Sections

Freedom of information

`U' should release athletes' vehicle records

T Barber said his interest in athletes' ownership status was sparked by Michigan basketball player Maurice Taylor's car accident in February. Barber contacted Taylor's grandmother -- who supposedly leased the 1996 Ford Explorer -- demanding specific lease details. When she could not provide him with satisfactory answers, Barber asked the University for records of every vehicle "owned, leased, rented or in any way possessed" by athletes; his obvious implication is that the University Athletic Department may be violating NCAA rules, which forbid student athletes from driving University-owned or-obtained vehicles.

While lack of evidence prevents speculation on Barber's implications of University Athletic Department wrongdoing, the University only seems to have fed his fire with its denial. If the University has nothing to hide, administrators should not hesitate in making the automobile records public. Barber's request does not violate rights to privacy under FOIA -- hiding behind FERPA accomplishes little. FOIA may only be bypassed in cases that involve students' academic records. Vehicle registration papers clearly do not reveal anything of academic nature, and the University's citing of FERPA is a fallacy.

Moreover, the University has a long history of concealing information from the public -- including the University community. For example, one of the most severe problems with the recently adopted Code of Student Conduct is that no student may establish case precedent because all trial information is "protected." University administrators are often reluctant to comply with FOIA, and, in this most recent case, have demonstrated again their unwillingness to honor requests for public information. Furthermore, the University's hypocrisy in zealously citing FERPA, while simultaneously trying to skirt the Open Meetings Act, is reprehensible. All cases paint the University as more concerned about self-incrimination than violation of the law.

The University may be concerned about what types of Athletic Department practices are revealed if the records are released. However, evidence of NCAA violations may not exist among the documents. In any case, the University is illegally concealing documents that should be public information. Automobile registration contains little that could be considered private -- and it contains absolutely no academic information. The University cannot hide behind FERPA in this case.

Barber may be targeting student athletes by calling their grandmothers and requesting information. Barber's or the University's motivation is irrelevant -- because both must comply with the law. No matter how trivial the information may seem, the requested vehicle records must be released -- whether the University likes it or not.