Cliff's Notes version:
Auburn prof backs out of grade probe after receiving death threats from crazy Auburn boosters.
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Auburn prof backs out of grade probe after receiving death threats from crazy Auburn boosters.
OSUsushichic
Fired up! Ready to go!
I bet the Auburn sociology dept is a jolly place to hang out these days. 
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I'm wondering 2 things:
Doe he want to sell his season tickets, if he has them? :tongue2:
How many times will ESPN guys say "Where there's smoke, there's fire." regarding Auburn athletes' academic situations?
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si.com
Auburn cracks down
Prez asks faculty to make sure courses are legitimate
Posted: Friday July 21, 2006 12:55PM
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Interim Auburn University President Ed Richardson said Friday he has instructed a faculty committee to develop policies to make sure individual study courses are "academically rigorous" and offered only on a limited basis.
Richardson, commenting in the wake of a report alleging that Auburn athletes took such courses to boost their grades, said he expects the committee to develop new policies concerning the one-one-one courses by Aug. 4.
Richardson asked the committee to adopt the new policies after an Auburn sociology professor claimed that a colleague taught more than 250 students -- including 18 football players -- during the 2004-05 academic year in "directed reading courses." In these, students are supposed to meet privately with professors and perform assignments rather than attend regular classes.
The claims were first detailed last week by The New York Times, which reported that the players who took the courses made far better grades in those classes than in their other schoolwork.
An internal investigation is under way at Auburn to determine whether academic integrity was violated by the sociology courses. An academic accrediting organization, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, has requested information about the program from the university.
Richardson said the results of the investigation would be made public, but he would not say when he expects the investigation to be complete.
Richardson made the statement Friday to reporters at Auburn's Samford Hall, but would not answer questions.
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Auburn cracks down
Prez asks faculty to make sure courses are legitimate
Posted: Friday July 21, 2006 12:55PM
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) -- Interim Auburn University President Ed Richardson said Friday he has instructed a faculty committee to develop policies to make sure individual study courses are "academically rigorous" and offered only on a limited basis.
Richardson, commenting in the wake of a report alleging that Auburn athletes took such courses to boost their grades, said he expects the committee to develop new policies concerning the one-one-one courses by Aug. 4.
Richardson asked the committee to adopt the new policies after an Auburn sociology professor claimed that a colleague taught more than 250 students -- including 18 football players -- during the 2004-05 academic year in "directed reading courses." In these, students are supposed to meet privately with professors and perform assignments rather than attend regular classes.
The claims were first detailed last week by The New York Times, which reported that the players who took the courses made far better grades in those classes than in their other schoolwork.
An internal investigation is under way at Auburn to determine whether academic integrity was violated by the sociology courses. An academic accrediting organization, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, has requested information about the program from the university.
Richardson said the results of the investigation would be made public, but he would not say when he expects the investigation to be complete.
Richardson made the statement Friday to reporters at Auburn's Samford Hall, but would not answer questions.
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Correct me if my math is wrong, but 18 out of 250+ students is about 7%...sure doesn't seem that these courses were designed just to help football players.
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methomps
an imbecility, a stupidity without name
CAWAREGLE
OFC Charter Member
Posts: 8162
(7/22/06 3:43:50 pm )
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The Irony of the NYT Article! <hr> During the period of my youth as a boy growing up in Central Alabama in the mid-sixties, the South was experiencing a major transformation. A segregationist philosophy was prevalent and had been a way of life within the region for many decades. Crusaders such as the Reverand Martin Luther King with assistance from Freedom Fighters from the Northeast and other areas fought to end this prejudicial segregationist way of life. In retrospect, these efforts were critical to changing a long-term mindset and opening up areas of opportunity for men and women of various creeds and color.
