The Michigan Daily - SportsMonday - October 4, 1999 - 98 Haskins asked counselor to cheat By V. Paul Virtuclo Minnesota Daily MINNEAPOLIS (U-Wire) -A 1986 memo written by Rick Marsden, a for- mer athletics academic counselor with a pending lawsuit against the University of Minnesota, documents that Clem Haskins asked him to write a paper for one of his players. According to the memo sent to Elayne Donahue, former head of the academic counseling unit, Haskins told Marsden: "If someone doing a paper for an athlete would allow him the opportunity to be eligible to compete ... we need to do the paper for him." Investigators Donald Lewis and Michael Glazier met Wednesday with Donahue to discuss the memo during a deposition at the office of her attorney, Jim Lord. "It appears (Haskins) was attempting to direct someone to write papers for stu- dent-athletes," Lord said. "The investiga- tors have more and more evidence of aca- demic fraud found at the university." Although the memo was just recently released by investigators and confirmed by Donahue, it did not surprise universi- ty officials. It means "nothing because it's not new' said McKinley Boston, vice presi- dent of student development and athlet- ics. "This has been on the table from the very beginning?. The 1986 memo supported allegations Marsden made in his 1998 lawsuit against the University. Marsden claimed the athletics department discriminated against him based on his sexual orienta- tion and his depression. He sought a court-ordered reassignment within the university and currently works as a University College counselor. In response to Marsden's charges, University attorneys issued a letter to the counselor's attorney, deeming his claims of a "homophobic work environment" baseless. "The university has no basis to believe that Mr. Marsden's request for reassign- ment is based on anything other than a personality conflict with athletics man- agement,' the Dec. 4, 1998 letter stated. In an affidavit dated Jan. 21, nearly two months before the men's basketball academic fraud scandal surfaced, Marsden testified that he was instructed to wrte an academic paper for a student by an unnamed basketball coach. He refused and reported the incident to University officials, according to the affi- day it. Donahue did not clearly remember what she did with the memo after receiv- ing it, although she thinks she passed it on to Jim Infante, the former vice presi- dent of student development and athletics who preceded Boston. "It strengthens the evidence that. Haskins was aware it was going on," he said. Boston said he was not aware of the memo, nor was he briefed by Infante about alleged academic violations in the men's basketball program. In the memo, Marsden also recounted a conversation between Haskins and Susan Latendresse, who worked in the men's basketball office. Haskins wanted her to process a scholarship application for a player who had publicly turned pro= fessional and was therefore no longer eli- gible. Latendresse refused. Marsden quotes Haskins as saying "Everyone else in the country does it Why shouldn't we help this young mart?" PHOTOG/E nd here is a cutline for after the streamer. This should be two lines long as well, and should tell a bit about the photo, the eople In it, and all that fun stuff. fOC's Samaranch delays testimony until December ATHENS, Greece (AP) - IOC presi- denit Juan Antonio Samaranch said yes- terday he can't testify this month at a congressional hearing into Olympic bid- ding scandals, but is willing to do so later i he year. amaranch said he would testify in December after the International Olymnpic Committee votes on a series of reform measures. "I'm ready to go but only in the right moimhent," he said. "I have to go there with some solution in my pocket." Samaranch sent a letter to Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., who had requested that he appear at an Oct. 14 hearing into or ses related to Atlanta's winning bid fov the 1996 Summer Games. Upton had threatened to subpoena Samaranch if he declined to appear before the House commerce subcommit- tee on oversight #and investigation. Samaranch declined to appear at a simi- lar hearing in the Senate in April. In the letter, Samaranch said the IOC "will. fully cooperate" with Upton. But he said he was too busy at the moment push- in through reforms prompted by the Salt AW . City bribery scandal. "It.is essential that I work full time to generate the required consensus," he said. "My primary responsibility in these circumstances must rest with the need to ensure that our reforms proceed as planned." Samaranch said he was prepared to appear before Upton's committee any time after the Dec. 11-12 session where the full IOC will vote on sweeping reforms, including new rules on