I think he's referring to the movie Necessary Roughness.ponyplayer wrote:jtstang wrote:Come on, it's just fun stuff to pass the time, get over it. Besides, they are crying about this thread over at the NTSU board now, particularly my post 8 pages ago about them being blackballed from CUSA by little ole SMU. Some of those fools really do believe it is true.
well in that case, didn`t they the cons from State Penn back in the 80`s?...............
SMU Loves North Texas
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by MrMustang1965 » Fri Aug 18, 2006 4:57 pm
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MrMustang1965 
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by ponyplayer » Fri Aug 18, 2006 5:05 pm
I was...but left out "played" in original post....started cocktail hr early............
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by RGV Pony » Fri Aug 18, 2006 5:38 pm
jtstang wrote:Come on, it's just fun stuff to pass the time, get over it. Besides, they are crying about this thread over at the NTSU board now, particularly my post 8 pages ago about them being blackballed from CUSA by little ole SMU. Some of those fools really do believe it is true.
Perhaps we could push them over the edge and keep adding pages to this ridiculous thread if we were to start debating Denton burger joints vs. Dallas burger joints.
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by smu diamond m » Sat Aug 19, 2006 12:19 am
mrydel wrote:ThadFilms wrote:THey have burger joints in Denton?
Yeah, but they have trouble lighting them.
BAH - ZING!
Sir, shooting-star, sir.
Frosh 2005 (TEN YEARS AGO!?!)
The original Heavy Metal.
Frosh 2005 (TEN YEARS AGO!?!)
The original Heavy Metal.
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by MustangStealth » Sat Aug 19, 2006 2:57 pm
ThadFilms wrote:THey have burger joints in Denton?
Did you miss the conversation about career opportunities for NT grads?
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by MustangStealth » Sat Aug 19, 2006 3:03 pm
MrMustang1965 wrote:I think he's referring to the movie Necessary Roughness.
Evidence that an over the hill QB, a girl, and Sinbad could walk on and start at NT.
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MustangStealth - Posts: 4093
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by MrMustang1965 » Sat Aug 19, 2006 10:37 pm
...and then there's this. 
By MATTHEW ZABEL / Denton Record-Chronicle
The University of North Texas paid a $310,000 salary last year under a contract to a Pentagon official who never performed any work for the university, an open-records investigation has found.
Officials at UNT and the Pentagon signed the one-year contract in November 2004 with retired Brig. Gen. Klaus Schafer, then a top adviser in chemical and biological defense for the U.S. Defense Department.
But the contract was backdated to place him on the UNT payroll as an executive assistant to vice president for research four months earlier, according to university records the Denton Record-Chronicle obtained through open-records requests.
The contract between UNT and the Defense Department specified that Gen. Schafer would "be returned" to UNT after his stint at the Pentagon was complete.
UNT and federal investigators are investigating the federal employment contract. The payments to Gen. Schafer have cost UNT far more than $310,000 – the university has paid more than $1.3 million to two law firms conducting the internal investigation that began in February 2005, university officials said.
Amid the university's investigation, UNT asked Gen. Schafer to resign June 30, 2005 – the day his contract expired and before he ever worked at the university. It is unclear when he left his position at the Pentagon.
Gen. Schafer, reached at his home in Virginia, declined to comment.
Pentagon involvement
Deborah Leliaert, a UNT spokeswoman, said UNT employees backdated the documents at the behest of Pentagon officials, who were more knowledgeable about the section of the Intergovernmental Personnel Act of 1970, or IPA, that allowed for the contract.
The law allows employees of a state or local government, university or Indian tribe to be appointed to a short-term federal position, or vice-versa, as long as there is a "sound public interest," said Cheryl Irwin, spokeswoman for the Defense Department, who would respond to questions only by e-mail.
UNT has used several IPA agreements – which are designed to foster cooperation and the sharing of knowledge among different levels of government – in recent years.
Ms. Leliaert said the ongoing investigation would not stop UNT from using IPAs down the road, but "they will receive very close scrutiny to ensure the agreements meet our obligations under the statutes and federal regulations."
