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Friday
January 21, 2000
t a~;*
'M' sets
rules for
1ooster
contact
By Jen Fish
Daily Staff Reporter
The University Board in Control of
Intercollegiate Athletics yesterday
approved a set of guidelines that will
ohibit all student-athletes and athlet-
staff members from any and all con-
tact with boosters who have violated
NCAA or conference regulations.
The guidelines extend the NCAA's
definition of disassociation, a common
penalty that allows universities to termi-
nate relationships with boosters who vio-
late regulations. The approval follows the
Athletic Department's announcement
Tuesday of a plan to limit the potential
influence of boosters.
Athletic Department Director of
ompliance Derrick Gragg said the plan
is meant to be an "extension" of the
existing NCAA policies. "We've been
working for several months on four
major issues of compliance -gambling,
agents, illegal boosters and academic
fraud," Gragg said. The release of these
compliance revisions coincides with the
ongoing federal investigation of former
Michigan booster- Ed Martin. The
4CAA concluded that Martin's associa-
tion with the Michigan men's basketball
program violated two NCAA rules.
Martin has been disassociated with the
program since then.
Student-athletes and athletic staff
members are prohibited from any con-
tact with Martin and are required to
contact the Athletic Department if
approached by him. The other principal
issue on the board's agenda was the
Tcket Committee's proposal to check
dents' M-Cards at Michigan football
games. But the committee chose to
table the issue until next month's meet-
ing. Athletic Director Tom Goss said a
postponement was necessary so there
could be more research on the "opera-
tionalization of the plan."
Finance Committee Chair Stephen
Papadopoulos said a later vote would
See BOOSTERS, Page 2
Clinton
proposes college cuts
By Yael Kohen
D~aily Staff Reporter
President Clinton yesterday announced a $31
billion plan that could save college students as
much as $2,800 per year on educational expenses.
The president's College Opportunity Tax Cut pro-
gram would be phased in during a 10-year period
and factor into the Fiscal Year 2001 federal budget.
Clinton's education initiative includes spending
nearly $1 billion for the College Completion
Challenge Grants, Pell Grants, work study and
other programs that make higher education afford-
able. Another $400 million would be allocated for
programs including mentoring, tutoring and
encouraging students to stay in college.
The proposal would allow families a 28 percent
tuition tax deduction or credit for up to $10,000,
$31B plan could save college
students $2,800 each year
National Economic Council Senior Director Jason
Furman said. The plan includes assistance for
graduate, vocational and professional work pro-
grams, he added.
The tax cut would provide a deduction or credit
on up to $10,000 of tuition, which translates to as
much as $2,800 in tax relief.
The proposal would raise the tax cut eligibility
limit from $50,000 to $60,000 for individuals and
from $100,000 to $120,000 for married couples.
The plan also introduces two new initiatives to
help students combat the rising costs of higher
education. The College Completion Challenge
Grants aims to encourage students to complete
their college education, Special Assistant to the
President Brian Kennedy said.
The second initiative includes a dual degree pro-
gram, giving minorities the opportunity to earn
two degrees in five years - one degree at a four-
year minority-serving institution and the other
Moon over Ann Arbor
SAM HOLLENSHEAC
- The first full moon okhe 21st Century rises above the Medical Campus in the eastem sky of Ann Arbor last night hours before a t tal lunar eclipse.
from another university, Kennedy said.
Clinton's plan would also significantly expand
existing programs such as the Pell Grant, which
would increase from $3,300 to $3,500, a $60 mil-
lion increase in the Federal Supplemental
Educational Opportunity Grant and an increase in
the Work Study program, Kennedy said.
The president is seeking to build on reforms he
made in 1997, Furman said. "Prior to 1997 the tax
code had no special tax treatment for investments
families and students made for higher education,"
he explained.
The proposal applies to students at both public
and private colleges and universities. "Private
schools are among the highest supporters,"
Kennedy said.
See TAX CUT, Page 2
Bollinger,
legislators
respand
to Engler
By Hanna LoPatin
Daily Staff Reporter
In the wake of Michigan Gov. John
Engler's State of the State address
Wednesday night, Michigan citizens
and legislators have been left to ponder
the initiatives laid out in the education-
heavy speech praised by fellow GOP
leaders.
Engler "has a solid commitment to
have the best public education sys-
tem in the world," Majority Floor
Leader Sen. Mike Rogers (R-
Brighton) said.
One of the governor's proposals
called for lifting the cap on the num-
ber of charter schools. The phrase
"the cap must go" became a mantra
of the night, embroidered on base-
ball hats given to Engler's speech
writers and shouted by the
D/Daily Republican legislators.
Since a proposal to remove the cap
lost in the House recently, Sen. Alma
Wheeler Smith (D-Salem Twp.) said,
Engler's emphasis on the issue in the
address demonstrates his commitment
to charter schools.
Like other Democrats, Smith said
she is not going to lend her support to
. charter schools anytime soon.
