THE NEWS RECORD
132 YEARS IN PRINT VOL. CXXXI ISSUE XLVI
THURSDAY | APRIL 19 | 2012
ON THE
BELL LAP
sports | 8
SLUTWALK spotlight | 5
University refunds $9.3M in loans RYAN HOFFMAN | SENIOR REPORTER
The University of Cincinnati’s billfold has recently gotten a little lighter. UC doled out payments totaling $9.3 million to former students, banks and the federal government in an attempt to correct a student aid tracking error that occurred from 2002 to 2005. Between that time period, 2,389 UC students — responsible for 4,618 loans — might have received loans they were not entitled to. These include students who received financial aid to pay for classes they withdrew from or students who received aid for classes UC couldn’t verify they attended, said Greg Hand, UC spokesman. In response to the gaffe, UC has forgiven the loans and reimbursed students who were paying debt on loans they didn’t deserve. Students have been reimbursed by UC for the amount of the loan they already
paid off. The university has also paid the remaining balances owed to the banks that issued the loans. The sum of those payments totaled approximately $4.9 million. An additional $4.3 million was returned to the federal government for grants issued to students who weren’t eligible to receive them. Funding for the payments was accumulated during the past several budget cycles, through funds specifically set aside for these payments. “The systems are in place now where it won’t happen again, but it took some time to fix the situation,” Hand said. When a student withdraws from a class, the university receive a code stating the student either participated or didn’t participate. The problem at UC arose because the university was in the process of putting in new student systems, but at the time of the mistake, they didn’t have a system that
Hart, Idries elected to head SG
handled the withdrawal codes. As a result, the university wasn’t keeping track of the students who withdrew. “We couldn’t tell whether they were eligible for their loan or not,” Hand said. The process of repairing these financial aid problems has been lengthy and strenuous, Hand said. First, the university had to get a complete audit for every student’s account spanning the three-year period. Then they had to get contact information for each former student receiving payments. In the final step UC had to verify the payment amount before they could send out the checks. “We’ve identified everybody who is involved, and all the communications has gone out,” Hand said. The university became aware of the problem in 2004, the same year the SEE REFUNDS | 4
THE BIG PAYBACK UC refunded millions of dollars to former students in an attempt to correct a student aid tracking error, said UC spokesman Greg Hand.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION PAT STRANG | PHOTO EDITOR
ARIEL CHEUNG | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF With 67 percent of the vote, Lane Hart and Maesa Idries swept the Student Government elections. The 2012-13 Student Government elections closed Wednesday with one-fourth of the undergraduate student body casting votes Monday, April 16 through April 18. The results were announced at Wednesday’s Student Government meeting, where both slates awaited the results. “I was crushing Maesa’s hand like it was going to fall off; I don’t think I’d ever been that nervous in my life,” said Hart, a fourth-year information systems and finance student. “I’m exhausted, but I can’t wait to get to work.” Idries, a fourth-year chemical engineering student, will serve as the first female student body vice president in more than a decade. “I’m so honored to be in this position,” Idries said. “Women make up 54 percent of UC, yet we consistently are underrepresented in government bodies and leadership positions in general.” Idries said she hopes her being elected will inspire other female students. “I hope it does empower other women to seek leadership positions and show we do need to be represented on campus,” she said. The pair defeated Phil Dinovo, a fourth-year marketing student, and Stephanie Kenning, a thirdyear operations management, international business and Asian studies student. “I’m feeling disappointed, but I know Lane and Maesa will do a good job and represent the students,” Dinovo said. “We were happy with our campaign, but they ran a very aggressive campaign.” Dinovo and Hart said they plan to collaborate after talking with students during their campaigns. “We both want to do what’s best for the university, so we want to get together and try and find a way for all of us to work on stuff SEE ELECTIONS | 4
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Disease research awarded LANCE LAMBERT | SENIOR REPORTER
REWORDING THE RULES
Code of conduct could change in
light of recent national harassment trend BEN GOLDSCHMIDT | SENIOR REPORTER
T
he University of Cincinnati Student Code of Conduct (SCOC) will be undergoing some key changes if the Board of Trustees approves them in June. To comply with federal regulations, the language regarding sexual harassment and assault will be modified in the SCOC. The process for appealing sexual assault cases will be modified to provide more clarity. These changes come in the wake of Xavier University’s handling of a sexual harassment case in January, when the university allegedly negotiated on behalf of Sean Marron — a student who allegedly violated Xavier’s policies regarding sexual harassment by engaging in stalking behavior — and shifted responsibility to the victim. While Xavier’s handling of this case is unrelated to UC’s revision of its code, the federal regulations requiring the change came as a result of a pattern of this kind of misconduct in institutions across the country, said Daniel Cummins, UC’s director of Judicial Affairs. UC is ahead of the game when it comes to cracking down on sexual harassment, Cummins said. Cummins added that these changes are meant to further solidify the environment of equality the university has created when it comes to gender. “When the federal government gives a school even one dollar, that school must comply with
