[Vision2020] Larry Craig widens his stance

[lfalen]

No, we do not need a member of the Board of Regents as a Commissioner. I am with Sue on this one and will vote for Dave McGraw.
Roger
-----Original message-----
From: Wayne Price bear at moscow.com
Date: Sun, 23 May 2010 12:29:35 -0700
To: Bill London london at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Larry Craig widens his stance

> And all of this under the Board of Regents of the University of Idaho  
> ovesight !!!!!!!!
> With this track record, do we really want a Board of Regents President  
> as a  Latah County  Commissioner?  PLEASE remember that one at the  
> poles.
> 
> 
> 
> On May 23, 2010, at 11:30 AM, Bill London wrote:
> 
> > Lewiston Tribune, May 23, 2010
> >
> > NASA investigation into UI lab turns up troubling allegations
> >
> > Federal investigator's report raises question of whether former U.S.  
> > Sen. Larry Craig gave earmarks in exchange for campaign contributions
> >
> > By Joel Mills of the Tribune
> > May 23, 2010
> >
> > MOSCOW - Former U.S. Sen. Larry Craig said a NASA investigator's  
> > suggestion that he traded University of Idaho research earmarks for  
> > campaign contributions is nonsense.
> >
> > "If I'm guilty of anything, it's being a strong supporter of the  
> > University of
> > Idaho and all its research programs," Craig said recently by phone  
> > from his home in Eagle, Idaho.
> >
> > In 2007, NASA special investigator Michael Delaney wrote to the  
> > Idaho attorney general's office suggesting there was a link between  
> > Craig campaign contributions made by employees at the UI Center for  
> > Advanced Microelectronics and Biomolecular Research (CAMBR) and $3  
> > million in earmarks Craig secured for the center.
> >
> > Craig is a UI alumnus, but said he also worked hard to secure  
> > federal research funding for Boise State University and Idaho State  
> > University.
> >
> > "I used my position on the appropriations committee to bring as many  
> > resources to those universities as I possibly could," Craig said.  
> > "For anybody to suggest a quid pro quo, there's a simple answer to  
> > that: They haven't done their homework and they don't know what  
> > they're talking about."
> >
> > Mike Ware, Craig's longtime chief of staff and now his partner in a  
> > lobbying firm, also discounted the alleged connection.
> >
> > "I think it's an irresponsible comment on the part of the  
> > investigator," Ware said from his Washington, D.C., office. "It  
> > shows absolutely no awareness of the process, and whatever checks  
> > and balances are put in."
> >
> > Delaney's 2007 e-mail and an attached summary of alleged grant fraud  
> > at CAMBR were recently provided to the Lewiston Tribune by state  
> > Rep. Tom Trail, R-Moscow, who requested them from the attorney  
> > general late last year.
> >
> > Delaney works in the NASA Office of Inspector General, which is in  
> > charge of independent oversight of the space agency.
> >
> > Trail also provided the Tribune with a summary of the attorney  
> > general's own investigation into CAMBR, which found several  
> > problems, but no criminal acts.
> >
> > Trail said the documents corroborate many of the stories he has  
> > heard from UI engineering faculty members about wrongdoing at CAMBR.
> >
> > "If those allegations are correct, they look pretty serious," Trail  
> > said.
> >
> > An Oct. 21, 2009, letter the attorney general's office sent to Trail  
> > said it appears the NASA investigation has been closed. But Trail  
> > thinks the investigation is very much alive. He said he has been in  
> > frequent contact with Delaney to relate what he knows abut the CAMBR  
> > situation.
> >
> > NASA spokeswoman Renee Juhans said the agency would neither confirm  
> > nor deny that an investigation is still under way regarding grant  
> > funding for CAMBR. NASA responded with a form letter to a Freedom of  
> > Information Act request made by the Tribune for the grant history  
> > between the agency and the UI.
> >
> > The letter acknowledged receipt of the request, but did not indicate  
> > how long it would take to supply those records.
> >
> > Trail said the NASA investigation has stoked his fears that the UI  
> > could lose a substantial amount of federal research funding if it  
> > leads to a damaging scandal or even criminal charges.
> >
> > He also singled out UI Provost Doug Baker as trying to placate him  
> > over the years about his concerns regarding CAMBR.
> >
> > When told of Trail's comments, Baker said he was surprised and was  
> > clearly dismayed.
> >
> > Baker said he was always up front with Trail about CAMBR, and would  
> > contact him to figure out why he would claim otherwise.
> >
> > Baker also questioned whether the NASA investigation was truly  
> > active, since Trail initiated the recent contacts with Delaney.
> >
> > Some of the problems at CAMBR - such as conflicts of interest,  
> > nepotism and misuse of UI resources - had been revealed in a 2005  
> > internal UI audit. Then-President Tim White promised corrective  
> > action when the audit was released the next year.
> >
> > In 2009, newly installed UI Vice President for Research Jack McIver  
> > said stronger checks and balances had been instituted at the center.
> >
> > Gary Maki was CAMBR's director for most of its 20-year history at  
> > both the UI and the University of New Mexico.