Fast forward to today. College athletic programs across the land allow athletes, many of whom are of minority heritage, to earn a college degree while showcasing their skills in various NCAA sanctioned sporting events. These athletes have a much more difficult road to achieving their diplomas, as they have to juggle academics with an extremely demanding daily schedule. Yet Auburn University, a school in the heart of the region of discord of the sixties, is one of the leaders in addressing the academic interests of its athletes and graduating same. Wonderful young men like Carnell Williams who make millions of dollars are fulfilling the promise they made to their mamas to obtain their college degree.
I find it extremely ironic that a major media spokesperson for a region that was so focused on civil rights in the sixties is now attempting to tear down one of the bright spots in college athletics and academia. Not only is the New York Times attempting to devalue the hard work that all athletes put in every day, they are stimulating local media to mock certain minority athletes and insinuate that their education is tainted and was derived through short-cuts and other means.
Shame on you, New York Times! The Southern Region has made tremendous progress, and now you embark on a witch hunt to tear down an institution that has been a leader in academia for its athletes over the past several years. Anyone associated with these blatantly biased articles published by the Times should be truly ashamed and really look in the mirror and ask themselves just what is their real intent and purpose. However, maybe that's not really necessary, because I think most of us already know the answer to that question.
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I agree with the lettr writer but on accounts of all students. Just cause a course ain't got sifering in it, ain't no reason to run it donw. Yeas ago at Auburn, I also read "See Jane" and "See Dick run." Had I heeded the wizdom of that stories, I woodn't have 12 kids or Jane. Goes to show that there's real value in book larning at Auburn. Shame on New York Times.
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OregonBuckeye
Semper Fi Buckeyes
Tempers Flare at Auburn Practice
http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/sports/1154942239252440.xml&coll=3
Tempers flare in Auburn's first day in full pads
Monday, August 07, 2006
AUBURN -- Loud hits, angry fights and missed blocks marked Auburn's first day of full-pad practices Sunday.
The team drills contained several scuffles -- some minor, others more violent -- and the first authentic game-like atmosphere of preseason camp.
"I liked the spirit and enthusiasm," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said.
-- FIGHT NIGHT: Coaches generally don't mind a few scraps in practice, as long as tempers don't flare out of control. Most of Sunday's scrums stayed in bounds.
Receiver Prechae Rodriguez and cornerback Jonathan Wilhite mixed it up. Rodriguez laughed about it afterwards and said he had been duking it out with Wilhite since their days in junior college. In the undercard, offensive guard Ben Grubbs brawled with linebacker Steve Gandy.
Offensive tackle Leon Hart was involved in a fight that didn't seem to end with smiles. It was unclear how the fight started or who it involved, but Hart left the field yelling profanities.
Grubbs, a senior, said the scene was "not called for."
"Coach (Hugh) Nall called it up and told us as a team that no matter if it's a senior or a freshman, there's no room for that. 'The next time it happens, you're gone,'" Grubbs said. "He was saying, look at the bigger picture. If you have a boss and lose a gasket, you're fired. That's how I look at it."
Nall, the offensive line coach, said fighting was sometimes part of the game.
"We have rules out here and we're going to go by those rules," he said. "I think it's important to be mentally capable of (fighting), if you have to."
Note: There's more to the article but it didn't have to do with the fighting.
http://www.al.com/auburnfootball/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/sports/1154942239252440.xml&coll=3
Tempers flare in Auburn's first day in full pads
Monday, August 07, 2006
AUBURN -- Loud hits, angry fights and missed blocks marked Auburn's first day of full-pad practices Sunday.
The team drills contained several scuffles -- some minor, others more violent -- and the first authentic game-like atmosphere of preseason camp.
"I liked the spirit and enthusiasm," Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville said.
-- FIGHT NIGHT: Coaches generally don't mind a few scraps in practice, as long as tempers don't flare out of control. Most of Sunday's scrums stayed in bounds.
Receiver Prechae Rodriguez and cornerback Jonathan Wilhite mixed it up. Rodriguez laughed about it afterwards and said he had been duking it out with Wilhite since their days in junior college. In the undercard, offensive guard Ben Grubbs brawled with linebacker Steve Gandy.
