Miami Hurricane, February 16, 1982

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By MARIA A. DOMINGUEZ
News Writer
University of Miami administrators have denied that the university has lowered its admissions standards. They made those comments Friday after a story in Thursday’s Miami Herald said that the University of Miami has "lowered its admissions standards,” and that it has recruited "weaker” students than Florida International University (FIU).
According to the Herald, the information was based on a report pre-' pared by the UM Faculty Senate’s Committee on Academic Standards
George Giampetro, acting dean for enrollment and allied services, said that UM has not lowered its admissions standards.
While admitting that the report is statistically accurate in citing a six percent drop in the mean SAT score for the spring 1982 freshmen, he explained that the admissions procedure is very complex.
A variey of factors must be considered along with the Scho!	nti-
tude Test and grade point average, he said. There are, for exa	y
students who speak English as a second language, and whose	s
may bç highly affected by that fact. This does not indicate that they are less bright or capable than other applicants whose scores may be superior, said Giampetro.
The Herald was correct, said Giampetro, in stating that the average SAT score for the 190 entering t-TU freshmen was 1058 (74 points above UM’s mean freshmen score for March). However, the story did not mention that the average SAT score for our top 190 students was 1235.
The comparison between a private and a state institution, varying in fundamental areas such as the size of their student bodies and access to tax revenue, is so disparate that it fails to provide the soundness on which to base valid conclusions, said Giampetro.
Giampetro recognizes the fact that the University of Miami, like most private universities in the United States, is facing problems. The increasing cost of higher education, the uncertain state of our economy and federal cuts in student aid have produced a decrease in the number of applicants. In addition, Miami must deal with the implications of a deteriorating image, predicated by the pervasive drug market, the mass entry of refugees and the related elevations in crime.
As a means of addressing these problems, the University of Miami has
embarked on a number of programs aimed at stressing the unique and positive qualities of the community and the school, said Giampetro.
In November, 10 students worked to contact 6,000 students who had expressed an interest in attending the University of Miami — thereby adding a “personal touch" to the recruitment process. Next week, all approved applicants will receive mailings depicting Miami as a thriving banking community, as the third busiest port on the East Coast, and as an area of natural scenic beauty. The mailings will also make reference to the importance of the University of Miami in the community.
President Edward T. Foote forsees a smaller undergraduate student body, particularly in the College of Arts and Sciences. He feels that there is a tendency to "grow and grow", and the university could easily be larger. But he asserts that he is not willing to expand at the expense of quality education.
President Foote's goal is to move the University of Miami “into the absolute unquestioned front ranks of national universities. . ." Judging from our 26th-place ranking among the 126 accredited medical schools in the country, and our 36th-place ranking in obtaining federal research grants, it certainly looks as if we’re headed in that direction.
Sophomore Wins Miss Black UM Saturday Night
By RAM UPPULURI
News Writer
A highlight of Black History Month took place Saturday night in the Joseph Caleb Center in Liberty City. Beautiful ladies, refreshing talent, and some soul-filling music all came together at the eighth annual Miss Black University of Miami Pageant, sponsored by United Black Students.
Seven contestants, all undergraduates at the University of Miami, competed for the Miss Black UM crown. They were judged in four areas: swimwear, talent, evening gown and articulation. Jacquie Jones, a sophomore sponsored by Alpha Kappa Alpha fraternity, came away with the title.
I he seven girls, who before the show admitted that they had enjoyed working together, spent the bettfer part of a month preparing for Saturday's gala affair. Robin Fletcher, serving in her third and final year as Pageant Director, was an emcee, along with business professor Ricardo McKinney.
An audience of about 400 people came close to half filling the beautiful Caleb Center auditorium. Francena Thomas, Director of Urban Student Studies at Florida International University, and one of the seven judges, was pleased with the turn out, but remarked that con-spicously "missing" were "white staff members of the University of Miami.”
