The resignations of Provost Gerald Lang and Dean Stephen Sears of B&E from their positions, but President Mike Garrison’s defiance of doing the same was the big story around these parts and through Mountaineer Nation yesterday. (As well as this modest little site – I got more hits on my piece yesterday than I can remember getting ever.) Flying a little below the radar this morning is the news that we don’t need to cry for Lang & Sears – because both are tenured they can each drop down and remain on staff as professors. Lang will return to Biology, while Sears will join Finance.

The American Way is to give second chances (and third, fourth, etc..) to those that mess up. We give most everyone a chance to right the ship and correct the mistakes that they’ve made. Lord knows I’ve had my share of second chances, and while I believe in the principle myself I cannot reconcile this with Lang & Sears staying on as professors. If we are to take the report written as gospel, these two were at the center of the plot to authorize the now-mistaken grade change that allowed Ms. Bresch to obtain a degree that would now be the equivalent of toilet paper if it hadn’t been rescinded. Changing grades for no reason, falsifying an academic transcript, and awarding a degree based on said changes is academic fraud of the highest order that can be committed by university administration. One of the more outspoken professors about the ordeal has opined that it will be difficult in the future to admonish his own students who cheat, plagiarize, or otherwise defy the academic setting. I imagine this task in the future will be downright impossible for Lang & Sears.

Given all this plus the latest tales in the Rich Rodriguez and John Beilein sagas (Beilein sent in his first settlement check this week…along with a letter griping about having to pay it), a local issue with the University and local residents has gotten little attention by comparison. WVU wants to build a new daycare center on University-owned land in the Suncrest area, near Mon Boulevard and Patteson Drive. I ask those familiar with the two streets to picture the area: one half of the intersection is occupied by the Coliseum and parking, one corner is the home of the Creative Arts Center, and the last corner is covered by trees. At least it appears that way from the road, for on the other side is a 50 foot dropoff that eventually levels off into Krepps Park. Up against the back of the ravine is the planned location for the center, as well as an upgrade to the access road for Krepps and improved parking.

The problem isn’t the center per-se; the problem is the access to the site in the first place. To get to Krepps Park today one turns off of Patteson Drive (a four lane road with a dedicated fifth lane for turning) onto Laurel Street, a tight two lane road that crosses a small bridge over a drainage creek and enters into the Suncrest neighborhood. Residents there are correctly worried about the increased traffic the center will bring. Traffic is bad enough (by Morgantown standards, anyway) that one can only make a right turn from Laurel to Patteson – lefts are prohibited. Residents are complaining but feel the University has turned a deaf ear on them.

It’s one of those situations where there are good arguments both for and against the center. The increased traffic will have a definite impact on the surrounding neighborhood and a potential traffic light will further constrict flow on Patteson Drive that already needs a little speeding up. The proposed center is only accessible via Laurel, and building a separate access road from either Patteson or Mon Boulevard would be nearly impossible given the geography of the area. On the other hand, child care is consistently cited as a major problem by both students and faculty. (More so by graduate and non-traditional students.) The Morgantown area is growing fast by West Virginia standards, and preschool/daycare slots are hard to come by. We found this out when trying to enroll Garrett in a program last year. I think we went through five or six programs before finding one with space. As more families settle in the problem is only going to get worse, and a large facility like WVU is planning would bring welcome relief.

When I consider what should happen taking both sides into account, I personally think the daycare center is badly needed in Morgantown. I feel, however, that the current location is an absolutely terrible place to build. There is only one access point to the land, and that road is definitely not meant for the traffic, let alone the adjacent neighborhoods. If the university wants to build a new center (and I think they should) there is plenty of WVU owned land in Evansdale that is less than a mile away from Krepps and still conducive to building. Lots of land exists around the Student Rec Center, and the old St. Francis property that was bought recently is sitting there doing nothing. Future plans call for a student center that provides a lot of the downtown services to Evansdale students as well as Student Health and other benefits. It seems only natural that the daycare could be an extension of that project.

