Miami Hurricane, September 22, 1987

              Let’s get physical
The exercise physiology lab in the Merrick Building will help you get in shape the right way.
News — page 5
A chocolate-covered affair
Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity brothers get dunked in chocolate at the fourth annual Chocolate Festival and Fair.
Accent — page 8
Eye of the tiger
University of Miami student Bill Bradford trades in his fins and swim mask for a pair of boxing gloves and a mouthpiece.
Sports — page 10
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1RS demands taxes from
By CAREN BURME1STER
Hurricane Assistant News Editor
About 30 University of Miami graduate students are getting ready to fight the Internal Revenue Service and the University is agreeing to pay the way.
The IRS wrote letters to several UM graduate students demanding them to pay taxes from fellowships they received in 1984. The students say UM led them to believe the fellowships were not taxable.
“There was a general understanding at all levels that our fellowships were tax exempt." said Robert Petasne, a part-time Phd. candidate at the Rosenstiel Marine and Atmospheric Sciences.
According to Cindy Augustyn, associate general counsel of Legal Counsel, UM hired the law firm Mershon, Sawyer, Johnston. Dunwoody and Cole to represent the graduate students in their proceedings with the IRS.
“Fees for that law firm will be covered by the
University," Augustyn said.
In 1984 Petasne received a United States Navy grant of $2,968. On April 2, 1987 he recieved a letter from the IRS demanding $809.35 in taxes on that amount.
“IRS is coming back three years later and asking us to cough up the money, and it's impossible," Petasne said.
Petasne said he works part-time to supplement the fellowship. He said, "It |the fellowship! is just enough money to get by."
Petasne said he was relieved to hear that UM will assist the graduate students in their struggle against IRS.
"I am really grateful to the administrators because seven of us are already in tax court," Petasne said.
After Petasne received the letter from the IRS, he went to Dr. Warren Wisby, then associate dean of graduate students at RSMAS. According to Petasne, Wisby said he would help support the students in their case against the IRS.
Wisby sent a letter to the IRS stating "certain
sums paid during 1984 are excluded from the student’s gross income under the provisions of paragraph (b) (1) of Section 117 of the 1954 Internal Revenue Code.”
To appeal the tax, Petasne and other graduate students also had to send documentation to the 1RS proving they were graduate students, were candidates for degrees, what degree they were pursuing, the requrements for that degree and a copy of the graduate student application. They had to document several other conditions as well.
A few months after Petasne sent this documentation to the 1RS, he recieved a letter from them.
The letter stated that 1RS had considered the documentation but found that it did not change their charge.
The letter states, "The fact that the services rendered are a prerequisite for a degree won't turn what is actually payment for services into an exempt scholarship or fellowship."
“Apparently 1RS thinks the graduate students rented a service," said Brenda Livingstone, senior
grads
secretary for the associate dean of graduate students.
“UM can not handle the case because there is a conflict of interest; they are the employer,” Livingston said
Two UM grad students have had their cases dropped. One of them, Guillermo Podesta, managed to get his case transferred to the IRS’ Miami office Six weeks later he recieved notification that his case had been dropped
Podesta said that the documentation he sent to the IRS was the same as the other graduate students'.
"I don't see any fact that would distinguish me from the rest, except that I am a foreign student," Podesta said
"If IRS could go to RSMAS and see the graduate students that they are demanding back taxes from, they would turn away from the case," Patasne said "These students are living from day to day, counting every penny."
Graduate students seeking information about legal assistance for 1984 tax demands on stipends should go through their respective deans.
PETI K PAOLKELl Mfurm-utn- Stuf/
(From left to right) Col. Martin Neuens, Cadet Maj. Eva Strelka, Cadet Col. Melissa Richards and Capt. James Conlin release black and white balloons in remembrance of prisoners of war missing in Asia.
Colonel says men still missing
By ALBERT XIQUES
Hurricane Staff Writer
Col. Martin Neuens, a prisoner of war in Vietnam for six and a half years, said that there is evidence that men are still missing in Southeast Asia and that the Vietnamese know more than what they are saying.