Thomas termed improving relations and understanding between blacks and whites on campus as well as in the community a "reciprocal process" which calls for involvement on both sides.
Another judge, Jimmie Allen, architect and alumnus of UM, remarked that he was pleased that the pageant was held out in the community.
"This shows the community /hat is going on in the black community of the University of Miami," he said
The contestants commented that they thought of themselves as “representatives of the black community at UM." Clarell Chevallier, voted Miss Congeniality by the other girls, said, “All of us are potential leaders."
Teresa Beledsoe, a judge who has been a contestant in several pageants, looked for this air of confidence. A model in her own right, and the proprietor of Images of Beauty finishing and modeling school, Beledsoe talked about the pageant.
"All communities get off on beauty pageants,” she said. This kind of affair lends "confidence to the black people," she added. "But if you feel good about the person you are, the color doesn’t really matter."
Jacquie Jones, the winner of the pageant, did an interpretative dance in a dress of her own design. Second runner up in the pageant was Valerie Williams, who sang George Gershwin’s Summertime.
The other contestants were Clarell Chevallier (Miss Congeniality), Felicia Jones, Debra Scott, and Tina Harris — whose fiery rendition of Bette Midler’s When a Man Loves a Woman brought the audience to its feet.
Jones’ responsibilities as Miss Black UM will include serving as a major representative of the University of Miami. She also plans to enter the Miss Black America Pageant this summer.
Miami Hurrtcane/Courtny of ARMANDO RODRIGUEZ
Miami Hurricane/SI U RA SIR
UM player Christo Steyn competed in the Ryder Tennis Classic held here at UM last weekend. The UM tennis team split its opening two matches against Clemson ^ and Southern Methodist University.
USBG Adopts Regulations Rill
By LOURDES FERNANDEZ
Head News Writer
The USBG Senate passed a bill Wednesday recommending that once a student enters the University of Miami, he will be allowed to abide by the rules and regulations of the bulletin of the year he entered. Those rules would be the ones the student would go by, and changes made while he was still enrolled would not affect him.
Specifically, this concerns the recent changes in the drop date and repeat class grading policy.
The USBG Senate hasbeen arguing against these two new policies ever since the Faculty Senate voted to implement them next fall.
The drop date was changed to four weeks and the repeat class policy was changed so that a student repeating a class will have the grades from both classes averaged together, not the lower grade dropped.
The administration has 30 days to respond to USBG's proposal or it will automatically take effect.
The method to be used for tabulating votes for student government elections this spring was also a major item of discussion at the
r
meeting
Due to a complication that has arisen, votes will be tabulated differently this year. Elections Commission Chairperson Linda Lurie told the senate members.
According to Lurie, the Dade County Elections Department can no longer loan USBG the tabulating machines since they "burn-out” too easily.
Lurie presented the senate with three options:
The first option is to put the ballots in a sealed box and take it to the Dade County Elections Department the next day. Once there, the votes will be counted and the results will be announced that afternoon.
However, to do it in this manner, the present election dates would have to be changed, explained Lurie.
Elections were scheduled to be held Wednesday and Thursday (March 31-April 1) and run-offs, if necessary, would have been on Friday (April 2).
But if results are not announced until Friday, run-offs would have to be on Monday, and it is unconstitutional to hold run-offs on a Monday,
t
said Speaker of the Senate Armando Rodriguez.
Therefore, it would be necessary to hold elections on Tuesday and Wednesday, announce results on Thursday, and have run-offs on Friday, said Lurie.
The second option, according to Lurie, is to count the votes by hand and announce the results that night. Then the votes would be taken to the Dade County Elections Department and recounted.
The last option proposed by Lurie would be to have hand-written ballots, which would be counted by USBG.
According to Lurie, there is a problem with the last two options in that there wouldn’t be enough time to count the votes if the polls closed as usual at 5 p.m..
After a recess, Lurie proposed to change the voting hours from 10 a.m. — 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. — 3 p.m. so they could have time to count all the votes by that evening.
