Information has been whispered for some time now. What we knew was that officials from the U.S. Dept. of Education (DOE) visited Rogers State University in Claremore in February 2008 to conduct an on-site review of RSU’s federal grant programs, which receive over $8.3 million in federal funds. On-site review personnel interviewed more than 30 individuals at RSU in its investigation.

The WynnBlog is now in possession of a copy of the DOE’s preliminary report that was sent to RSU President Joe Wiley and President-Designate Larry Rice, March 19, 2008. This is the report that precipitated the rapid departures of Sheree Hukill (co-defendant with Joe Wiley and the O.U. Regents in a wrongful termination lawsuit by Marilyn McClain Goff) and Penny Pricer. RSU had an opportunity to respond, and as I understand it, DOE will issue a final report at some point. I will provide both RSU’s response and DOE’s final report as soon as I can. As for now, here is the DOE’s preliminary report.

Friends, it’s not pretty. It appears that all the worst things that many of us have heard about RSU are, in fact, true. The DOE report notes:

Ed Pacchetti, Deputy Director, Office of Postsecondary Education Program Oversight Staff and Jeffrey Lunardi, Program Analyst, Office of Postsecondary Education Program Oversight Staff, conducted an on-site review of the Rogers State University (RSU) Federal TRIO grant programs from February 25-29. 2008. The review took place on the campus of Rogers Siale University in Claremore, Oklahoma.

Mr. Pacchetti and Mr. Lunardi interviewed a total of 36 employees and students from the Rogers State University Administration, the RSU TRIO program administration, four current TRIO grant programs, and one former program. In addition to conducting these interviews, Mr. Pacchetti and Mr. Lunardi reviewed student, programmatic, and fiscal records from all five of the TRIO grant programs under review. Fiscal records were requested and reviewed from September I, 2006 through December 31, 2007.

***

…the TRIO Department is also marked by incredibly high personnel turnover, multiple internal reorganizations, and what many TRIO staff members consider to be a generally intimidating work environment. lnterviews and program files suggest that these negative characteristics have hampered student services and led to cost misallocations over the past year.

Forty different people have worked in the RSU TRIO Department (the Department) since the beginning of 2006. Nineteen of these 40 employees (47.5%) have either retired. left the program, or had their employment terminated. In addition to this substantial rate of employee turnover, the TRIO Department utilized four different organintional structures during the same time period. It should be noted that due to inconsistent documentation, it is difficult to ascertain exactly when these changes occurred and how they affected the organization and student service delivery. (emphasis added)

The report also includes details about:

• RSU’s organizational and personnel changes to the grant programs without the DOE’s notification or consent (including a complex timeline chart detailing all the staff changes)
• the fact that Penny Pricer was unqualified for the position she held and her hiring process was frought with conflicts of interest
• Penny Pricer’s salary not being in compliance with university policy, including details about whether university officials were forthright about the issue
• misallocated payroll funds (with more charts)
• misallocated training and staff development funds
• Upward Bound activities not even being conducted in the Fall semester of 2007: “There is no documentation to suggest that any Upward Bound students received tutoring, counseling, or mentoring from August of 2007 until January 8, 2008.” (includes another handy chart)

In conclusion, the report states:

Project Directors do not have direct control over their project budgets. which is cause for great concern. In a meeting with tbe Executive Director [Sheree Hukill] on Friday, February 29, she made it clear that she has control over all final purchase and budgetary decisions Additionally, none of the Project Directors could provide an estimate of how much money was In theIr budget at the time of their interviews. This represents a lack of sufficient managerial control by the TRIO Project Directors over the federal funds that they utilize.

Turnover has been so rapid during the last two years that even the Executive Director has trouble maintaining an up-to-date chart of employees and their positions, as evidenced by the inconsistent documentation provided to the Program Oversight Staff and the incorrect organizational leadership information submitted to TRIO Program Officer Crystal Wheeler during the week of our on-site review. An example of the frequent changes in organizational leadership is Ms. Penny Pricer. Since her start date on February 12, 2007, approximately 13 months ago, she has held the position of Project Director for four different TRIO programs at one time or another, including being the Director of the Educational Talent Search Program on two separate occasions.

