FOLLOW THE MONEY: Mike Garrison and Heather Bresch are so much more than “former business associates”
We’ve been so fixated over the past few weeks on what Mike Garrison did for Heather Bresch, that we’ve forgotten about why. And like most other political stories, you only really understand it if you follow the money. You see, I throw up in my mouth a little bit every time I read something that describes Mike Garrison, former lobbyist, and Heather Bresch, COO of Mylan as “former business associates.” Because that doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Mike Garrison was a lobbyist for Mylan.
Mylan was Mike Garrison’s biggest client.
And Heather Bresch was in charge of Mylan’s lobbyists.
To put it simply, Heather Bresch paid Mike Garrison tens, if not HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of dollars as a lobbyist for Mylan.
And it really was HEATHER — from February 2004 to April 2005, she was Vice President of Public and Government Relations, and Director of Government Relations from March 2002 to February 2004. The stories that describe them as “former business associates” are totally leaving out the fact that he was a lobbyist working DIRECTLY FOR HER.
Now just for fun, factor in the tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars Mike Puskar has raised for Joe Manchin, the hundreds of thousands Garrison makes every year in the job Manchin helped him get, and the millions of dollars in benefits Mylan is rumored to be reaping from the change in command at WVU.
This is a money story, just as sure as if Heather Bresch sent Mike Garrison a briefcase full of cash.
Tags: Heather Bresch, Joe Manchin, Mike Garrison
May 2, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Wonder when it’s going to come out that Heather and Mike Garrison were prom dates at Fairmont Senior High School…seriously.
May 2, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Is there a picture in a year book anywhere?
May 2, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Hk: I don’t want to encourage you to become a source of gossip or anything, but could you be more specific about the millions of dollars in benefits Mylan is rumored to be reaping from the change of leadership at WVU?
May 2, 2008 at 4:06 pm
I heard that Bresch and Garrison were prom dates! I have seen them in their high school year book, but not together. A prom picture would look great in the newspaper.
May 2, 2008 at 4:27 pm
A portion of the millions of dollars is going to March Westin, which Mr. Puskar now owns, for construction contracts … of course there are persistent rumors of questionable bidding practices …
May 2, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Bravo HK!
I didn’t know that at all, and had been wondering what the heck the papers were talking about when they say ‘business associates.’
The sad thing is this clown, a band leader if i recall, appears to be too stupid to even know he’s corrupt. The hell!
May 2, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Re how Mylan benefits from friends in state govt:
Someone here previously mentioned the WVNET property in Morgantown that Mylan wants. It was thought WVU might sell it to Mylan below market value.
In truth, that property is owned by HEPC, which is loaded with Manchin cohorts. That body met today. Member Nelson Robinson and boy chancellor Noland both tried to railroad through a resolution approving the granting a no-strings lease to some unnamed party (Oh, lots of people are interested, they said vaguely) who might be interested in it. They reluctantly admitted the property is worth $8.6 million. HEPC Chair Tyson managed to get the commission to approve a lease on the condition any lessee MAY NOT erect a building on it. That may quash Mylan’s interest in it.
May 2, 2008 at 5:32 pm
No Longer Clueless suggest a march. Can we organize one before students leave campus?
May 2, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Oh, that would be a march to show the opposition to Garrison. Perhaps from the Faculty Senate meeting right over to Stewart Hall Monday!?
May 2, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Hello, Everyone:
Okay. It’s official. This is getting crazy. If you can demonstrate that Mike was lying down in the back of a car taking bags of money from an FBI agent posing as Heather’s bag man (the way they did with Gov. Arch Moore, God rest his soul), then we’ve got something. Otherwise, we’re getting perilously close to tinfoil hats and black helicopters here.
Mr. Garrison was not qualified for this position. He got it through legal, but smarmy political connections. He’s proved his incompetence through his mishandling of this event. He should go. The rest is context for the story, but not the driving force. Incompetence in a good old boy and good old girl network is sufficient.
May 2, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Sad sad sad.
May 2, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Follow this money:
1. Bob Huggins has doubled his pay for 11 years–all for his last-minute endorsement of MG. Nice job, Bob!
2. Mike Puskar has not made the money he thought he would on the Watergate (sorry, Waterfront) hotel. WVU has been courted to buy the hotel and parking garage AFTER the public theater building is finished–the same public theater that David Satterfield’s Economic Grant Committee approved.
3. I have been told that when 705 is 4-laned to I-68, it will be thru WVU farm. There will be a strip of land between the new road and the Mileground. That strip of land will be declared ‘landlocked’ and, therefore, useless to the WVU Ag school.
But it will be commercially viable.
I heard that the work-around for this deal will be the developer’s offer to swap farmland in Preston Co. for the acreage. And then the developer will have all of that prime frontage on 705.
Mike Garrison is the Trojan horse. This plan to plunder WVU has been years in the making.
May 2, 2008 at 6:36 pm
The 1987 Maple Leaves doesn’t list who Heather’s escort to the Senior Prom was, but both Mike and Heather were on Prom Court. There is a lovely picture of her as the Drum Majorette and one of her in the National Forensic League next to the governor’s current education policy adviser Jay Cole.
May 2, 2008 at 7:13 pm
I love google’s blog search. Just enter “Mike Garrison” and all kinds of commentary from the so-called blogosphere may be found.
Good points raised by some WVU alumni: http://blogs.cdswebs.com/hammy/
http://mountaineer.wordpress.com/about/
May 2, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Not sure I follow the tinfoil hats and black helicopters remark. The link here couldn’t be more straightforward. Heather was Mike’s patron. He needed a short-term, no-talent-required private sector gig, and she helpfully paid him a lot of money to do a job she didn’t really need done (Mylan is a huge company that sells drugs all over the world; they do their lobbying in Washington, not Charleston). A year later, when Mike’s president of WVU and Heather needs a quickie degree, Mike’s certainly not in a position to say no. This ain’t exactly a grassy knoll kind of situation, Steve-O.
May 2, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Hey,
It can always be worse…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080502/ap_on_re_us/oral_roberts_scandal
May 2, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Hey,
Maybe we should try microwaves…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080502/ap_on_re_us/oral_roberts_scandal
May 2, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Grow up. All of you!
May 2, 2008 at 8:42 pm
LaReina, I think you might be wrong on one front.
If you offer to lease only the back part of the property and restrict what can be built on it you’re guaranteeing that the property goes to Mylan which wants it for parking and you set it up for Mylan to buy the whole property down the road.
Don’t be fooled by the shenanigans at the Hepc meeting. The restrictions were aimed at assuring that the property goes to Mylan.
May 2, 2008 at 8:45 pm
PG Reader - do share!
May 2, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Hello, Everyone and Arthur Adkins:
Tut, tut, my good man. My own mother doesn’t even refer to me as “Steve-O.” It’s “SteveBo” for reasons I never understood. Maybe other Steves could comment . . .
Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity. For me it’s just simpler to see the friendly incompetence here and not to engage in theory building. For example, people posting on this blog talk about the hundreds of thousands of dollars Mr. Garrison likely earned shilling for Ms. Bresch and Mylan. If that’s true, then several other inferences seem likely, too.
1. Mr. Garrison made so damn much money as a shill, why isn’t he retired and fishing?
2. Oh, he really likes to work . . . so why not continue shilling for Mylan and make a lot of easy money?
3. Have any of you ever spent any serious time around academics? There are much easier and happier ways to make six figures for a guy like Mr. Garrison.
4. Isn’t there any kind of paper trail in all of these nefarious transactions? (boy, this one ought to get things going).
Most of the suspicions here are borderline Hollywood, yeah, it could be, and I saw a blonde that looked like her on 705 with a survey crew, and sure, Steve-O, hide your head in the sand while the Man dips your wallet.
Seriously, folks. We got Mr. Moore with evidence and not possibilities. We need the same thing to support these issues (not the incompetent handling of the Bresch matter).
I’ll say it again. Mr. Garrison should have been the first one to resign. But that doesn’t mean that money is flying around.