"There's a reasonable possibility we still have men over there," Neuens said. "I feel there is enough evidence out there, sightings and things, and I also believe that where there's smoke, there's fire."
Neuens, an Air Force officer for 23 years, is currently a professor of aerospace studies at the University of Miami, commander of Air Force Detachment 155, and is in charge of the University of Miami Air Force ROTC.
The Arnold Air Society, a select group of AFROTC cadets, sponsored the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action Dedication ceremony Friday in the Lowe Art Museum.
The purpose of the ceremony was to express support for the families of unaccounted for United States soldiers who fought in Southeast Asia and
publicize their situation.
Cadet Eric Coulter, commander of the Arnold Air Society at the University of Miami, said "A lot is being done on this issue, such as the recent talks with Vietnam, and we want to make sure it |the POW/MIA issue| stays alive."
Neuens said contact with the other prisoners kept him alive and kept his mind active and alert while being held as a POW
Captured in August 1966, he spent the first few months alone and tortured. Later he was fortunate enough to be put in a cell with another American prisoner, he said.
When he was freed in 1973, he thought that all the prisoners held by the North Vietnamese had been freed. Yet, over 2,000 U S. soldiers were unaccounted for and he began to hear of reports from Vietnamese immigrants, the so-called "boat people," about Americans still in North Vietnam.
Neuens said he thinks that the Vietnamese know more than they're saying, but it's all give and take. He said we are getting closer to possibly resolving this issue.
Grades illegally gotten, fraternity brothers say
By MONTRESE HAMILTON
Hurricane Copy Editor
Some Pi Kappa Alpha brothers claim their placement on early alumni status in the University of Miami’s Gamma Omega chapter was based on illegally-obtained grade reports.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, known as the Buckley Amendment, makes it illegal for anyone but a student to make the student'& grades public
knowledge	broilutr« «oy
Mark Lundgren, graduate advisor
to UM’s Pike chapter, may have been the one to give the grades to the fraternity’s national office.
Damon Pettirossi, a junior and one of the Pikes placed on early alumni status believes the grades were distributed illegally.
‘ They |the national office! knew previously, before we even got in there. How? That’s |what| I want to know."
Kevin Van Horn, also a junior
‘The fraternity is not on the list of interested parties who may obtain grades without students’ signatures.’
William Sandler, dean of
students
unci unot/ier broftier p/«c«*d on
early alumni status, said he too is certain that the Pike nationals were given fraternity grades prior to the personal interviews and evaluations conducted in May.
He said Lundgren. who is also Dean William Sandler's graduate fraternity assistant, was involved
"Before the representatives from Pike came down, they asked him |Lundgren| to furnish a list of the grades and grade point averages of everbody in the fraternity to
them," Van Horn said.
“Lundgren told me that they asked him and he told them that he couldn't do it because it was against the Buckley Amendment. He finally said that he would give them our grades as long as they did not use them in any way against us," he said.
Van Horn said he never signed any waiver to release his transcript, but he did give his GPA to the fraternity during his personal interview in May.
Lundgren, in hi.s position as s
fSruitoutf MtfilMtanl to ManUlvr, has
access to student grades.
Sandler said,"Mark Lundgren, as an employee, has access to grades. He has no authority to give grades to the |Pike| fraternity.” Lundgren said, "There is no basis of fact in that allegation I've told The Miami Hurricane before that each active |brother| provides his GPA to the fraternity during their personal interview or by
Please see pane 4/PIKE
Code improves UM image
By CAREN BURMEISTER
Hurricane Assistant News Editor
This is the second of a two-part series on the University of Miami Honor Code .
Students who don't think that cheating in college will come back to haunt them might consider the case of Sen. Joseph Biden, whose political career is challanged now that a 23-year-old act of plagiarism from law school has been publicized.
Until a year ago, cheating had been a problem on the University of Miami campus, according to Marc Oster, a junior member of the UM Honor Council.
