Its definitely planted WAY too deep. That bulb is the caudex which is pretty much the equivlant of a trunk. I would trim off all the dead leaves (fronds) and repot it higher up in well draining and nutrient rich soil. If all the fronds are yellow then cut them all off. They arent actually palms (thy're cycads) so they wont mind having all their fronds trimmed off. It might not grow any more fronds until spring so dont think its dead because as long as the caudex is firm, its probably still alive. They love to be outside during the summer so if your keeping it as an indoor plant, you might want to take it outside this spring after the last frost and keep it in full sun.
Good luck!
-Alex

I agree with everything tropicalzone7 has said except I would not trim off all of the fronds unless they are all brown. It sounds like you have planted it to deeply and it is nutrient defecient. Keep it on the dry side and check out Tom Broomes Cycad Jungle website for more info.

Thank you both for your input. I knew she had probably planted it too deeply. I knew this was like the trunk of a tree and I don't think it was getting enough light. I moved it for her but didn't want to repot it yet again, because she had done it so recently. But I do want very much to safe this plant, so I'm going to talk to her and see if she will let me take it for a little while and try to nurse it back to health again.
Again, thanks so so much !!