May 2, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Because Mike Garrison wants to run for something in WV government after WVU, and it is a lot easier to run as a WVU president than a Mylan lobbyist (at least that was the plan before the Bresch situation).
And Dawn Miller is a complete tool. She trusts Garrison because he was nice to her when he SGA Prez and she was with the DA. What the fuck…
May 2, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Steve, I’ll give you points for your sunny disposition, but you are babbling about things with which you have no experience.
May 2, 2008 at 10:37 pm
On a tangential note: Other similar news breaking, read the following (but this guy was ratted out without the “benefit” University fraud-sters to cover for him (bummer that things in California higher ed. don’t work like they do in WV higher ed)):
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/dumbest/10414804.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
May 2, 2008 at 11:05 pm
On a tangential Note: Read the article below about other padded academic credentials in the medical ingestibles business. This guy though — bummer for him — didn’t have University fraud-sters trying to cover for him after being ratted out. Guess California higher ed. works differently than WV higher ed.
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/dumbest/10414804.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street
05/02/08 - 07:15 AM EDT
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1. Herbalife’s Diploma Debacle
In his zeal to offer premiere meal-replacement shakes and herbal supplements that defend against the vicissitudes of snacking, Herbalife (HLF - Cramer’s Take - Stockpickr) Chief Operating Officer Gregory Probert has let a big fib get away from him: He never completed his MBA from California State University, Los Angeles, even though his resume claimed he did. On top of that, Herbalife claimed that Probert had earned the degree — in as many as 19 filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The truth is that my vanity prevailed and I did not take action … even though I was aware it was not accurate,” said Probert.
“I suppose that some of us who have been blessed with a certain degree of good fortune are tempted to see the paths we took in romantic vs. strictly factual ways,” Probert told The Wall Street Journal. “I was wrong for succumbing to my vanity and apologize for doing so.”
Probert resigned Thursday after the board reviewed his exaggerated credentials, saying it couldn’t keep him on “given the company’s unwavering commitment to the highest standards in business ethics.”
That a company honcho would lie about a diploma is perhaps not shocking in itself — higher-ups at Mylan(MYL - Cramer’s Take - Stockpickr) and RadioShack(RSH - Cramer’s Take - Stockpickr) have faced the third degree about their credentials. And besides, when it comes to running a multibillion-dollar company, what’s one piece of university paper, more or less?
Perhaps Probert thought no one would notice.
He should have known better, especially given the corporate policeman that exposed him. The revelation comes thanks in part to the efforts of Barry Minkow, former jailbird and current Christian pastor/fraud exposer. Minkow had hired a private investigator as part of his ongoing effort to discredit Herbalife.
After serving seven years in the 1990s for check-kiting and other hijinks related to his spotty ZZZZ Best carpet-cleaning/insurance restoration/fraud company, Minkow cleaned up his act, found God and co-founded the Fraud Discovery Institute.
Dedicated to investigating only “companies … that are currently NOT being investigated by law enforcement,” the Institute’s distinctly Web 1.0 site derides the “Herba-Lie.” Elsewhere, the Institute urgently proclaims that “First and foremost, fraud detection and prevention is more than a state of mind.”
We’d say so. Minkow owns Herbalife puts.
Dumb-o-meter score: 88. “Having you on our side is one unknown variable no perpetrator could have planned for,” gushes an attorney to Minkow on his efforts in a separate fraud case.
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May 2, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Story going internationally (beyond China): “The Economist” no less…
http://www.economist.com/business/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=11081635
May 2, 2008 at 11:27 pm
And check out this article about the “five dumbest things on Wall Street”. No. 1 is the padded academic credentials of another COO of a medical-ingestibles business (too bad for this guy that University fraud-sters don’t stand up in California higher ed. like they do in WV higher ed.)
http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/newsanalysis/dumbest/10414804.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA
May 2, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Mike has got to go.
Maybe the WVU Faculty Senate can remove tenure (or threaten to remove it) from Lang and Sears.
Maybe that will make them sing.
May 2, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Steve has spent way too much time in the Ivory Tower.
May 3, 2008 at 12:26 am
I don’t think HK’s theory has anything to do with black copters. It’s one step past using “childhood pals” as the reason for Garrison to help out Heather, and demonstrates that he was actually being helpful to a former boss. It’s not a big conspiracy, just another reason for him to do the wrong thing.
May 3, 2008 at 12:36 am
On a semi-tangential note: Go to site below, scroll down to “Headlines” and read the article titled “Five Dumbest things on Wall Street”. No. 1 on the list is another medical ingestibles COO outted for a bogus MBA (bummer for him though, there were no Unversity fraud-sters in California higher ed. to attempt to cover for him, unlike in WV higher ed.)….
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=myl
May 3, 2008 at 1:03 am
Hello, Everyone:
Thanks! I’ve been working on that “sunny disposition” thing and my efforts appear to be paying off. Now, to the continuing problem of “babbling.” My wife’s been on me about that for 30 years now and nothing seems to work. Except for a power failu
May 3, 2008 at 1:08 am
Showdown Looms in Morgantown. P-G’s latest:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08124/878851-85.stm
May 3, 2008 at 1:57 am
If this stuff is black helicopters, then why was Garrison chosen in the first place?
I really hate pimping my own stuff, but read this take from last year.
http://wvpoliticalsweatbox.blogspot.com/2007/03/uhhhhhhhhh-mr-garrison-i-have-just-one.html
May 3, 2008 at 1:59 am
Bob Huggins new contract nearly doubles his current salary. And now he is going to release a statement supporting Mikey G.
Is there no shame.
May 3, 2008 at 3:33 am
LaReina I too was at yesterday’s Commission meeting and what bothered me most was Brian Noland’s and David Hendricksen’s dismissal of the WVU scandal as an issue unworthy of their attention. Is there anything more important than maintaining the honor and integrity of West Virginia’s flagship?
And the little “we have no power” exercise involving Bruce Walker was such a joke. Commissioners with last names like Goodwin and Tyson and Robinson have lots of power. But they also want to keep it, and pissing Mojo off is no way to do that.
Someone should put the Commission out of its and our misery. I’ve never seen a sorrier group in all my years in higher education.
May 3, 2008 at 3:39 am
Where are David Hardesty and Gaston Caperton in all of this? Has anyone tried to interview him? I would be curious to hear what they think. A call for Garrison’s resignation by Hardesty or Caperton could be the tipping point.
May 3, 2008 at 4:09 am
Wondering?
More like dreaming.
May 3, 2008 at 7:12 am
The Caperton/Hardesty proposal has some merit, but the timing isn’t right yet. Also, that’s not how it will work. First, timing–the shape-shifting situation has now drawn in Mr. Goodwin. When–if–it moves to the level of public statements by someone like a former governor, it will mean that this West Virginia earthquake has intensified from a Richter Scale 5 to a force 8–which means political tremors felt by a powerful governor who is running essentially unopposed.
Now, for someone like Caperton to become involved, it would work this way: The man to talk to is former state Senator Lloyd Jackson, who, of course, ran unsucessfully against Joe in the 2004 primary election. Lloyd is a proud, highly accomplished WVU man through and through. He also takes education in this state seriously–he was a powerful Senate education committee chairman for years and is a former member of the state Board of Education. Someone should quietly sound him out to see if, at present, he leans the Kalis way or the–can’t believe I’m reduced to writing this–the “Bob Huggins, Bailes” way.
May 3, 2008 at 7:28 am
So, the chairman/president of the BOG proudly took a place in line behind…Bob Huggins?
Um…nothing against Huggs (who is a flamboyant guy and great coach) but…did program at Cincinnati ever graduate even one scholarship athlete?
I’m serious. Maybe one or two did, but I think I’ve read or heard that not a single one ever finished his degree when Huggs coached there.
May 3, 2008 at 8:05 am
“West Virginia University President Michael Garrison will be featured on a one-hour “Decision Makers” show on WOWK-TV 13 TODAY (May 3, 2008) at 9 a.m. and again Sunday at 8 a.m.” (See rest of story . . . )
http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/200805020653
They say Kalis was bumped for Garrision. Maybe best to hear Garrision first.
