Trouble at Auburn (New York Times article)

[Bob Loblaw]

By the way, there have also been rumors flying around for a month or more that Georgia and others (but not Bama) have turned the barn in for pay for play. The NCAA is in cow country right now supposedly looking into that.

Stay tuned. The boogers might get the hammer along with losing their school accreditation (which almost happened last year).

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

[HamShank]

Are you high?  Regardless what you think of their op-ed page, journalistically they've won more Pulitzers than any newspaper in history.  The Associated Press takes their lead FROM the NY Times.  Their news journalists and their op-ed page are two very different things.

I've got 3 words for ya: Jayson Blair.

Even Jayson Blair can count to two.

[Vandyhog4]

"I didn't do nothing illegal or anything like that." -Carnell "Cadillac" Williams himself.  In English we call this a double negative, so technically he DID do something illegal.  Looks like the NCAA has all of the proof they need right there...admittance from a former student athlete.  Looks like Cadillac should have quit getting a free pass from the Sociology Department and spent a little more time over at the English Department.  Although, English professors have too much integrity to do something like this.  Sociology is such a BS major anyways.

[hogsNbeer]

I agree with the other poster...... If you think this doesn't happen at other schools you're smokin crack.....  Auburn will impose a harsh sentence for them, if they are, in fact, found guilty-- the NCAA will probably take a few more schollies from them on top of what they forced on themselves......plus maybe a few other restrictions.......     IMO, Auburn will still be tough, and won't have to use this an excuse for losing......    I don't like glorifying this type of stuff, no matter what football team--- it's not good for the entire NCAA, and it shows a severe problem that is as OLD AS THE HILLS.....     

[Call Mr. Sow]

Guys, do the math. The footballers only made up 7% of the students in the DR/IS classes. The press in Alabama is already blowing it off. Everyone at the NYT around this story has a Bama pedigree. This is simply a smear. Plain and simple.

Sounds bad, very bad, but like I said do the math. 97 total hours for 18 football players amounts to 5.4 hours per player? Who cares? Why would the NYT dedicate 4 pages to a single class that only 18 kids took?

In a word: "smear." We are beating Bama like a redheaded step child. They cant beat us on the field. They know it. So, as per bama norm, they drag out the smear stuff.

SSDD in Alabama....

I think this sort of grade inflation stuff goes on at every school.  Auburn just happened to piss the wrong guy off in the process.  For this reason, I don't plan on celebrating the troubles that Auburn is about to go through (if any).

But I am going to take a moment and laugh at the pathetic finger pointing going on by at least this Auburn fan.  The Bammers have always said that the Barners just want to be them...and now it seems that they are walking hand-in-hand, pointing their fingers at other schools for their miseries they built on their own.  So thank you, DKW86, for giving us all something to really enjoy, Auburn fans embarassing themselves in the same way the Tiders did 2 years ago. 

[B0SSH0GG]

Colin Cowherd had Paul Finebaum on this morning and said there are allegations that 17-18 players on Auburn's undefeated 2004 team took a bogus class and received credit for it. These players include Cadillac Williams. I hope Auburn and Tommy Boy get probation out of this one. The story is supposedly in the Mobile Register this morning. :razorback:

[Flatline]

This could get ugly.

[GuvHog]

This could get ugly.

Where did you get that Hog picture? I like it!

[Beopig]

Hate to see an SEC school cheating.  Just makes the whole conference look bad.  Would much rather this had been Texass, Oklahomo or ND...

[WILL CLINTON]

So does this mean Auburn will have a "cloud"??

[Flatline]

Let the circus begin.

[GuvHog]

So does this mean Auburn will have a "cloud"??

Here we go with the Cloud thing again. I hope they do.

[Nutts and Bolts]

This will only make Bama stronger... When one of the two schools in Alabama get in trouble, it pushes the recruits the other way...  The reason Auburn has been strong the past few years is because they got all the recruits Bama would have gotten had they not gotten busted... The same will happen here...

[jkcrunch]

Okay, here's the question: if you're an Auburn fan tonight, was the success the Tigers have experienced the last couple of years worth it to you?