Life in the University City just never fails to excite lately. I wonder what tomorrow brings.

By now the details of the Heather Bresch affair have been rehashed in all their ugliness, and the housecleaning has begun.  To review, Bresch has been embroiled in an academic controversy since last October, when it was revealed that she may not have completed all credits required for graduating in 1998 with an MBA.  Since then lots of questions, accusations, and misinformation has been flung in all directions.

The final scorecard reads like this:

• She was granted an MBA in October after having “work experience” credited to satisfy the missing hours.
• The public outcry began in December when the story becomes public.
• An independent committee comprised of academic outsiders decrees that the affair was flawed, grades were changed by top administrators, and decisions were hastily made with failed leadership.
• Provost Gerald Lang, who is listed as approving the final grade manipulation, resigned Monday.
• Stephen Sears, Dean of the College of Business & Economics who recommended the grade change, also resigned Monday.
• In the wake of the fallout, President Michael Garrison has steadfastly refused to resign,  only saying that he is responsible for the “failures that led to the award of unearned credits and grades to a former student.”

This is a flawed response to a shameful period of academic fraud, perpetrated at the highest levels of the university.  Bresch came back to WVU looking for confirmation of a degree after taking a powerful position at Mylan Pharmaceuticals, a position that did NOT require an MBA at a company led by prominent WVU booster Mylan Puskar.
To complicate matters, Bresch is the daughter of Governor Joe Manchin and a longtime associate of Garrison.  Both Garrison and Manchin deny involvement in granting the degree: Manchin insisting that no pressure was applied and Garrison merely rubber-stamping the decisions of Sears & Lang.

Mike Garrison should be ashamed with his own response to this affair.  This is a strong case of academic fraud that was carried out at the top of Stewart Hall for a powerful friend & family.  No matter what he claims was and was not his responsibility, he had plenty of time after the story broke to put an end to an academic dispute where it was clear that the degree requirements were not satisfied.  Instead, he allowed his personal and professional connections to rise above all else and let a fake degree be granted to a student who did not earn it.  Whether he likes it or not, the buck literally does stop with him.  Given all the twists and turns that Garrison has taken thought this ordeal, there is little reason left to believe any of his excuses.  He must step down.

This comes during the first few months of an administration that was flawed from the get go.  At the moment Garrison was announced as a presidential finalist everyone knew that the presidential search was all but finished.  Garrison was not an academic like the other two finalists but he had a not-so-secret advantage – he was real cozy with the Board of Governors (who would eventually be the hiring body) and Governor Manchin.  The stench was so obvious that Daniel Bernstine, another finalist and President of Portland State University (a school comparable in size to WVU) removed his name from the final list.  Garrison was accepted over the howls of protest from alumni and the faculty, so given all the crony-ism involved it’s no surprise he would put his connections over the reputation of the University.

I’m also shining the “shame light” at Governor Manchin.  The governor also claims to have no influence over the decision, but given his continued meddling in other departments in Morgantown this is hard to believe.  From the moment he took office he has stuck his thumbs into nearly all aspects of WVU athletics, and given the nature of state politics in West Virginia he is nealy tied at the hip with WVU.  The president of WVU is a political appointee through the Board of Governors, who are political appointees themselves by the governor.  Garrison was deeply tied to the governor and BOG during the presidential search, and after appointment has to deal with academic irregularities involving the governor’s daughter.  It is not hard to connect all the dots and question the governor’s honesty.