Offensive tackle Leon Hart was involved in a fight that didn't seem to end with smiles. It was unclear how the fight started or who it involved, but Hart left the field yelling profanities.
Grubbs, a senior, said the scene was "not called for."
"Coach (Hugh) Nall called it up and told us as a team that no matter if it's a senior or a freshman, there's no room for that. 'The next time it happens, you're gone,'" Grubbs said. "He was saying, look at the bigger picture. If you have a boss and lose a gasket, you're fired. That's how I look at it."
Nall, the offensive line coach, said fighting was sometimes part of the game.
"We have rules out here and we're going to go by those rules," he said. "I think it's important to be mentally capable of (fighting), if you have to."
Note: There's more to the article but it didn't have to do with the fighting.
Last edited by a moderator:
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sportsline
University probe clears Auburn athletics officials of wrongdoing
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD width=10></TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD noWrap>Aug. 10, 2006
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
AUBURN, Ala. -- Auburn athletics officials were cleared of wrongdoing by a university probe of claims that athletes improperly boosted their grades with an easy independent study course.
Interim university president Ed Richardson said at a news conference Thursday that an internal investigation determined athletes were not steered to the courses of sociology professor Thomas Petee, who was accused by a colleague of helping football players stay eligible by offering classes that required little work or no work.
Petee and another professor, who also gave "directed-reading" courses, have resigned their administrative posts. Both are professors have tenure at Auburn and will continue to be members of the faculty, Richardson said.
Richardson said the probe, launched after sociology professor James Gundlach made the allegations reported in the New York Times last month about Petee's courses, found it was purely an academic matter. He said 82 percent taking the courses were non-athletes, 18 percent played a sport of some kind and 7.5 percent were football players.
The Times reported 18 members of the undefeated 2004 Auburn football team, including star running back Cadillac Williams, took a combined 97 hours of Petee's courses during their careers.
He said the school is now limiting the number of such "directed-reading," or independent study courses a professor can offer. In the 2004-2005 academic year, Petee had allowed some 250 students to take the courses, which don't require classroom attendance but one-on-one work with the professor.
Richardson said the investigation centered on the sociology department initially but also found problems in the adult education department.
He said Petee was resigning as interim director of the sociology department and James Witte was stepping down as program chair of adult education. Witte also had been allowing students to take independent study courses, but the numbers involved weren't immediately available.
Gundlach alleged that athletes who were at risk of losing eligibility were steered by university athletic officials to easy courses taught by Petee and others.
Richardson said 63 people were interviewed in the investigation and the panel handling the probe had access to more information than Gundlach. He said he is confident athletes were not being steered toward the courses as alleged, but those findings did not make the matter any less serious.
"Our academic reputation is far more important than all the athletic programs put together," he said.
Petee said Thursday he had no problems with the new policies and had anticipated having to give up his administrative duties.
Richardson said the investigation is expected to last about two more weeks. Some students who have graduated still need to be contacted.
He said he has been in contact with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which is Auburn's accrediting agency, and the NCAA, which governs college athletics. He said the completed report will be made public after it is reviewed by SACS.
University probe clears Auburn athletics officials of wrongdoing
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD width=10></TD><TD><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR vAlign=top><TD noWrap>Aug. 10, 2006
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
AUBURN, Ala. -- Auburn athletics officials were cleared of wrongdoing by a university probe of claims that athletes improperly boosted their grades with an easy independent study course.
Interim university president Ed Richardson said at a news conference Thursday that an internal investigation determined athletes were not steered to the courses of sociology professor Thomas Petee, who was accused by a colleague of helping football players stay eligible by offering classes that required little work or no work.
Petee and another professor, who also gave "directed-reading" courses, have resigned their administrative posts. Both are professors have tenure at Auburn and will continue to be members of the faculty, Richardson said.