If it landed me a NC that couldn't be taken away? Yes.

Since NC are 'mythical' then no way can really take them away.   But No it would not be worth it.   The UA has special degree set up for the players just like Duke,Vandy,and all the IVY league schools do.   My issue with the Aurburn set up is the player does not attend a class.   Miss St had a couple of BB stars get thru a summer making up some unreal number of hours and nothing happen,  nothing will happen to Auburn either other than a little egg on their face.

[B0SSH0GG]

Where did you get that Hog picture? I like it!
[/quote]

It came from an ESPN.com story several months ago about the best players to watch for next year. D-Mac was number 8 or 9 if I remember correctly.

[Tideboy]

Guys, do the math. The footballers only made up 7% of the students in the DR/IS classes. The press in Alabama is already blowing it off. Everyone at the NYT around this story has a Bama pedigree. This is simply a smear. Plain and simple.

Sounds bad, very bad, but like I said do the math. 97 total hours for 18 football players amounts to 5.4 hours per player? Who cares? Why would the NYT dedicate 4 pages to a single class that only 18 kids took?

In a word: "smear." We are beating Bama like a redheaded step child. They cant beat us on the field. They know it. So, as per bama norm, they drag out the smear stuff.


SSDD in Alabama....

Whatever helps you sleep at night...

[Allister Fiend]

The press in Alabama is already blowing it off. Everyone at the NYT around this story has a Bama pedigree. This is simply a smear. Plain and simple.

Wrong again cowboy. I work for a newspaper in Alabama and I can tell you first hand, the Alabama press is not blowing this off. In fact, it's the top story in almost every newspaper and on every news channel. Why would the Alabama press blow this off? That makes no sense as a story this big generates lots of money for the media. Blowing it off would be pissing away a lot of money.

[HogHillbilly]

So if Auburn ends up not being able to go to Atlanta this year........................All we have to do is beat LSU.....................Go Hogs !

[WILL CLINTON]

Isn't this kind of what happened to Georgia and Jim Harrick? 

So does this mean Auburn will have a "cloud"??

Here we go with the Cloud thing again. I hope they do.

it will probably like Alabamas cloud, where they can still recruit, instead of Arkansas cloud where the coaches just stopped recruiting. 

[hoggerdinger]

I wonder if Williams misspelled Professor Peete?

[GuvHog]

I wonder if Bobby Lowder's money can buy Auburn out of this!

[silvertip]

It appears that Professor Gundlach was on a witch hunt for Professor Petee and his job as the Sociology department head.   I think this will all be blown out of proportion by the media.  It sounds like the guy is not teaching as many of the courses as he did.  This just goes to show how office politics can turn nasty and mean very quick.

This goes on all around the country in big time college football.  Auburn just got caught.

What does it matter what Prof Gundlach's motivation was? What is important is whether the allegations are true or not. If true, then Prof Petee has no professional ethics & should be fired.

As for your assertion that this goes on all around the country, I'm sure you don't have the facts to back that up.
Just becuase it gets exposed now & then at places like Aub, Tenn, or OK doesn't necessarily mean it goes on everywhere. And it won't be cleaned up until schools like Aub fire people like Petee, and media like the NY Times holds them up to ridicule.

[HotRodHog]

Typical course load for a professor is 5 classes. Less in a 4 year college that focuses on research. That would mean this professor is teaching 12-18 classes a semester. That is impossible.

Auburn is in trouble.

Yes, yes they are in serious trouble. The NCAA will come down on them hard for this misconduct. Look for no TV, no post-season, and possibly the dark hammer of death to crush Auburn. This is heavy stuff guys - I say lets start recruiting Auburn's 2007 list, because they are not going to be headed to this Abyss

[HotRodHog]

The NCAA will look for AND FIND complicity with the athletic department. The atheletic department is charged with reviewing class for the student/ATHLETE and has knowledge of the classes their guys are enrolled in. Auburn is dead in the water I tell you. This investigation will not take long. Look for Auburn to come out with some self imposed sanctions, but it won't help.