"The major problem(with charters)
is that there is no accountability;' she
said. "We have no idea if they are suc-
ceeding."
Rogers said charter schools have
"served just about enough nudging to
improve public education."
"This isn't about institutions, it's
about kids," he added.
University President Lee Bollinger,
who attended the address, said the
University has considered sponsoring a
charter school, but it has "not risen to a
live idea."
"The only way we should do it is if
it's consistent with our goals of teach-
ing and research," Bollinger said.
"There must be a faculty connec-
tion."
D/Daily Another sweeping education initia-
tive involves increasing the founda-
tional funding for all public schools
to $6,500 dollars per student - a
Y sum which fewer than 50 of 555
school districts statewide exceeded in
1994.
While both parties were excited
about the possibilities of that pro-
posal, the mention of a "multi-year
budget" for implementation had
Democrats skeptical about its sig-
yes- nificance.
ayed "We didn't hear a timeline on the
sev- $6,500," Smith said.
esge But Rogers said the funding will
dical most likely occur over a two-year
plan.
slide Higher education received only a
peri- brief mention in Engler's speech
bone Wednesday.
enta- Bollinger said he was not distressed
that the portion of the speech devoted
hese to education focused only on primary
n the and secondary schooling.
the "I think it's fair and reasonable for
ase." the governor to select some among
n of many important areas," Bollinger said.
3udge postpones pretrial
date for shooting sus pect
By David Enders
Daily Staff Reporter
new pretrial date has been sched-
uled for Abdul-Ghdier Elkhoja, the Ann
Arbor resident charged in the shooting
death of a Bloomfield Hills man near
campus last June.
Washtenaw County Circuit Judge
Donald Shelton decided Wednesday to
set a Jan. 31 pretrial hearing at the defen-
dant's request that the trial be postponed.
"We are exploring the potential for
rsolving the case short of trial," said
4Coja's lawyer, Kevin Ernst of Detroit.
Elkhoja, 21, is accused of killing 20-
year-old Nicholas Seitz outside the
Eugene V Debs Co-op on East
University Avenue. The defendant
allegedly shot Seitz during an alterca-
tion that occurred at a party near the co-
op. Witnesses contend that the defen-
dant fired one shot into the air before
shooting Seitz in the chest, possibly
with a .22-caliber rifle.
Officers from the Ann Arbor Police
Department were called to the co-op in
response to a fight on June 5. Seitz was
transported to University Hospitals,
where he was pronounced dead.
Elkhoja was arrested at his home sev-
eral hours later and pleaded not guilty
at his arraignment the following day.
This is the second time Shelton has
postponed the pretrial date. The first
delay was a result of challenges the city
of Ann Arbor made to a defense motion
requesting background checks for all
witnesses in the case. Shelton upheld
the motion, but the Michigan Court of
Appeals has allowed the city to official-
ly contest the ruling by Jan. 26.
See ELKHOJA, Page 2
Israel human
rights activist
speaks at 'U
By Marta Brill
Daily Staff Reporter
Although she has encountered many who think the torture
of Israeli prisoners accused of terrorism is imagined,
Ruchama Maron, the founder and chair of Physicians for
Human Rights-Israel, testified to its brutal existence.
Last night Maron, who was honored with the Emil
Grunzweig Human Rights Award last year by the Association
Civil Rights in Israel for her work in human rights, spoke
the Chemistry Building to an audience of more than 120
people about the history and recent developments of the
issue.
Maron traces torture by the Shabak, the equivalent of an
Israeli FBI, back to 1948 when the state of Israel was estab-
lished. It was practiced in secret as a way of interrogating sus-
nected terrorists until 1967 when many victims of torture
DAVID ROCHKIND
SuperFan Reza Breakstone, an LSA sophomore, addresses the Board of
Regents at its meeting yesterday in the Fleming Administration Building.
uperan, facult
address regents
Ruchama Maron, founder and chair of Physicians for Human
Rights-israel, speaks in the Chemistry Building last night
about the torture of Israeli prisoners accused of terrorism.
Israeli torture, the practice was brought to the court again to
"justify" its existence. The court's decision, she said, was'
called the "Defense of Necessity." It essentially stated that "if
it is really necessary the Shabak people can do whatever they
need to do."
"Justification and legalization of torture took place in
U Board hears from
University researchers
as part of monthly plan
By Anna Clark
Daily Staff Reporter
To acquaint the University's
Board of Regents with the vast
amount of research initiatives con-
ducted on campus, faculty and staff
now have the opportunity to present
their projects during the regents'
monthly meeting.
For the rest of this year, presenta-
tions will be only from faculty and
made the first presentation
terday after the regents del
the start of their meeting by
eral hours to tour the Kr
buildings on the Med
Campus.
Ferrara incorporated a brief
show and anecdotes of his ex
ences with patients needing1
marrow transplants in the presi
tion.
"Twenty-five percent of t
patients die of complications it
transplant," Ferrara said. "So
cure is often as bad as the dise
Ferrara added that the missio
,I