I don’t follow sports, but I figured the Huggins deal is a diversion. Also, he said on camera there were no unwritten verbal deals with Garrison, which they’ll use in the Rod case.
May 3, 2008 at 8:39 am
Headlines in Dominion Post “Walker: ‘ I pushed the process’”
Digging himself ever deeper, Garrison now is starting the sacrifice of Walker. I imagine Walker’s statement is supposed to take heat off Garrison with Walker taking the blame acting outside his BOSS’ wishes (HA), and to switch focus of people’s wrath.
All it does is point directly at his boss, the spinmeister.
May 3, 2008 at 8:52 am
And what’s with this “media pressure” junk. They say it over and over. It could have been handled with a simple “there is a discrepancy between the student and A&R and the College is investigating it.” Sure, the PPG would have continued to ask, but it is NO EXCUSE for hurried and unwarranted decisions. Of course, having THE VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNICATIONS in the room had nothing to do with excessive concern over public relations. Three members of the President’s Executive Team in the room could not have contributed to the Panel’s mention on page 15 of “the high-level nature of the individuals involved in the decision process”, or could they????
May 3, 2008 at 8:58 am
To Anonymous from May 2, 2008 at 8:42 pm : You’re right and I stand corrected.
I’ve just learned that when Tyson demanded a “no construction of buildings” clause for the WVNET site if it were to be leased, Nelson Robinson responded, “But can they put up a parking lot?” and explained that a parking lot wouldn’t be permanent, it could be dug up in 3-5 days at the end of the lease. Noland ASSURED everyone the lease would be at FMV.
Appalled, I appreciate your first-hand report of the HEPC. Mine comes from someone in attendance who took copious notes. Did you find it interesting that it was Nelson Robinson who said “WVU’s BOG has resolved this problem, which was a serious error in judgment” when he has nothing to do witih WVU? And why does an ex-oficio member have so much to say at an HEPC meeting anyway?
May 3, 2008 at 9:36 am
LaReina, I’m sure it was Jones not Robinson who made the WVNET parking lot comment after Tyson’s comments. I didn’t get it either until anonymous explained it, but it makes perfect sense that Tyson and Jones would be working for the benefit of Mojo and Mylan.
I recall Robinson saying there was a serious error in judgment, but not that it had been resolved. I couldn’t figure out what Robinson’s point was - left me wondering which side of the issue he was on, which is probably exactly what he wanted.
And don’t take anything Noland says too seriously. He has a reputation for being less than forthright and he knows what he has to do to keep MoJo off his back.
As I said earlier I’ve never seen a sorrier group in all my years in higher education. Glad I’m about ready to retire even though I still might show up at the Commission meetings because they’re such great entertainment.
May 3, 2008 at 9:44 am
Watcing Garrison on 13 News now….He would be great to play cards against. He looks to his right when he is finding the lie to tell.
He talked to the Gov about lots of things, like screwing WVU-P, Bucks for Brains, ect. Screwed WVU-P big time.
“Gov never asked me to do anything.” Garrison
Craig Walker is a tool in this shit.
All emails have been released, cell phone records have not.
VOIP calls are not logged on his landline.
“I have nothing to hide from my records.”
Oh, and I am going to get big raises for faculty. Follow the money….
May 3, 2008 at 9:49 am
ROFL. Less than forthright? Where I come from and on this blog we say “he lies.” Only in academia.
May 3, 2008 at 9:55 am
Don’t know if it means anything but Jay Cole works for Caperton now…
May 3, 2008 at 10:01 am
I love how it was “Oh, when a student calls about their transcript, we should be able to answer it.”
Here’s a fucking clue, Mikey. YOU DID ANSWER THAT QUESTION. WVU’s registrar’s office CORRECTLY told Bresch she didn’t graduate, and it wasn’t because of some oversight on a 50 dollar cap and gown fee.
Garrison says, “We have to be able to produce the records” or something to that effect. HOW DO YOU PRODUCE RECORDS THAT NEVER EXISTED? This guy is so fucking dumb. If the student never takes the classes, never registers for them, or even PAYS for them, how the FUCK would WVU have any records?
Do they have records that Joe “I’ve never taken a college class in my life” Schmoe didn’t pay for his classes?
This is the sorriest excuse for a top administrator I’ve ever seen. He’s light years ahead of second place.
Light years.
May 3, 2008 at 10:06 am
Here’s todays’ DP article:
Craig Walker, WVU President Michael Garrison’s chief of staff, said Friday that he pushed academic officials to make a quick decision in the case of Heather Bresch’s degree.
Walker said that if he could go back to October, he would have encouraged the academic officials to take more time to research the decision. He also said he would have removed himself from a meeting in which the decision was made to award the degree to Bresch.
An investigative panel determined last month that she did not earn the degree, and that university officials created grades and credits in order to award her a degree. It also said administrators felt pressure to give the degree to Bresch.
Walker said, however, that he did not tell the officials to award the degree to Bresch. He tried to get them to investigate the matter quickly.
“I pushed the process along, not to a targeted decision, but pushed the process along,” Walker said. “If I had it to do over again, I would hold out my hand and, ‘Wait a minute … we’re going to hold until they come to the decision in the amount of time they need to come to the decision.’
“Second, as the meeting transformed into a decisional meeting, the appropriate thing would have been to excuse myself as well as the general counsel.”
Walker said the pressure to move the process forward was not because Bresch was Gov. Joe Manchin’s daughter. He said he was responding to pressure from publicity and Bresch herself to quickly investigate whether she had earned the degree.
“I can tell you very honestly, it wasn’t the process being pushed along because it was the governor’s daughter. … It was more the media requests coming in that was driving the process. That was the external pressure.”
A review of Walker’s phone records shows the degree to which he was working on the matter in the days after Bresch first contacted Garrison about her degree. Walker had several contacts with Bresch before and after administrators awarded her the eMBA degree, his telephone records show.
Walker said Friday that he had returned a phone call to Bresch after she called the WVU president’s office about her degree Oct. 11.
According to his records, he also called Bresch’s co-worker Leah Summers. Summers was part of the executive MBA program and sat in on a meeting with former eMBA head Paul Speaker during which Bresch said Speaker told her she could substitute work experience for her remaining credits.
Walker also called Bresch on the day a group of officials decided to award her a degree. He was in on the meeting with Provost Gerald Lang, business school Dean Steve Sears and other high-ranking officials.
During the four weeks after the administrative group decided to award the degree, Walker called Bresch eight more times, including three phone calls in November. Walker said the majority of the calls were to keep Bresch up to date on the progress of the degree decision and media inquiries.
Garrison’s telephone records during that time period are not available, WVU General Counsel Alex Macia said. Calls from the president’s phone are not logged and are regularly, automatically purged from the university’s records.
Garrison’s cell phone records are currently unavailable because of a technical problem with AT&T, Macia said. WVU is trying to retrieve the records from a subcontractor to Cellular One, which has since been bought by AT&T, Macia said.
Garrison said in his interview with the investigative panel looking into the degree that he received one phone call from Bresch and had no further contact.
Walker also said Garrison had little contact with the investigation. Walker said he kept Garrison advised what was going on, but not on a detailed level.
“When I was asked to contact her,” Walker said, “the instructions … that came from the president were to call Heather Bresch back and get the right people involved on the academic side and have them find out if she has a degree or if she doesn’t have a degree. … Was there any pressure? Absolutely not. At no time did I say, ‘You need to get to this decision, or that decision.’ … To suggest that you could influence seasoned, tenured academic professionals, it didn’t happen.”
May 3, 2008 at 10:30 am
jay cole is one of the most honest upright people i’ve ever met, an opinion universally shared. he’s the brains behind bucks for brains, and has to be concerned about the impact of this scandal on faculty recruitment. i’m curious to know what he thinks of all this. i’d be shocked if he and gaston caperton haven’t talked.
who knows - maybe we’ll actually get one real resignation out of all this - from craig walker. please don’t tell me the chief of staff has tenure.
