Miami Hurricane, April 21, 1987

              crimes — they are a-changin’
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■Leonardo da Vinci toured Europe with his can-Ivases. Contemporary artists come to Miami with ■their diskettes.
Accent — page

Beginning new era
Steve Walsh talks about taking over the reigns as the Hurricane's No. 1 quarterback.
Sports — page 10
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Volume 64, Number ^ ,_University of Miami	Tuesday, April 21,1987
Code addresses athlete conduct
By KAREN PLAVE
Hurricane News Editor
The University of Miami department of intercollegiate athletics has issued a student-athlete code of conduct which addresses issues such as academics, athletic eligibility, media relations and substance abuse.
Next fall, all athletes will be required to sign a statement which says that they "understand and accept (their] responsibilities as a student-athlete.”
Head football coach Jimmy Johnson appointed Doug Johnson as associate athletic director to implement and explain the code to athletes. His appointment begins July 1.
The code covers obligations that any UM student faces, such as remaining in good academic standing, attending class and following the Honor Code.
But the code also outlines procedures unique to athletes, such as good sportsmanship, drug testing and complimentary game tickets.
“I hope it will make some positive changes," said Frank Dominguez, a junior and catcher on UM’s baseball team.
Tony Scionti, a freshman place-kicker on UM’s football team, agreed.
“It |code| might make us look a little better,” he said.
Although the code is a combined effort of the department of athletics and a task force committee of University administrators and the board of trustees, it originated from a policies and procedures manual for the athletic department.
The Andrus Group, a Houston-based consultant which has authored similar codes for schools,
including the University of Texas, researched National Collegiate Athletic Association regulations for the code.
Sam Jankovich, director of intercollegiate athletics, said, “The cooperation shown in assembling the code shows that the University of Miami is serious about the conduct of its student-athletes because they are role models for thousands of young people around ' the country.”
According to Chris Dudley, director of media relations at UM, the original policies and procedures manual was designed more for the athletic staff. This code is an "interpretation of policies for students themselves.”
The code advises athletes that “|their| education should be [their] primary goal." The report states that class attendance will be
checked on a bi-weekly basis and that any absences will be reported to the coach.
Study sessions and tutorials are required for freshmen and any athlete with a grade point average below 2.0, unless exempted by the head coach.
Athletic eligibility, according to NCAA guidelines, prohibits student-athletes from using their athletic skill for payment, entering into professional contracts or playing on any teams other than those of their universities during the season.
Amateur athletes cannot promote commercial products, accept “such things as gifts, meals, loans of cars or money from athletic interest groups or people within the athletics program" or be represented by an agent “to market (theirjathletic skills or reputation.”
However, a UM Agents Committee is available to evaluate professional opportunities for athletes.
The code also warns against unsportsmanlike conduct, such as “physical abuse of an official, coach, athlete, opponent or spectator, unauthorized seizure of equipment or cameras and use of obscene or Inappropriate language or gestures."
About media relations the code states that the department of athletics “is aware that its image affects the reputation of the entire University and urges you to exercise extreme care when making statements to the media."
Dudley said athletes may need more formal direction in dealing with the media.
He said many young athletes, especially freshmen, are not used to dealing with national media. “It’s important that they [athletes|
cooperate with the media and are articulate,” he said.
“It’s sometimes better to say, ‘No comment’ than to say the wrong thing,” he said.
Athletes are advised to arrange interviews through the Sports Information Office and to consult the office before speaking with the media, except for authorized post-game or post-practice events.
A section on substance abuse discusses the drug testing program; student-athletes will be asked to voluntarily consent at the beginning of each academic year to urinalysis.
According to the code, “your refusal to sign the consent form or submit urine samples will be dealt with by the director of athletics. A lack of cooperation may jeopardize your future participation in intercollegiate athletics at UM."
Campus
extension
removed
By MARA DONAHOE
Hurricane Associate News Editor
The campus extension telephone ottfslrte of
Memorial Building 111 has been disconnected since the beginning of the semester because the bill for its use has not been paid.
The cost of the phone extension is about $500 a year, or $35 a month.
"Thirty-five dollars a month for a school of $12,000 a year doesn’t make sense," said sophomore Tony Lawhon. He added that the phone "could be an aid in an emergency.”
Juan Diaz, president of Roadrunners, said he has received several calls about the phone since the beginning of the semester.
"It was a very highly-used service,” he said.
Diaz said Roadrunners and the Undergraduate Student Body Government will pay for the telephone if the department of Telecommunications will not.
“To pay for a $500 phone at a budget of $360 million is nothing," said Bill Barzee, president-elect of USBG
Barzee said he also has received calls from many students and that the phone will be operating by September “one way or the other."
Mario Yanez, director of Telecommunications, said other such phones were disconnected after he received an order in 1984 to disconnect all phones with unpaid bills, and this particular phone was an oversight.
"This one fell through the cracks,” he said.
“It is one of the more vital phones on campus,” Lawhon said. “It is a service that used to be provided by the school that is beneficial to the students."
The phone outside the Memorial Building was one of five phones on campus that were part of a USBG program called "Nightwatch.”
The program was started in 1980 as a “student security program,” according to Jeffrey Zirulnick, director of the University Center. The program included the five phones and student escorts.
In 1983 the program folded and was picked up by Public Safety.
“It was a good idea but not the most efficient operation,” Zirulnick said.
He mentioned as one of the problems the lack of a central communication system betweeen escorts.
Currently, the program, which provides escorts by foot or carts, is funded by Public Safety.
Please see pane 5/CASE


