THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, APRIL 10. 2007
NEWS
5A
》 CRIME
Student loan company under investigation for bribing officials
BY MARK JOHNSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
ALBANY, N.Y. — A student loan company under investigation by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo paid consulting fees to a student loan officer at Johns Hopkins University, paid for some of her graduate school tuition, and also paid consulting fees to officials at two other colleges, investigators said Monday.
In a letter sent to John Hopkins President William Brody, Cuomo
Investigators say they have found numerous arrangements that benefited schools and lenders at the expense of students.
investigators said they believe Student Loan Xpress, a unit of CIT Group Inc., paid more than $21,000 for the school's director of student financial services to attend graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania
between August 2002 to January 2004. Investigators also believe the official, Ellen Frishberg, was paid $42,000 as a consultant for the company from April 2004 to October 2005.
Frishberg was placed on paid leave pending an inquiry by the university into the circumstances of the payments, said Johns Hopkins spokesman Dennis O'Shea. He said the university is cooperating with the attorney general's request.
Cuomo's office said Timothy Lehmann, the director of financial aid at Capella University, an online school based in Minneapolis, was paid more than $13,000 in consulting fees by Student Loan Xpress.
Cuomo's office also said a consulting company run by Walter Cathie, the dean of financial aid at Widener University in Pennsylvania, was paid $80,000 by Student Loan Xpress since 2005.
Capella did not immediately return a call for comment. Dan Hanson, a spokesman for Widener, did not have an immediate comment.
Cuomo is investigating allegations of possible kickbacks to school officials for steering students to certain lenders. His investigators say they have found numerous arrangements that benefited schools and lenders at the expense of students.
Investigators found that many colleges have established "preferred lender" lists and entered into revenue sharing and other financial arrangements with those lenders. Some colleges have "exclusive" preferred lender agreements with the companies.
On Friday, Cuomo's office issued new subpoenas to CIT Group and Student Loan Xpress, seeking information on stock and gifts made by the company or its subsidiaries to federal or state government officials.
Man arrested after high-speed chase
》 SHOOTING
Two injured, one dead after man fires shots at firm
Anthony LaCalamita is arrested following a high-speed chase on Interstate 75 in south Bay County near Detroit, Mich., Monday. LaCalamita is suspected of shooting three people Monday at an accounting firm in Troy, Mich.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY DAVID AGUILAR ASSOCIATED PRESS
TROY, Mich. — A man suspected of shooting three people, killing one, at an accounting firm where he was fired last week was arrested after a high-speed chase a few hours after the Monday morning attack, authorities said.
Police said they had located Anthony LaCalamita, 38, on Interstate 75, north of the suburban Detroit office building where the shootings took place.
Sheriff's deputies and state police chased him for 30 miles, including through a construction zone, at speeds up to 120 mph before he finally pulled over after about 15 minutes. Genesee County Sheriff Robert J. Pickell said.
"He probably realized if he didn't, he was going to be shot," Undersheriff James Gage said.
LaCalamita said nothing after officers surrounded him, Pickell said, describing the suspect as "subdued. Very, very, very subdued."
Officers found a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun and three live shells in the vehicle, Pickell said. Witnesses said the shooter used a shotgun or a rifle, Troy police Lt. Gerry Scherlinck said.
Some witnesses told police that when the shooter walked into the office on the building's second floor around 10 a.m. Monday, he looked as if he was trying to hide something, Troy
Police Chief Charles Craft said.
Police couldn't say how many shots were fired.
"I'm not positive all three of the people were targeted, but there appeared to be some purpose," Craft said.
The families of the two wounded men requested "total privacy," and the hospital would not release any details about their conditions, Beaumont Hospital spokeswoman Ilene Wolfe said. She said the third victim died on the way to the hospital.
La Calamita waslisted among the professional staff on the Website of Gordon Advisors, a public accounting and business consulting firm in the building. Calls to Gordon Advisors were
"I'm not positive all three of the people were targeted, but there appeared to be some purpose."
CHARLES CRAFT Troy police chief
The 170,000 square-foot building houses a number of businesses, including law offices and the accounting firm. Police at first told workers to stay in their
ated the building, about 15 miles north of Detroit.
not answered Monday afternoon, offices but a short time later evacu
Bill Adgate, who works at LPL Financial inside the building, said he had hunkered down inside the office for a couple of hours with furniture pushed up against the door. He said police told the group to stay put until officers allowed them to leave.
"It's tough. I want to get out," Adgate said by telephone.
TECHNOLOGY New wireless player benefits Yahoo users
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Flash memory maker SanDisk Corp.
said Monday it will pair its new wireless music player with music services from Yahoo inc. but analysts doubt the new gadget will be able to steal much share from Apple Inc's dominant iPod.
Users of the Sansa Connect device will be able to use a Wi-Fi wireless connection to listen to LAUNCHcast Internet radio, browse Flickr photos and see what Yahoo Messenger friends and other Sansa Connect owners nearby are listening to. LAUNCHcast and Flickr are both part of the Yahoo network.
With a single click of a button, Sansa Connect users can access Yahoo's free music services or its Yahoo Music Unlimited To Go subscription service. Users also can download music and listen to or download tracks friends are listening to or recommended.The Sansa Connect is available for $250 in the United States.
SanDisk is optimistic its new product could tap millions of existing Yahoo users.
Associated Press
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