arthurracoon
The Cardinal Smiles
Probe led to resignation of Aztecs AD
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press
SAN DIEGO -- An investigation into San Diego State's athletic department found alcohol in the equipment room and a Polaroid photo of the school's equipment manager and two student assistants with a topless dancer, according to a published report.
The strip club photo, among other evidence gathered during the 11-month probe by the California State University system, led school President Stephen Weber to ask for the resignation of Athletic Director Rick Bay days after giving him a public vote of confidence.
"It's deeply and completely inappropriate, and it shows a total lack of judgment by virtually everyone in the picture," Weber said. "That picture is part of a pattern that is troubling to me."
Bay, who resigned May 22, said Weber showed him photos and told him "this so-called evidence exceeded his ability to defend me any longer."
The San Diego Union-Tribune obtained notes and background material from senior auditor Mike Redmond's investigation into the school's athletic program through a California Public Records Act request.
A 37-page report made public May 6 outlines mismanagement within the equipment room and an overall lack of institutional control within the athletic department. The background material sheds light on an alleged culture within the equipment room that promoted underage drinking and trips to strip clubs while on football road trips.
San Diego State equipment manager Steve Bartel has been on paid administrative leave since May 22. Bartel, two student assistants and two men believed to be football boosters appear in the Polaroid snapped at the Columbus Gold strip club in Columbus, Ohio a few days before SDSU's football game at Ohio State in 2001.
John Spriet, one of the student equipment managers in the Polaroid, wrote Redmond that strip club visits with Bartel were routine on road trips.
"(The) boosters and Steve would sneak us in or talk our way in," he wrote. "If not in a gentleman's club, it was in a bar in which we were provided with large amounts of alcohol. Most of the people including myself were not of age."
In an interview with former assistant equipment manager Ryan Hill, Redmond writes that Bartel "intimidated people who worked with him to go to strip clubs and encouraged underage drinking."
The investigation also found alcoholic beverages in four areas controlled by the athletic equipment manager.
Bartel's attorney, Paul Kondrick, said that over the past 14 months numerous "ill-founded, presumptuous and inappropriate" accusations have been levied against his client by "those with hidden agendas or those who sought to tarnish his reputation."
Kondrick acknowledged that student assistants accompanied SDSU boosters and Steve Bartel to dinners and clubs. He denied that Steve Bartel ever bought alcohol for or provided alcohol to underaged students.
Sally Roush, SDSU's vice president for business affairs and the point person for investigating allegations found in the auditor's notes, would not comment to direct questions involving Bartel.
"Suffice it to say that it is very clear from the audit, and the university has agreed, that the operations of the equipment room were seriously flawed and needed correction," Roush said.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Associated Press
SAN DIEGO -- An investigation into San Diego State's athletic department found alcohol in the equipment room and a Polaroid photo of the school's equipment manager and two student assistants with a topless dancer, according to a published report.
The strip club photo, among other evidence gathered during the 11-month probe by the California State University system, led school President Stephen Weber to ask for the resignation of Athletic Director Rick Bay days after giving him a public vote of confidence.
"It's deeply and completely inappropriate, and it shows a total lack of judgment by virtually everyone in the picture," Weber said. "That picture is part of a pattern that is troubling to me."
Bay, who resigned May 22, said Weber showed him photos and told him "this so-called evidence exceeded his ability to defend me any longer."
The San Diego Union-Tribune obtained notes and background material from senior auditor Mike Redmond's investigation into the school's athletic program through a California Public Records Act request.
A 37-page report made public May 6 outlines mismanagement within the equipment room and an overall lack of institutional control within the athletic department. The background material sheds light on an alleged culture within the equipment room that promoted underage drinking and trips to strip clubs while on football road trips.
San Diego State equipment manager Steve Bartel has been on paid administrative leave since May 22. Bartel, two student assistants and two men believed to be football boosters appear in the Polaroid snapped at the Columbus Gold strip club in Columbus, Ohio a few days before SDSU's football game at Ohio State in 2001.
John Spriet, one of the student equipment managers in the Polaroid, wrote Redmond that strip club visits with Bartel were routine on road trips.
"(The) boosters and Steve would sneak us in or talk our way in," he wrote. "If not in a gentleman's club, it was in a bar in which we were provided with large amounts of alcohol. Most of the people including myself were not of age."
In an interview with former assistant equipment manager Ryan Hill, Redmond writes that Bartel "intimidated people who worked with him to go to strip clubs and encouraged underage drinking."
The investigation also found alcoholic beverages in four areas controlled by the athletic equipment manager.
Bartel's attorney, Paul Kondrick, said that over the past 14 months numerous "ill-founded, presumptuous and inappropriate" accusations have been levied against his client by "those with hidden agendas or those who sought to tarnish his reputation."
Kondrick acknowledged that student assistants accompanied SDSU boosters and Steve Bartel to dinners and clubs. He denied that Steve Bartel ever bought alcohol for or provided alcohol to underaged students.
Sally Roush, SDSU's vice president for business affairs and the point person for investigating allegations found in the auditor's notes, would not comment to direct questions involving Bartel.
"Suffice it to say that it is very clear from the audit, and the university has agreed, that the operations of the equipment room were seriously flawed and needed correction," Roush said.