In Gen. Schafer's case, those federal officials who deal regularly with the federal program and who know the Defense Department's internal policies were responsible for guiding UNT through forming the agreement, she said.
"The Pentagon's IPA administrators recognized that UNT was looking to them for directions regarding the Pentagon's particular requirements for Schafer's IPA agreement, and provided those instructions to UNT," Ms. Leliaert said.
Federal policies require that people seeking to work under an IPA must first work at their "home institution," which in this case was UNT, at least 90 days before they are eligible for such an appointment.
Ms. Leliaert said UNT investigators have found no evidence that Gen. Schafer obtained a waiver of that rule.
On an organizational chart of officials at the Pentagon, there are two men between Gen. Schafer and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Gen. Schafer had worked for the Defense Department part time under an IPA agreement with Johns Hopkins University since May 2002, according to his resume. Johns Hopkins renewed the one-year agreement in 2003, but when that agreement expired in April 2004, Johns Hopkins did not renew it.
Officials at two other universities – George Washington University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – said they discussed with Gen. Schafer the possibility of such an agreement in 2004, but simply chose not to sign one.
"Shopping around for a sponsor to keep a government position? That is highly abusive," said Peter Leitner, a former strategic trade adviser to the defense secretary who has criticized the Defense Department's use of the program. "If his appointment expired and his other university didn't renew his IPA, he should be out of there."
Mr. Leitner testified in 1999 before a congressional committee on government reform and criticized the Defense Department's "inappropriate, possibly illegal use" of the act.
Though he didn't know specifically of Gen. Schafer's contract, Mr. Leitner said it seemed to violate the spirit of the law.
Because of the ongoing investigation, Ms. Irwin of the Defense Department would not discuss the details of the Schafer agreement.
Glen J. Logan of the Defense Department's inspector general's regional office in Arlington confirmed that his agency is also investigating the Schafer contract, but he would not comment on it.
The agreement
To hire Gen. Schafer, UNT created the position of "executive assistant to vice president for research."
On paper, Gen. Schafer reported to T. Lloyd Chesnut, who was at the time UNT's chief research officer. Dr. Chesnut was forced to resign last August over an alleged conflict of interest that his attorney and UNT officials have said was unrelated to the federal investigation.
Dr. Chesnut referred questions to his attorney Mike McCue, who did not return telephone calls.
Under the agreement, the university would front the $310,000 salary plus benefits. The Defense Department agreed to reimburse UNT $275,373 for Gen. Schafer's salary, benefits and administrative costs, leaving UNT with $83,142 left to pay to cover the rest of Gen. Schafer's salary and benefits.
But the Pentagon has not reimbursed UNT for any of the money, Ms. Leliaert said.
She said that after the investigation is over, university officials would decide whether to ask for reimbursement, but probably not before then.
Ms. Leliaert said university officials believed that Schafer, a leading expert in chemical and biological defense, would join the UNT faculty after he finished his assignment at the Pentagon.
"As an emerging research university, UNT would have greatly benefited by having Dr. Schafer's experience and expertise on our faculty," Ms. Leliaert said.
She said his expertise in chemical and biological warfare was valuable in the country's defense against terrorist threats, especially during the war in Iraq.
Gen. Schafer contacted UNT in October 2004 after George Washington University apparently backed out of an IPA agreement with him, which Gen. Schafer needed to stay in his job, Ms. Leliaert said.
"The Pentagon administrators apparently determined that a backdated IPA agreement would be the way to keep Schafer" in that job, Ms. Leliaert said.
So, Gen. Schafer consulted with his superiors and passed along instructions to UNT to make the contract effective July 1, 2004, "even though the Pentagon personnel knew he had not been employed at UNT prior to November," Ms. Leliaert said.
Phillip Diebel, UNT's vice president for finance and business affairs, signed the contract on behalf of UNT on Nov. 5, 2004.
Mr. Diebel routinely signs contracts on behalf of UNT, he said. Sometimes he signs as many as 100 in a month, he said.
For that reason, he said, he relies on others at the university to review the documents he signs.
"In this situation, I relied on the normal review process, including the prior approval of Dr. Chesnut's office, when I signed the agreement," Mr. Diebel said.