May 3, 2008 at 10:49 am
Alfred, I agree…My point is he is a positive conection between Joe and other prominent and influential WV’s…
May 3, 2008 at 11:34 am
Two things:
1. Why were Garrison and Walker so concerned about publicity in October (when the story wasn’t even a blip on the screen), when now Garrison/Goodwin et al. clearly care absolutely nothing about the complete decimation of WVU’s reputation due to the national and international coverage that this story is getting, coverage that could only end with Garrison’s resignation?
2. Re: Walker’s statement “to suggest that you could influence seasoned, tenured academic professionals, it didn’t happen.” In fact, there are many, many “seasoned, tenured academic professionals” who refuse to go on record about this issue because of concern about how it would affect their programs, personal interests, etc. Even “seasoned, tenured academic professionals” understand the [often non-verbal] language of power.
Note the concerted effort to shift the blame for this mess to “the academic side of the house” [language used by Garrison in his interview with Cary]. The king wasn’t at fault - his evil counselors, who have too much knowledge for their own good, were to blame.
May 3, 2008 at 11:54 am
I watched the interview also. It should be posted on a number of web sites. I was not impressed.
Garrison made a point of saying this phone-purge process was instituted in 2004: “Calls from the president’s phone are not logged and are regularly, automatically purged from the university’s records.”
Why is that? Are calls also purged from the telephone company’s records? My experience at WVU is that they logged all calls. Is this a special system just for the president’s office?
And then the cell phone company is searching its “archives” for his other phone records. It’s just so bizarre. It it true or is it convenient?
May 3, 2008 at 1:00 pm
maybe someone like the PPG should FOIA the salaries of Bailes and all those HSC folks who signed the infamous letter. I think the public will be shocked at what they make.
May 3, 2008 at 1:09 pm
During the interview on “Decision Makers” Garrison was asked if he personally thought that Bresch earned the degree. He replied that SHE thinks she did earn it. But Garrison said he has no basis for making any decision if he thinks she earned the degree or not. HELLOOO??…..WVU has already rescinded the degree so the WVU position is CLEARLY that she did not earn the degree. Why then can’t Garrison actually say that it is clear that she did not earn the degree. Yet, he professes to accept the Panel’s report in total. Apparently, he thinks its still a “tie” if she earned the degree or not or he would have said otherwise. What kind of leader cannot speak the official posiiton of the University?? I think this alone speaks volumes about his ineptness as a leader.
May 3, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Anne…
Ordinarily, we would be able to get the salary of Bailes and the HSC* folks from . But that link right now is returning a server error.
I leave it to others to determine if the database being off line is a mechanical glitch or something more similar (given all the attention to our (WVU Faculty) salaries queried through that system last week.
* Caveat: Employees of WVU hospitals are not technically employees of the State; they are employees of WVUH which among other things allows them to receive better fringe benefits and medical benefits than WVU faculty (my sig other is employed at Ruby and I was shocked to see how much better the health plan is as compared to PEIA). I would presume that Med School Faculty members would be on the State’s payroll and therefore would show up in the (now missing) compensation database. I could be very wrong about this and welcome corrections from those in the know.
May 3, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Sorry, I screwed up on the link above: it is Here. In case the link gets eaten again… http://www.wvsao.gov/totalcompensation/
May 3, 2008 at 1:18 pm
to cowardly lurker…
WVUH and HSC staff do have different benefits…I can’t speak to the health benefits of HSC in detail, but that are very good IMO…One thing State workers have better than WVUH employees is that they get an automatic 10% of their wage to put towards a retirement medium…I can tell you that WVUH does not have that….that is a pretty good benefit if you ask me.
May 3, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Well, if Garrison can’t say if she earned the degree or not in his own mind, then as the leasder of the institution he should feel compelled to organize as many independent investigations as necessary to make it clear in his own mind if she earned the degree or not. To do otherwise would be negligent (of course assuming he actually believes what he says.)
Also, if Garrison would come out and say he doesn’t think she earned the degree, it would be viewed as politically incorrect by those who put him in power.
May 3, 2008 at 1:34 pm
the state auditor site will only report their state salary, not their entire salary. They also get the majority of their salary from the faculty practice plan called UHA. We need to see both figures. There is no way a neurosurgeon like Bailes is going to work for what is reported on that site.
May 3, 2008 at 1:59 pm
>>>>>>>>>Garrison made a point of saying this phone-purge process was instituted in 2004: “Calls from the president’s phone are not logged and are regularly, automatically purged from the university’s records.”
I really doubt that. Is he trying to smear Hardesty?
May 3, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Alfred,
How might one be able to get in touch with Mr. Cole?
Thank you
May 3, 2008 at 2:21 pm
this may have already be addressed, but i thought he wasn’t involved at all:
In retrospect, we should have done that differently,” Garrison said.
“I would have directed Craig to document what he had discovered from the former student and send it directly over to the dean and not be involved anymore,” he said.
May 3, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Please help WVU by emailing members of the Faculty Senate to encourage them to ask for Mike Garrison’s resignation. A vote on several motions is scheduled for Monday afternoon (May 5). He needs to be asked to resign; censure or the creation of additional committees will not be enough.
Such a vote may be merely symbolic, as the Daily Mail suggests (http://dailymail.com/News/statenews/200805030131). Many on campus, however, think that we are at or approaching a tipping point and that a Senate vote will be of help. Faculty need to hear that others in the state as well as their fellow faculty members are looking to them to do the courageous thing.
The names of the Faculty Senators may be found at http://www.facultysenate.wvu.edu/07-08%20Senate.pdf. In addition to Senators that are Morgantown-based, there are Senators from Potomac State, Tech and WVUP. Unfortunately, the list of Senators does not provide email addresses. They may be obtained at http://directory.wvu.edu/
Look at the list for people you know. Email them and tell them of the impact this has had on you and the reputation of the university and state.
Regardless of what you may think of Mike Garrison and his personality, he does not have the skills and respect to lead WVU out of this crisis. Many faculty, including ones who have won awards for teaching and/or research, are talking about leaving WVU or retiring earlier than they had planned. Replacing them would have been difficult in the best of circumstances given WVU salaries in comparison to peers. It will now be impossible to replace them with faculty of comparable talent.
If you were the major advisor of a new Ph.D., would you advise them to go to a university embroiled in a scandal when the President around whom the scandal whirls is still in place? If you wanted to be a Dean or Provost or Vice President, would you come to WVU? There is a increasing shortage of faculty and academic administrators as baby-boomers retire and many places where talented people can find jobs. Unless Garrison goes, WVU is headed into a downward spiral.
Contact those Senators you know — and even those you don’t know. You may not be able to take action but they can. Ask them to support the motion calling for Mike Garrison’s resignation as a means of helping WVU to start to recover.
Thanks.
May 3, 2008 at 2:38 pm
Lou,
Great idea! If you just click on the name of the member (in blue), it is linked to all of their contact information.
Thanks
May 3, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Is this legal? He is a state employee and that phone is paid for with state funds, is it not?
May 3, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Thanks, sorry grad. That should make it much easier for people to take action. Please do let Senators hear from you.
May 3, 2008 at 3:22 pm
Interesting to see what Rutgers’ Academic Integrity Policy says. Particularly the Level 4 Violations:
“Level Four Violations
Level Four violations represent the most serious breaches of intellectual honesty.
Such cases are heard under the University Code of Student Conduct. Examples of Level Four violations include:
Infractions of academic honesty in ways similar to criminal activity (such as forging a grade form”…
Hmm…
May 3, 2008 at 4:16 pm
jay cole works for the college board in washington dc. his email address is jcole@collegeboard.org. i believe jay graduated fairmont senior either shortly before or shortly after mike garrison and heather bresch. his wife works at wvu.