[dirthog]

At Arkansas in the department Im in (agriculture)  Many professors that focus on research teach one class a year usually in the fall semester, some teach a class every other year.

[silvertip]

Should Arkansas fans be gloating over academic problems when the Razorback football had the worst graduation rate in the SEC?

Well, those graduation rates are somewhat out of date---look at the fine print at the botton--for classes entering from '94-'95 up thru classes entering in the '97-'98 school years.

I think the Academic Progress Rating should be more up to date, since it's only been in effect for a couple of years. It should cover the graduating classes of '04 & '05, which I think the "grad rate" probably misses. Using the APR, Hawgs rank 7th in SEC.

In fact, my impression is that the NCAA switched from the "grad rate" measure over to the "APR rating" because the APR is considered a more accurate measure.

[HOGLUVIN]

[size=07pt]Auburn 2007 Rec's[/size] Pos Stars   Ht   Wt   40   RR     Hometown
Dequan Bembry    DB    3     5-10 175 4.62 5.5     Hawkinsville, GA
Kyle Coulahan      OL    3     6-4   291 4.9  5.5     Pensacola, FL
Johnnie Lee Dixon ATH  4      5-11 176 4.49 5.8     Belle Glade, FL
John Douglas       RB    3      6-2  235 4.7 5.7       Augusta, GA
Ryan Pugh          OL    4      6-2  275 5.2 5.8       Hoover, AL
Chaz Ramsey      OL     3      6-3 268 5.15 5.7      Madison, MS
Mike Slade         DB     3      6-2 185 4.5 5.6       Tallahassee, FL
Brent Slusher     TE      3     6-3 221 4.79 5.7      Pineville, KY
Bailey Woods      TE     4     6-4 222 4.6 5.8        Marietta, GA

[GuvHog]

Should Arkansas fans be gloating over academic problems when the Razorback football had the worst graduation rate in the SEC?

Well, those graduation rates are somewhat out of date---look at the fine print at the botton--for classes entering from '94-'95 up thru classes entering in the '97-'98 school years.

I think the Academic Progress Rating should be more up to date, since it's only been in effect for a couple of years. It should cover the graduating classes of '04 & '05, which I think the "grad rate" probably misses. Using the APR, Hawgs rank 7th in SEC.

In fact, my impression is that the NCAA switched from the "grad rate" measure over to the "APR rating" because the APR is considered a more accurate measure.

Good post silvertip!

[HotRodHog]

We have two professors ON RECORD stating this occurred. Proof, we already have it. Grade inflation, we already have it. This implicates Auburn University directly, not boosters, phantom fat cats, or other "outsiders." The one question about the validity of the independent courses has already been answered that matters - Did the students read the normal material (five books) for this course? Answer, not even close (1). This is a open and shut case fellows. If the professor would have at least assigned the normal course-work and then turned a blind-eye, they would have a chance at digging themselves out. However, he didn't.

[HotRodHog]

[size=07pt]Auburn 2007 Rec's[/size] Pos Stars   Ht   Wt   40   RR     Hometown
Dequan Bembry    DB    3     5-10 175 4.62 5.5     Hawkinsville, GA
Kyle Coulahan      OL    3     6-4   291 4.9  5.5     Pensacola, FL
Johnnie Lee Dixon ATH  4      5-11 176 4.49 5.8     Belle Glade, FL
John Douglas       RB    3      6-2  235 4.7 5.7       Augusta, GA
Ryan Pugh          OL    4      6-2  275 5.2 5.8       Hoover, AL
Chaz Ramsey      OL     3      6-3 268 5.15 5.7      Madison, MS
Mike Slade         DB     3      6-2 185 4.5 5.6       Tallahassee, FL
Brent Slusher     TE      3     6-3 221 4.79 5.7      Pineville, KY
Bailey Woods      TE     4     6-4 222 4.6 5.8        Marietta, GA

Yeah baby. This is Auburn's 2007, right?

[HotRodHog]

Was Auburn's 2007.