I made the mistake of voting for Joe in 2004 since his opponent was even sleazier than the Manchin clan, if that’s even possible.  Since assuming office, to no one’s surprise he has done precious little to help fix the state’s problems, preferring to be a de facto administrator at WVU to twist things as he sees fit as well as being the state’s slogan-writer-in-chief.  As much as I would like to see him out of office as soon as possible, I don’t think he should resign over this (there’s enough other crap to support his departure).  However, I do think he needs to get his nose out of, or at least distanced from, the goings on in Morgantown.  His supposed “help” is continuing the descent of respect for our programs.  The medical school and law schools have seen their rankings fall in the last couple of years. If he feels the need to meddle in operations here, pushing for answers to turn around the descent is a much worthier effort than forcing the football team into a money losing series designed to do nothing to pad his vote totals in the southwest coalfields.  It’s much more important than helping poision the coaching relationships and elbowing into the locker room.

Mike must go as far away from Stewart Hall as he can, and Joe should get away from Morgantown and keep his ass in Charleston where it belongs.

Six years ago today, at 5:41pm, you came into the world and changed our lives forever.  Through the good times and the bad, you’ve given us a lifetime of memories that will only continue to grow.  Mommy and Daddy love you and are proud of you!

Former WVU running backs coach and offensive coordinator Calvin Magee really screwed the pooch this time….he allowed his agent Mike Brown (who is also RichRod’s agent) to level a false racism charge if the following affidavit is 100% true.

Aschebrook says charges are false

Way too many whys on this one for Rodriguez, Brown, Magee, and slimeball attorney Marv Robon (who ironically compared the 4 mil buyout with Civil War era slaves trying to buy their freedom from plantation owners) to possibly have to weasel out of.  Amongst the big questions: why change the date of the remark from 12/21 to 12/19?  Why implicate a guy who wasn’t in the Puskar Center on either day? Why wait three months to implicate Aschebrook?  Why offer to hire him to Michigan if he is supposedly so racist?

The boys got a tremendous treat earlier this week – a special reading of a book by the author whose father founded the American Taekwondo Association (ATA).

The Legend of Baeoh is a story about a young tiger looking to find his way in the jungle. He was born as a tiger with no stripes where the three-striped tigers ruled. Determined to create his own fate, he goes out on his own to find the truth and meets up with a wise old tiger. Together they learn about determination, courage, perseverance, and other traits that lead them to their destiny. Following his journey, Baeoh is able to defend his family from the wild jackals in the jungle. The book was written by Lucas Taekwon Lee, a 5th degree black belt and the son of Eternal Grand Master Haeng Ung Lee, ATA founder.

Mr. Lee was a guest of Casey’s ATA on Tuesday where he read his book to over 200 students, family, and friends. Thanks to a little luck and skill, we were able to have the boys almost front & center to the couch where Mr. Lee was reading. Being a children’s book it’s not particularly long, but with the author reading the book Mr. Lee made it very engaging. Additionally, he dangled a little carrot in front of the kids – the younger students who showed the most respect & self-control would be able to assist him applying stripes to a stuffed Baeoh tiger when each was earned with the book.

Garrett worked hard on showing his focus, and was rewarded for his effort by Mr. Lee, who invited him up to put on the third stripe. Garrett was real excited about this afterward, since he is currently learning “Block III” forms in his Tiny Tiger classes.

In addition, Ethan took his moment to steal the show. We were led to our seats on the floor around 5:45pm, with the reading to start around 6. He was real well behaved, but like all toddlers he will get antsy after awhile. During the reading a mother sitting next to us gave him some items out of her purse to play with. After that he decided to get up, and we could see in his eyes that he was scheming. He began walking slowly towards the couch where Mr. Lee was reading. He was real quiet about it, and we were stuck in a no win situation – if we try to retrieve him he screams bloody murder and becomes a huge disruption. Fortunately Mr. Lee saw him coming and invited him up to join Mr. Lee in reading the book. He stayed there for a little while and was very well behaved, then Mrs. Casey picked him up for a congratulatory carry.

Finally, after the reading students who already owned a copy of the book were able to get Mr. Lee to autograph it. Given our place on the floor, everyone lined up behind Garrett so he was the first one to get his book signed.

The boys really enjoyed themselves, and Garrett is excited to have us read it to his kindergarten class next week.