May 3, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Anne - If your curious about Bailes salary its nearly a million a year. about a year back he threatened to leave and the Hospital coughed up a huge stack of money for him. apparently, he needed it to bail himself out of the Florida mess he was in. shortly after he bought his new house at MiraMichi on Cheat lake. Bailes needs Bailed out alot.
May 3, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Alfred,
Also - http://www.as.wvu.edu/alumni/board.html
May 3, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Alfred,
Jay Cole is also newly appointed to the WVU Eberly College Advisory Board.
May 3, 2008 at 5:12 pm
More conjecture and empty accusations, Hippie. I want to agree with you b/c I am truly disturbed by the scandals at WVU, but your sense of fairplay is non-existent. Don’t play by the cronies rules. Your post is empty of fact. Where are you pulling this huge range of “tens if not hundreds of thousands” from? And since when is that illegal? While I understand that there is a potential for him to feel a sense of obligation from their previous relationships, everybody already knows that. That was the problem from the beginning. You have added nothing by randomly speculating about the amount of money that legally changed hands for lobbying work.
May 3, 2008 at 5:19 pm
I just finished watching Decision Makers. Bray Cary threw softballs and Mike Garrison hit them solidly. Then Cary caved completely in his final commentary. Cary represents a significant portion of West Virginia’s power elite who have to stand up if Garrison is to be forced to resign. This is not a good sign. I fear that the tide that has been building for Garrison’s ouster may be turning.
May 3, 2008 at 5:28 pm
The WVU Foundation is a major investor in West Virginia Media Holdings.
May 3, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Any proof of that, Lee? Not saying it isn’t so, just want some facts.
May 3, 2008 at 6:40 pm
Anonymous 5:12 - If “the amount of money that legally changed hands for lobbying work” adds nothing, then why are you so fired up? Of course it matters. Money always matters. Here, it matters because it fundamentally changes the nature of the relationship: Garrison wasn’t just Heather’s former classmate; he was also on the receiving end of a lot of checks that she authorized.
As to the amount, there’s clearly no way for us to know exactly how much Mylan paid Garrison, but we can take a ballpark guess by making some conservative assumptions. Let’s say he worked for Mylan for three years (could have been more, but I’m assuming at least 2004-2006) at $150 an hour (I don’t know what the big firms charge, but that seems a conservative estimate for a politically connected partner in a major WV law firm—I paid some local bozo more than half that for basic property work) and did an average of only 5 hours a week for Mylan (a low number for one of his major clients) over that period of time. Using even those conservative assumptions, you get billings of $117,000. It could have been a lot more than that. The point is, it was a lot of money.
May 3, 2008 at 6:54 pm
From the June 18, 2004 Charleston Gazette:
“WVU Foundation audits show that in 2002, it made a $7 million investment in West Virginia Media Holdings Inc., a firm in which foundation board member Marty Becker has a major interest.
May 3, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Phone calls are not purged by ANY phone company, but perhaps they are purged FROM within??? There’s not a phone company around that doesn’t hold on to EVERYONE’s phone records. I can’t believe that no one has investigated this further.
May 3, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Thanks, Lee.
May 3, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Never forget that there is truly strength in numbers….this is wrong, and I hope those who are able to right this…do the right thing
May 3, 2008 at 7:17 pm
no wonder Bailes is supporting MG. His million dollar salary is in jeopardy. No wonder his department is constantly in deficit.
May 3, 2008 at 7:20 pm
I agree with Lied To, I needed my Verizon bills to settle a billing dispute a few years ago and was able to get a whole year’s bills in detail. I also do not believe that they can’t come up with the phone records. I also wonder why those with the power to look into this aren’t doing it! I have no power to do anything about any of this, but I’m so frustrated over all of it.
Why is there such a huge discrepancy between physician’s salaries? No wonder Bailes got that support letter for Garrison if that’s really what he makes.
I only watched a small portion of the interview on TV today because it’s all I could stand. You could tell he was just lying. He even said donations are up!
What can those of us who are non-faculty do? I used to be proud to work at WVU, but no longer.
May 3, 2008 at 7:33 pm
To WVU Employee - remember, there’s strength in numbers, and there’s power in the pen. I believe writing to all faculty senate members and copying these comments to others, would have great impact. Also, the University functions from state tax dollars and federal tax dollars, which then leads me to believe that we, the people, could and would have more say and more power to have the right and correct decision be made here, and that is to have president garrison immediately removed from office, as well as those who continue to undermine the truth, be they at the Health Sciences or elsewhere. Just how far are they willing to go to cover up this lie and this utter disgrace to our wonderful school?
May 3, 2008 at 7:42 pm
One more thing about phone bills - I would assume his cellular phone is paid with state dollars, and therefore, doesn’t really belong to him. His phone would actually be considered state property. With this in mind, his and all other university employees who have their cellular phones paid with state monies, would fall under this same category. And, I’m here to tell you, these phone records ARE NOT PURGED by anyone. Someone investigate this further, please.
May 3, 2008 at 7:54 pm
To Bigmanch - loved your comments - hit the nail right on the head, several times! You don’t suppose that Bresch’s records were purged right along with Garrison’s phone records, do you?!?!?
May 3, 2008 at 8:01 pm
To Anne - further investigation would reveal ties between Bailes, others, and hinchmen hired by garrison, (manchin), all of this with those who are involved within the search committee for a new leader at the health sciences
May 3, 2008 at 8:18 pm
thanks Lied To. I was afraid of that. The HSC has much to be worried about then. If the search committee for the new VP is padded what will they do ? Provost Lang was going to chair that search as I recall. Who else is on there that you think the HSC needs to worry about ? maybe we can petition to have replaced since they will need a new chair anyway.
May 3, 2008 at 8:26 pm
In light of all of this, would you really think that anyone couldn’t be swayed, especially those employed from within the institutions?
May 3, 2008 at 8:48 pm
More coincidence and the Manchin Family:
(for: “Monongah Remembered”
Major funding for this project was provided by: The West Virginia Humanities Council, The West Virginia Division of Culture & History, The West Virginia Educational Broadcasting Authority, and the West Virginia Division of Tourism. Additional Funding was provided by: Louis D. Astorino, Ronald L. Violi, Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield and the National Italian American Foundation.
May 3, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Curious if anyone else wonders why the medicine school dean resigned. Wonder if he could shed some light on a few subjects.
May 3, 2008 at 8:58 pm
I sure am curious about it. Is the Ronald L. Violi on the donation list above the same one who is the CEO at Wheeling hospital and now a consultant at the HSC ?
May 3, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Yes Anne
May 3, 2008 at 9:13 pm
can someone reach Prescott so he can comment on all this. what a mess ?
May 3, 2008 at 9:14 pm
Do you remember how hard it was to figure out just how much Coach Rod was really making, because his income came from so many sources: straight state money, a supplement from the foundation, endorsements, contracts for appearances, etc., etc. ad nauseum? The physicians at the HSC have the same thing going. A small part of their compensation comes as a straight state salary. UHA provides most of the rest. The UHA has never considered its recors to be public information, and the Legislature has never demanded them. I suspect that a chosen few at HSC have other sources — special contracts with NIOSH, Ruby, Blanchette Rockefeller, etc. which is public information in some cases, and not in others. In any case, tracking it down is difficult work. Another example: I believe several years ago some of the physicians at the HSC built either a rehab hospital or psychiatric hospital, negotiated some sweetheart contracts with Ruby Memorial, and then sold their interest to a private for-profit. There are many ways to make money in this game.
May 3, 2008 at 9:15 pm
I am also very curious about the dean’s resignation. The more I see all the entanglements between everyone, the angrier I get! I’m confused as to how a CEO at a non-teaching hospital can be a consultant at the HSC?
May 3, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Perhaps an independent panel, such as with this Bresch scandal, would be called for at the health sciences, an outside source of investigative accountability. This needs to stop, this debacle of lies. Many lives are vested in the integrity and truth of those in administration. It’s a very sad day, very disheartening, and I’m just wondering if folks such as ourselves will band together and see this through. Or will we, too, succomb to solely venting and not acting, not following through?
