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] | |--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|--|