LOCAL/S TATE

The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, February 4, 1998 - 3

. HIGHER
EDUCATION
Donors reveal
their identities
A couple identified themselves on
Monday as the mysterious donors of a
$70 million gift to Liberty University
last fall, the Chronicle of Higher
Education reported yesterday.
Their donation left the private
Christian university, located in
Lynchburg, Va., almost completely
free of all existing debts.
Arthur Williams and his wife
Angela originally wanted to keep their
donation a secret, but were persuaded
by Liberty University's founder, the
Rev. Jerry Falwell, to reveal their iden-
tity in the hopes of enticing others to
donate. According to the Chronicle,
both are devout evangelical Christians
and have donated money to Liberty
University in the past.
Study compares
black college
graduates' views
A recent study conducted by the
Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
found that African Americans who
graduated from prestigious institu-
tions are more politically radical than
African Americans in general,' the
Daily Californian reported.
The journal found that African
American alumni from the seven high-
est-ranked U.S. colleges had views that
differed greatly from those of the gener-
al black population. The journal did not
give the names of the seven institutions.
The survey contradicts the com-
monly held belief that most students
become more politically conservative
as they grow older and move up the
educational and economic ladder, the
journal reported.
-Man found guilty
S of cheating
A California man accused of selling
answers to people taking various gradu-
ate school admission tests by encoding
them on pencils pleaded guilty to
charges of conspiracy, obstruction of
justice and jumping bail last week, the
Chronicle of Higher Education reported
-Monday. He will most likely receive a
sentence of five to six years in jail.
Po Chieng Ma, also known as
George Kobayashi, was charged in
August 1997 with one count of con-
spiracy and 70 counts of mail fraud.
He had sold the encoded pencils for up
to $9,000 at almost every administra-
tion in Los Angeles of the Graduate
Record Exam, the Graduate
Management Admissions Test and the
Test of English as a Foreign Language
between June 1993 and Oct. 1996.
Ma hired four professional test-tak-
ers to take the exams in New York City
under assumed names. The test-takers
honed Ma in California immediately
following the exam with the answers.
'Ma used the three-hour time differ-
ence to encode the pencils with
answers for his clients in Los Angeles.
Ma was arrested in October 1996
after postal inspectors raided his
offices. He attempted to escape but was
caught at the U.S.-Canadian border.
Thai 'U' advises
females to

lengthen skirts
Chulalongkorn University adminis-
tiators in Bangkok said they will reduce
the grades of female students who refuse
to lower their hemlines, the Chronicle of
Higher Education reported last week.
University officials said women
who wear miniskirts violate cultural
standards of female modesty. Officials
also said that revealing clothes may
encourage sexual contact with men.
Many female students at the universi-
ty refuse to follow the new guidelines.
University officials report they will
reduce these students' grades by five to
10 points.
Administrators have distributed
posters around campus that display a
drooling crocodile staring at a short-
skirted woman. The caption to the
poster reads, "Don't Tempt."
Compiled by Daily Staff
Reporter Christine M. Paik itom the
Chronicle of Higher Education and
the University Wire.

'U' prof. S
By William Nash
Daily StafF Reporter
Although embryology Prof. Bruce Carlson
probably did not say "Show me the money" in
front of Congress last week, he did testify in front
of a House subcommittee on the need for a fund-
ing increase for the National Institutes of Health.
Carlson spoke in front of the subcommittee for
five minutes and submitted a written testimony ask-
ing for the funding increase. Carlson was selected
because he is the current president of the Association
of Anatomists. The organization's president a comes
before Congress each year. He said the experience
went "quite well."
The funds support medical research done by col-
leges and universities across the country. The amount
of money that the NIH has to distribute is a part of the
annual budget prepared by President Clinton.
The current budget is between $460 and $470
million per year, and that amount is expected to

ecks fiundinig increase for NIH.

rise during the next few years.
"In the next five years we hope to see double the
current funds," Carlson said.
In his State ofthe Union address, Clinton was pro-
health funding, which is one reason for optimism in
the medical community.
"Congress is currently "Congress
in support of medical
research," Carlson said. currently ii
"Quite a bit has been
accomplished with the ofImedical
money we've gotten"
But the amount that
will actually be allotted University prc
will not be known for a
while.
"It's a long, drawn out process," Carlson said.
Even though the budget is expected to rise in the
next year by as much as 15 percent, the amount the
University will receive is uncertain.

s
F
I

"We don't get gifts from the national govern-
ment," said Vice President for Research Frederick
Neidhardt.
NIH does not lend its dollars to just any project --
it heavily researches each of the proposals, rates
them on a 1-5 scale and
then funds the highest
rated program.
supp rtunounate tha
some projects that score
r esearchf as high as a 1.3 are not
funded," said biological
- Bruce Carlson chemistry Prof. Irwin
essor of embryology Goldstein.
With the addition of
funds, members of the University's medical com-
munity said they hope that more special projects
will be granted funding.
"Additional funding could lead to many more
breakthroughs," Goldstein said.

Cancer research is one area that would benefit from
alditional funding, said internal medicine Prof Max
Wicha, who heads the University's cancer center.
"I'm convinced we are going to make signitfi-
cant advances;' Wicha said.
While no money is set aside specifically for the
I. tnwvrsity, it will contend for the availaNe funds,
Ncidhardt said.
"The University has maintained its position as
number one in research expenditures," Neidhardt
said. "And knowing the quality of biometric scien-
tists at U of M, we will compete for that money.
The increase in NIH funding will benefit the
nation, Carlson said.
"I think an increase is good for mainly two rca-
sons." Carlson said. "Just the health and well-being
of the nation and the tremendous economic benefits.
Biotechnology provides thousands of jobs and Nl hen
people do research, new drugs and technology are
created, which benefit everyone."