May 3, 2008 at 9:34 pm
I resigned from the HSC because of some of these issues. Please send an email to wvuhsc@gmail.com to get in touch with others who have first-hand knowledge of objectionable practices (you can remain anonymous if you wish) to work on speaking up together.
May 3, 2008 at 9:36 pm
http://www.whsv.com/westvirginiaap/headlines/18461474.html
May 3, 2008 at 9:38 pm
Try:
http://opensecrets.org
Do a quick search for any of the characters being named over the past several weeks to see how they give politically. Interesting, since we are talking about political motivations……Julian Bailes is an entertaining one to start with…..Perhaps Dr. Stevenson (a Bailes letter-signee) will turn up on a surprising donors list in the near future….
May 3, 2008 at 9:44 pm
From the article linked above: “Jonathan Knight, a specialist in professional ethics for the American Association of University Professors, says he can’t think of a similar case happening anywhere in the country.”
That’s for all the Garrison apologists who like to argue this kind of stuff goes on everywhere.
May 3, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I am truly ashamed to tell people where I trained
May 3, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Ok, I’m not a lawyer, but the facts are ever before us all. Those in attendance during the October 15th decision-making process, ALL knew what they were there for - and they just assumed their meeting would never become public knowledge. Since they all knew what they were there for, then the entire group is held responsible, accomplices at best, to the wishes of their leader. Afterall, it was the initial phone call to garrison which prompted the final result. And, with his being a lawyer, how can he not be disbarred? Should he have his law degree???? How can his remaining as president of wvu even be considered?
May 3, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Anyone who believes Prescott “resigned” is kidding themselves. He was fired, and when he didn’t clear out his office fast enough, Butcher had the custodians clear it out for him. Whatever the reasons for the firing (and I don’t know) he was treated like a piece of shit. If he wants to keep what little job he has left, he ain’t gonna talk.
May 3, 2008 at 10:32 pm
My thought is they’re playing the clock at this point. All they have to do is keep tossing shadows on the stone wall until the summer break starts in the hopes the heat will let up. The thought may be it will get easier for everyone to move on to other distractions when the school isn’t in session. Availability of new information and public demand is driving this thing. They’re trying to control damage. I think that was part of the reason for the timing on releasing the last big piece of information on primary day in PA. They’re trying to use the events they have available to cushion every blow. I’m interested in seeing what drops next and when.
A grim side note to add. My daughter is studying PR at Marshall and a fairly decent student –better than her old man for sure. I asked her what she thought of what was happening at WVU. I’d have thought whatever PR, media or government classes she was involved with would be following this. It’s a good example to me of what crisis PR is. She knew nothing about it. I was kind of stunned.
May 3, 2008 at 10:34 pm
I hope everyone who reads this mulls over in their minds what I’m about to write. It is a very, very incomprehensible day in which we allow ourselves to be led about like cows to a slaughterhouse. If we don’t group together and demand accountability, truthfulness, without the fear of repercussions, then all that has been gained by those before us has been for naught. I hope you really give this some thought. And, I hope that we, as a whole, decide to make our voices known, no matter the fallout, in the name of truth and the freedom to do what is right.
May 3, 2008 at 10:37 pm
I heard (don’t know if it’s true) that basically at a meeting Garrison said, “John, you’re out; Jim, you’re in”
I know other physicians are afraid to say anything and they are ones that don’t make anything close to Bailes salary. Most were upset over Prescott’s resignation and knew it was going to happen a week before.
May 3, 2008 at 10:37 pm
I was thinking about a couple of things. It is funny that Bobby Huggins was supportive of Garrison and then immediately signs his contract, but is then offered an eleven year/$1.5 million per year plus huge incentive bonuses and yearly increases. The eleven year contract can also be renewed each year after that. I like Huggins, but I find that kind of funny that he gets a lifetime contract immediately after speaking favorably toward Garrison.
Also, Bray Cary’s interview was a joke. Cary sometimes talks a big game, but the second he actually is speaking to them in person he becomes a wimp. He is a lightweight.
Next, there have been several comments about Garrison going to the prom with Bresch. If someone can prove that, it IS a news story.
Do any of you remember several years ago when Manchin was Sec. of St. and it was learned that he gave no-bid contracts to Bresch and her now ex-husband? I can’t remember the details, but it was for A LOT of money. Bresch is not new to the Manchin lifestyle of advantage. These people just expect to be able to use the state in any way they want and get highly offended when anyone calls them on it. For instance, when Joe first stated that Bresch was a victim in this and then criticized the PPG as an “out of state” newspaper meddling. Well, thank goodness for those meddlers because the WV press sucks. It isn’t that they cover one party more harshly than the other as we are trained to think, it is that they are just terrible. They will occasionally go after someone like Mezzatesta because they detest them personally, but they give virtually a free pass to people like McGraw.
Anyway, if any of you faculty senate members are reading all of these posts, pleas do not let us down. Garrison simply has to go. Maybe I should sue WVU for devaluing my degree.
May 3, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Following the money . . .
Goodwin and Ware law firm registered with the Secretary of State in August 2007, and set up their office in Morgantown at the corner of Patteson and University — across the street, almost, from the new Alumni Center that March Westin is building. The responsible partner is Benjamin Burdette Ware, who was admitted to the bar in 2005. Goodwin and Goodwin LLC is still located in Charleston, and Thomas Goodwin is the person registered on the website. (Information from West Virginia Sec’y of State and the Membership Directory of the W. Va. State Bar.)
Various vacant properties along University Ave. and in the surrounding neighborhood — the old Apple/Friedman’s/Bilo supermarket, the old Eckerd drugstore, and others in the neighborhood, is being offered for sale by a firm with the same name as one of the BOG members who is also a partner in the Waterfront development.
May 3, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Hoppy just posted this on http://www.wvmetronews.com:
The “Dean” of West Virginia sports writers, Mickey Furfari, told me as we walked into the Coliseum together Friday afternoon that in all his years covering WVU—Mickey is 84—he never had such short notice for a press conference.
The WVU Athletic Department hastily called reporters Friday afternoon to alert them about an announcement. Furfari said he had about 10 minutes warning of the scheduled 3 pm announcement.
And when the usual gaggle of press wags arrived at the Coliseum it became evident very quickly that the normally well-organized WVU Athletic Department had no idea what was coming down—if anything.
The announcement, as we know now, was about the “lifetime” contract for basketball coach Bob Huggins. But the reason for the confusion Friday afternoon is that the WVU Athletic Department was clearly outside of the loop on this one.
Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s great that Huggins has been locked down long term. But it is obvious that the deal was put together and the announcement orchestrated to help WVU President Mike Garrison.
Monday, the WVU Faculty Senate considers three motions as a result of the Heather Bresch scandal. One of those motions calls for a no confidence vote and for Garrison to resign.
Garrison has said he has no plans to step down and the Board of Governors has expressed its support of the President. After several days of withering public and media criticism of the President, Garrison supporters have mounted a counter-attack to try to offset the bad publicity.
The Huggins announcement may prove to be the winning shot for Garrison. Think about it: The wildly popular coach and West Virginian who led the Mountaineers to a surprising Sweet Sixteen appearance signs a “deal for life” then gives Garrison a bear hug.
Images are powerful, but in the midst of the Bresch controversy none more so than the one from the press conference of Huggins and Garrison in a warm embrace. Huggins could be just about anywhere he wants, but he wants to be here and WVU wants him. Garrison? He’s trying to hang on so the hug from the Godfather of Basketball goes a long way in making Garrison a “made man.”
“Mike (Garrison) and I are going to be here a long time,” was the quote from Huggins who is a man who says what he means and means what he says.
It’s true that Athletic Director Ed Pastilong opened the news conference and made the announcement. And I have no doubt that Pastilong welcomes a deal that keeps Huggins in Morgantown for years to come.
But I suspect this was not Pastilong’s deal. It’s far more likely this was engineered by Stewart Hall and key members of the Board of Governors and then rushed through to help prop up Garrison before Monday’s Faculty Senate meeting.
