Shortly after Castell Bryant resigned from FAMU’s interim presidency in humiliation, St. Petersbugh Times columnist Bill Maxwell tried to help her explain away the damage she inflicted on the university’s finances.
In a 2007 interview entitled “Opening up on FAMU,” he asked: “A state operational audit released this year cited 35 management problems, doubling the number of findings under your predecessor, Fred Gainous. Even under [Frederick S.] Humphries, auditors routinely reported only five or six operational problems. How do you explain the drastic increase?”
Castell responded with spin, claiming that the state audits had become harder during her tenure:
“When the constitutional amendment was passed and each university received a board of trustees, the approach for auditing each of the universities changed. It is my understanding that at the same time some accounting procedures and requirements also changed. Therefore, the audits are different since the changes.”
Following Castell’s lead, Maxwell portrayed the former interim president’s chief financial officer, Grace Ali, as a talented financial manager that new President James Ammons should revere as a source of wisdom.
While interviewing Ammons, Maxwell declared: “The rumor is that you haven't you spoken with Castell Bryant and her chief financial officer about FAMU's problems.”
Ammons, who relieved Ali of her duties on his first day in office, said it wasn’t true.
Recent events have shown that Ammons made a smart choice in keeping a safe distance from Castell’s former vice-president of fiscal affairs. Ali just lost her job as CFO of the Miami-Dade public school system amid allegations of financial mismanagement. District officials said her “creative accounting” directly contributed to $70 million of the system’s $125 million deficit.
Now that Ammons’ first operational audit is out, it’s clearer than ever that Castell’s excuses don’t hold up. Less than two years after inheriting 35 findings from Bryant and Ali, Ammons’ finanical team managed to shrink that number down to seven – one fifth of what it was.
FAMU has gone from having the largest number of operational audit findings in the State University System under Castell to one of the very smallest numbers under Ammons.
Bottom line: When an institution hires accountants who actually know what they're doing, it's not difficult to perform well on state audits. Competent employees will meet the legal and professional standards. Period.
Amazing Grace: Ali resigns from Miami-Dade post
The witch who just won’t go away
UF anthropology professor charged in cocaine case
ReplyDeleteBy Megan Rolland
Staff writer
Published: Monday, January 19, 2009 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Sunday, January 18, 2009 at 7:24 p.m.
A University of Florida professor of anthropology was arrested Saturday night in the 900 block of NW 4th Place and charged with the sale of a controlled substance within 1,000 feet of a church, according to the Gainesville Police Department.
Click to enlarge
Michael J. Heckenberger Michael J. Heckenberger, who has been a professor at UF since 1999, was approached by a Gainesville police car near Progressive Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ and was observed throwing a small plastic bag, the arrest report said.
The bag was collected by the police officer, and it tested positive for cocaine.
According to the report, after he was arrested Heckenberger said he was attempting to trade the cocaine for sexual favors with a man who the officer had seen him with moments before.
Heckenberger told police, according to the report, that the cocaine was not his but that he had the cocaine because he was "curious."
Steve Orlando, a spokesman for UF, said that Heckenberger, 46, had been placed on administrative leave following the arrest and that a substitute professor would take over his classes temporarily.
"We really have to look at each individual thing on its own and handle (each) on a case-by-case basis," said Orlando, adding that it is still an open investigation.
Heckenberger specializes in the anthropological study of Brazilian and Caribbean cultures and has been published a number of times.
"He's really a gifted researcher," Orlando said. "He's done work that's been funded by the National Science Foundation on people in the Amazon and their civilizations."
Heckenberger was released from the Alachua County Jail on $25,000 bail Sunday afternoon.
Had this been a FAMU professor or even 1929 ALUM This would have been front page news all over the every news paper in the nation and ever news station.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Bill Maxwell is going to tell the Miami-Dade school board that it should keep talking to Grace Ali about the district's financial problems.
ReplyDelete