The Associated Press($)
 
   ORONO, Maine (AP) -- Mike Ploszek has resigned as
Maine's athletics director following weeks of turmoil
over eligibility violations, the university announced
Friday.
   Maine president Frederick E. Hutchinson said Ploszek's
resignation, effective April 15, is by mutual agreement
and recognizes that the accusations arising from the
violations have undermined his authority.
   "I feel, and Mike agrees, that the department needs
new leadership to give it a fresh start," Hutchinson
said in a statement.
   Ploszek declined comment until next week, issuing
only a brief statement, which acknowledged that Maine
has been through "an extremely difficult time."
   "It is critical that the university regain its
balance and focus and get on with life in a meaningful
way. I have had enough of this and want to put it
behind everyone," he said.
   Although an independent investigator cleared Ploszek
of any cover-up of NCAA rules violations, he has been
the target of charges from within his department
that he had planned to conceal the transgressions.
   Hutchinson emphasized that the university did report
the violations and that the most serious charge levied
against Ploszek is that he contemplated withholding
information from the NCAA.
   "In the eyes of some, he was guilty of thinking about
not acting. His actions demonstrate that, even if he
did harbor those thoughts, as his accusers have claimed,
he rejected them," Hutchinson said.
   Ploszek's agreement provides that he be paid through
Nov. 1, although his contract runs through August 1996.
   Hutchinson also announced that Linwood "Woody"
Carville, who had served as compliance officer in the
athletics department, agreed to retire from the university,
effective March 25.
   The turmoil began in mid-February when it was
discovered that five graduate student-athletes were not
taking enough courses to be eligible to participate in
their sports.
   Anne McCoy, associate director of athletics, had quoted
Ploszek as saying he planned to conceal the violations
from the NCAA and would "feign ignorance" if they became
public.
   McCoy's charges backed up a statement by Carville, who
said Ploszek had told him that the violations would be
handled "in house."
   Ploszek denied ever speaking about not reporting the
violations, and former
U.S. Rep. Stanley Tupper, who was called in as an
independent investigator, concluded that there was no
evidence of a cover-up.
   Despite Ploszek's resignation, Hutchinson said he
remains committed to his plan to bring a team of
consultants to the university to review the compliance
system within the athletics department.
   Hutchinson emphasized that the university has been
"consistently open and
candid about the errors and events."
   "Though it may have been easy or less disturbing to
ignore them, that's not the way we do business. Our
record of self-disclosing demonstrates that."
 
 
 
 
 
|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|
|                   Lynn Burke    Newport News, Va.                     |
|      [log in to unmask] -- mail still shows [log in to unmask]     |
|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|