[lyon98]

I believe this hit the New York Times for two reasons: it's a story about college football in the deep south and academic abuses.  Both are favorite targets of eastern media who have never understood the passion with which so many southerners regard college football.

I have to admit that I'm somewhat torn by what is going on at Auburn. I believe that "higher education" is just that and that there are some kids, athletes and non-athletes, who have no business in a four-year university until they have proven themselves at a community college or juco. At the same time, I love college football. College athletics in general. I doubt that there are many SEC players who can boast of scoring a 28 on the ACT.

Make 'em declare a legitimate major, and make 'em go to class.   

(BTW, anyone remember the article in the Saturday Evening Post that claimed Bear Bryant and Georgia's Wally Butts had conspired to fix a football game? Much ado about nothing, and Butts won a defamation lawsuit.)

The Sat EP dropped or settled, I don't remember which, a suit with Bryant as it was to be tried in AL. They couldn't get it moved to a friendly site.

[GuvHog]

I think the Academic Progress Rating should be more up to date, since it's only been in effect for a couple of years. It should cover the graduating classes of '04 & '05, which I think the "grad rate" probably misses. Using the APR, Hawgs rank 7th in SEC.

In fact, my impression is that the NCAA switched from the "grad rate" measure over to the "APR rating" because the APR is considered a more accurate measure.

True, but even using the updated APR, 7th isn't very good.

It's a heck of a lot better than 12th!

[HotRodHog]

It appears that Professor Gundlach was on a witch hunt for Professor Petee and his job as the Sociology department head.   I think this will all be blown out of proportion by the media.  It sounds like the guy is not teaching as many of the courses as he did.  This just goes to show how office politics can turn nasty and mean very quick.

This goes on all around the country in big time college football.  Auburn just got caught.

That is pretty sad that you painted Gundlach as this evil jealous guy.  I doubt if you know about the situation anymore than what was in that article, but I don't think most of us saw the same thing you did from reading that article.  To me, Gundlach was pissed that some students (including student-athletes) were getting easy grades for little to no work.  Gundlach hated that a fellow faculty member was jeopardizing the integrity of their profession and college institution by just handing out easy A's without making the students earn them.  Although I am not a college professor, I am proud of my own profession and would be ashamed if its integrity is compromised.

Good Post.

[Flatline]

This could get ugly.

Where did you get that Hog picture? I like it!

Goggle images

[GuvHog]

MLH, That's one mean lookin' Hog!

[DKW 86]

The story is already down at two of three rumor mill sites I watch. Drudge has already taken it down too.

We are talking about a prof with a grudge for not getting a job. Again, only 7% of the class attendees were footballers. BFD. We are talking a total of 97 hours out of 80+ kids taking almost 200 hours each. This comes out to represent something along the lines of 2-3% of the credit hours of the football team. 

Just as at UT, the footballers weren't getting anything the general student population wasn't getting.

Background on this is WHY would the NYT publish 4 pages about 18 kids taking ONE class at Auburn? It goes on everywhere. The several ties between NYT and several bama grads that were seen running with this story almost 4 weeks ago was the tip off. Why would a professional journalist be spreading a rumor in front of the story? Because they know we are about to run it to 5 in a row and they know they don't have anyway to stop it.....

BTW, did you know that bama offers a Independent Study "Transgender" Class? Kid you not! 

[TitanTiger]

It appears that Professor Gundlach was on a witch hunt for Professor Petee and his job as the Sociology department head.   I think this will all be blown out of proportion by the media.  It sounds like the guy is not teaching as many of the courses as he did.  This just goes to show how office politics can turn nasty and mean very quick.

This goes on all around the country in big time college football.  Auburn just got caught.

That is pretty sad that you painted Gundlach as this evil jealous guy.  I doubt if you know about the situation anymore than what was in that article, but I don't think most of us saw the same thing you did from reading that article.  To me, Gundlach was pissed that some students (including student-athletes) were getting easy grades for little to no work.  Gundlach hated that a fellow faculty member was jeopardizing the integrity of their profession and college institution by just handing out easy A's without making the students earn them.  Although I am not a college professor, I am proud of my own profession and would be ashamed if its integrity is compromised.

