Task Forces, Advisory Meetings, and Publicly Funded Arenas: A Rich Mix

Hartford, CT Mayor Eddie A. Perez is dancing...

The mayor:

wanted to know whether there was sentiment within the Greater Hartford business community to support a new downtown arena, so he created a "task force" to study the question.

When that group's first meeting was held behind closed doors in April, The Courant questioned the secrecy and filed a Freedom of Information complaint with the state. The group stopped meeting at city hall and retreated to the offices of the MetroHartford Alliance regional economic development organization.

There, business leaders say they can talk with candor, out of earshot of the press and public.

They met again Tuesday, turning away a Courant reporter. Perez and the city contend the task force meetings are private.

They might ought not be, Mayor...people grow suspicious quickly these days about arena deals, and when you embrace the 'ol smoke-filled room, things generally go downhill from there.

FOI At Work: Sports Beat

eorgia State has offered new football coach Bill Curry an annual salary of $350,000, according to documents obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution through the Freedom of Information Act.

This is not a contract but a memorandum of understanding. Curry has three months to sign the document. When Georgia State introduced him as head coach last week, Curry had agreed to a five-year contract.

In addition to his salary, he will receive an annual $50,000 bonus that's tied to certain athletic and academic achievements that will be included in the contract. He will also receive a $500 month car allowance. He will have a pool of $450,000 with which to hire six assistant coaches, a director of football operations and an administrative assistant.

More here.

FOI AT Work: College Athletics and Academics

A nice piece of work from the Ann Arbor News has generated tremendous conversation in the hallways of athletic departments across the country, I'd guess:

Even as the University of Michigan men's basketball team played Iowa on a Saturday night in mid-January, most eyes in Crisler Arena seemed focused on Section 46, where new Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez sat near quarterback Terrelle Pryor, the No. 1 high school player in America.

No one paid much attention to the grandfatherly figure who sat three rows behind Pryor.

John Hagen was, as he has been for decades, close to some of the most recognized athletes at Michigan. University records obtained by The News show that the veteran psychology professor has taught at least 294 independent studies from the fall of 2004 to the fall of 2007, and 85 percent of those courses, 251, were with athletes.

Michigan officials said Hagen taught additional independent studies in that period, however, they refused to disclose the number of athletes who were part of that group.

During most of that period since 2004, Hagen had a .25 teaching appointment, meaning one quarter of his time was supposed to be spent in the classroom.

Independent studies traditionally are one-on-one courses arranged between a professor and a student to cover subject matter that isn't available as a university course. In some cases, they involve small groups of students.

Since August 2006, university officials have twice examined whether Hagen's courses meet Michigan's academic standards. They call his independent studies an example of a nationally respected researcher working with undergraduates.

"This is the kind of faculty experience we aspire to provide for all of our students," said Terry McDonald, dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

When The News dug further, however, speaking to athletes and former athletic department employees as part of a seven-month investigation that included interviewing 87 people and reviewing more than 3,500 pages of internal documents, a different picture emerged...

More here.

Oregon University Contracts With Sports Marketers: A Trade Secret?

Oregon and Oregon State's multimillion-dollar sports marketing contracts are trade secrets and can be hidden from public view, Oregon Attorney General Hardy Myers said this week.

In a nine-page opinion released late Monday, Myers' office upheld both universities' contention that they could keep the amounts of their sports broadcast and marketing rights contracts confidential under the state public records law. The confidentiality helps them maintain a business advantage over marketing contractors and other schools, the opinion said.

"The state has an economic interest in maximizing payments made to its universities pursuant to sports marketing contracts," Deputy Attorney General Peter Shepherd wrote. "In sum, would-be contractors who know exactly what the UO or OSU agreed to accept in the past might offer less than they otherwise would have offered."

Shepherd said that because private marketing firms do business with scores of other universities, "the UO's negotiators will be at a disadvantage if they cannot offer would-be contractors protection for 'trade secrets.' "

Earlier this month, The Oregonian petitioned Myers after both schools released past and present sports media marketing contracts but blacked out the guaranteed annual amounts each receives, along with other financial benefits. Each cited an exemption under the Oregon Public Records Law that keeps trade secrets confidential.

"The Oregonian's role is to get as much information as possible in front of the public," said Sandy Rowe, editor of The Oregonian. "The university's refusal to release the information is surprising and disheartening since it has selectively released some information, and other colleges seem willing to share this information with the public."

Arizona, Arizona State, Washington, Washington State and California released similar contracts to The Oregonian without blacking out their amounts. Many other college's sports marketing contracts have been reported publicly.

More here.

FOIA as a College Football Reporting Tool

First, a booster used FOIA to trace calls from then-Arkansas coach Houston Nutt. Now the West Virginia media followed suit, and the results, well...

That's the million dollar question. The Charleston Daily Mail newspaper obtained phone records through the Freedom of Information Act for the time period between December first and December 18th.

On December 15th, Rodriguez made seven calls to Peterstown a place he called 112 times during November and December, often in succession.

On December 16th, he made another call to Peterstown before calling Boston, Toledo and Phoenix.

Numerous sources tell us that Rodriguez was not recruiting any football players in Peterstown.

On the night Rodriguez resigned from West Virginia Rodriguez contacted three high school prospects, meaning he used a WVU cell phone to recruit for Michigan.

More here.