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february 29, 2012
t h e i n de pe n de n t s t u de n t n e w spa pe r of s y r acuse , n e w yor k
INSIDENEWS
INSIDEOPINION
INSIDEPULP
Lifeline Syracuse City School District receives an
Stress-busting The Daily Orange Editorial Board
Leap years ahead Leap year babies share stories
$11.5 million grant after the funding was suspended in January due to a lack of fulfilled requirements. Page 7
provides students and professors suggestions on how to make midterm week a breeze. Page 5
of celebrating a unique birthday. Page 11
INSIDESPORTS
AManny manBreland of firsts was a pioneer for minority athletes in the Syracuse area. Page 20
Medical school plans to fix probation issues By Marwa Eltagouri ASST. NEWS EDITOR
sammi charen | contributing photographer (FROM LEFT) BOBBY DAVIS, GLORIA ALLRED AND MIKE LANG appeared in Albany, N.Y., Tuesday to show support for a new bill that would extend the statute of limitations for child sexual abuse cases.
fine a llegations
Accusers push for child sexual abuse bill By David Propper STAFF WRITER
ALBANY — Two of Bernie Fine’s accusers came to Albany on Tuesday to show their support for a bill that would extend the statute of limitations concerning child sexual abuse. Bobby Davis, 40, and Mike Lang, 45, along with their attorney, Gloria Allred, appeared at a press conference in the Legislative Office Build-
ing for the Child Victims Act that would change both the civil and criminal constraints faced by accusers. The bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Margaret Markey, would extend the statute of limitations for child molestation. Under the current New York state law, the statute for prosecuting a child sexual offender runs out after 10 years. The new law Markey is sponsoring would allow the statute
of limitations to continue until the victim is 28 years old. Additionally, the law would give victims a oneyear period to sue their abuser no matter how old the victim is. Davis and Lang both accused Fine of sexually abusing them when they were children. Fine was fired from Syracuse University in late November. He has denied all wrongdoing and has not been charged.
Charlie Jiao, a first-year medical student at Upstate Medical University, received an email last week notifying him that the College of Medicine was on probation. “As you know, last fall the Liaison Committee on Medical Education had recommended that Upstate’s undergraduate medical education be accredited with probationary status,” read the email, sent by Interim Dean David Duggan to students and staff. “The LCME has now notified us that it will move forward with its recommendation.” Though Jiao said the news initially surprised him, he said he was reas-
PLANNING AHEAD
The university has 24 months to address the issues causing the probation. A plan describing the exact methods of how they will resolve the issues must be submitted by Aug. 15. The plan would then be executed over the next few months. After the 24-month window, Liaison Committee on Medical Education has the authority to prolong the prohibition period, grant accreditation, grant accreditation with a short cycle or lift the accreditation entirely.
sured upon reading the remainder of the email, which stated that the program remained fully accredited. “They said they’re working to address the issues, which don’t seem all that huge,” he said. “And so none of this really worries me.” During the past month, Upstate has dealt with a slew of issues, mainly from the LCME’s poor review of the program. More recently, Michael Miller, former chairman of Upstate’s department of neuroscience and physiology, was the subject of a federal investigation for falsifying federally funded research results. Miller misrepresented data in at least four studies, according to a report from the Office of Research Integrity filed Monday. Duggan said the university began solving the problems related to the LCME’s review immediately upon learning about them — and some have already been addressed. The university was granted 24 months to address these issues and submit a plan describing how by Aug. 15. The plan will be executed over the next few months, he said. “Once the LCME gets our plan and approves it, they will visit to validate it and see if it’s working,” Duggan said. “Then we will hopefully get off probation.” The LCME visited the university last March and decided that the medi-
SEE UPSTATE PAGE 6
SEE ACCUSERS PAGE 4
pa n a m 1 0 3
Al-Megrahi’s involvement in bombing questioned By Stephanie Bouvia ASST. NEWS EDITOR
In the past two days, speculation has risen regarding Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s involvement in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing in Lockerbie, Scotland. On Monday, the film “Lockerbie: Case Closed,” debuted on Al Jazeera’s website. The film is an assessment of the Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission, a quasi-public body in
Scotland that is independent from the government and courts, according to a Feb. 28 Al Jazeera article. Al-Megrahi was the only man to ever be convicted for involvement in the Pan Am Flight 103 tragedy that killed 270 people, including 35 Syracuse University students. The students were returning from semesters in London and Florence, Italy, through SU’s study abroad program Dec. 21, 1988.
The commission examined the case against al-Megrahi. Its report, which has never been published, raises concern about possible injustice, according to the article. The film especially questions the testimony given by Tony Gauci, a Maltese shop owner and the prosecution’s main witness. Gauci said al-Megrahi bought
SEE AL-MEGRAHI PAGE 6
lauren murphy | asst. photo editor The Liaison Committee on Medical Education placed Upstate Medical University on probation due to curriculum issues, among others.