Well, Gundlach himself has admitted such jealousy was part of his motivation, so forgive us if we don't buy the "integrity " angle:

Gundlach, officials said, confirmed to Auburn that, at least in part, his dissatisfaction with being passed over when Petee was promoted in 2002 led him to ultimately take his allegations to The New York Times earlier this year.

http://www.al.com/sports/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/sports/1152868684135850.xml&coll=1

That article also has some interesting quotes from Langenfeld and others that the NYT somehow missed that give a fuller picture.

My bet...nothing of any worry comes of it, from the NCAA or elsewhere.  Auburn institutes some changes to make sure these classes, which are common to every school, are following proper protocols, and the bammies who were so hoping this would be a big bomb will be crying in their Schlitz Malt Liquor when it turns out to have all the pop of bubble wrap.

[silvertip]

I think the Academic Progress Rating should be more up to date, since it's only been in effect for a couple of years. It should cover the graduating classes of '04 & '05, which I think the "grad rate" probably misses. Using the APR, Hawgs rank 7th in SEC.

In fact, my impression is that the NCAA switched from the "grad rate" measure over to the "APR rating" because the APR is considered a more accurate measure.

True, but even using the updated APR, 7th isn't very good.

True, 7th isn't very good. But it sure beats 12th. And I think offhand that our APR rating may be good enough to avoid NCAA penalties.

Now, if we could just get our passing game up to 7th in the SEC...

[Hogward R. Murrow]

Dude, read ALL the post before you post.

I did; I'm a prof and we usually describe course load by semester around here.  Maybe it's different where you are.
[/quote]

ditto. I was referring to the semester. Typical loads for our place is 5. But, a research institution is lower. Have never seen just 2 though. Must have tenure.

[Bob Loblaw]

Even Jayson Blair can count to two.

psst... It was a joke. shh...

[darkhogfan]

It appears that Professor Gundlach was on a witch hunt for Professor Petee and his job as the Sociology department head.   I think this will all be blown out of proportion by the media.  It sounds like the guy is not teaching as many of the courses as he did.  This just goes to show how office politics can turn nasty and mean very quick.

This goes on all around the country in big time college football.  Auburn just got caught.

That is pretty sad that you painted Gundlach as this evil jealous guy.  I doubt if you know about the situation anymore than what was in that article, but I don't think most of us saw the same thing you did from reading that article.  To me, Gundlach was pissed that some students (including student-athletes) were getting easy grades for little to no work.  Gundlach hated that a fellow faculty member was jeopardizing the integrity of their profession and college institution by just handing out easy A's without making the students earn them.  Although I am not a college professor, I am proud of my own profession and would be ashamed if its integrity is compromised.

It appears that Professor Gundlach was on a witch hunt for Professor Petee and his job as the Sociology department head.   I think this will all be blown out of proportion by the media.  It sounds like the guy is not teaching as many of the courses as he did.  This just goes to show how office politics can turn nasty and mean very quick.

This goes on all around the country in big time college football.  Auburn just got caught.

That is pretty sad that you painted Gundlach as this evil jealous guy.  I doubt if you know about the situation anymore than what was in that article, but I don't think most of us saw the same thing you did from reading that article.  To me, Gundlach was pissed that some students (including student-athletes) were getting easy grades for little to no work.  Gundlach hated that a fellow faculty member was jeopardizing the integrity of their profession and college institution by just handing out easy A's without making the students earn them.  Although I am not a college professor, I am proud of my own profession and would be ashamed if its integrity is compromised.

I am not a college professor either but I am a teacher and consider myself in a broad spectrum to be a part of the same profession as Petee.  I, first of all find it disturbing to think that this guy doesen't think he's done anything wrong.  He's obviously given certain students an unfair advantage in academics over others.  As a college graduate it makes me angry that just because these guys are football players they are given an easy route to good grades.  I worked very hard to get my college diploma, as I'm sure just about everyone who obtains one does.  If athletes can't keep the grade point they need taking the same classes with the same work as everyone else THEY SHOULD NOT PLAY.  
Unless of course they go to Arkansas, then they should play no matter what.(Just Kidding on that last part.)