Richardson said the probe, launched after sociology professor James Gundlach made the allegations reported in the New York Times last month about Petee's courses, found it was purely an academic matter. He said 82 percent taking the courses were non-athletes, 18 percent played a sport of some kind and 7.5 percent were football players.
The Times reported 18 members of the undefeated 2004 Auburn football team, including star running back Cadillac Williams, took a combined 97 hours of Petee's courses during their careers.
He said the school is now limiting the number of such "directed-reading," or independent study courses a professor can offer. In the 2004-2005 academic year, Petee had allowed some 250 students to take the courses, which don't require classroom attendance but one-on-one work with the professor.
Richardson said the investigation centered on the sociology department initially but also found problems in the adult education department.
He said Petee was resigning as interim director of the sociology department and James Witte was stepping down as program chair of adult education. Witte also had been allowing students to take independent study courses, but the numbers involved weren't immediately available.
Gundlach alleged that athletes who were at risk of losing eligibility were steered by university athletic officials to easy courses taught by Petee and others.
Richardson said 63 people were interviewed in the investigation and the panel handling the probe had access to more information than Gundlach. He said he is confident athletes were not being steered toward the courses as alleged, but those findings did not make the matter any less serious.
"Our academic reputation is far more important than all the athletic programs put together," he said.
Petee said Thursday he had no problems with the new policies and had anticipated having to give up his administrative duties.
Richardson said the investigation is expected to last about two more weeks. Some students who have graduated still need to be contacted.
He said he has been in contact with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which is Auburn's accrediting agency, and the NCAA, which governs college athletics. He said the completed report will be made public after it is reviewed by SACS.
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OSUsushichic
Fired up! Ready to go!
Auburn Ousts 2, but Doesn’t Fault Athletics
By RAY GLIER and PETE THAMEL
AUBURN, Ala., Aug. 10 —Auburn University announced Thursday that two heads of departments have resigned from their positions because of academic irregularities.
Professor Thomas Petee, the department head for sociology, anthropology, criminology and social work, and James Witte, the program coordinator for adult education, were forced to resign. But Auburn’s interim president, Ed Richardson, stressed that athletes were not shown special favor despite being given high marks for little work in directed-reading courses. Directed-reading courses are independent study-type courses given one on one with a professor and do not require attending a class.
Richardson chastised Petee and Witte for using “poor judgment,” although both will be kept on the faculty because of their tenure.
Petee declined to comment when reached by telephone, and Witte declined to comment when a reporter knocked on his door Thursday night.
A New York Times investigation in July showed that Petee offered an unusual number of individualized directed-reading courses — many of which were taken by athletes — that required little academic rigor.
James Gundlach, an Auburn sociology professor who provided The Times with much of the information for that story, said that several of the academically at-risk athletes who took directed-reading courses with Petee also took classes with Witte. He said that their grades in classes with Petee and Witte were significantly higher than their grades in other classes.
“This is clearly an academic problem,” Richardson said Thursday during a news conference in the lobby of the school’s administration building. “Athletics is a minor player in an academic issue. Having said that, this is a matter of great concern to this administration.”
Richardson also announced significant changes in Auburn’s directed-readings policies, including mandating that an instructor who is to offer directed-reading coursework to more than three students in a semester needs permission from a department head or a dean. (Petee taught more than 250 directed-reading classes during the 2004-5 school year. It is unknown how many Witte taught.)
Also, students who take more than nine hours of directed-reading courses while in college now need the approval of the dean and the provost. (Gundlach found that 17 athletes had taken more than nine hours with Petee alone.)
But Richardson repeatedly stressed that the issue had nothing to do with Auburn’s athletic department. Richardson said 18 percent of the students taking directed-reading courses in the sociology and the adult education departments were athletes, 7.5 percent of them football players.
Gundlach said in a telephone interview Thursday evening that the changes were “much more than I expected, to be honest.”