The Huggins deal is not only “good news” for an administration that can use some, but it also reset part of the media agenda which had been focused on the Bresch scandal for the previous two weeks.
Huggins is not on the Faculty Senate, so he has no vote Monday. No matter. Huggs has already cast his considerable support with the President.
But what’s the role now for the newly neutered Athletic Department? Repaint the stripes in the parking lot? Mow the grass at the Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium? Wait by the phone. I’m sure Stewart Hall and the Board of Governors will tell you what it wants done.
But just like last Friday, you may not have much advance notice.
(Editors note: In the interest of full disclosure, I am a part-time employee of the WVU Athletic Department through the Mountaineer Sports Network)
May 3, 2008 at 10:57 pm
Although many posters here put their faith in the Faculty Senate, I spoke with a member who believes the faculty is powerless in this mess. It is obvious from Mr. Goodwin’s remarks to the DA that the BOG does not care what the faculty think. Obviously, morale will plummet, donations will plummet, a new provost will deal with the faculty while MG hides his face and stays in office, faculty salaries will go down, and any faculty member who can get out will (and many have done so already — quality people are leaving for greener pastures elsewhere every year).
Anyone remember Ross Perot? More recently, Halliburton? One way to become wealthy is to use taxpayer funds to do so, and I am afraid that this is what the BOG and their cronies are trying to do. The future WVU Research Park on 705 can provide cheap R&D for Mylan, and guess who gets the profits?
Is the governor the only one who can appoint BOG members? Does anyone know anything about the Democrat who is challenging Joe in the primary?
May 3, 2008 at 11:07 pm
It’s really all for one, and one for all. It’s as simple as it sounds, and as powerful as it is simple. We, the people. We, the people. This is still a democratic country…for the people, of the people and BY the people. We, the people. And, wouldn’t it be good to know that through our standing together, we, the people, see change? Who knows, maybe through this, Prescott will be reinstated as dean of the medicine school. Now, that’s a start in the right direction, wouldn’t you say?
May 3, 2008 at 11:11 pm
To Observer - if the BOG doesn’t care what the faculty senate has to say, then maybe it’s time we find out a little bit more about the members of the BOG, and take it from there.
May 3, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Huggins was fired by Cincinnatti because of the illiterate thugs he had on the team who never graduated. He had NO interest in academics. He also has a drunk driving conviction. And “WV Native” is glad Huggins is locked down! It’s all a package, brother - you either think academic integrity is important, or you think it doesn’t matter. You can’t like Huggins and reject Garrison, Goodwin, et al. Basketball players who can’t read or write and gift degrees to Heather. It’s a package deal.
May 3, 2008 at 11:35 pm
To Lied to: Look at the Fifth Column of April 17, 2007 for biographies of the BOG.
Re Huggins — fourth-hand hearsay: Huggins still is driving drunk (from the Waterfront Hotel). What is WVU going to do when he gets his next DUI? What if he hurts or kills someone? Smart move, Mike and BOG. They’re counting on the majority of the public caring about WVU sports, not academics (or integrity).
I was so sickened by the changed transcript. . . and further sickened by Mike’s blaming of his subordinates. . . they did it, they’re responsible, he knew there would be “heightened scrutiny” so he just stayed out of it. His subordinates were to blame for everything. I don’t know Sears, but Garrison ruined the careers or is about to ruin the careers of two acquaintances I always considered basically decent, Walker and Lang.
May 3, 2008 at 11:55 pm
West Virginia Medical Practice Act
§30-3-14. Professional discipline of physicians
(12) Exercising influence on a patient in such a way as to exploit the patient for financial gain of the physician or podiatrist or of a third party. Any influence includes, but is not limited to, the promotion or sale of services, goods, appliances or drugs
–does this include selling fish-oil for profit from a State Supported Institution’s clinics and having employees of that clinic taking orders for you ; and continuing to do so after the Dean of the Medical School orders you to stop?
”You can’t just use any fish oil, you have to use the ‘pharmaceutical grade’(whatever that means) which I happen to sell” – has anyone out their heard this line before?
May 4, 2008 at 12:04 am
The faculty and alumni are up against a well oiled political machine. The Prresident has made the concious decision to use political power to solve an integrity problem. Everything from timing of the announcements to the deals being made all smack of “POLITICS”. Next announcement, “Bailes new VP of HSC”? Could be.
May 4, 2008 at 12:07 am
Hopi’s article is very eye-opening. What won’t Garrison do to get what he wants? I like Huggins and all but the timing of this and the role the President had in making this happen just sickens me. Garrison truly does believe we are just a bunch of idiot hicks.
May 4, 2008 at 12:20 am
He has an AT&T phone? I just logged onto attwireless.com and pulled up PDF’s of all my outgoing calls (incoming numbers are not listed) with date, time, and length of talk for as long as I’ve had the account. Including Oct. of 2007.
May 4, 2008 at 12:28 am
New state welcome sign: “Welcome to the Fiefdom of West Virginia, Lord Joe Manchin, Governor; Michael Garrison, Appanage”.
What will it take for the Feds to come in and clean up this entire state? Doesn’t the Constitution or Federalist Papers provide for some sort of federal authority over a state that is totally mismanaged and corrupt?
Or should I just listen to a local ‘authority’ who once told me, “If you don’t like it here, then why don’t you leave?”
May 4, 2008 at 12:31 am
or, as Goodwin said to the faculty, if you don’t like the law, change it…that should be easy, right?
May 4, 2008 at 12:46 am
New PPG article:
http://pittsburghpost-gazette.com/pg/08125/879034-298.stm
“The story of a coverup”
May 4, 2008 at 12:48 am
It is the COVER-UP, STUPID!
The Story Of A Cover-Up: An Inside Look At How Far WVU Officials Were Willing To Go For The Governor’s Daughter And Her Unearned M.B.A.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
By Patricia Sabatini and Len Boselovic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The conclusion of the investigative panel was stunningly straightforward: Mylan Inc. executive Heather Bresch did not earn a master’s degree in business administration from West Virginia University and officials had no basis for awarding it.
But the panel’s blistering report, released two weeks ago, also offers a detailed, inside look at how far officials were willing to go for the governor’s daughter, inventing explanations, falsifying her records and repeatedly misleading the public.
Investigators unanimously concluded the decision to award the degree last fall, nearly a decade after Ms. Bresch left the program, was rife with favoritism.
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WVU’s scramble to justify the acceptance of Ms. Bresch’s claim that she earned the degree in December 1998 began Oct. 11, when the Post-Gazette made a routine call to the registrar to confirm a master’s degree listed among the newly appointed chief operating officer’s credentials. Initially, the paper was told she did not finish her degree.
Days later, ignoring official records showing she did not earn the degree, top officials began a series of changing explanations.
They told the newspaper the registrar was wrong, dismissing the apparent discrepancy as a clerical error. They said Ms. Bresch had earned her degree in 1998 but was not officially recorded as a graduate because she had not paid the $50 graduation fee.
“She completed all the course work necessary to graduate, but we discovered that wasn’t put on the record because the fee wasn’t paid,” spokeswoman Amy Neil said at the time.
When pressed, Ms. Neil added that because of a mix-up, the business school had failed to “transfer” some of Ms. Bresch’s grades to the admissions and records office. She declined to say how many credits were involved but added that other students in the M.B.A. program had reported similar problems.
As the five-member panel would find, university administrators knew at the time both statements were untrue.
At the same time, the Post-Gazette had learned Ms. Bresch’s transcript was missing 22 credits, or nearly half the 48 required, indicating that if there had been a mix-up, it was a massive one.
While Ms. Neil insisted that the business school had located records to verify the degree, behind the scenes, officials could find no such records and were piecing together a plan.
In a hasty decision reflecting “failures of process and failures of leadership,” administrators added courses to Ms. Bresch’s transcript that she neither took nor paid for, awarding her grades “simply pulled from thin air,” investigators found.
