looking at this in a different light

[tombigbeetiger 223]

while i am just livid, outraged,ect, about what has transpired in the last few days, i took a little different look at this thing today....i read posts from different sites, read tigerland,listened to the shows on wjox and took a minute to just think about the whole mess and here is what i came up with:...whatever motives the nutty professor had this could actually be a very good thing in the long run.....i read in an article where he said that he might have saved AU from an ncaa investigation....i am sure that he was trying to minimize the damage by saying that but he just might be right....suppose this, as more and more students and athletes found out about the easy availability of the IS with petee, who is to say that eventually, it wouldn't be abused to the point that it could prompt a more widescale problem in the future that might bring down a problem with the ncaa?....goofball admits that the athletes were not the real reason and that he just tied that in to make people stand up and take notice....that was a real underhanded thing to do,but since the problem was caught and corrected, and plus the fact that it is being proven that the nyt's was disingenious in the way they reported the story, it very well may work out for the best.....we would have avoided a major problem in athletics without being investigated by the ncaa....this could also cause the idiots trying to run the school to finally get a real president,with some real authority that can do the job of a real president.....one can hope, for the good of AU, that bobby lowder might finally grow weary of all the black eyes and step down....if he would do that, along with some more, then a lot of this will stop from our own people and AU can handle the fools on the outside that would wish us harm....this goofball may have actually, inadvertainly, done us a huge favor.....all the bammerfarts who were giddy are so disappointed and deflated, and we can do things internally to avoid any scrutiny in the future, mainly due to the actions of this rob reiner look alike......hopefully, more administrative people will be aware of the potential damage to athletics that can be caused by THE DRAKE GROUP....the nutty professor did not report this to the nyt's....it was done anonymously by someone from montgomery according to gundlach.....it most likely that it was another professor that belongs to that group and quoting myles brand, head of the ncaa, "it's goal is to destoy college athletics".....so, it might be best to sit back and relax, take a deep breath and thank ole' dr. jeckyl for blowing the whistle when he did.....

[Ranger12 46]

If it wasn't for the fact that this was not a brand new thing and it has been going on very long time, your point would be well made. However, I think we have seen the peak of the number of athletes that are going to take these classes because it has been something going on in all colleges for along time. Everybody knows about them and it is far from being a secret. This guy is just saying that to try to act like he is some hero of the university now. It is like when you do something bad and you try to justify it by making up something potentially positive about your actions. Ain't gonna fly.

[tombigbeetiger 223]

ranger, i agree with you,but i was looking at this from a different angle.....once this clears, AU can look for anything that might raise a red flag in the future because there is no doubt, we have enemies besides professors inside our own university....i know goofball is retreating from some things and this helps.....he accomplished his goal but he had help.....i hope that the rest of the time he is there, his every day is a series of misery.....but , it might be best to approach this like its a good thing because you never know who might get pissed in the future, if you know what i mean

[Ranger12 46]

If you ask me, we should already have been raising red flags after getting off SACs probation. Don't misunderstand me, I agree with mostly with what you said. I just think the professor is spewing a bunch of bs trying to make himself look better. I also think Rihardson is doing a great job and they need to make take the word "intermn" off his title. Alot of good things have happened at AU since he took over. I have more issues with some of the BOT members then I do Richardson. Richardson has stood uo to them at times that he has needed too. He has the backbone we need for a president.

[tombigbeetiger 223]

what i'm saying is this....if richardson is the man, take the "interim" title off and make him president..... if he isn't,hire one .....this has went on too long....after this dies and changes are made, give goofball some "atta boys" and thank him and tell him what a courageous thing he did....then, people will relax and be happy and feel good and we can let,if any, sleeping dogs lie

[eagle76 1]

I agree with both of you and do see that there may be a silver lining to this large dark cloud.

I absolutely feel that for us to move forward academically, we must have a strong president ASAP. If that is Richardson, so be it and remove the interim title. I have heard in other circles, that AU is having a hard time with its national search for a president due to the in-fighting and BOT controls. We have to get beyond these issues. Maybe this will be what pushes us over the edge.

[DKW 86 7,423]

My real beef? It was fixed in Spring 2005, it was fixed over a year ago..... What the heck did we gain from having this smeared all over us?

