One hundred eleven years of editorildfreedom
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Thursday
March 14, 2002
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Profs.
who sue
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a lege retaliation
By David Enders
Daily Staff Reporter
Electrical Engineering Prof. Margaret Murnane left
Michigan for the University of Colorado at Boulder in
1999 in lieu of filing a plagiarism complaint against
another faculty member.
Murnane, a MacArthur Foundation grant winner, said,
she feared her reputation would be attacked in an effort
to undermine her plagiarism claim.
"I talked to other professors who tried even harder to
remedy their situations and they all said 'leave while you
can.' Our lawyer advised us to walk away. I am so thank-
ful that I took that advice," she said. "We attempted to
file a grievance, and we were discouraged by senior
administrators. (The University of Michigan is) very
good at discrediting people. They did call my previous
institution looking to smear me. They want to create
paranoia in your mind."
Murnane's fears are consistent with the concerns of
other professors who said they fear retribution from
department chairs, other faculty or University adminis-
trators if they file a grievance against the University.
University math Prof. Emeritus Wilfred Kaplan, who
handled complaints for the American Association of Uni-
versity Professors' Ann Arbor chapter for more than 30
years, said filing a complaint creates a very negative
atmosphere for a professor.
"It's terrifying before and after," Kaplan said. When a
complaint is filed "the University is a terrible place to
work.... There was generally a fear of retaliation, espe-
cially recently."
Kaplan spoke of "behind-the-scenes battling" and
counterclaims which made professors who filed com-
plaints uncomfortable and said the University administra-
tion has turned a deaf ear to the AAUP's concerns.
"In one case, a tenured professor was confronted with
a charge of harassment with a colleague. That did terrific
damage to that person's health,"he said. .
Kaplan said that in another case, a faculty member con-
sidered suicide as the result of abuses by an administrator.
"That was a case where the AAUP complained to the
administrator and there was a meeting with the provost
and the administration," Kaplan said. "It was very distin-
"The defense of any employer
to a whistleblower action is
that you attempt to destroy
the person."
- Marian Faupel
Ann Arbor lawyer
guished faculty and they presented the case for that par-
ticular unit and the provost said 'this is terrible, this must
not be done,' and I know that nothing was done."
Kaplan said that the University handles every com-
plaint in a consistent manner.
"Whenever a complaint is made against an administra-
tor, (the administrator) is always backed up by the Uni-
versity."
Kaplan also served on the legal advisory committee of
the Senate Advisory Committee on University Affairs.
"We had not a great number but a certain number that
came to (SACUA) instead of coming to AAUP. They
came to us often with very serious complaints. We wrote
to the president (of the University) and our letters were
usually not even acknowledged. This is the pattern. Any
of the recent administrations have not wanted to change."
Kaplan said the grievance procedures set out in the
University Board of Regents' bylaws and by SACUA
rarely solve problems. In the case of the regents' proce-
dures it is because the University tends to maintain there
is no wrongdoing, giving grievants no other option but
litigation in pursuing a claim. In the case of the SACUA
procedure (which involves a panel of other faculty)
Kaplan said the problem is that the faculty panel can act
only as an advisory committee to department chairs or
administrators, who retain the final say in any grievance.
SACUA is presently discussing changes to the grievance
process with University administrators.
"When (faculty) come to us, we warn them about how
difficult it is to correct the problem. A lawsuit is very
expensive, very time consuming and can go the wrong
See PROFS, Page 10A
ANN"
r
I
AP PHOTO
Peace activists attend beside coffins covered by Israeli and Palestinian flags among hundreds of coffins set up by an Israeli
peace activist group In Tel Aviv yesterday. The coffins represent the Israelis (white coffins) and Palestinians (black coffins)
killed In the second Intifada.
UON.O
votes in favor
of Palestinian state
By Ted Borden
Daily Staff Reporter
Seeking an end to escalating
Mideast violence, the United States
won approval for a U.N. Security
Council resolution that endorsed the
idea of a Palestinian state for the first
time and demanded an immediate
cease-fire.
The United States introduced a reso-
lution that avoided references to Israeli
occupation of the Palestinian territory
and other terms critical of Israel. After
years of Washington blocking meas-
ures it considered biased against its
close ally, the U.S. move surprised the
council, which quickly passed it.
