D.A. Reviews Evidence in CSUN Probe of 2 Teachers

The Los Angeles district attorney’s office has begun reviewing evidence in the Cal State Northridge investigation of two instructors allegedly involved in a grade-selling scheme.

The special investigations unit of Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner’s office agreed Friday to become involved after campus police found their investigation leading into potential criminal activity off campus.

“There is some concern that there are additional crimes beyond the scope of their jurisdiction,” said Steven Sowders, deputy district attorney in the special investigations division, which looks into allegations against government officials and public employees.

Sowders refused to say what those crimes might be. But it is known that the campus police had been scrutinizing the activities of the tax-exempt United Crusade Foundation in Pacoima, which was started in 1982 by Prof. Eleazu S. Obinna, one of the teachers implicated in the alleged grade-selling scheme.

The other teacher under investigation is Willie J. Bellamy, a part-time instructor who worked closely with the foundation, which distributed clothing and meals to the poor.

Not Yet Involved

Sowders said he has assigned a staff attorney to review reports submitted by campus police. He said his agency is not yet involved in an investigative capacity, only as an advisory body. “Whether we join in, or another agency, we don’t know yet,” he said.

Originally, campus police expected to take the results of their inquiry to the city attorney’s office because the case was expected to involve possible misdemeanor violations, not a more serious felony matter. But Ann Salisbury, acting director of public affairs at CSUN, said Friday the “seriousness of it was beyond what the city attorney normally investigates.”

In a related development, a United Crusade Foundation representative said the organization has decided to cancel the raffle that touched off the scandal in the Pan-African Studies Department. Attorney Francis Smith said adverse publicity had forced the board of directors to suspend sales this week and to decide to return money to people who had purchased the $5 tickets. “This is not an admission the foundation has done anything improper,” said Smith.

Campus police are investigating allegations that students in three Pan-African Studies classes were offered “A” grades for selling $100 worth of tickets for the raffle, which would benefit the foundation and offered the prize of a $22,000 sports car.

Smith said money would be returned once purchasers made a request. The process could be difficult. Smith said he did not know how many tickets had been sold. He also said the refunds could be complicated by a campus police decision to confiscate ticket stubs.

Grant Defended

At a press conference Friday, Edward Sampson, dean of the school of social and behavioral sciences, defended the award of a $6,000 grant to Bellamy last year to conduct a survey of minority high school students’ opinions about higher education. Bellamy, a newly hired part-timer, was given the award in preference over a committee of experienced teachers who wanted the money to provide help to CSUN minority students.

This week, amid the campus furor over grade-selling, the teachers who lost the grant questioned why Bellamy, who graduated from CSUN three years ago, should be teaching advanced studies classes and should be given a grant, which paid him a $3,750 salary, for off-campus research when there are what the teachers consider to be more pressing needs on campus.

Sampson said the process of awarding the grant was proper. He said the off-campus survey was an outgrowth of a proposal by Obinna to establish community outreach centers. Sampson said he suggested doing research to determine the need and recommended that Obinna and Bellamy seek the $6,000 grant money for that purpose.

He conceded that Bellamy’s original proposal was criticized as inadequate but was rewritten by an experienced grant writer whom Sampson recommended.

Sampson said the competing proposal also was poorly done. He said the competing professors were not given the opportunity for revision because their proposal was turned in unsigned two days before the deadline.

On another subject, Sampson also said that some students from the canceled classes may get partial or full credit.

Several students from the classes have bitterly complained to administration officials that they deserve credit for the three-unit field studies course. The students said they performed community outreach work in addition to selling raffle tickets, Sampson said.

A panel of three senior faculty members will evaluate claims from these students and decide whether to give them credit for the course or require more work, Sampson said.

A letter will be sent Monday to the 181 students from the classes outlining a series of options, Sampson said. Students who choose to withdraw from the classes can do so without it being noted on their transcripts.

Students Withdraw

“There will not even be a record that they had this misadventure,” said Sampson. About 18 students have indicated a desire to withdraw, he said.

“We are bending over backwards to be as helpful as we can to the students,” he added.

Sampson said other students will be allowed to pursue independent study, working with unwed mothers or other community projects. He left open the possibility that students leaving the CSUN area will be allowed to complete independent course work from afar.

No student will lose financial aid because of problems with the classes and graduating seniors in the canceled classes can participate in commencement ceremonies with the expectation of graduating, Sampson said.

Sampson said most students in the classes “were not totally innocent in this,” and that the majority of students in the classes knew they were getting “not just a bargain but a great deal.”