[WeagleDMS 0]

the nutty professor did not report this to the nyt's....it was done anonymously by someone from montgomery according to gundlach.....it most likely that it was another professor that belongs to that group

I think it should be noted that Thamel said the letter had a Montgomery postmark which means it likely was still mailed from Auburn, heck even a letter from Dothan sent to the NYTs would have a montgomery postmark. I've got a pretty good feeling that gundalach(sp?) probably sent the letter himself, but won't admit it as a goal to not appear as the bad guy.

[tombigbeetiger 223]

yeah, i know what you mean.....and according to some things i read,and i forget who,what and where, the nutty professor didn't even know that it had been fixed....the main thing is this, there were no ncaa violations that we know of right now,and maybe, just maybe there will be some changes made for the better so that we don't worry about SACS,NCAA, the new york lies and times, and the bammerfarts....the first two on that list deserve the respect, the other two deserve to kiss my ass

[freebody 0]

I find it hard to believe that he didn't know it had been already been addressed and corrected. Are we to believe that he dug up all these class rolls and grades from 2004-2005 and cross-referenced them with varsity team rosters, but didn't continue to do it for the summer 2005 or fall 2005 terms before he fired off to the NYT in late spring 2006? Or, did the fact that it was corrected lead him to see his window of opportunity closing? (I better make some noise while I still can!)

[cadillacattack 0]

tombigbeetiger, IMHO you are correct about The Drake group's role in this whole sorted mess. Gundlach was admittedly upset that the AU Administration placed several departments under one chair (Sociology, Anthropology, Criminology, etc) rather than allowing his discipline - Sociology - to be it's own, standalone department under a Sociology Chair.

Instead, a non-Sociology proff (Petee) was placed to chair the group of disciplines, even though revenues generated from sociology curriculum generated the bulk of tuition moneies. This created an economic inequity for Gundlach and his fellow Sociology academicians.

"After Muse left, our administration turned into acting interims all over the place, and acting interims really can't do anything and don't want to talk about problems," Gundlach said. The Drake Group, a grassroots collection of college professors looking to reform big-time athletics, called for Auburn to allow for an independent investigation into Gundlach's claims.

In general, the Academicians believed that operating budgets and decision-making would improve following their attempt to use SACS to force the administration into action. It did not. Instead, the Administration enacted further cost-conservation initiatives that created a wider gap between the Haves (Athletic dept) and the Have-Nots (Sociology dept).

So now the faculty is trying a different approach, involving the academic version of the ACLU – The Drake Group. Don’t know who these guys are? This is where those “overworked, underpaid, under-appreciated, under-budgeted academicians” (from universities with big-time athletic programs) go running to for help in fighting their political battles for budget money.

The current Director at the Drake Group, Dr. David Ridpath, was the “expert” who spoke on behalf of Dr. Linda Bensel-Meyers in the Knight Commission investigation against the University of Tennessee.

Remember Bensel-Meyers, the professor that brought charges against UT claiming that academic fraud was “institutionalized” at UT? Guess what….. she was the Director of the Drake Group at the time and remains a member of their Executive Committee. Bensel-Meyers wrote a paper purporting that athletic scholarships constituted payment for athletic services and, therefore, the NFL should be required to adopt their costs as a farm league, complete with insurance benefits. This is the type of radical viewpoint we’re dealing with in considering the agenda of Dr. Gundlach.

The Drake Group has increasingly gone on the offensive, feeling the end justifies the means. In March of this year, Drake’s self-proclaimed “conscience of collegiate athletics,” DG’s Frank Splitt, wrote:

"The college sports entertainment business not only maintains a virtual stranglehold on America's institutions of higher learning, but also serves as a major distraction from their academic mission - undermining America's ability to face up to global realities."

In a May 9th 2004 letter written by NCAA President Myles Brand, he stated:

" The Drake Group, consisting of a small number of faculty members with an eye for publicity, wants to end university support for intercollegiate athletics. They want to turn college sports into minor leagues for professional teams."

In the Bensel-Meyers case, Drake utilized their contacts at – you guessed it – the New York Times to leak sensitive information that was favorable to their agenda.

This whole mess was carefully organized and controlled by the Drake Group, IMO. Ridpath appeared on Finebaum's show yesterday and expressed support for gundlach and the academic "mission" to divorce itself from athletics. Drake targeted Auburn University because we were the easiest to attack.

Just my $0.02, but Richardson and the BoT need to improve their listening skills and manage their human resources more carefully. This isn't Colonial Bank and academicians like Gundlach and his many peers at AU cannot be summarily dimissed without incurring continued risk in the form of negative publicity.