Arts 9 Ferrell on slow track in 'Talladega Nights' Sports 13 Bass knee injury potentially career ending Monday, August 7, 2006 Summer Weekly One-hundred-sixteen years ofeditonlfreedom . _'_1_'_ _._ 1_'i _ A A t i " 1 " WT t ,IrTT TT 1T Jwn www.michigandaily.com Ann Arbor, Michigan Vol. CXVI, No. 129 ©2006 The Michigan Daily 'U' donor investigated in tax-evasion report Congressional report focuses on alum Sam Wyly, spurs questions about naming University buildings after donors By Kelly Fraser and Leah Graboski Daily News Editors University donor and Texas entrepreneur Sam Wyly is attract- ing national attention this week after Congress released a report questioning his interpretation of United States tax laws by send- ing millions of stock options overseas. Subcommittee Chairman Norm Coleman (R-Minn.). and ranking minority member Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) released the report at a Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investiga- tions hearing Tuesday. The report uses six case studies to illustrate the abuse of tax laws in the offshore tax industry. The 13-year investiga- tion of Sam Wyly and his brother, Charles, is one of the most elaborate cases. Another of the six cases under investigation involves Kurt Greaves, who owns Greaves Inc., which is located a few miles southeast of campus on East Ellsworth Road.Greaves is believed to have moved more than $400,000 overseas untaxed. The Wyly brothers have transferred $190 million in stock options to a number of trusts on the Isle of Man, an island that lies in the Irish Seaoff the coast of Great Britain. The stock options came from corporations the Wylys were associated with, including Michaels Stores Inc., Sterling Soft- ware Inc. and Sterling Commerce Inc. The offshore trusts used $600 million in untaxed dollars and other gains from investment to obtain real estate, art, furnish- ings and jewelry for the Wyly family. The Wyly brothers maintain they have acted within the law. The report reads: "Among those impacted by the Wyly off- shore activities are the U.S. Treasury, United States taxpayers who have to make up the lost revenue, and the investing public who were kept in the dark about the offshore stock holdings and trading activity of entities controlled by the directors of three publicly traded corporations." In 1996, Sam Wyly donated $10 million to the University's business school. At the time, Wyly's donation was the largest gift the school had ever received for facilities. Wyly earned an MBA from the University in 1957 and has credited accounting Prof. William Paton for bringing him to the University by personally recruiting him and offering him a scholarship. Sam Wyly Hall - on the corner of Hill Street and East University Avenue - now houses the school's Executive Education Center and the William Davidson Institute. Jerry May, vice president for development, who manages See WYLY, Page 2 In 1996, Sam Wyly gave the University $10 million to build Sam Wyly Hall, which is located on the corner of Hill Street and East University Avenue. Wyly is under investigation for his family's trusts on the Isle of Man stem- ming from a congressional report on offshore tax trusts released Tuesday. Greeks support injured student | Business senior Blake I leidenreich fractured his neck in a diving' accident By Carissa Miller Managing News Editor The walls of Blake Heidenreich's hos- pital room are covered with personal snapshots, get-well cards and travel pho- tos - mementos left by friends, family and classmates who make frequent visits to the tiny space. While visiting a friend at Michigan's Sylvan Lake on July 3, the Business senior unknowingly dove into 29 inches of water, fracturing the C3 and C4 vertebrae in his neck. After two weeks in the intensive care unit at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Heidenreich transferred to the University Hospital for rehabilitation. Within a week of the accident, members of letdmnreich's fraternity - Sigma Phi Epsi- Ion - created a website to post updates on tseit friend's condition and to enable people to make donations to help the family cope with medical expenses. The site, www.xanga. cot/blrlakeheidenrreich, also features messag- es and stories posted by visitors. LSA junior Art Urban, who manages the website. said nearly $600 has been donated in Heidenreich's name through the site's Paypal account. As an additional fundraising campaign, members of Sig Ep recently ordered maize- and-blue-colored wristbands, imprinted with "Blakestrong," to sell at a $5 minimum. The funds will go to the family. Once fall semester is underway, Urban said Sig Ep plans to hold a benefit involving the campus community in Heidenreich's honor. Other houses within the University's Greek community - such as Delta Gamma and Alpha Chi Omega sororities - have shown their support for the campaign, despite being away from campus. In addition to regular hospital visits, Business junior and DG president Sarah Herrmann said she regularly e-mails members of her sorority with updates on Heidenreich's condition. "The main goal right now is to be a sup- port for Blake and to keep his spirits up," Herrmann said. Heidenreich and his family are currently engaged in a battle with their insurance provider over the terms of his rehabilita- tion. Because the insurance company does not consider the University Hospital a "preferred provider," the family is not sure whether Heidenreich will be able to remain in Ann Arbor. "I definitely want to stay here," Heiden- reich said. "I told them if they tried to send me, I'd more or less try to make them send me back. I'd make it so they don't want me." The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research named the Univer- sity Health System's Model Spinal Cord Inju- ry Care System a Model Spinal Cord Injury Center, an honor awarded to only 16 institu- tions in the United States. At the time of his injury, Heidenreich was considered a tetraplegic - experiencing paralysis from the neck down - but did not suffer damage to his brain function or mem- ory. Initial evaluations indicated Heidenreich could permanently require a ventilator in order to breathe. For spinal cord injuries such as Heiden- reich's, the majority of recovery occurs within two years. The most intense improvements typically appear during the first six months, however, as swelling of the body's nerves decreases. Although he remains partially paralyzed, Heidenreich has regained sensation and mini- mal function in various muscles throughout his body in she weeks since the accident, including those in his left thumb. But because it is nearly impossible to determine how Heidenreich's recovery will progress, Heidenreich and his family do not know if he will be able to walk again. At the University Hospital, Heidenreich undergoes physical and occupational See HEIDENREICH, Page 8 Business senior Blake Heidenreich in his room at the Uni- versity of Michigan Hospital on Saturday afternoon. Heiden- reich is visited daily by friends, family and fraternity brothers who decorate his room with photos and gifts.