The Michigan Daily - Saturday, June 4, 1983-- Page 3
Sentences stand
for baseball bat
beating death
By HALLE CZECHOWSKI
A Wayne County Circuit Court judge
announced Thursday he has no legal
basis for withdrawing his sentence of
probation and fines for two men convic-
ted of beating a Chinese-American man
to deathwith a baseball bat.
The decision came after groups from
around the nation, including one in Ann
Arbor, asked Judge Charles Kaufman
to reconsider the manslaughter senten-
ces of Ronald Ebens and his stepson,
Michael Nitz.
KAUFMAN SENTENCED the two
men to three years probation and fines
of $3,780 each in March following their
convictions for manslaughter.
Chin was beaten to death in June 1983
outside of a Highland Park bar, an
hour-and-a-half after an argument with
Ebans and Nitz which some said was
racially motivated.
Detroit area Asian-Americans and
others were outraged at the lenient sen-
tences. Many believe Kaufman made
his decision based on misleading or in-
sufficient evidence since there was no
trial - both men pleaded guilty - and
no prosecuting attorney appeared at
the men's hearing.
IN LATE APRIL, Southfield attorney
Liza Chan asked Kaufman to withdraw
his sentence. He agreed to take the
matter under consideration.
Chin supporters demonstrated two
weeks later at a rally in Detroit's Ken-
nedy Square sponsored by the
American Citizens for Justice, a
predominantly Asian-American group.
More than 800 people attended, in-
cluding 80 people who came on buses
rented by the Ann Arbor Vincent Chin
Support Committee.
Tinko Ting, head of the Ann Arbor
committee, said he was upset by the
decision, although he said it was "exac-
tly what we expected." He added that
he does not know what Chin supporters
will do next to fight the sentences.
Larry Lee, a protestor from Ypsilan-
ti, said he was "very disappointed and
kind ofsurprised" at the decision.
The FBI and the United States
Justice Department in Detroit said they
will continue their month-long in-
vestigations into the case to see if
Chin's death was indeed racially
motivated. If there is evidence to back
this claim, Chin's family could sue to
prove that his legal rights were
violated.
Financial aid delays
fewer this year
By JACKIE YOUNG
Students applying for financial aid
will be notified two months earlier than
last year if they qualify for aid awards,
according to University financial aid
officials.
The University's financial aid office
is trying to notify student of how much
money they will receive by July 1, said
Harvey Grotrian, financial aid direc-
tor.
THE PROCESS IS running ahead of
schedule to allow financial aid officials
to deal with problems during August
such as late applications.
Last year was a nightmare for the
financial aid office, because of so many
federal government delays. The gover-
nment didn't send needed forms or
disperse funds for months into the
school year.
By July 1, the office will have notified
nearly 500 students, compared to the
same time last summer when no
students had been notified.
THE BULK of student aid will be
dispersed during the first two weeks of
September, Grotrian said. With the
same number of applicants last year
the office spent 8 weeks distributing
awards, he added.
Guaranteed Student Loans will also
be ahead of schedule this year, said
Elaine Nowak, senior financial aid of-
ficer. The office is expecting to have
one of its best years, she said.
"We have an experienced staff with
no job turnover which is uncomparable
to any other year," Nowak said. There
are also no procedural changes by the
federal government, which in past
years have backlogged - loan ap-
plications for months.
THOMAS BUTTS, the administrative
assistant to vice president for academic
affairs located in Washington, said that
this year there were many decisions
made at the federal level that will help
college campuses to distribute financial
aid more efficiently than in past years.
"Last year no one knew what was
going to happen (when aid would be
disbursed to students), because of the
long delay the administration had in
making the proposed cuts in the
budget," Butts said.
However, Butts said there might be
delays in distributing aid money to
students if the fate of the Solomon
Amendment isn't decided until this Oc-
tober. The delay would occur because
students would be required to fill out an
extra form before they receive their
aid, he said.
The Solomon Amendment, a law that
was passed last year to go into effect
July 1, would require all students ap-
plying for financial aid to certify that
they have registered with the selective
service.
Although the law is currently inactive
throughout the nation due to a tem-
porary injunction issued by a federal
judge in Minnesota, a decision is expec-
ted soon to decide permanently whether
or not the law is a violation of students'
civil rights.
Grotrian said that students call him
every day to see if the law will go into
effect as planned.
Y a ssooo Doily Photo by DEBORAH LEWIS
Bette Kussurelis-Ellis displays a Greek flag, an example of the memorabilia
for sale at the Ya'ssoo Greek festival at 414 N. Main Street. Sponsored by the
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, the celebration continues through
tonight with Mediterranean melodies, food, dancing and spirits.
Liuzzo family seeks
to reverse eourt costs
By GEORGEA KOVANIS
The children of Viola Liuzzo, a civil
rights worker murdered 18 years ago,
will file a motion Monday asking a
federal judge to reverse his order
requiring the family to pay the gover-
nment's court costs, attorneys said last
night.
Judge Charles Joiner last Friday
ruled in a U.S. District Court in Ann Ar-
bor that the Liuzzos must pay for the
government's court costs which are
estimated at about $100,000.
THE LIUZZO family lost their case
against the government last week when
Joiner ruled that the government was
not responsible for the death of Viola
Liuzzo, who was gunned down while
transporting a black civil rights march
worker in the historic 1965 Selma-to-
Montgomery Voting Rights March in
Alabama.
Liuzzo was killed by shots coming
from a car carrying three Ku Klux
Klansmen and FBI informant Gary
Thomas Rowe. The family claimed that
the government was ultimately respon-
sible for their mother's death by hiring
an informant who did not do anything to
prevent the murder.
The Liuzzos have already spent
$60,000 on their own court costs which
don't include attorney fees. The gover-
nment's costs include fees for court
reporters, witnesses, and filing, but not
attorney fees.
AFTER THE motion is filed Monday,
the family will have at least 10 days to
pepare their argument, said Dean
Robb, chief counsel for the family.
Lawyers from the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) will assist the
Liuzzo's in the litigation and could be
the ones to argue the case before the
court.
"(The ACLU) is very upset with
assessing costs in cases like these,"
said Robb, who, like the other Liuzzo at-
torneys, volunteered his services in the
suit."
The ACLU believes that charging
costs hinders citizens chances of win-
ning cases against the government.
The Liuzzo children, who were
shaken by Joiners decision last Friday,
said the charge was excessive.
"I think it is disgusting," said Tony
Liuzzo. "I think it has outraged the
public."