily Staff Reporter
Sometimes finding a place to live in Ann Arbor can be a
little tricky - and no one is more familiar with the problems
that can arise than the Ann Arbor Tenants Union.
AATU is a little-known student group designed to help
students and citizens smooth over troublesome rental prop-
erty agreements.
And now, more student money is
going to fund AATU. At last week's We nee
Michigan Student Assembly meeting,
$19,500 from the internal budget was ou rights a
allocated to the tenants' union.
"It's important we support the ten-
ants' union because they represent the
needs of all students that rent both on
and off campus," said MSA President Fiona Rose. "We need
to know our rights as renters."
In stark contrast to the assembly's heated budgetary battles
d
line calls.
The hotline has been in place for more than 25 years.
"Usually the calls we get range from the most urgent,
like, I'm being evicted tomorrow, what do I do?' to 'I want
to have my property painted," said AATU coordinator
Pattrice Maurer.
Suny Mou, an Engineering senior, said AATU solved his
security-deposit problem. "At the end of the summer my pre-
vious landlord tried to withhold my
security deposit because my house
to know wasn't clean enough Mou said. "I
studied the information in the tenants'
S renters, union booklet and applied the info to
my situation -- eventually my land-
Fiona Rose lord refunded my deposit."
MSA president But even though there is no short-
age of student housing problems, the
tenants' union has remained virtually unknown on campus,
"We had a problem because the people above us pissed on
our balcony one night and then threw up on it another night,"
I '. }$ I ! t