[TitanTiger]

First of all, he wasn't favoring athletes.  Over 270 students took these courses from this professor under the same conditions.  About 25% (67 total) were athletes (and given the scheduling demands on most athletes, it's not surprising they'd look for opportunities like this more than others).  Only 18 of them were specifically football players (7%).  Also, those 18 players took a sum total of 97 credit hours, amounting to 5.4 credit hours per student.  And that over the course of their entire Auburn career...not one semester, one season...3-4 years of work. 

Just giving some perspective.

[Tusks]

Is there anyway we can blame this on HDN....

[darkhogfan]

First of all, he wasn't favoring athletes.  Over 270 students took these courses from this professor under the same conditions.  About 25% (67 total) were athletes (and given the scheduling demands on most athletes, it's not surprising they'd look for opportunities like this more than others).  Only 18 of them were specifically football players (7%).  Also, those 18 players took a sum total of 97 credit hours, amounting to 5.4 credit hours per student.  And that over the course of their entire Auburn career...not one semester, one season...3-4 years of work. 

Just giving some perspective.

Thanks for the info.  However, whether they were athletes or not he still gave some students an advantage.  I think you maly know more since you obviously keep up with the team so I'll keep your info in mind.

[preacherhog]

Should Arkansas fans be gloating over academic problems when the Razorback football had the worst graduation rate in the SEC?

Well, kinda proves we ain't cheatin', huh?

[preacherhog]

This could get ugly.

Where did you get that Hog picture? I like it!

Goggle images

I dunno - looks a lot like a jackass with tusk.

[hogsmaster]

It appears that Professor Gundlach was on a witch hunt for Professor Petee and his job as the Sociology department head.   I think this will all be blown out of proportion by the media.  It sounds like the guy is not teaching as many of the courses as he did.  This just goes to show how office politics can turn nasty and mean very quick.

This goes on all around the country in big time college football.  Auburn just got caught.

That is pretty sad that you painted Gundlach as this evil jealous guy.  I doubt if you know about the situation anymore than what was in that article, but I don't think most of us saw the same thing you did from reading that article.  To me, Gundlach was pissed that some students (including student-athletes) were getting easy grades for little to no work.  Gundlach hated that a fellow faculty member was jeopardizing the integrity of their profession and college institution by just handing out easy A's without making the students earn them.  Although I am not a college professor, I am proud of my own profession and would be ashamed if its integrity is compromised.

Well, Gundlach himself has admitted such jealousy was part of his motivation, so forgive us if we don't buy the "integrity " angle:

Gundlach, officials said, confirmed to Auburn that, at least in part, his dissatisfaction with being passed over when Petee was promoted in 2002 led him to ultimately take his allegations to The New York Times earlier this year.

http://www.al.com/sports/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/sports/1152868684135850.xml&coll=1

That article also has some interesting quotes from Langenfeld and others that the NYT somehow missed that give a fuller picture.

My bet...nothing of any worry comes of it, from the NCAA or elsewhere.  Auburn institutes some changes to make sure these classes, which are common to every school, are following proper protocols, and the bammies who were so hoping this would be a big bomb will be crying in their Schlitz Malt Liquor when it turns out to have all the pop of bubble wrap.