“I expected them to do everything possible to clear athletics,” Gundlach said. “You can see that when this first came out, athletics was their primary concern. With those kinds of policy changes in directed readings, and a change in administrators because they are not maintaining academic integrity, I think are all pretty good things to come out of this.”
Gundlach found that 18 football players on Auburn’s undefeated 2004 team, which finished the season No. 2 in the country, took a combined 97 hours of directed-reading courses with Petee. The 18 players held a 3.31 grade-point average in Petee’s directed-reading courses and a 2.14 G.P.A. in their other courses.
“This diminishes greatly the value of the education received at Auburn,” said Wayne Flynt, a professor emeritus of history. “Now people all over the country are speculating whether students did any work for the grades they earned at Auburn. I’d rather see an athletics scandal where a handful of athletes were receiving preferential treatment. That would have been a far less damning indictment of the university.”
When Gundlach brought evidence to John Heilman, then an administrator, in the spring of 2005, Richardson said the university did not launch an investigation because protocol in reporting such matters was not followed.
Heilman became provost weeks later and only a year later did the school investigate after a professor reported Petee, despite the fact that Gundlach had brought Heilman examples of Petee’s unusual course load and evidence of prominent athletes’ cutting academic corners.
Richardson said the school’s investigation, which he said included 63 interviews of students, faculty and staff, found no evidence that directed-reading courses were used to keep athletes eligible and manipulate data the N.C.A.A. uses in measuring academic progress.
Auburn finished with the highest ranking of any public university in a Bowl Championship Series conference in the N.C.A.A.’s latest academic progress report. Among Division I-A programs, Auburn trailed only Stanford, Navy and Boston College, and finished just ahead of Duke.
“We’ll probably never know how much these helped or contributed to Auburn’s A.P.R. rating,” Gundlach said, referring to the academic progress report.
Richardson said no athletes would have their eligibility affected for fall sports. The N.C.A.A., the governing body for intercollegiate athletics, could still investigate once the university has completed its investigation.
Gundlach said he was optimistic that there would be positive changes in academics. He noted a memo sent to professors insisting that they provide rigor in their regular courses.
“I think we’re going to see a noticeable change in the academic climate at Auburn,” Gundlach said. “I think we’ll see a lot more students on study dates then drinking dates.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/11/sports/ncaafootball/11auburn.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
By RAY GLIER and PETE THAMEL
AUBURN, Ala., Aug. 10 —Auburn University announced Thursday that two heads of departments have resigned from their positions because of academic irregularities.
Professor Thomas Petee, the department head for sociology, anthropology, criminology and social work, and James Witte, the program coordinator for adult education, were forced to resign. But Auburn’s interim president, Ed Richardson, stressed that athletes were not shown special favor despite being given high marks for little work in directed-reading courses. Directed-reading courses are independent study-type courses given one on one with a professor and do not require attending a class.
Richardson chastised Petee and Witte for using “poor judgment,” although both will be kept on the faculty because of their tenure.
Petee declined to comment when reached by telephone, and Witte declined to comment when a reporter knocked on his door Thursday night.
A New York Times investigation in July showed that Petee offered an unusual number of individualized directed-reading courses — many of which were taken by athletes — that required little academic rigor.
James Gundlach, an Auburn sociology professor who provided The Times with much of the information for that story, said that several of the academically at-risk athletes who took directed-reading courses with Petee also took classes with Witte. He said that their grades in classes with Petee and Witte were significantly higher than their grades in other classes.
“This is clearly an academic problem,” Richardson said Thursday during a news conference in the lobby of the school’s administration building. “Athletics is a minor player in an academic issue. Having said that, this is a matter of great concern to this administration.”
Richardson also announced significant changes in Auburn’s directed-readings policies, including mandating that an instructor who is to offer directed-reading coursework to more than three students in a semester needs permission from a department head or a dean. (Petee taught more than 250 directed-reading classes during the 2004-5 school year. It is unknown how many Witte taught.)