We believe that the RSU TRIO programs will be more effective, provide better services, and help larger numbers of eligible students under different leadership. This belief, combined with the misallocation of Federal funds, substantial employee turnover and reorganization, low employee morale, an environment of fear for many current RSU TRIO employees, and the seven findings detailed in this report, leads the Program Oversight Staff to recommend that Rogers State University thoroughly examine the current leadership of its TRIO programs and take all necessary actions to rectify the current situation. Rogers State University has already lost their Upward Bound Math and Science Program under the current leadership and services for the remaining TRIO Programs have suffered. Quality leadership will be critical to the future success of the RSU TRIO programs and the students that they serve. (emphasis added)

The WynnBlog has contacted RSU’s spokesperson for comment, but as of this post, we have received no reply. We will add RSU’s response if and when we receive it.

The WynnBlog is proud to announce that it has dubbed July 1, 2008, “RSU Academic Freedom Day.” July 1 marks Dr. Larry Rice’s first official day as president of Rogers State. Chairman Joe Wiley will officially be off the payroll and off the grounds (not to mention out of state). Maybe, just maybe, with some hard work and dedication by Dr. Rice, RSU can undergo a needed and radical transformation of atmosphere.

As a state university, RSU should protect and defend students’ (all students’) rights of free speech, free exercise of religion, and basic fairness. There are many who would argue that those things have not been the hallmark of the Wiley Cartel Administration.

I reassert my hope that Dr. Rice, who I have heard repeatedly is a good man, will make positive changes in the way RSU operates. One bit of advice I would give Dr. Rice (all you RSU readers who visit my blog–yes, I know you visit–can pass this along): be as open and transparent as possible. There is a well-established, though possibly not-spoken, policy within the RSU system that everything’s a secret. No one can talk to people out of their departments. Sharing information is bad. Big brother is watching. Disagreement is not appreciated, welcomed, or allowed. All the animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others. Individual after individual has filed wrongful termination suits against the university. Ad nauseam.

The time for change is now. Dr. Rice, I have the greatest in hopes for you and your administration. However, as you begin to clean up messes, the best thing you can do is to be open and public with what you have found. Tell the community what you have discovered that is wrong and what you are doing to fix it. Make up where you can. Rebuilt broken relationships and the community’s trust. It’s time, once and for all, to kill that 800-pound gorilla in the room.

Now that Dr. Rice has the full reigns, we’ll be watching with the greatest of expectations.

Happy RSU Academic Freedom Day!

In a post on The American Thinker blog, Todd Keister shares some quite enlightening insights about Big Oil, which liberals and the media are inducing us to hate.

He writes:

Without the hard work and ingenuity of the men and women who work for the energy companies, we would be living in the 17th century – no electricity, running water, cars, trucks, airplanes, ships, factories, waterproof clothing, soda bottles, safety glass, sterile food and medical containers, air conditioners, televisions, microwave ovens, X-Boxes, I-Pods, or any of the millions of other products made using power generated from the burning of fossil fuels.

You would have to grow your own food, or ride your donkey to a nearby market, where there would be no refrigerators or electric lights. You’d have to kill and clean your own meat and cook it over an open fire. You’d have to chop down the trees for your home, and provide your own light by making candles from the fat of animals. Every single thing in your modern life is utterly and completely dependent upon a steady supply of oil. Without it, the entire Western world would collapse completely in a matter of weeks; tens of millions would perish from starvation, exposure, and disease.

***

Perhaps you agree with Hillary Clinton, who said that there is “…no basis for the huge profits…” of the oil companies because they are “…not inventing anything.” While you’re nodding your head in agreement, sitting in your comfortable house, warmed, cooled, clothed, entertained, and fed by the burning and remanufacturing of petroleum, take a moment to think what it takes to invent a method to extract crude oil from five thousand feet below the floor of the North Sea, which itself is more than two miles under stormy, frigid water, bring it to the US, turn it into gasoline, and deliver it to your corner convenience store. How much does it cost? How can it even be done?

And what of the high price of oil?

Oil prices are determined the same way stock prices are; by supply and demand, and the information available about future market conditions. Exxon-Mobil, British Petroleum, Chevron, and the rest only produce and sometimes refine the oil, the price is set on the open commodities market where traders, ranging from individual investors to brokerage firms, buy and sell contracts on barrels of oil at particular prices. When the supply decreases or demand increases, the prices rise and the oil companies consequently make more money. They do not control the supply or the demand – they simply produce the product.

But aren’t they making “obscene” profits?

Having your government steal the profits of the oil companies is not going to make the price of gasoline fall. What do you think Mr. Obama or Mr. McCain are going to do with their plunder? Give it back to you to offset your gasoline costs? Reduce your taxes by the amount they steal from the energy companies? Use it to find new sources of oil? Of course not. The money will go to the general fund that congress will squander as they always have and always will. In the meantime, the government will continue to rake in billions of dollars in taxes from you for every gallon of gas you buy. If the federal and state governments would stop taking their unfair profits from oil, the price of gasoline would drop forty cents per gallon today. Ms. Clinton has said that the profits of the oil companies should have a “baseline” over which the government would take the rest. Before you endorse the idea of government confiscation of what John McCain calls “obscene profits”, remember that if they can set a ceiling on how much money a corporation is allowed to make, then they can one day set a limit on how much you are permitted to make.