Meanwhile, Ms. Bresch insisted to the newspaper that she had finished her degree in 1998. She declined to release a transcript or other documentation, saying her word and the university’s word “were better than a transcript.” She has declined to speak with the Post-Gazette since that time.
Mylan, too, sought to quash the issue.
In an Oct. 20 letter to Post-Gazette Executive Editor David M. Shribman signed by a Mylan attorney, the Cecil generic drug maker insisted Ms. Bresch had “completed all the credits” but that the necessary paperwork documenting the degree had not been processed due to an “oversight.”
The letter warned the newspaper not to publish a story “which is not based upon these facts.”
Mylan has since removed the reference to the degree from Ms. Bresch’s biography published on the company’s Web site.
In mid-December, as the Post-Gazette prepared a story questioning how the university went about granting the degree, officials at WVU stonewalled.
Mr. Garrison, Mr. Lang and Mr. Sears declined interviews. Mr. Lang issued a brief statement saying “errors” on Ms. Bresch’s transcript had been “appropriately corrected.”
“This is the last we will have to say regarding this matter,” Ms. Neil added in a note attached to Mr. Lang’s statement.
But the panel would conclude the registrar had been right: “In fact, the system did not fail in this respect. The records were accurate. Ms. Bresch had not earned an M.B.A. degree.”
After the Dec. 21 story appeared, officials continued to insist nothing was amiss.
“We have all the records” confirming the degree, Ms. Neil told the Daily Mail in Charleston the same day the Post-Gazette’s story ran. “We have all the transcripts,” she said, repeating that Ms. Bresch’s grades, like other students’, never made it to the registrar’s office.
In the weeks that followed, Mr. Lang and Mr. Sears offered various, often conflicting accounts of how the decision was made to grant the degree retroactively, including acknowledging records were lacking.
Mr. Garrison, whose appointment as president last year Ms. Bresch worked to help him win, denied any hand in the decision. Still, he said he “supported” the decision.
‘Unusual’ treatment
In an interview with a local television station in late December, Mr. Garrison contended the situation was handled as it would have been for any other WVU student, “whether it was Heather Smith or Heather Bresch.”
Investigators, however, concluded the opposite, saying Ms. Bresch was treated “in an unusual and unique manner,” owing to her high profile and to concerns about a public relations backlash.
Panel members said Mr. Garrison’s office “reacted immediately” after Ms. Bresch called him and Craig Walker, Mr. Garrison’s chief of staff, to dispute the registrar’s statement.
Mr. Walker also ordered and attended pivotal meetings at which officials decided to grant the degree “whether she had actually earned it or not,” according to the panel’s report.
Besides Mr. Walker, Mr. Lang and Mr. Sears, participants in key meetings included other representatives from the president’s office — general counsel Alex Macia and vice president of communications Bill Case . . . .
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Mr. Lang’s charge to the panel, formed amid public concerns following the Post-Gazette’s Dec. 21 story, did not include a request to determine who was responsible for the decision.
But business school officials indicated to the panel that they felt pressure from senior administrators.
“The actual or perceived pressure to go along with this decision, not to ‘rock the boat,’ was palpable,” investigators said.
Mr. Sears told the panel he felt pressured to make a decision but he “didn’t want to make the decision.”
The panel, consisting of two WVU professors and three educators from outside the state, found the primary basis for granting the degree was Mr. Walker’s account of his conversation with Ms. Bresch in which she disputed her records.
“Astonishingly,” the report noted, there was no effort by anyone else involved in the decision, including Mr. Sears, to speak directly with Ms. Bresch.
Top administrators “should have been more deliberate, more discerning and more detached in assessing the evidence that they had in hand,” investigators said. “They should have hesitated to rely so heavily on fragments of self-serving, hearsay conversations that they could not and did not even try to confirm or verify.”
‘Work experience’ claimed
According to Mr. Walker’s account, Ms. Bresch acknowledged dropping out of the program but claimed to have made arrangements with then-program director Mr. Speaker to substitute work experience for all of her outstanding course work, a claim strongly refuted by Mr. Speaker and unanimously rejected by the panel.
“No student should have a reasonable basis to conclude that he or she could or would be excused from so many outstanding credits and course obligations simply upon the basis of experiential learning, in this case, engaging in one’s regular job responsibilities,” the report said.
It noted that while there was some flexibility for students to do a limited amount of “independent study,” in such cases they would have been expected to work with faculty members to complete a defined plan of work and would have been required to register and pay tuition for the classes.
“None of this occurred in Ms. Bresch’s case,” the report said.
The report chastised administrators for “cherry-picking” supporting information, such as deciding to award Ms. Bresch a few credits based solely on Mr. Speaker’s recollection that she finished the work, but ignoring his assertion that she had not completed two semesters worth of classes.
Panel members added that they were “particularly disconcerted” by Mr. Lang’s, Mr. Sears’ and Mr. Logar’s repeated assertion that Ms. Bresch must have been the victim of a records snafu because other WVU students also had major problems with their records.
That contention was untrue, the panel found, saying it only turned up a handful of “relatively minor” administrative problems involving the records of other students.
“Continued repetition of this untrue allegation about [the] records inappropriately tars the degrees of many other [M.B.A.] program graduates at WVU,” the report said.
Because portions of the report and accompanying notes from panel interviews released to the public were blacked out by WVU, citing privacy rules, it is not clear exactly how many credits ultimately were in question on Ms. Bresch’s record. Interview notes indicate at least 16 credits, likely more, remained unsubstantiated. Ms. Bresch has said she will not waive her student privacy rights and will not give WVU permission to release the full report or unedited interview notes.
In an interview given to other news media in April, two weeks before the panel issued its report, Ms. Bresch broke months of public silence, claiming she had been 10 credits shy of a degree and received a waiver for those from Mr. Speaker. Earlier, she had acknowledged failing to attend 16 credits worth of classes, according to the report.
Interview notes indicate administrators added grades to her record chosen at random, keeping in mind that graduates must earn a grade point average of at least 3.0. Ms. Bresch “was an OK student,” Mr. Speaker offered to the panel. “Probably on the bubble to graduate” at the point she dropped out.
It is not clear who physically altered the transcript, but it was Mr. Sears who signed the grade modification forms given to the registrar’s office.
“That’s the part where we are in trouble,” Mr. Speaker told the panel. “Until that point in time, all we had was a bad decision. But then someone submitted grades that were not true, grades we know not to be true.”
Then, he said, “the bad decision steps into another realm.”
May 4, 2008 at 1:03 am
This has been said here several times already, but it can’t be said enough: Thank God for Patricia Sabatini, Len Boselovic, and the PPG. Gazette insiders, I know you read this blog, and I have to ask: are you ashamed of your newspapers? And if not, why not? Day after day, the PPG is doing your job while the Gazette and DM act aggressively to make West Virginia a worse place to live.
May 4, 2008 at 1:05 am
WOW, to the PPG article.
For me, it all boils down to one question. Is there any scenario in which Heather Bresch could have been awarded a fraudulent degree from WVU without President Garrison? Sadly, I would have to suspend all rationale thought to concoct a way in which this could have happened without Garrison.
Thus Garrison needs to resign.
This statement says it all, “the bad decision steps into another realm.”
May 4, 2008 at 1:16 am
Wow. Tom Susman gives Garrison a blow job in the chas gazette’s editorial.
I just wish the open rebellion would start with the tarring and feathering and lyching and lopping off heads and all sort of other unfortuante activities. Equally unfortuante, is the fact that it’s gotten so bad, there’s no other alternative to effect change.
I’m getting kind of tired of waiting.
May 4, 2008 at 1:36 am
Follow the money: PEIA director Tom Susman was one of the top-earning employees in state government under the Garrison/Wise administration (and trust me, if you were around and paying attention, you know I have the names in the right order—Wise was along for the ride, and that only barely). Somewhere in the neighborhood of $200K, as I recall, to run a state agency. His current profession? The oldest, of course—lobbyist. He gets paid to hand out cash for rich medical interests (including WVU partner CAMC).
At risk of