What's up with you Auburn people?  Do you guys have a crisis committee or something?  Something bad happened, somebody calls a meeting and then direct each person to go on another school message board and spin the story.  First of all, I am sure this topic is very heated on your own message board, so instead of debating it there, where the majority are pro-Auburn, you decided to come here and try to convince us not to believe that story.  Instead of looking at the facts and say this Peete guy is kind of fishy.  Even other Auburn professors said his work load was unheard of.  He took on a student(athlete) about 3/4 of the way through the semester, and instead of making that student(athlete) bust his chops to earn that 3 credit units, he just had him read a book and write a report on it.  That little BS work that student(athlete) did do earned him a "B".  Even your faculty senate leader said that not really sufficient work to earn 3 credit units.  Yes, I attended college and heard of easy courses or professors, but I have never heard of that type of non-sense.  So instead of debating the facts, you chose to debate the character of Gundlach.  That is what all good attorneys do in court.  If you can't win with the evidences presented, then attack the person that provided the evidences or his/her credibility.  Your quote from the article stating that Auburn officials acknowledged that Gundlach admitted that part of his motitivation to take the story public was because of being passed over for a promotion is also questionable.  First of all, the reporter could have contact Gundlach and get quotes from him directly.  He can even be direct and asked him what his motivation was.  But no, he decided to state that somebody (supposely Auburn officials but who knows who they were) said that Gundlach admitted that "at least in part, his dissatisfaction with being passed over when Petee was promoted in 2002, was the reason he took his story to the NY Times.  Even if that was the case, it does not change the fact that good ole Peete bust his rears (carrying a load of 3-4 professors) to help a few students out.  Gave them easy A's so they can graduate and go out into the real world and use their degrees to help someone in need of their professional services.  No wonder he got promoted. 

First of all, he wasn't favoring athletes.  Over 270 students took these courses from this professor under the same conditions.  About 25% (67 total) were athletes (and given the scheduling demands on most athletes, it's not surprising they'd look for opportunities like this more than others).  Only 18 of them were specifically football players (7%).  Also, those 18 players took a sum total of 97 credit hours, amounting to 5.4 credit hours per student.  And that over the course of their entire Auburn career...not one semester, one season...3-4 years of work. 

Just giving some perspective.

So your spin is that because it invovled other students, Peete is really not a cheater?

[THROWITDEEP]

It appears that Professor Gundlach was on a witch hunt for Professor Petee and his job as the Sociology department head.   I think this will all be blown out of proportion by the media.  It sounds like the guy is not teaching as many of the courses as he did.  This just goes to show how office politics can turn nasty and mean very quick.

This goes on all around the country in big time college football.  Auburn just got caught.

What does it matter what Prof Gundlach's motivation was? What is important is whether the allegations are true or not. If true, then Prof Petee has no professional ethics & should be fired.

As for your assertion that this goes on all around the country, I'm sure you don't have the facts to back that up.
Just becuase it gets exposed now & then at places like Aub, Tenn, or OK doesn't necessarily mean it goes on everywhere. And it won't be cleaned up until schools like Aub fire people like Petee, and media like the NY Times holds them up to ridicule.

I have 10 years of experience working in college athletics as a football coach and support staff.  I have worked for Division I, Division II and NAIA schools and I am here to tell you that it goes on.   ALL COACHES have a "favorite" professor that they send athletes to because they are easy.  Did I say it was right?  No, I said that it goes on.  So...yes, I have the facts to back it up.
My own experience. 

[WilsonHog]

It appears that Professor Gundlach was on a witch hunt for Professor Petee and his job as the Sociology department head.   I think this will all be blown out of proportion by the media.  It sounds like the guy is not teaching as many of the courses as he did.  This just goes to show how office politics can turn nasty and mean very quick.

This goes on all around the country in big time college football.  Auburn just got caught.

What does it matter what Prof Gundlach's motivation was? What is important is whether the allegations are true or not. If true, then Prof Petee has no professional ethics & should be fired.

As for your assertion that this goes on all around the country, I'm sure you don't have the facts to back that up.
Just becuase it gets exposed now & then at places like Aub, Tenn, or OK doesn't necessarily mean it goes on everywhere. And it won't be cleaned up until schools like Aub fire people like Petee, and media like the NY Times holds them up to ridicule.

I have 10 years of experience working in college athletics as a football coach and support staff.  I have worked for Division I, Division II and NAIA schools and I am here to tell you that it goes on.   ALL COACHES have a "favorite" professor that they send athletes to because they are easy.  Did I say it was right?  No, I said that it goes on.  So...yes, I have the facts to back it up.
My own experience. 

I believe it goes on at varying degrees all over the country, for one simple reason: money. The lure of money and a winning program is so great that corners will be cut.  It's been going on for 75 years.