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OREGON STATE BASKETBALL COACH... RUMORS SAY JOB SAVED BY BRO IN LAW (H. OBAMA) AND $17 MIL. IN FED STIMULUS MONEY
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A rumor has been circulating around the state of Oregon for weeks now. As it gained traction, today Oregon State University released a statement insisting it is not true. Though, is it a wonder such a rumor would start, what with the sorry state of Politician's ethics and University ethics in 21st Century America?
What is known is this:
Craig Robinson is a Princeton grad, a former Wall Street Bond Trader, and a former head coach of Brown University.
His sister is Michelle Obama, the President's wife.
Hired in April by Oregon State to be the head basketball coach, Robinson just completed his second year at OSU.
His first season the team finished play with a record of 18-18, including an improbable Championship of the NIT (Now called the CBI).
His second season was disappointing for all involved. The team's record was 14-18; and they lost in the first round of the CBI.
Now the rumor going around is this:
The university this year, disappointed with the seemingly lack of improvement of its basketball team, was determined to fire Robinson.
Robinson, not wanting to be fired, called either his sister or her husband. Someone in the White House saw to it that $17 million in federal tax payer money ('''stimulus''') found its way to Oregon State University for special projects. The quid pro quo, obviously, was that in return for the cash, OSU was required to keep Robinson as the team's basketball coach (unknown is for how many years they must keep the marriage intact).
The university issued a statement today claiming this is nothing but internet rumors. That may be the case. But... if Robinson has another poor season as coach next year, and he's Not fired, some credence may be lent to the rumor. Because one would think $17 Mil would buy more than 1 year of employment.
Link: [link to kezi.com]
March 24, 2010
By Susan Gager
CORVALLIS, Ore. -- An e-mail concerning Oregon State University Coach Craig Robinson has spread the internet like wildfire.
While most find the e-mail laughable, the university wants to lay the rumor in it to rest for good.
The internet has made it possible to access a vast array of information by just the click of a mouse.
In the case of men's basketball coach Craig Robinson that's the problem. The internet makes the rumor mill work faster.
Rumor had it, Oregon State's Athletic Director was about to fire Robinson after an 8-11 start to the basketball season. The false e-mail read, "When word of this reached Washington, D.C., Undersecretary of Education Martha Kanter was dispatched to Corvallis with $17 million in stimulus money for the university."
"There's no truth to it at all. But there were enough grains of truth within these versions of the same e-mail rumor that caused some people questions," said University Spokesperson Todd Simmons.
But most people on campus know him as the coach who turned the men's basketball team around.
The Department Chair of Speech Communications at OSU says although the technology in which rumors can spread may change, the motives for spreading them don't.
"In a paranoid, political world, it takes just the slightest shred of fact to enable people to fill in the gaps with their own suspicions," said Robert Iltis.
The university says although Robinson is President Obama's brother-in-law, it doesn't get any special treatment when it comes to federal stimulus money.
"Most people are smart that they've been around the internet a few times at this point, and have seen African money scams, and phishing attempts, and passwords efforts," said Simmons.
Iltis explains this e-mail is just another example of a rumor gone viral.
"I think our inclination would be to let something like this die of its own natural causes," said Simmons.
---
Link to OSU's response: [link to oregonstate.edu]
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