MSA funds Code alternative,
improves funding applications

By Kristin Wright
Daily Staff Reporter
The Michigan Student Assembly
voted during last night's meeting to
financially support Student Mediation
Services by allocating $500 to the
group.
Student Mediation Services help stu-
dents involved in disputes discuss the
argument among their peers in a
process that is more informal than the
University's Code of Student Conduct
process.
The money allocated by MSA will
be used for office maintenance and
publicity for Student Mediation
Services.
External Relations Chair Trent
Thompson said it is MSA's responsibil-
ity to help the service because it helps
students.
"This is something we're doing
for students and MSA should be
doing (the mediating)," said
Thompson, an LSA junior. "But
since we're not, we should be giving
to (Student Mediation Services)
whenever we can. I know that this is

something that will become a lot
stronger. It will just take time."
MSA President Mike Nagrant said
that allocating money to the service is
important because it benefits many stu-
dents.
"I think that anything we can do to
keep students away from the code of
non-academic conduct is positive,"
Nagrant said. "And the process of
Student Mediation Services leaves par-
ties involved in better spirits. It doesn't
leave them in bitterness."
At the meetirig, MSA also dis-
cussed a new format for the online
application system that students can
use to request funding for student
groups. MS distributes S70,000 in
funding each semester to student
groups that the assembly deems
worthy of support. The assembly
receives about 400 applications each
semester.
Joe Bernstein, vice chair of the
Budget Priorities Committee, said the
old online application system was not
efficient and the new system is more
expedient for both applicants and

MSA.
"The form is easier to read and easi-
er to fill out," Bernstein said. "It's going
to let us go through the information
faster."
The deadline for funding applica-
tions is Feb. 13 at 5 p.m.
MSA also plans to better inform the
student body in the coming wecks
about its push for student representa-
tion on the University Board of
Regents.
Bram Elias, an LSA representative
and co-chair of the Student Regent Task
Force, said that the task force will work
to inform student group leaders about
MSA's plan to allow a student to serve
on the Board of Regents. Elias said
MSA will contact the leaders of every
student group, explain the issue, answer
their questions and seek their endorse-
ment.
"This is an initiative for the student
body and we want them to know -we
need their help," said Elias, an LSA
junior. "This is their cause. And with
them, we have the student body behind
us.

SARA STILLMAN/Daily
Scaffolding was installed outside of a Bursley residence hall stairway after
engineers discovered the wall was in danger of collapsing.
mergency repairs
SaVe ursle w

READ THE DAILY ONLINE AT
http://www.pub.umich.edu/daily

V

By Peter Meyers
D~aily Stall Reportei
The threat of falling walls forced
the University Housing
Development Office to take emer-
gency action at Bursley Hall last
week, tearing out a section of a six-
story brick wall.
The layer of brick on the outer
side of the wall bulged out about
three inches, separating it from the
inner wall, said structural engineer
Andy Greco. The fear was that this
brick layer would eventually detach
itself completely and fall, possibly
injuring bypassers.
"It's one of those things where it
could have lasted another 10 years
or it could have come down any
minute," Greco said. "It's unpre-
dictable."
The wall in question was shared
by a stairwell, the Bursley computer
lab and the outside brick. For all of
last week, access to the computer
lab and stairwell was shut off.
Housing Development Office
Manager Vicki Hueter said the
problem was discovered almost
accidentally.
"A contractor had come to look at
a waterproofing problem," Hueter
said. "He looked up and saw it."
The loose outer section has been
removed, so the risk of danger has
been alleviated. The concrete inner
wall will remain exposed until
spring when new brick can be
installed without disturbing resi-
dents, Hueter said. Until then, the
thinner wall will not insulate the
building as well, but will no longer
be a threat.
Only the outer wall was damaged,
Greco said. The connecting stair-
well, the structure above and the rest
of the wall were never in danger of

falling, he said.
IRueter and Greco both said that
the problem was probably the con-
sequence of errors made by the orig-
inal builder at the time of construc-
tion. Specifically, they said the
builder installed the brickwork
without paying enough attention to
the specifications of the blueprints.
"The attachment back to the inte-
ior structure was inadequate."
Greco said. "It was an oversight."
Hueter pointed out that if the con-
struction company was at fault, the
problem could appear in other build-
ings constructed by that company or
in other parts of Bursley itself.
"We are checkiig similar condi-
tions on this building," Hueter said.
For students living in Bursley, the
construction was an unexpected
inconvemence.
"It was a huge trouble," said
SNRE first-year student Mary
Leone.
Leone was accustomed to using
the damaged stairwell every day.
Early last week, she woke up to find
that the stairwell had become a con-
struction zone.
"There was yellow caution tape
on it," Leone said.
No announcement was made to
explain the change in her residence
hall, she said.
"No one knew what was going
on. No one said anything," Leone
said. All she heard was "rumors of
stuff falling," Leone said.
Aside from the closed stairway, a
major passageway to the cafeteria
was blocked as well. To get to the
cafeteria, Leone and her hallmates
had to go outside and back in
through another door.
The passage and the computing
center reopened Monday.

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