Several senators argued that many students vote from three to five, so the time should not be changed. After much discussion, the senate tabled voting on this issue until the next meeting
Ex-Cop Says Illegal Acts Are Justified
By STEVEN A. BOYER
News Writer
Former New York City policeman Robert Leuci justifies keeping confiscated drug money and giving drugs to informants as a means of arresting big heroin dealers.
"Anything can be rationalized, even committing a felony,” said Leuci in a speech Wednesday night in the Ruth Stanford International Lounge.
As part of a special street-wise, undercover investigative unit of the New York City Police Department, Leuci and his fellow cops had "bent a few rules". Their unsupervised and unrestricted freedom allowed them to arrest many big time drug operators.
Because of their Machiavellian principals, namely that of "the end justifies the means," made famous by the protagonist in the Italian author’s "The Prince," these cops were dubbed “Princes of the City.”
But something inside Leuci told him that what he was doing wasn't quite right. F'or reasons unclear even to himself, Leuci came forward as an informant on corruption in the NYCPD.
Although neither he nor his partners were under formal investigation, his guilty conscience led him to a secret meeting with the state prosecut’er. Leuci remembers saying. “Let's investigate, and not just police, the entire criminal justice system."
Leuci eventually confessed to three major acts of corruption, and during his trial committed countless acts of perjury trying to protect his friends and partners. Two years later, after the many trials before which he was called to testify were over, Leuci saw the arrest and prosecution of five organized crime bosses, three lawyers, one assistant district attorney, and 55 cops.
It was very difficult at first for Leuci to give heroin to junkies in exchange for information. But after a while, he recalls, "The clear line vanishes between right and wrong, and an erosion process sets in.”
You become, what Leuci calls a “reflection of the city," a reflection of those you are fighting against. “And even though you’ve committed a felony,” Leuci says, “you think to yourself: Who's gonna arrest a cop for trying to bust a dope dealer? What we’re doing is good!”
Leuci related a story about a wiretapping incident that gave him insight into corruption in the criminal justice system.
He and his partner had reason to believe a large drug operation was taking place in a house in their precinct, but they needed to tap the phones in order to determine the best time to move in. So Leuci visited the assistant district attorney, who wouldn't approve the order for the wiretap until he was certain it would be “productive”.
“But how can I know it’ll be productive ‘til it’s put in?” Leuci exclaimed. In essence what the District Attorney was advocating was the use of an illegal tap, Leuci claims, without the written permission of the state.
So the illegal tap was put into place, and was immediately productive. He returned for a search warrant to the office of the DA, who wanted to know where the productive information came from
“From my informant," said Leuci.
The DA smiled and handed over the warrant.
"He didn't ask to see my informant,” explained Leuci. “He didn't care. He knew the informant was, of course, from the illegal wiretap. It’s so easy for a district attorney to get away with this kind of crime, you can imagine why a cop can find it so easy to rationalize.”
One of the major crimes Leuci admitted to was keeping money he and his partners had confiscated during a drug bust.
“We found ourselves sitting on top of a pile of money, not heroin as we had been expecting." said Leuci. They had mistakenly confused drugs and drug money in interpreting the actions of three Cuban dealers.
Faced with the choice of handling a week's paperwork or sending the Cubans back to Florida, Leuci and his partners kept about $3.000 apiece and sent the dealers packing.
When questioned after the lecture, Leuci contrasted the heroin’s effects on a person with those of the so-called “recreational” drugs like marijuana and cocaine.
"Heroin is entirely addictive," says the former police officer. "It totally envelops a person, until all he lives for. day and night, is that next injection. Coke and pot, on the other hand, are basically consumed to get high and have a good time."
In a very casual, matter of fact manner, Leuci talked about his brother’s heroin addiction. “He was real proud," says Leuci. "He even showed me his tracks."
The difference between the heroin environment of 60’s and 70's, said Leuci, and the cocaine economy here in Miami, is basically one of geography. “New York
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