age lim- its, terms of office and the bidding and site selection process. "Apart from my inability to come to the United States earlier, this would also provide the most suitable opportunity to give you the best and most complete information, not only on what went wrong, but also and above all, on what remedies are being put into place," the letter said. Samaranch, who is from Spain, said he will need a Spanish interpreter at. the hearing "to avoid any misunderstanding." He also said he would welcome a visit by Upton to IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. Samaranch said he would a the two IOC members in the United States, Anita DeFrantz and Jim Easton, and IOC direc- tor general Francois Carrard to testify at the Oct. 14 hearing. Upton has called the hearing to investi- gate a "culture of corruption" surround- ing Atlanta's bid. A report submitted to Congress last month detailed gifts, travel, favors and offers of college scholarships and job assistance to IOC members and their families from the Atlanta bid team. Upton said the report proved "votes were for sale" and accused the IOC of fostering a corrupt bid culture. Upton said he wanted Samaranch to "explain exactly how the IOC awards the games," based on some of the "outra- geous revelations" related to the Atlanta bid. The IOC's new ethics commission said last week it would review the Atlanta report to determine whether any IOC members had committed improprieties. IOC vice president Dick Pound, who headed an inquiry that led to the expul- sion or resignation of 10 IOC members in the Salt Lake City scandal, said Saturday he saw no evidence in the Atlanta report that merited sanctions. Samaranch declined to testify at hear- ings called by Sen. John McCain in April in the wake of the vote-buying scandal stemming from Salt Lake City's winning bid for the 2002 Winter Games. At that time, Samaranch sent DeFrantz to represent him. The hearing turned into a forum for IOC bashing. McCain has scheduled another hearing for Oct. 20, this time on the problem of performance-enhancing drugs in Olympic sports. Samaranch has not traveled to the United States since the Salt Lake City scandal broke late last year. He and other IOC members could face questioning by FBI agents investigating the Salt Lake City scandal. ANTI-DOPING UPDATE: Also yesterday, the IOC executive board said it was speeding up plans for creation of an international anti-doping agency. The agency will be set up by the end of this month, rather than the end of the year as previously projected. The IOC said it will seek equal repre- sentation on the agency from govern- ments, sports bodies and athletes in order to make it "independent and based on consensus." The IOC's plans have come under harsh attack from White House drug pol- icy adviser Barry McCaffrey, who says the agency should be fully independent from the IOC. But Samaranch took a conciliatory line, saying, "I respect (McCaffrey) very much. I think he has taken care of the drug problem in the U.S. If he wants one day to cooperate with us, (the door) will be open.", Tyson says he'd bite back again'.1 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Mike Tyson might bite again. The former heavyweight champion says if a referee fails to protect him in his next bout he would be forced to take matters into his own mouth. "I would do it again under those circumstances"he said in yesterday's Los Angeles Times. Tyson bit off part of Evander Holyfield's ear in a 1997 title fight. He contends referee Mills Lane allowed him to be butted, and he would react the same way if cut and bleeding. "I know what the reality is' he said. "Listen, I hate to cry and I hate to sound like sour grapes, but no one ever listens to me. No one ever hears what I have to say." Tyson, coming off a Maryland jail sentence, fights Orlin Norris Oct. 23 in Las Vegas and doesn't expect help from the referee. "If he's having a rough fight and there is some foulness going on, the referee is going to be paralyzed and not act," he told the Times. "Nobody ever has any sympathy or pity for me. In retal- iation, I'll fight back because nobody is fighting for me. I have to defend myself. It is just human nature to defend yourself. I just never sold out." In the Holyfield bout, Tyson.spit out his mouthpiece and bit off the top of his opponent's right ear. Minutes later, he bit Holyfield's left ear. He lost his boxing license for 15 months and apologized for his conduct. He returned to the ring in January, knock- ing out Francois Botha in the fifth round. I SIBSON & COMPANY A Nextera Company I I Own your CAREER The Leader in Multimedia Email. Adds Vci2 Place: Wolverine Room-Business School on Tappan Street Casual attire preferred. 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