"Passing such a resolution is a great
first step to attempting to end the
extremely vicious cycle of violence in
the region," Paul Saba, president of the
Ann Arbor chapter of the Arab-Ameri-
can Anti-Discrimination Committee,
said. "The Palestinians have suffered
for too long for the international com-
munity not to keep a blind eye."
The 14-0 vote, cautiously welcomed
by Israel and the Palestinians, came after
See STATE, Page 9A
MCard now required for
student seats at stadium
By Shannon Pettypiece
Daily Staff Reporter
dents tello
in the stu
Athletic D
A new policy that would require student to make si
ticket holders to present their University stu- tunity to
dent ID before entering Michigan Stadium is everybody
scheduled to go into effect next fall. While t
The policy is designed to cut back on the said he ha
amount of student tickets that fall into the cent of st
hands of non-students. dents.
"We want to make certain that students are "I've he
in the student section, and we have had stu- don't have
Harassment
suit will go
to court
nextmXon
By Jeremy Berkowitz
Daily Staff Reporter
our department that there are people
dent section that aren't students,"
)irector Bill Martin said. "We want
ure that every student has an oppor-
buy tickets to football ahead of
else."
there are no exact figures, Martin
s heard estimates that 10 to 20 per-
udent tickets are sold to non-stu-
eard students give me estimates, we
one, but what we do is take a look
at eBay and the other auction sites and look at
the seat number and see where they are being
offered," Martin said.
Because of the ID policy, the ticket office
agreed not to place a cap of 20,000 on the
number of student tickets available for the
next football season, Marty Bodnar, director
of ticket services, said in the memo obtained
by The Michigan Daily.
According the memo, the idea of requiring
student ticket holders to present an ID was
See M-CARDS, Page 7A
DAVID ROCHKIND/Daily
Students crossing the Ambassador Bridge from Ontario to Detroit will be free from receiving a minor in
possession offense if they can prove they were drinking in Canada.
Students drinking in
Canada free from MIPS
By Samantha Wolf
For the Daily
Minors who drink legally in Canada and then
return- to Michigan intoxicated can no longer be
charged with a minor in possession.
A decision last month by the Michigan Court
-of Appeals grants those between the ages of 19
and 21 who travel to Canada an additional advan-
tage while placing law officers in a compromis-
ing position.
"We conclude that minors who legally ingest
alcohol in a jurisdiction outside Michigan and
then return to Michigan (e.g. as passengers in a
A yhve1hil) with the alcnhol in their bodies have not
But the court's legislation on this matter left
room for amendment.
The primary logic behind this decision is that
the definition of "alcoholic liquor" includes the
words "which are fit for use for beverage purpos-
es" and that once a person has ingested liquor,
that liquor is not "fit for use for beverage purpos-
es". and no longer fits under the definition of
"alcoholic liquor."
The court acknowledged this new legislation
"may somewhat hinder police officers ...
attempting to enforce the MIP statute" but contin-
ues to state that "because the statute makes spe-
cific conduct criminal, it must be strictly
construed."
After almost five years of aggravation, deliberation and
delays, former Music student Maureen Johnson will be able
to explain to a jury why she is suing the University on sexu-
al harassment charges. Judge Melinda Morris rejected yes-
terday the defendant's motion to dismiss the 1999 lawsuit in
Washtenaw County Circuit Court. Both sides said they are
optimistic about the trial, which starts on April 15.
"I think it's going to be a really big step forward for
women on this campus," Miranda Massie, Johnson's attor-
ney said.
The University said it is not concerned about the case
even though Judge Morris rejected the motion for dismissal,
University spokeswoman Julie Peterson said.
"The University took swift and appropriate action when it
learned of Ms. Johnson's complaints and we're confident that
will become apparent when we have the chance to present our
case before a jury," Peterson said in a written statement.
Johnson alleges that she was sexually harassed by former
DEBBIE MIZEL/Daily
RC senior Shari Katz reads the names of some of the 6 million people who were killed
during the Holocaust on the diag during the 23rd Annual Conference on the Holocaust.
24-hour vil honprsa
victim of Holocaust-
By Daniel Kim
Daily StaffReporter
Among the many students who con-
gregated on the Diag yesterday - to
distribute election fliers, to advertise
for upcoming fine arts performances
University students and community
members who quietly read names of
Holocaust victims.
The 24-hour vigil, which began yes-
terday at noon and ends today with a
memorial service at noon, is a part of
the 23rd Annual Conference on the
t