***** "............. - ..."■
BETH KEISER/Hurricane Staff
Dinner is served
(Left to right) Anna Martinez, and residents of Building 43 Lizette Martinez, Joe DiTaranto, Bob O'Meara, Julian Nwodike, Doug Leaffer, and Darby Adams celebrate Easter together Sunday night.
Honor code case delayed
By KAREN PLAVE
Hurricane News Editor
An honor code case that began at the start of the semester has been delayed even further, according to Bill Mullowney, secretary of the Honor Council.
The second and final appeal was scheduled for last Thursday, but Mullowney said that since Undergraduate Student Body Government President Jose tfr-da. one of/he tftree numbers of the Sd^uipn and hearing could not take place.
Garcia said the absence of one of the committee members is common. "It's very tough to get three people together,” he said.
Dr. William Butler, vice president for student affairs, and Dr. Pamela Ferguson, director of honors and privileged studies, also serve on this Selection and Appeals Committee.
Garcia sent USBG President-elect Bill Barzee to replace him as student representative for the appeal hearing, but Mullowney said because Barzee was not ratified by the USBG senate to replace Garcia, the hearing was postponed until next week.
“To have to go through this whole thing again really stinks,” said Enrique Carrillo, a senior who advises students accused of violating the Honor Code. “It’s not fair.”
“We're trying hard to stick by the language of the code,” Mullowney said.
However, Carrillo said, the committee may have violated confidentiality because Barzee heard the entire appeal before the committee determined he could not vote.
Although Garcia has appointed Barzee as student representative for the remainder of the semester. Barzee said that if he is not ratified by the time the appeal is rescheduled, Garcia will sit on the committee.
“That doesn't mean the system has to stop," Barzee said.
The appeal involves the case of a senior accused of cheating on a management midterm in the fall semester by using notes written on his shoe, hand and chair during the exam.
After the Honor Council first found him guilty in February, the Selection and Appeals Committee remanded the case to the council on the grounds of procedural violation and new evidence. The student's professor did not testify at the hearing, and the testimony of one of the witnesses containedcontradic-tions.
The council again found the student guilty at a second hearing, and this is the decision the student is now appealing on 13 different points, including a biased panel and a lack of clear and convincing evidence.
Although the student faces suspension if the appeal is denied, he is meanwhile attending classes
Credit improves lifesyle but ‘later you pay for it’
By CAREN BURMEISTER
Hurricane Assistant News Editor
This is the second in a two-part series on students and credit cards.
Credit cards are the American way of raising the standard of living, according to Andy McGee, executive director of Consumer Credit Counseling Services of South Florida.
Shannon High, a junior majoring in telecommunication, said she usually uses her card for entertainment purposes.
"It ¡charging] is like sinning; while you’re doing it, it's the best thing in the world, but later on, you pay for it.” She compared credit to drinking or gambling because it must be controlled.
McGee warned students against living beyond their means. He recommended that credit card holders “never let their balance exceed 15 percent of their income." People that charge beyond this amount are in trouble if they lose their jobs.
He also advised card holders to pay off their balance to avoid paying interest. At this time, the national interest average is up to 19 percent, according to McGee.
Lori Alterman, a junior majoring in telecommunication, has had her card for two months. She said she has not overcharged, although she admits that she has been tempted.
"In case of an emergency, it’s great to have because I don’t usually carry cash on me," Alterman said.
McGee warned students to be especially cautious with charge accounts since they often face additional financial burdens from student loans.
Most public college students who graduated in 1986 were leaving school with an average debt of $6,685, he said, and private college students had acquired an average debt of $8,950.
Students do not know how much money they will make when they graduate, and they can avoid starting out with the additional
financial pressure of credit card debt, McGee said.
McGee gave a classic example of credit temptation. One college graduate received several extensions on his limit due to a good record. He was also still paying his student loans from college.
Eventually, this student charged sp much that he began to borrow from one charge account to pay for another.
"This is a real personal catastrophe because this guy became $49,000 in debt," McGee said.
While credit card interest was tax-deductible in the past, McGee said that such deductions will be phased out by a three-year federal tax plan.
Next year, only 65 percent of the credit interest can be deducted from federal income tax, he said. The following year, 30 percent can be deducted, and in the third year, only 15 percent can he deducted.
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