the regulations,” Cummins said. “But this is a good thing. We’re ahead of the game because — along with other things — we already require all paid employees at the university to take a sexual harassment online test.” Some of the major changes to go before the Board of Trustees are meant to create consistency and clarification involving academic misconduct, Cummins said. An addendum to the definition of plagiarism will be added, which is “submitting one’s own previously written or oral work without modification and instructor permission.” A student who plans to recycle CUMMINS term papers might find him or herself needing permission from instructors to do so and must modify the work so that it is original, Cummins said. “It makes sense,” Cummins said. “Students pay a lot of money for a serious discipline, and faculty puts a lot of effort into giving them that discipline. I mean, when you go to the doctor, do you want one that plagiarized their way through medical school?” The timeline for the Academic Misconduct process is being modified to be consistent throughout the handbook, and procedures for selecting Administrative Review Committee SEE CODE | 4
The University of Cincinnati garnered another award for its work in research. Research shows that can drugs stabilize lung function in those who suffer from a rare lung disease has won UC medical researchers the honor of being named one of the “Top 10” clinical research projects in the country. Dr. Frank McCormack, director of pulmonary at the UC College of Medicine (COM), and other UC researchers received the Clinical Research Forum Clinical Research Achievement Award April 18 in Washington D.C. The award was from the Clinical Research Forum — a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing national leadership in clinical research, with a mission to generate support for clinical research and promote health care delivery. McCormack published the award-winning research, “Efficacy and Safety of Sirolimus in Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM),” in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study found that the drug sirolimus could stabilize lung function in women with LAM — a rare, life-threatening lung disease, which causes abnormal cells in the lungs, kidneys and lymph nodes. “We tested drug in LAM to stabilize lung function,” McCormack said. The drug Sirolimus behaved has we had thought it would, McCormack said. In 2005, we received Federal Drug Administration approval to proceed with the study and enrolled patients early January 2008, McCormack said. There are 13 study sites, each having their own principle investigator pharmacist, and other staff members, McCormack said. Approximately 200 individuals contributed to this study. He felt privileged to accept the award for many people who SEE AWARD | 4
Councilman proposes law school move LANCE LAMBERT | SENIOR REPORTER
THURSDAY
FILE ART | THE NEWS RECORD
A plan to move the nation’s fourth-oldest law school to downtown Cincinnati is currently being lobbied by Cincinnati City Councilman Charlie Winburn. Winburn is proposing to move University of Cincinnati’s College of Law (COL) to the Banks development site at Vine and Second streets, a move that would cost $65 million. The proposal Winburn will lobby to Cincinnati City Council Monday, April 23, will propose the city set aside $25 million for the project, with the other $40 million coming from private funds. “[We’d] bring the UC’s law school downtown to the epicenter of Cincinnati and linking the law school to court houses where law is practiced and where the law firms are located,” Winburn said. “Opportunity to grow UC to the position it as a world-class
university, 160,000 people would see the new law school every day. “The $65 million would include building the school, infrastructure and some would be used to change Vine Street into ‘UC Way,’” Winburn said. The proposal would need to been approved by UC President Greg Williams and the UC Board of Trustees if City Council approves the measure. “The law school building condition is fine,” said Greg Williams, UC spokesman. “They’re looking to expand with a larger building.” The CoL has raised $4.5 million toward a $30 million private fund raising goal to build a law school on its current site at the northeast corner of Clifton Avenue and Calhoun Street, said Louis Bilionis, dean of UC’s CoL. The 140,000-square-foot building is expected to cost between $60 million and
FILE ART | THE NEWS RECORD
FOR GREENER PASTURES Louis Bilionis (right), dean of UC’s College of Law, said he in favor of a new facility for the college. The new building would have space for mock trials and parking spaces. $70 million, Bilionis said. Any change in the current plan would come only after an analysis of cost issues, the impact
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on students and the ability of UC law professors to maintain and grow academic relationships in SEE LAW | 4