4W Smer Weekly 4v One hundred two years of editorial freedom 'Volume C11, No. 9S Ann Arbor, Michigan - Wednesday, June 16, 1993 k1993 The Michigan Daily 6 IMTHEY'RE BA-AACK Feds, 'U' tangled in alleged fraud HEATHER LOWMAN/Daily Yes, it's that time of year again - the orientees are back in full force. LSA junior Kiarma Cheatom points out the LSA Building while the first batch of orientees takes a break on the steps of Angell Hall during their walking tour. mmittee working on alcohol pol'cy, should be ready Fall By BRYN MICKLE DAILY STAFF REPORTER On the surface, the University's role in dealing with accusations of scientific misconduct seems straight- forward: It must investigate claims, file a report with the government and wait for the outcome. But what happens when the presi- dent of the University also holds a major position in the organization that oversees investigations of scientific fraud at the University? The issue arose recently over an allegedcaseofscientificmisconductat the University, which was later re- ported to the National Science Board (NSB), a federal agency that oversees allfederally-fundedscientificresearch. University President James Duderstadt is chair of the board. While Duderstadt says he has not become entangled in the case, govern- ment investigators have made accusa- tions of a botched University investi- gation. The case began in 1989 when a former University researcher accused her mentor of stealing her scientific theories in order to obtain a federal research grant. The researcher, Carolyn Phinney, accused Marion Perlmutter of the In- stitute of Gerontology of stealing her theories on wisdom and aging and us- ing them to secure a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Phinney reported the allegations to the institute's director, Richard Adelman, who in turn reported the information to William Kelly, the University'svice presidentforresearch. The University formed a committee to conductan internalinvestigationofher accusations. At her trial, Phinney maintained that the University botched its internal investigation and that Adelman at- tempted to discredit her. She argued that Adelman feared theinstitute would lose a $6.1million grant from the NSF. The University sent its findings to the NSF -the standard procedure for any allegation of fraud involving fed- eral research funds. The NSF's response to Kelly read: "We feel that the investigation was flawed to such an extent thatif this had been amore serious case we wouldnot have been able to accept this investiga- tion." The letter went on to say that lim- itedresourcespreventedtheNSFfrom pursuing a federal investigation. The NSF said it would not penalize the University if Kelly responded to its concems about the formatof theinves- tigation--inparticular, the makeup of the investigating committee and the committee's definition of plagiarism. One month later, Kelly wrote back in an attempt to satisfy NSF concerns. He defended the committee'smakeup, but did not address the NSF's ques- tions about the University's definition of plagiarism. The NSF is required to report al- legedscientificmisconducttotheNSB. Theproblem, says one former NIH researcher, is that the NSB is chaired by University of Michigan President James Duderstadt. The NSB handles allegations of scientific fraud through its Office of the Inspector General (OIG). "It appears that there is a conflict- of-interest with OIG's decision not to investigateacase involving the univer- sity whose president also serves as chair of OIG's governing body," said Walter Stewart, who investigated sci- entific fraud for the NIH until May. The OIG will not confirm or deny whether it received a report on the Phinney case from the NSF,saying it's NSF policy not tocomment on anopen case. OIG counsel Montgomery Fischer saidthePhinneycaseisstillconsidered open - although NSF said in 1992 that it would not pursue an investiga- See FRAUD, Page 8 By ANDREA MACADAM DAJLY STAFF REPORTER 0 Students, staff and faculty attempt- ing to enjoy a cold beer on the Diag when classes resume in September, may have more to worry about than open-container laws. TheUniversity's AlcoholandOther DrugsCommitteeiscurrently working on a permanent alcohol policy that would replace the existing interim one. The committee, whichincludesstu- .ients and faculty members, is still in the discussion stage while it reviews federal regulations, academic articles and information concerning Univer- sity liabilities. The board is also examining rec- ommendations from the University's TaskForceonAlcoholandOthefDrugs as well as various policies that exist at other Big Ten schools. Committee Chair Delores Sloan *said, however, that the final project would be Michigan-oriented. Although Sloan, an associate dean of students, said she wanted to leave muchof the decision-makingup to the committee, she didexpressheropinion that an agreement must be reached. "I think we really need to come up with a compromise between student development and risk management," she stated. "And we need to get a philosophicalbase before we canreach that compromise." StudentOrganizationDevelopment Center Consultant and committee member Beth Adler stressed the im- portance of student input on the devel- oping policy. "The nice part about (the commit- tee) is that half are students," she said. Yet one of the student committee members, Michigan Student Assem- bly Vice President Brian Kight, ques- tioned the necessity of a new policy in light of the sanctions currently listed in the Statement of Student Rights and Responsibilities as well as in the in- terim policy. "Ijust want a clearer scope on how this is going to fit into the existing structure," he said. Adlersaidthestatementis toobroad to encompass federally mandated leg- islation, thereby creating a need for a more specific alcohol policy. The federal law stipulates that stu- dentsmustbemadeawareofthehealth hazards associated with drug and alco- hol use, state and local drug laws, and counseling available to students. Kight disagreed, saying the state- ment does fulfillthe legalrequirements concerning the sanctions. "As far as making new sanctions, I don't think (they) shouldbe changed," he said. But he qualified, saying the re- quired list of health hazards should be incorporated into the existing state- ment. Another aspect the developing policy might include is the sanctioning of alcohol use off-campus. Kight expressed reservations con- cerning the regulation of student be- havior outside University property. 'My personal opinion isthat unless the University can show that your be- havior can impact the academic envi- ronment, (it doesn't) have the right," he said.