Brand admits to law evasion

IU President Myles Brand admitted he and IU trustees have held meetings in small groups to evade Indiana's open meetings laws, a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the University said.\nWhile having meetings to discuss such things as budget matters and the much-heated former IU basketball coach Bob Knight issues, Brand and the trustees feel they didn't break the law since the meetings didn't involve a majority of the nine trustees. \nLast Tuesday, Brand and three other IU representatives -- University Counsel Dorothy Frapwell, Vice President of Administration Terry Clapacs and former Vice President for Public Affairs Christopher Simpson -- were questioned by lawyers in Indianapolis.\nAttorneys Gojko Kasich of Hebron, Ind. and Roy Graham of Bloomington, along with 10 of the 45 plaintiffs in the case witnessed the sworn depositions in which Brand admitted he knowingly skirted the law.\n"Certainly nothing (Brand) said surprised us," Kasich said. "It was just more evidence in support of our point."\nIU Vice President of Public Affairs Bill Stephan feels the plaintiffs are twisting the facts.\n"This is an attorney who's putting a spin on a case that the president has circumvented the law," Stephan said. "It's an inaccurate depiction to what's happened."\nFormer IU men's basketball coach Bob Knight was fired on Sept. 10, 2000 for violating a zero tolerance policy Brand placed upon him. But the plaintiffs allege the decision was reached behind closed doors the day before when Brand held two separate meetings with four trustees per meeting to discuss Knight's situation. \nRobert Nemanich was one of the 10 plaintiffs that witnessed the depositions and said Brand admitted to meeting in small groups to get around the state's open meetings law, according to the Associated Press. Nemanich said Brand admitted that trustee Peter Obremsky was in the kitchen at the president's house while four other trustees were meeting in the living room.\nWhile the meetings don't violate open-meetings law, they were questioned by Anne O'Connor, Indiana's public access counselor, about whether Brand skirted the law purposefully.\n"It's not a violation of (the) letter of law, but it violates (the) spirit of the law," O'Connor told the IDS in October of 2000. "It hinders the stature (the board) has, in the eyes of who watch what they're doing: alumni, students, watchers of IU. Citizens certainly have a right to observe how government works."\nIndiana Code 5-14-1.5 states, "that the official action of public agencies be conducted and taken openly, unless otherwise expressly provided by statute, in order that the people may be fully informed."\nThe recent developments don't alter O'Connor's position. In July 2001, Clark County Judge Cecile Blau, who is hearing the open-meetings case, ruled that Brand did have the authority to make the decision.\n"It still doesn't mean that the trustee's can't meet and discuss it," O'Connor said.\nThat seems to be the fundamental issue for O'Connor as well. She concurs that the public doesn't necessarily have the right to know what goes on in executive session meetings.\n"What the public does have the right to know is that a meeting is happening," O'Connor said.\nA recent budget decision requiring incoming freshman to pay a fee of $1,000 on top of a nine-percent tuition increase was also a recent matter of concern for Kasich. The University is setting aside this money to improve IU's academic excellence by the recruiting and retaining of faculty and decreasing the student-faculty ratio.\n"The University has an $800 million a year budget, and they're having secret soirees to discuss what should concern all taxpayers," Kasich said.\nThe main issue that Kasich is concerned with is having Brand and the trustees face the public when important topics are being discussed.\n"When did they have this meeting, and what was discussed there? The trustees are meeting when most of the students are gone, and they know they won't have to face Bloomington students (until the fall)," Kasich said. "Everything is planned."\nKasich noted that the publicity from this situation is the result of the stature of Knight.\n"This all started to grab attention because of Knight. He's happy at Texas Tech, and we're happy for him," Kasich said. "But the fact of the matter is, the trustees are having these meetings to avoid having to face the public, and we think it's wrong."\nWoll agrees.\n"They should be more open about it, (but) they're doing what they have to do," said Woll of the trustees' actions. "Tuition is still cheap compared to other schools. The only person to blame is the state government.\n"It's an ego thing. It's going to require Mr. Brand to stand up and say, 'we were wrong."