Oster said the Honor Code has improved the image of the University and he is optimistic about the code's ability to eliminate cheating. "I have already observed that cheating has declined at UM,” Oster said.
Since its implementation, the Honor Council has reviewed 13 cases and another plagiarism case is currently pending.
Five students have been suspended from UM for various periods of time by the Honor Council, but no one has been permanently expelled.
The other 20 students have received final disciplinary probation, strict disciplinary probation or a disciplinary warning.
Tracy Bonday, a senior Honor Council member, said she thinks that most of the Council’s decisions have been fair. She said the final decision about each case is a compromise between the views of the council members.
The Honor Code and Council originated in the spring of 1985 with a student referendum. A document was drafted the following fall and was ratified by the Faculty Senate and UM president Edward T. Foote II on July 15,
1986.
The Honor Council consists of 14 students, one from each undergraduate school. These members are appointed by the dean of their particular school, then they are interviewed and appointed by the the Selection and Appeals Committee.
According to Bill Mullowney, advisor for the Honor Council, these members take their job seriously.
"They are fellow peers |of the accused! who have to make decisions that affect the accused's life," Mullowney said.
Bonday said some cases are more difficult to decide because of their complexity. "We've had many sleepness nights over decisions on punishment,"Bonday said
Oster said that the Council members feel very responsible for their decisions."We want to make sure no innocent person pays a price for something he or she didn't do," he said.
To initiate a complaint against an alleged cheater, Bill Mullowney, secretary of the Honor Council, requests that a short but detailed letter be sent to him. This letter begins the Honor Code process.
A hearing panel, consisting of seven Council members, is selected and the acccused student and relevant faculty members are notified.
Then an initial inquiry is made to decide whether there is probable cause that the accused committed the charge.
If probable cause is shown, the case will move to a preliminary hearing where the initial inquiry report is reviewed and it is determined whether the charge violates the honor code.
If the case is not dismissed, a formal hearing is held where the witnesses can testify and the
accused can present a defense to the charge.
After the final hearing, a decision is made by Honor Council members on the basis of clear and convincing evidence. If the accused is found guilty, a penalty is determined.
The Honor Code system provides the student with the right to
I ’lease see pane 4/CODF.
UM to sponsor first Nicaraguan research program
By ANDY SHIPE
Hurricane Contributing Editor
This is the second in a series of reports on Central America and the University of Miami.
The University of Miami will soon be the first university in the country to have a research and publications program dedicated solely to Nicaragua.
"I think Nicaragua is going to be an
4	4
issue for a long time," said Dr. Jaime Suchlicki, director of the UM Institute of Interamerican Studies at the Graduate School of International Studies.
"No university is focusing on Nicaragua — there is no research capability, or data capability for Nicaragua. We want to create a database on Nicaragua."
Suchlicki also directs the Cuban studies program at GSIS, and will direct the Nicaraguan studies program.
Presently, the research group consists I
of: Suchlicki, who will study Nicaragua from the Cuban viewpoint; Jiri Valenta, who will study Nicaragua from the Soviet viewpoint; Alvaro Taboada, once the Nicaraguan ambassador to Ecuador under the Sandanistas; and Arturo Cruz, a prominent figure in the Sandanista revolution as well as a former contra leader.
Cruz is renowned for his involvement with the Sandanistas, including his unauthorized bid for president in 1984
against Daniel Ortega. He also led. and recently resigned from, the contras, a military group training in Honduras and armed by the CIA to overthrow the Sandanista government
“I've known Cruz for many years," Suchlicki said, "We’ve participated in a series of seminars. 1 thought he would be ideal."
"He |Cruz| is politically objective," said Ambler Moss, dean of the GSIS “He tried to work with the Sandanistas, and
left when he felt he could not make contact with them. He tried to work with the contras, and left when he felt their position was not worth supporting."
The Sandanistas entered the world political scene in 1979, when a coalition of socialist and communist parties culminated a 20-year revolution in Nicaragua by overthrowing the regime of Anastasio
Please see page 4/STUDIES