DAILY LOBO new mexico
A plague of a play
thursday
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The Independent Voice of UNM since 1895
November 5, 2009
‘We bungled,’ administrators say
Lawyer says Gerald was not asking for ‘hush money’ from University by Isaac Avilucea Daily Lobo
Amie Zimmer / Daily Lobo Athletics Director Paul Krebs, right, answers a reporter’s question during a press conference in the SUB on Wednesday. Krebs, Vice President for Human Resources Helen Gonzales and UNM President David Schmidly sought to clarify the incident involving a physical altercation between head football coach Mike Locksley and assistant coach J.B. Gerald. “We’re embarrassed by the whole situation,” Schmidly said in his opening remarks.
Julian Haffner, the lawyer representing former wide receivers coach J.B. Gerald, said the University is attempting to discredit his client by claiming he told UNM his grievance could be washed away if the University paid him $500,000. According to a University-issued timeline provided at Wednesday’s news conference, Haffner presented the University with a letter on Oct. 1 offering continued media silence in exchange for a $500,000 settlement. UNM President David Schmidly said the letter immediately brought up questions in his mind about Gerald’s intentions. “There were several actions there that were disturbing,” he said. “One was, ‘Give us money, and we won’t saying anything about this.’ That, in my opinion, would have been completely unethical on the part of the University. … (So), I outright refused it. I turned it over to our legal staff and told them that the answer was ‘No.’ Subsequently, there were efforts on the part of that attorney to interview some of our people without seeking our permission.” Late Wednesday night, in a phone interview with the Daily Lobo, Haffner fired back. “At no time did he condition his silence on the payment of that money,” he said. “For them to characterize it like that is a blatant misconstruction of the fact.” Haffner said the letter, which the University received Oct. 1, said that Gerald sought to settle the issue inhouse rather than play back-and-forth media games. He
see Hush page 5
Three UNM administrators try to clarify Locksley incident at press conference by Isaac Avilucea Daily Lobo
Straight from UNM President David Schmidly: The University of New Mexico “bungled” its investigation into the Sept. 20 physical altercation between first-year head coach Mike Locksley and former wide receivers coach J.B. Gerald. Flanked on the right by Athletics Director Paul Krebs and on the left by Vice President of Human Resources Helen Gonzales, Schmidly repeatedly denied that the University concealed any findings of its investigation. “At this point, I have seen no evidence of a cover-up as many people have alleged,” he said. “We bungled the process … and we have already taken steps to correct and refine our procedures. But, and I want to repeat this. I am not
aware of any direct evidence that would suggest a cover-up.” Challenging accusations aimed at Krebs and Gonzales by the public that the Athletics Department worked closely with Human Resources in not disclosing the full facts about the incident, Schmidly said he’s confident that Krebs and Gonzales did their jobs separately. Krebs, too, defended his statements and decisions. “In my 30 years in this business, I have never had my integrity challenged,” Krebs said. “I’ve been known in this profession for being honest, for being candid, for being decisive and for transparency and the ability to make tough decisions. Did I cover anything up? Absolutely no. I misapplied University policy when conducting the investigation.” But emerging details suggest
otherwise. Schmidly admitted that the original copy of HR investigator Shannon Garbiso’s handwritten notes have been destroyed, but not before copies were distributed to UNM’s Human Resources. Gonzales said Garbiso wasn’t aware that she was to keep record of any documentation pertinent to the case prior to their formal investigation. “Ms. Garbiso informed me yesterday, when she said that she hadn’t kept the notes, that she never thought that those were official University documents, that those were only her own notes as a result of an informal inquiry she was doing in the department,” Amie Zimmer / Daily Lobo Gonzales said. Garbiso, an HR At least 100 people gathered in the SUB Lobo room Wednesday to hear UNM administrators give their account of the Locksley-Gerald incident.
see Investigation page 2
Safety an issue after ‘Coronado Creeper’ National program offers rewarding teaching jobs by Pat Lohmann Daily Lobo
All three of the doors opened by the “Coronado Creeper” last Tuesday night had doorknobs that did not lock automatically. The “Creeper” broke into Coronado Hall and entered three unlocked rooms. He burglarized one woman’s room and touched two other women in their sleep. Katie Dedman, who was awakened by the suspect before 4 a.m.,
Inside the
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said she had forgotten to lock her bedroom door before she went to sleep. “Some doors automatically lock from the inside and others don’t for some reason,” she said. “Our neighbor’s door just automatically locks.” UNM’s residence halls have two kinds of doorknobs — some have a dead bolt above the knob requiring the door to be re-locked when entering and leaving, and others lock automatically when they’re closed. Patrick Call, director of
Residence Life and Student Housing, said he does not know why there are inconsistent locking devices in residents’ rooms. “The locking mechanisms of what they used and what they didn’t use are all before my time, so I can’t tell you why there’s two different kinds,” he said. Call said an eight-year renovation plan for all the dorms is underway. The renovation will
see Safety page 3
by Tricia Remark Daily Lobo
Seniors about to graduate have an opportunity to land jobs and boost their resumes at the same time. Teach for America is a national program that hires newly graduated college students to teach in low-income schools, said Lin Mazor, UNM
Caught!
Tax relief?
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Teach for America representative. The next application deadline for the program is Jan. 8, but Mazor said interested students should begin completing the extensive application right away. Only college seniors who graduate in December or May can apply for the program, she said. “The aim of this program is to
see Teachers page 5
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