From: poore@ds9.scri.fsu.edu (David Poore)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.college
Subject: Re: FSU  <--> drugs <--> profs?
Keywords: lonestar sucks drink shiner bock oh yeah? send me some celis
Date: 12 Aug 92 19:55:58 GMT
Reply-To: poore@ds9.scri.fsu.edu (David Poore)
Distribution: na
Organization: Florida State University

In article <Bsutuz.8tM@rice.edu> rbutera@owlnet.rice.edu (Rob Butera) writes:
>In article <1992Aug12.022917.15953@ncsu.edu>, jvbutera@grad01.math.ncsu.edu (Jeffrey V. Butera) writes:
>|> In article <BsuDpH.18r@rice.edu> rbutera@owlnet.rice.edu (Rob Butera) writes:
>|>>Houston Chronicle yesterday had a story about allegations that some FSU
>|>>athletes over the past decade were involved in the use and sale of cocaine
>|>>with an FSU professor.  Anyone in Florida got a newspaper report on this?
>|> Yes, it's all over the Florida papers that a History prof (only 28 years old)
>|> was selling crack to players.  There is also some allegations of sexual
>|> misconduct at FSU football camp (for HS).  That's about the jist of it...
>Gee - my image of FSU is shattered!  To think that I once considered them
>to be the cleanest football program in Florida :) :) :) (extra smileys to

None of this is quite right. Funny how this stuff gets distorted after
being filtered several times by media and individuals.

So, here's the deal. First, because this situation is ongoing, and the
University is in the process of removing this individual, I won't name
names. Second, my sources are as follows: various newpaper reports, and
my wife, who was GA for this prof. last semester and who has all kinds
of killer inside dirt from people in the History Department.

This individual was not 28 years old, he has taught at FSU for 28 years.
He's in his late forties or early fifties, not sure exactly. He is a
professor of American History, specifically Colonial period. This
incident is only marginally related to the football program, though
because of one particular occurance, it will probably result in an NCAA
witch hu^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hinvestigation.

Background:

This prof was the director of a program called the Summer Mentor
Program. The purpose was to take "at risk" kids, people from poverty
backgrounds, disadvantaged minority groups, etc. and put them in the
University over the course of a Summer to try to give them a head start
in college. My wife was a GA in this program this summer, which
continues to run even though the prof in question was removed from the
directorship. As you might imagine, many atheletes get funnelled into
this program.

This prof has also faced allegations in the past that he gave grades to
atheletes who were undeserving. He saw himself as an advocate for these
people, and went to great lengths to help them. This included allowing
them to stay at his house, giving them money, feeding them, etc. This
extends to a great many people, mostly African-American students, some
of them Atheletes, most of thos football players.

The Bust:

A couple weeks ago, this prof went before the Tallahassee City
Commission, asking for 50k in grant from the City to help fund the
Summer Mentor Program. Attending this meeting was Tallahassee Chief of
Police, Mel Tucker. Mr. Tucker was aware of numerous allegations against
this prof, dating back to 1978, for various offenses ranging from sexual
misconduct to drugs. Because of this, he went to the Commissioners after
the meeting, and asked them to give him 1 week in which to conduct an
investigation, and to hold the funds for that period of time. They
agreed. During that week, Tucker contacted a former FSU Linebacker, who
was pretty down-and-out, and convinced him to be a paid informant to set
up a bust. They arranged it, and the bust went down with the prof making
a crack buy. He has been addicted to cocaine for several years now.

The Problems:

One problem with this program was that the prof allegedly took funds to
help support his habit, despite being single in a town with a low cost
of living with a 50k full-professor's salary.

Another problem was that he had apparantly traded money and/or drugs for
sex with young men involved in the summer program, some of whom were/are
atheletes at FSU.

The problem which has linked the football program with this, is that he
gave money to players on a few occasions, and this apparantly violates
NCAA rules. 

Outcome:

So far, the prof has been banned from campus while procedings are
underway to fire him. He was compelled to enter a drug rehab program,
and otherwise let free with various fines, and extensive community
service.

All of this is, I am sure, a matter of public record, and anyone who is
so inclined can peruse Tallahassee Democrat issues from the past few
weeks if they wish to find out specifics. I'm not naming names becauseI
don't want to incur any liability in reporting this information here.

David Poore
poore@ds9.scri.fsu.edu