> >
> > The UI demoted Maki from his director's position in 2007 after  
> > allegations that he led a smear campaign by orchestrating a letter  
> > from NASA that harshly criticized colleague Kenneth Hass.
> >
> > Hass and his wife sued the university over Maki's actions. The  
> > Hasses and the UI reached a $105,000 out-of-court settlement last  
> > year.
> >
> > Maki retired in 2009, and has severed all ties with the UI, McIver  
> > said.
> >
> > Maki did not respond to requests for comment from the Tribune.
> >
> > While the problems at CAMBR have been widely reported, the "fraud  
> > synopsis" Delaney sent to the Idaho attorney general provides more  
> > detail on the alleged fraudulent use of NASA grants to personally  
> > benefit certain CAMBR employees.
> >
> > Delaney's e-mail to deputy attorney general Scott Smith alleges  
> > various forms of grant and licensing fraud undertaken by Maki and  
> > fellow researcher Jody Gambles. According to Delaney, there was  
> > evidence that:
> >
> > * Lobbying costs were falsely claimed as consultant costs on one  
> > NASA contract;
> >
> > * Indirect fringe benefit costs were mischarged as direct costs;
> >
> > * False statements were made that one CAMBR spin-off company had an  
> > exclusive license to intellectual property owned by the Idaho  
> > Research Foundation;
> >
> > * False statements were made about advanced achievements of CAMBR  
> > technology;
> >
> > * Research funds were obtained through political influence.
> >
> > Delaney wrote that Craig earmarked grants for various CAMBR projects  
> > to produce computer chips for NASA that could tolerate the radiation  
> > encountered during space travel.
> >
> > "Campaign contributions to Craig by or on behalf of Gary Maki and  
> > other individuals and organizations identified in this investigation  
> > were researched," Delaney wrote.
> >
> > Other than Maki, the names of those other individuals and  
> > organizations are deleted in the copy of the e-mail Trail gave to  
> > the Tribune. It lists three donations of $1,000, and two donations  
> > of $6,000, with names deleted after each amount is given.
> >
> > The report details four instances where Maki, Gambles and others  
> > allegedly misused grant funding, made false claims about licenses  
> > for intellectual property developed at the center, or tried to  
> > circumvent UI licensing policies.
> >
> > "Maki and Gambles conspired to defraud the government by applying  
> > for NASA grants ... with the intention of using the awards to  
> > subsidize their private firm, ICs LLC, and a private venture,  
> > Concise Logic Inc., with the intention of not completing the grant  
> > research promised," Delaney wrote in a section titled "CAMBR/NASA  
> > grant fraud."
> >
> > In an e-mail exchange with the Lewiston Tribune last week, Gambles  
> > said that allegation was "just plain silly."
> >
> > "If grants are awarded, but the research is not delivered, there is  
> > not going to be any more grants in the future," Gambles wrote,  
> > noting Maki's success in securing tens of millions of dollars  
> > through scores of grants. "CAMBR has an excellent and well-earned  
> > reputation for delivering to our sponsors."
> >
> > The synopsis also alleges that Maki and Gambles made false  
> > statements that they had obtained an exclusive license for ICs to  
> > manufacture computer chips that had been developed by the UI, when  
> > in fact ICs added "no value" to the device.
> >
> > "All work, developing, outsourcing the manufacturing, and marketing  
> > of the devices was accomplished by CAMBR employees using UI  
> > resources, with NASA grant funding," Delaney wrote. "No unique  
> > capabilities or expertise (was) added by ICs."
> >
> > A section of the synopsis titled "Concise Logic Scheme" describes  
> > work done by Maki, Gambles and CAMBR colleagues to benefit their  
> > "struggling private company," Concise Logic Inc., using UI resources  
> > during their normal workday.
> >
> > "They are expected to precisely and fairly separate their work on  
> > this agreement from their publicly-funded research grants," Delaney  
> > wrote. "CAMBR managers used their positions as state employees for  
> > the pecuniary benefit of Concise Logic."
> >
> > Gambles disputed those and other allegations made in the eight-page  
> > synopsis.
> >
> > "In its opening sentence, the document purports intention to  
> > subsidize both ICs and (Concise Logic Inc.) with funds from NASA  
> > grants to the University of Idaho," Gambles wrote. "In reality,  
> > monies flowed exactly in the opposite direction. Both ICs and CLI  
> > had contracts to pay the UI for services."
> >
> > Gambles said Maki recently returned to the Coeur d'Alene area from  
> > his winter home in Florida, and has seen the documents Delaney gave  
> > state investigators. He said Maki may want to comment on them at  
> > some future date.
> >
> > Juhans, the NASA spokeswoman, said its investigations are pursued by  
> > the U.S. Department of Justice if potential criminal wrongdoing is  
> > uncovered.
> >
> > But that apparently has not happened with the CAMBR investigation  
> > because no charges have ever been filed.
> >
> > ---
> >
> > Mills may be contacted at jmills at lmtribune.com or (208) 883-0564.
> >
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> 
> 
>