v I * , ,_f *t ~ might: Mostly cloudy, low low 50s. amorrow: Rain likely in fternoon, high 65% One hundredfve years of editoraidfreedom Monday October 2, 1995 louse coi*ttee approves cutting direct student loans Senate committee has already approved plan to save more than $10 billion through various cuts y Ronnie lassberg aily Staff Reporter The House Economic and Educa- onal Opportunities Committee ap- roved a plan Thursday that would liminate the federal direct student loan rogram. Earlier in the week, a Senate commit- ae had approved a plan that would cap irect loans at 20 percent, eliminate the nterest-free grace period and charge niversities a 0.85-percent fee based on he total loan value. The plan in the House also would liminate the six-month interest-free race period following graduation. "The bottom line is this: Republicans elieve the single most important issue facing young Americans is the sky- rocketing national debt that threatens the very future of our country," Rep. William Goodling (R-Pa.), the committee's chairman, said in a state- ment. "We believe that balancing the fed- eral budget may well be the single best thing we can do for our children and grandchildren, and we are proud of the fact that we are getting the job done." The proposals in both the House and Senate would save more than $10 bil- lion over the next seven years. The plans will be included in the budget reconciliation bill, and must be approved by both the Senate and House before it goes to President Clinton. Under the direct loan program, uni- versities work directly with a servicer contracted by the Department of Edu- cation. Under the guaranteed loan pro- gram, which makes up the remainder of loans, the University had dealt with 1,400 lenders, guarantors and servicers in providing financial aid. All federal student loans at the Uni- versity now come through direct loans. "It's not easy to keep track of all the bad ideas that have come out in the past few weeks," U.S. Education Secretary Richard Riley said in a teleconference last week. "Capping or killing direct lending means forcing students into a more cumbersome and complex pro- cess, and taking away from schools the choice to decide what works best for them." Deputy Education Secretary Madeleine Kunin said during the tele- conference that the direct loan system has created efficiencies and better ser- vice for students. "We started direct lending because the present system was not working effectively," Kunin said. "I think even the critics of direct lending will say that it has been very healthy for the system to have competition." But Republicans, using figures from the Congressional Budget Office - which are disputed by both the Univer- sity and the Department of Education - say eliminating the program would save $1.5 billion. Officials from the Department of Education counter that eliminating the direct loan program will not save money, but will provide private funds to the banking industry. "Even as they were cutting funds for student loans, a Senate committee voted to give student loan guaranty agencies a $1.8 billion bonanza in taxpayer money from federal assets that they hold," Riley said. "This is simply a gift of public funds to the guaranty agencies. A number of court cases have made it very clear in federal court in a number of different states that these funds held by guaranty agencies are federal property, which held in trust by them, and this is a very clear gift of these funds, which are public property, according to these court cases." The New York Times reported yes- terday that Sen. Nancy Kassebaum (R- Kan.), chairwoman of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee, is- sued a statement saying that the matter had been corrected. "There was some concern that the Department of Education was going to raid that money, use that money in their direct lending program," she told the Times. "It obviously can be fixed." Rep. Howard McKeon (R-Ca.), chairman of the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education, Training and Life-Long Learning, said in a statement that the House bill also hurts the lenders. Of the cuts in the House plan, $4.9 billion will affect lenders, guaranty agencies, secondary markets and states. "Over half our savings are being ob- tained from the lender and banker com- munities," McKeon said. "I guarantee you they are not happy with the hits they are taking." TEA CEREMON Y Y S1 f Regents deny they ousted derstadt Art museum opens Japanese gallery By Eileen Reynolds For the Daily After a remodeling project, the University's Museum of Art opened its Japanese Gallery yesterday in a more traditional setting with the hopes of at- tracting more people to the collection. "We felt creating a traditional set- ting, and notjust putting pieces in cases with labels, would add interest. It gives an imaginative dimension, beyond an- cient pictures," said Mark Nielsen, the project's designer. The collection, consisting of pieces like incense chests and warrior's ar- mor, was previously displayed in the same room. However, few people un- derstood the significance of all the pieces, Nielsen said. Under the supervision of Marshall Wu, the senior curator of Asian Art, the complete remodeling took place more than four months ago, in hopes of creat- ing a gallery in a more traditional Japa- nese setting. "We wanted to reach more people than just an academic audience, we wanted to draw in the community," Nielsen said. The reopening was celebrated with the display and presentation Qf Japa- nese ceremonies and traditions. The highlight event, a traditional Japanese tea, took place in the newly added tea "We wante to reach ore people than just an academic audience. We wanted to draw in the community." - Mark Neilsen Project designer By Josh White Daily Staff Reporter Following President James J. Duderstadt's announcement Thursday that he will resign in June, Gov. John Engler pointed a finger at the Univer- sity Board of Regents, saying there was a "coup" within the board to oust the president. While no identifiable sources have come forward to substantiate the accu- sation, Engler remains firm in his belief that Duderstadt's resignation was the result of pressure from the regents. "There have been regents who have talked to the governor in the past few months about problems on the board," said John Truscott, Engler's spokes- man. "I know that there will be people who will come forward with more in- formation about what has happened. "The members who are responsible and the people in the University admin- istration who know what is going on are not rced "" to comment on threcord for fear ofretaliation," Truscott said. "Some want to sweep this under the rug, but Governor Engler hastchosen to bring this out into the open to be dealt with." In various speeches in metro Detroit on Thursday, Engler accused Regents Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor), Laurence Deitch (D-Bloomfield Hills) and Rebecca McGowan (D-Ann Arbor) of