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UCI’s Student Investors Will Get Money Back : Education: Some students in the class defend their professor, Alain Lewis, who was removed after the investment plan was disclosed.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

UC Irvine students who invested in Swiss francs and gold futures as part of a class exercise that led to the removal of the course’s professor will get their money back, university officials said Monday.

Alain Lewis, an associate professor of mathematics, was removed indefinitely last week from teaching an undergraduate social sciences course titled “Games as Models of Social Phenomena.”

Some students in the course, as well as some parents, had complained that Lewis stood to benefit from the investments and that grades might be affected by students’ decision not to invest with the rest of the class, campus officials said.

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Students said that they had been asked to invest $25 each based on advice from Lewis, who told them that this would supplement his instruction about group and market behavior. Some students invested more, up to $100, bringing the total to $1,475, according to Linda Granell, a university spokeswoman.

Only five of the 55 students in the course did not join in the investment, Granell said.

An organization called Agape, headed by a five-student board of directors, was formed to handle the transactions and had planned to file for incorporation.

The money was invested in Swiss francs and gold futures about two weeks ago, said Richard Auld, the chief executive officer of Agape.

Another student in the class, junior Natalie Haenraets, said that Lewis told the students that they would double their money by St. Patrick’s Day.

“We haven’t decided how this is going to be worked out, but we can tell you that the money will be returned,” Granell said.

University officials removed Lewis from the course “to avoid any appearance that this was an approved classroom activity,” Granell said. She added that it was her understanding that it was not part of the curriculum.

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Lewis declined to comment Monday.

Auld said that the idea for the exercise came from several students in the class, and not Lewis. Auld added that Lewis assured students “at least three times” that if they didn’t want to participate, they were under no obligation to do so.

A contract was signed between Lewis and the students, which provided that he got a share of the profits from the venture, Auld said. If they lost money, Lewis would pay the loss, according to Auld.

The contract listed Lewis as a UCI professor, which concerned university officials concerning the school’s part in the project, Granell said. Auld said that Lewis was listed that way for identification purposes.

“I don’t think it’s a matter of liability as it is accountability,” Granell said. “We are concerned about the students’ educations. Because of that, the university is involved. That certainly does imply that this was a university activity.”

According to an article in the student newspaper, New University, one student also complained that not participating in the corporation would jeopardize grades. Granell said that a factor in the university’s decision was “to assure students and parents that their grades will not be compromised.”

But Auld said that a list of those who invested in the corporation was seen only by himself and two other officers and that they made sure that neither Lewis nor other classmates ever saw it.

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Meanwhile, Ron Wilson, the campus ombudsman, and William Schonfeld, the dean of the School of Social Science, are investigating the matter. William Batchelder, professor of social sciences, is substituting for Lewis while the investigation is under way.

Students who attended the class on Monday came to Lewis’ defense, alleging that it was blown out of proportion and that the students who complained misunderstood what he was trying to do.

“Obviously, whoever made these allegations was not aware of the whole story,” Auld said. “They didn’t know what was going on.”

Other students charged that the complaints were from a few disgruntled classmates.

Jeff Purrington, a junior psychology major, said that “everybody in that class is worried about Prof. Lewis. They feel he’s been stabbed in the back.”

Auld said that he and other directors had hoped the company could have been a permanent investment club that would have lasted well beyond this quarter. Now, they are uncertain whether they can continue.

“It upsets me that control of our corporation is going out of our hands and into the hands of the university,” he said.

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But Granell said that the university would not stop them from making any future investments and that the students could retain control of Agape. “It’s up to them,” she said.

Jon Nalick contributed to this story.

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