Also, students who take more than nine hours of directed-reading courses while in college now need the approval of the dean and the provost. (Gundlach found that 17 athletes had taken more than nine hours with Petee alone.)
But Richardson repeatedly stressed that the issue had nothing to do with Auburn’s athletic department. Richardson said 18 percent of the students taking directed-reading courses in the sociology and the adult education departments were athletes, 7.5 percent of them football players.
Gundlach said in a telephone interview Thursday evening that the changes were “much more than I expected, to be honest.”
“I expected them to do everything possible to clear athletics,” Gundlach said. “You can see that when this first came out, athletics was their primary concern. With those kinds of policy changes in directed readings, and a change in administrators because they are not maintaining academic integrity, I think are all pretty good things to come out of this.”
Gundlach found that 18 football players on Auburn’s undefeated 2004 team, which finished the season No. 2 in the country, took a combined 97 hours of directed-reading courses with Petee. The 18 players held a 3.31 grade-point average in Petee’s directed-reading courses and a 2.14 G.P.A. in their other courses.
“This diminishes greatly the value of the education received at Auburn,” said Wayne Flynt, a professor emeritus of history. “Now people all over the country are speculating whether students did any work for the grades they earned at Auburn. I’d rather see an athletics scandal where a handful of athletes were receiving preferential treatment. That would have been a far less damning indictment of the university.”
When Gundlach brought evidence to John Heilman, then an administrator, in the spring of 2005, Richardson said the university did not launch an investigation because protocol in reporting such matters was not followed.
Heilman became provost weeks later and only a year later did the school investigate after a professor reported Petee, despite the fact that Gundlach had brought Heilman examples of Petee’s unusual course load and evidence of prominent athletes’ cutting academic corners.
Richardson said the school’s investigation, which he said included 63 interviews of students, faculty and staff, found no evidence that directed-reading courses were used to keep athletes eligible and manipulate data the N.C.A.A. uses in measuring academic progress.
Auburn finished with the highest ranking of any public university in a Bowl Championship Series conference in the N.C.A.A.’s latest academic progress report. Among Division I-A programs, Auburn trailed only Stanford, Navy and Boston College, and finished just ahead of Duke.
“We’ll probably never know how much these helped or contributed to Auburn’s A.P.R. rating,” Gundlach said, referring to the academic progress report.
Richardson said no athletes would have their eligibility affected for fall sports. The N.C.A.A., the governing body for intercollegiate athletics, could still investigate once the university has completed its investigation.
Gundlach said he was optimistic that there would be positive changes in academics. He noted a memo sent to professors insisting that they provide rigor in their regular courses.
“I think we’re going to see a noticeable change in the academic climate at Auburn,” Gundlach said. “I think we’ll see a lot more students on study dates then drinking dates.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/11/sports/ncaafootball/11auburn.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin
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To be fair to Auburn, it would be funny coming from at least 100 different colleges with a big time, brand name football or basketball program, Ohio State included.
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There's a real difference in the tone of those two articles. The one qouting the Auburn news conference stessed that nothing was found to be amiss in the athletic department, while the other focused on the 2 professors no longer being in administrative positions.
The second article stressed that so much that those who didn't read the article carefully night not realize that the two are still professors at Auburn. It seemed like the NY Times was cutting notches into their printing press. They have "Auburn Ousts 2" as a headline, and "two heads of departments have resigned their positions" as the first line in the article. One must keep reading for a while to find out that "both will be kept on te faculty because of their tenure."
It seems clear that Auburn and the NY Times each have their own agenda regarding how the topic is reported.
The second article stressed that so much that those who didn't read the article carefully night not realize that the two are still professors at Auburn. It seemed like the NY Times was cutting notches into their printing press. They have "Auburn Ousts 2" as a headline, and "two heads of departments have resigned their positions" as the first line in the article. One must keep reading for a while to find out that "both will be kept on te faculty because of their tenure."
It seems clear that Auburn and the NY Times each have their own agenda regarding how the topic is reported.
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