Gen. Schafer, who Ms. Leliaert said signed after Mr. Diebel, dated his signature July 1, 2004.
On Nov. 23, 2004, Sandra Burrell signed the contract on behalf of Linda Roper, director of executive and political personnel for Washington Headquarters Service, the administrative arm of the Defense Department that oversees such contracts.
Investigators hired
Ms. Leliaert said UNT's general counsel's office suspected some problems with the agreement in January 2005 and hired Hunton & Williams and McColl & McColloch law firms to conduct an internal investigation. UNT also reported those suspected problems to the Defense Department.
Gen. Schafer received his first UNT paycheck, worth $180,833.31 before taxes and other deductions, on Feb. 1, 2005, according to UNT payroll records. The check covered his first seven months of pay.
After that, Gen. Schafer received $25,833.33 monthly from UNT until his term ended June 30, 2005.
Ms. Leliaert said it is too early to tell whether any UNT employees will be found to have done any wrong.
"The investigation process isn't complete. Once the office of the inspector general has completed their investigation, they will make the UNT system aware of the findings," she said.
By MATTHEW ZABEL / Denton Record-Chronicle
The University of North Texas paid a $310,000 salary last year under a contract to a Pentagon official who never performed any work for the university, an open-records investigation has found.
Officials at UNT and the Pentagon signed the one-year contract in November 2004 with retired Brig. Gen. Klaus Schafer, then a top adviser in chemical and biological defense for the U.S. Defense Department.
But the contract was backdated to place him on the UNT payroll as an executive assistant to vice president for research four months earlier, according to university records the Denton Record-Chronicle obtained through open-records requests.
The contract between UNT and the Defense Department specified that Gen. Schafer would "be returned" to UNT after his stint at the Pentagon was complete.
UNT and federal investigators are investigating the federal employment contract. The payments to Gen. Schafer have cost UNT far more than $310,000 – the university has paid more than $1.3 million to two law firms conducting the internal investigation that began in February 2005, university officials said.
Amid the university's investigation, UNT asked Gen. Schafer to resign June 30, 2005 – the day his contract expired and before he ever worked at the university. It is unclear when he left his position at the Pentagon.
Gen. Schafer, reached at his home in Virginia, declined to comment.
Pentagon involvement
Deborah Leliaert, a UNT spokeswoman, said UNT employees backdated the documents at the behest of Pentagon officials, who were more knowledgeable about the section of the Intergovernmental Personnel Act of 1970, or IPA, that allowed for the contract.
The law allows employees of a state or local government, university or Indian tribe to be appointed to a short-term federal position, or vice-versa, as long as there is a "sound public interest," said Cheryl Irwin, spokeswoman for the Defense Department, who would respond to questions only by e-mail.
UNT has used several IPA agreements – which are designed to foster cooperation and the sharing of knowledge among different levels of government – in recent years.
Ms. Leliaert said the ongoing investigation would not stop UNT from using IPAs down the road, but "they will receive very close scrutiny to ensure the agreements meet our obligations under the statutes and federal regulations."
In Gen. Schafer's case, those federal officials who deal regularly with the federal program and who know the Defense Department's internal policies were responsible for guiding UNT through forming the agreement, she said.
"The Pentagon's IPA administrators recognized that UNT was looking to them for directions regarding the Pentagon's particular requirements for Schafer's IPA agreement, and provided those instructions to UNT," Ms. Leliaert said.
Federal policies require that people seeking to work under an IPA must first work at their "home institution," which in this case was UNT, at least 90 days before they are eligible for such an appointment.
Ms. Leliaert said UNT investigators have found no evidence that Gen. Schafer obtained a waiver of that rule.
On an organizational chart of officials at the Pentagon, there are two men between Gen. Schafer and U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
Gen. Schafer had worked for the Defense Department part time under an IPA agreement with Johns Hopkins University since May 2002, according to his resume. Johns Hopkins renewed the one-year agreement in 2003, but when that agreement expired in April 2004, Johns Hopkins did not renew it.
Officials at two other universities – George Washington University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – said they discussed with Gen. Schafer the possibility of such an agreement in 2004, but simply chose not to sign one.
