Oehundo seiriee
One hundred two years of editorial freedom
Volume Cill, No. 4S Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, May 19, 1993 %(-1993 The Michigan Daily'
Researcher
wins case
against 'U'
director
By BRYN MICKLE
DALY STAFF REPORTER
Students who plagiarize can get
expelled.Researcherswhodothesame
can cost the University a lot of money.
Last week, a Washtenaw County
CircuitCourtjury awardedinexcessof
$1 million to a
University re-
searcher who
charged the
school with
failing toshield
her under the
Ad man
state of Michigan's Whistleblower's
Protection Act.
The Whistleblower's Act protects
employees from threats, firing or other
forms of retaliation if they report sus-
pected violations.
Carolyn Phinney, a researcher in
the Institute of Gerontology, accused
the University of mishandling allega-
tions that her mentor, Marion
Perlmutter, had taken credit for her
research.
In 1989, Phinney charged
Perlmutter with stealing a box of data,
attempting to deny her a $1 million
research grant, breaking an employ-
ment agreement and denying first au-
thorship on a research paper.
The jury agreed with the allega-
tions. It found Richard Adelman, di-
rector of the University's Institute of
Gerontology, in violation of the
Whistleblower's Act when he circu-
lated false reports abouther and threat-
ened to fire her if she did not drop the
charges.
The jury also ruled Perlmutter had
stolen Phinney's scientific theories.
Phinney's attomey said Adelman
was afraid that the case's publicity
would cost the Institute a $6.1 million
research grant.
As a result of the guilty verdict,
Adelman was ordered to pay $989,200
to Phinney. The jury also ordered
Perlmutter to pay Phinney an addi-
tional $130,300 in damages.
The jury dismissed Perlmutter's
counterclaim that she had been de-
See Sum Page 2
Head of national
service speaks
at Law School
W By ANDREA MACADAM
DAILY STAFF REPORTER
OnSaturday,University faculty and
students got a chance to hear about
President Clinton's national service
program from the man who is heading
Director of the Office of National
Service Eli Segal spent the day in Ann
Arbor talking to faculty members,Law
School graduates, and students about
MKoHBal the program and the importance of
Eli Segal addresses the crowd at last Saturday's Law School community service in general.
graduation The firstpanof thenational service
Universities may begin distribution
By J.B. AKINS explained, "Directgovernmentlending "Most often the terms on which
DAILY STAFF REPORTER eliminates the need for students to deal students sign for a loan don't change.
The current way students now re- with private lenders. They can justdeal But sometimes the government may
ceive loans will soon change now that with their school and fill out just one extend these beneficiary repayment
Rep. Bill Ford (D -Ypsilanti) has had application making the process much terms to some students," said Margaret
his way. simpler." Rodriguez, an assistant director of fi-
The House Education and Labor According to the proposal, students nancial aid at the University.
CommitteeapprovedFord'sproposal, willhave arange of flexible repayment Ifaschoolchooses toparticipate by
the Student Loan Reform Act earlier options. Students will be allowed to acting as the loan distributor, it will be
this month. repay their loans based on a small per- given a small processing fee for each
If approvedby Congress, the pro- centage of their income. Students can application.
posalwillreplacethe GuaranteedStu- also choose to take low-paying com- The government benefits by not
dent Loan program with loans funded munity servicejobs.Orthey maychoose paying subsidies to private lenders.
directly by the federal government. to pay it all off at once, with no penalty. "Currently the government subsi-
Tom Butts, vice president for gov- These repayment terms willnothelp dizes private lenders who distribute
ernment relations for the University current students. student loans," Rodriguez said.
program would allow young people
to earn up to $5,000 towards college
per year for two years of service in
education,healthandhumanservices,
public safety or the environment.
The second part of the agenda,
which would establish a student loan
program funded directly by the fed-
eral government instead of by banks,
was approved by the House Educa-
tion and Labor Committee Wednes-
day.
Segal first met with U.S. Rep.
See SEGAL, Page 2
of loans
"The government will be able to
provide loans at wholesale prices be-
cause they won't have to deal with
private lenders," she added.
"Direct lending would eliminate
the insurance premium that students
must pay when dealing with a private
lender. The government loan interest
rates will be .6 percent cheaper than
private loans and the loan origination
fee will be lowed to 3.65 percent of the
total amount of the loan," said Butts.
The proposal is now in the House
of Representatives. The Senate will
debate it in June.
Azari Student Association was created to increase
student awareness about plight of Bosnian Muslims
By EMILY NEWMAN
DALY STAFF REPORTER
Althoughnews of therapes,eth-
nic cleansing and outright war tak-
ing place in Bosnia-Herzegovina
hasn't moved most students to ac-
tivism, the University's Azari Stu-
dent Association has been denounc-
ing the actionsof the Bosnian Serbs
since its formation early this year.
While the Azari Associationis a
worldwide organization fighting the
ethnic conflicts in all parts of the
world, the University's chapter has
devoted the majority of its time and
effort to raising student awareness
about the situation in Bosnia and
the way it is being treated by the
intemational community.
"We don't think the ethnic con-
flicts in the world are being ad-
dressed in a correct manner," said
Rackhamstudent and Azarifounder
Bahram Taheri.
The 30 or so student members of
Azari believe the 14 month war be-
tween the Bosnian Muslims and the
Bosnian Serbs has been handled
poorly by the international commu-
nity from the beginning. The group
believes the largest problem facing
the persecuted Muslims in Bosniais
the United Nation's imposed arms
embargo.
The arms embargo prevents any
arms sales to Bosnia-Herzegovina.
However, while the embargo effec-
tively blocks the Bosnian Muslims
from obtaining arms, the Bosnian
Serbs are still able to obtain anms
from Serbia.
The Azari group favors arming
the Bosnian Muslims rather than
military intervention by U.S. or
United Nations troops.
"The United States needs to push
with its fullest strength to lift the
arms embargo on Bosnians so they
can fight their own fight," Taheri
said.
Fellow Azari member Rahim
Armat agreed and blamed the news
media for distorting the need for an
embargo.
"Bosnians are brave enough and
strong enough to fight for them-
selves," he said.
Late last semester, the Azari As-
sociation hosted a presentation in
Rackham auditorium to raise stu-
dent awareness. Taheri estimated
that 250 attended the presentation
which focused on the rapes of
BosnianwomenbySerbiansoldiers.
Taheri said the group will hold
no formal meetings this summer,
but added members still living in
Ann Arbor gather for discussion.