So who’s to blame?

Blame for the high cost of gasoline and diesel lies squarely with the United States Congress and the legislatures of the several states. Congress has denied the energy companies access to the hundreds of billions of barrels of oil available right here in America – off the coast of California, in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and elsewhere. Their environmental regulations have prevented the construction of even a single new refinery in this nation for three decades, and have made the construction of nuclear power plants virtually impossible. Thus they have vastly reduced oil supplies, choked off the supply of refined gasoline, and prevented nuclear power from alleviating the demand for fuel oil.

State government regulations require refineries to produce more than a dozen different types of gasoline for various regions of the country – raising costs and meaning that a shortage in one area cannot be compensated for by shipping gas from another state. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 require refineries to produce “Reformulated Gasoline” that contains either Ethanol or the highly carcinogenic MTBE. These regulations forced the refining industry to spend more than $44 billion between 1989 and 1998 to comply with congress. Thousands of other crushing regulations on the production, refining, transportation, and storage of oil and gas impose tremendous burdens and increase the cost of fuel.

He concludes:

So the next time you feel like blaming the oil companies for the price of gas, why don’t you call your congressman instead; or go out and try to produce some oil yourself – if you can’t, I suggest that you get down on your knees and thank God for the brilliant minds of oil company engineers, geologists, chemists, and executives who – in spite of the US Congress – have the creativity and courage to provide the energy that keeps all of us alive and enjoying our modern way of life.

The big news today is that the Supreme Court has issued a 5-4 decision bestowing habeas corpus rights on enemy combatants held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The liberal wing of the court has struck down many precedents and shifted more power from the Executive and Legislative branches to the Federal Judiciary.

The best way to get a feel for the errors made in a decision by the liberal half of the court is the read Scalia’s dissent. It proves helpful today, too. You can read it here (scroll way down, begins on page 110). For now, I give you just his conclusion:

The Nation will live to regret what the Court has done today. I dissent.

I periodically search YouTube for new Bob Wills stuff. My reasoning is two-fold. In the first place I love Western Swing. Second, when I post new Bob from YouTube, there’s a good chance Michael Bates will link to me, and I can always use the boost in hits a Bates link provides. That said, here are some new finds.

This first one is a preview video that says it’s from 1944. Features Bob and Tommy on “San Antonio Rose.”

And here’s one of “Sittin’ on Top of the World” with Bob doing the vocals.

TOnight’s search had the added benefit of introducing me to the Quebe Sisters Band. These three sisters play triple fiddle and do three-part harmonies on a lot of Western Swing. Check out their website.

Here’s a video of them doing “Oklahoma Hills.”

And here’s a studio recording of them on “It’s a Sin to Tell a Lie.”

These gals are a great talent, and I hope they’ll be in our area sometime. You can hear more and see more videos on their site.

Approx. 12:35 AM, Friday, June 6, 2008, Claremore tornado sirens have sounded. Take cover.

I’m listening to Obama. I just threw up in my mouth a little.

[Update 6/5/2008, 10:15 AM]

The OSCN report now reflects that Tywone Parks waived his right to District Court Arraignment Monday and it has been rescheduled for June 23 at 1:30 PM.

[Original Post Below]

I was at the courthouse for Tywone Parks’ arraignment yesterday. As for details, I don’t have many. It was crowded in the courtroom, so I was sitting in the hallway waiting for Judge Steidley to deal with his sounding docket before they brought prisoners over from the county jail. My plan was to enter the courtroom when I saw the defendants in custody brought over.

At one point, I looked up and saw Parks’ attorney, Jack Zanerhaft, standing the courtroom. I got up and headed for the door to see what was happening, and Zanerhaft came out before I could get there. I heard him tell a sheriff’s deputy that they had not received the transcript from the preliminary hearing so they had requested–and received–a later arraignment. And that was it. I didn’t report it before now because I was hoping to see what the OSCN site reported. As of a few moments ago, it has not been updated since May 19. As soon as I get details I’ll post more.

I attended and graduated (and worked for) OSU in the Halligan years. And I loved Halligan. He was a great president, and he did some excellent things for the university. He filed today for the Oklahoma State Senate…as a republican. No wonder I liked him so much.