"Shopping around for a sponsor to keep a government position? That is highly abusive," said Peter Leitner, a former strategic trade adviser to the defense secretary who has criticized the Defense Department's use of the program. "If his appointment expired and his other university didn't renew his IPA, he should be out of there."
Mr. Leitner testified in 1999 before a congressional committee on government reform and criticized the Defense Department's "inappropriate, possibly illegal use" of the act.
Though he didn't know specifically of Gen. Schafer's contract, Mr. Leitner said it seemed to violate the spirit of the law.
Because of the ongoing investigation, Ms. Irwin of the Defense Department would not discuss the details of the Schafer agreement.
Glen J. Logan of the Defense Department's inspector general's regional office in Arlington confirmed that his agency is also investigating the Schafer contract, but he would not comment on it.
The agreement
To hire Gen. Schafer, UNT created the position of "executive assistant to vice president for research."
On paper, Gen. Schafer reported to T. Lloyd Chesnut, who was at the time UNT's chief research officer. Dr. Chesnut was forced to resign last August over an alleged conflict of interest that his attorney and UNT officials have said was unrelated to the federal investigation.
Dr. Chesnut referred questions to his attorney Mike McCue, who did not return telephone calls.
Under the agreement, the university would front the $310,000 salary plus benefits. The Defense Department agreed to reimburse UNT $275,373 for Gen. Schafer's salary, benefits and administrative costs, leaving UNT with $83,142 left to pay to cover the rest of Gen. Schafer's salary and benefits.
But the Pentagon has not reimbursed UNT for any of the money, Ms. Leliaert said.
She said that after the investigation is over, university officials would decide whether to ask for reimbursement, but probably not before then.
Ms. Leliaert said university officials believed that Schafer, a leading expert in chemical and biological defense, would join the UNT faculty after he finished his assignment at the Pentagon.
"As an emerging research university, UNT would have greatly benefited by having Dr. Schafer's experience and expertise on our faculty," Ms. Leliaert said.
She said his expertise in chemical and biological warfare was valuable in the country's defense against terrorist threats, especially during the war in Iraq.
Gen. Schafer contacted UNT in October 2004 after George Washington University apparently backed out of an IPA agreement with him, which Gen. Schafer needed to stay in his job, Ms. Leliaert said.
"The Pentagon administrators apparently determined that a backdated IPA agreement would be the way to keep Schafer" in that job, Ms. Leliaert said.
So, Gen. Schafer consulted with his superiors and passed along instructions to UNT to make the contract effective July 1, 2004, "even though the Pentagon personnel knew he had not been employed at UNT prior to November," Ms. Leliaert said.
Phillip Diebel, UNT's vice president for finance and business affairs, signed the contract on behalf of UNT on Nov. 5, 2004.
Mr. Diebel routinely signs contracts on behalf of UNT, he said. Sometimes he signs as many as 100 in a month, he said.
For that reason, he said, he relies on others at the university to review the documents he signs.
"In this situation, I relied on the normal review process, including the prior approval of Dr. Chesnut's office, when I signed the agreement," Mr. Diebel said.
Gen. Schafer, who Ms. Leliaert said signed after Mr. Diebel, dated his signature July 1, 2004.
On Nov. 23, 2004, Sandra Burrell signed the contract on behalf of Linda Roper, director of executive and political personnel for Washington Headquarters Service, the administrative arm of the Defense Department that oversees such contracts.
Investigators hired
Ms. Leliaert said UNT's general counsel's office suspected some problems with the agreement in January 2005 and hired Hunton & Williams and McColl & McColloch law firms to conduct an internal investigation. UNT also reported those suspected problems to the Defense Department.
Gen. Schafer received his first UNT paycheck, worth $180,833.31 before taxes and other deductions, on Feb. 1, 2005, according to UNT payroll records. The check covered his first seven months of pay.
After that, Gen. Schafer received $25,833.33 monthly from UNT until his term ended June 30, 2005.
Ms. Leliaert said it is too early to tell whether any UNT employees will be found to have done any wrong.
"The investigation process isn't complete. Once the office of the inspector general has completed their investigation, they will make the UNT system aware of the findings," she said.
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