œ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>/// UTAH PRIMATE FREEDOM ///</TITLE> <link href="format.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <style type="text/css"> body {background-image: url(images/draft1_14.gif); background-repeat: no-repeat;} </style> </HEAD> <body bgcolor=#000000 bgproperties="fixed" background="images/draft1_14.gif" leftmargin="10" topmargin="5" rightmargin="15"><FONT> <b>U Student Must Pay $300 for Data</b><br> School Agrees to Turn Over Records on Animals for a Fee<br> By Joe Bauman<br> Deseret Morning News<br> February 25, 2004<br><br> The University of Utah lost a round in a fight involving opening records concerning primate experimentation, but it may have won the bout on a technicality.<p> Jeremy Beckham, an 18-year-old freshman who is concerned about the welfare of baboons, macaques and other primates used in experiments, filed an action under the state's Government Records Access and Management Act to force the university to turn over records.<p> The U. refused to turn over more than two pages. Beckham appealed to the Government Records Access and Management Act. On Jan. 21, after a hearing, the state Records Committee ruled that the university must turn over information, although certain material could be redacted (removed from the record).<p> Material that could identify experimenters or that might in effect be a trade secret during the time the experiments are taking place could be blacked out.<p> Feb. 20, the university's office of general counsel responded to the committee's order. Phyllis J. Vetter wrote to Beckham spelling out the conditions under which he could receive the redacted records.<p> Bottom line: Beckham must pay $300 for the information.<p> The following itemization is made in the note, a copy of which Beckham provided to the Deseret Morning News:<p> "Legal Review: $137.35 (3.25 hrs at $42.26 per hr.)<br> "Technical Review: $126.67 (1.50 hrs at 54.41 per hr. and 1.50 hrs at $30.03 per hr.)<br> "Physical Redaction: $35.06 (4.25 hrs at $8.25 per hr.)<br> "The total charge for these records will be $299.08. "<p> In addition, the university wants to charge Beckham for the two pages of information he already received. Vetter wrote, "The charge for the copies sent to you on Jan. 27, 2004, was $.50 (2 pages at $.25 per page). "Please add that amount to your check."<p> Beckham was surprised that cutting information out of the reports took four and a quarter hours, while the legal review was only three and a quarter hours. He thinks the charge is ridiculous. "I think it is just another way to keep these records out of my hands," he wrote in an e-mail.<p> In that, the university may succeed. "I simply don't have $300 to spare. I'm an unemployed college student right now." He added that he is certain he personally could not afford to pay for the copies. Beckham said the law provides that a government agency may provide requested records without charge, when releasing the information primarily benefits the public rather than an individual.<p> He said he was seeking advice from an American Civil Liberties Union attorney on reducing the fee. Meanwhile, he intended to petition the university to have the fee waived or reduced. University spokeswoman Coralie Alder said the state Records Committee "agreed we had the right to charge for the direct costs." The university did what it could to keep the amount low, she added. It used its in-house legal staff, rather than go to an outside attorney's office where charges might have been higher, she said.<p> Also, the billing was based on the hourly rate of whoever would be the least highly paid person who was qualified to do the work. "There was some cost to get that information prepared, and we're seeking some reimbursement," Alder said.<p> On whether an institution may give the information free if it's for the public benefit, she responded, "The U. has not determined releasing this information primarily benefits the public rather than an individual person in this case."<p> Alder reiterated that the determination ó that the release would benefit the public more ó has not been made.<p> <I>E-mail: <A HREF="mailto:bau@desnews.com">bau@desnews.com</A></I><HR WIDTH="250"><P> </BODY> </HTML>