plotting to oust Duderstadt. Deitch said that there have been dif- ferences between board members and the president, but that Engler's claims of a coup are untrue. "Governor Engler's information is incorrect," Deitch said yesterday. "I don't want to continue to be in a contest of accusations and counter-accusations with the governor's office, but what he has heard is wrong." Deitch also said he believes no new information will be discovered that would implicate any regents in connec- tion to Duderstadt's resignation. "I don't expect anyone - regents or administrators - to say anything about this because there is nothing to say," Deitch said. "Everyone I know is dedi- cated to the future growth of the Uni- versity and its ongoing success. We are moving on in unison, and the president is a large part of moving toward the future." But Truscott said Deitch was highly involved in the "removal" of the presi- President can collect a year's salary on sabbatical By Amy Klein Daily Staff Reporter After he steps down as University president in June, James J. Duderstadt will be entitled to a one-year sabbati- cal at full salary before he returns to the faculty. ' The Board of Regents decided in 1993 that Duderstadt would receivp $260,709 for one year, and then the average of the top three professor sala- ries in the College of Engineering, if he vacated his post but still remained at the University. "There were not many precedents for the president going back to the faculty. That's why they made a spe- cial action." said Walter Harrison. vice president for University rela- tions. Duderstadt said he plans to remain as a professor of science and engineer- ing again after 15 years as a dean, provost and president. Associate Vice President for University Relations Lisa Baker said Duderstadt has not an- nounced whether he will take a sab- batical. "If that's an option that's presented to him, then he might take it, but right dent. "Larry Deitch is lying," Truscott said. "He is one of the major problems on the board, as people will see become evi- dent as more information comes out. He is one of the major elements of the Duderstadt coup plot. "Ifeverything was so fine, why would Duderstadt up and resign so suddenly'?" Truscott asked. "That is not what hap- pens when everything is cordial and running smoothly." The only person to support Engler's claim came from an anonymous source in Friday's Detroit News. "I'm sure Engler's right and every- body involved knows that," the News quoted the source as saying. "Every- body just wonders how he (Duderstadt) has lasted as long as he has." Walter Harrison, vice president for University relations, has denied any now it doesn't sound very likely," Baker said. The 1993 regents action also in- cluded a $16,666 equity adjustment, which has been approved each year for the last three years, and a 5-percent merit-based salary increase. Board members said this would bring Duderstadt's salary in line with that of other presidents. The money for the equity adjust- ment was taken from the auxiliary activities fund, rather than from the tax dollars in the general fund. At regents meeting in September, the board approved a $28,288 salary increase for Duderstadt during fiscal year 1996. A few months before announcing his resignation, Duderstadt started building a new Ann Arbor home for his retirement. Construction of the house began last May and is expected to be completed in January. "The house illustrated two things," Baker said. "He wanted to stay in Ann Arbor and he was thinking about his future and what would happen if he went back into teaching. It was just good planning." such coup. "The president resigned, he did it of his own free will, and I know of no plot or coup or anything like that," Harrison said. "I know that the president was not approached by the regents about any- thing of this sort. "And I don't think that anything an anonymous source says can be taken with any credibility," Harrison said in reference to the News report. "When you are under the mask of anonymity, you can say anything you want about anything. It makes some people feel very important to be quoted anony- mously." Duderstadt said his resignation comes after the realization that many of his goals had been accomplished. See DUDERSTADT, Page 3A Inside: Engler attacks Board of Regents. Page 3A house, part of the extensive renovation. Ann Arbor residents Kiyoko Ishikawa and Mutsumi Yoshida demonstrated the ancient rituals of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony (cha-no-yu). The traditional Japanese tea is the ancient practice of serving tea accord- ing to a strict ritual, defining the way it is prepared and served. Rooted in Zen Buddhism, the art of tea ceremony sym- bolizes aesthetic simplicity through the elimination of the unnecessary. The ceremony takes place in a tea room, or cha-shitsu, generally a small house situated in a garden or special room. Two types of green teas are served. A gong is sounded to signal the beginning of the ceremony. Following a prescribed pattern, the host prepares. the tea with utmost exactness. Japanese flower arranging and origami also were featured events. Members of the Ann Arbor Ikebana Society introduced visitors to Japanese flower arranging. Simple arrangements consisted of a lot of greenery, comple- mented by single colorful flowers. Origami expert Don Shall conducted a drop-in workshop at which he demon- strated how to create elegant figures by folding single sheets of paper. Swans, jumping frogs, and sailboats were all taught to novices, who quickly mas- tered the art. Approximately 75 to 100 people at- tended each of the four tea ceremonies. Wu said, "the event was a total success." Being a humble Midwestern museum, spokesman James Manheim said, "We are attempting to attract more students to the museum. All are welcome." Israel prepares to pull out of the West Bank _ U.S. jury convicts sheik, 9 others for bomb attempt, * Foreign minister says troops will hand over administrative offices Los Angeles Times JERUSALEM-Israel will begin its more afraid of what would happen if we didn't do it," Peres said. To Jewish settlers, Peres' remarks -the first announcement by an Israeli official on when and where redeploy- ment will begin - were like a red flag being waved in front of them. NEW YORK (AP) - A federal jury yesterday convicted 10 Muslim radi- cals, including Sheik Omar Abdel- Rahman, of conspiring to bomb the United Nations, a bridge and tunnels in order to frighten the United States into changing its Middle East policies. The jury also convicted one of the defendants, El Sayyid Nosair, in the 19on 'killino f vetremist RAhi Meir Afterward, she told reporters that the blind cleric said, "He's not the first person to go to prison for his beliefs ... and he won't be the last." Lawyers for the defendants said all will appeal. Security around the courthouse was increased immediately after the ver- dict, with uniformed policejoiningdoz- ens of I marshal s.irors were taken ' ~ I