What started out as a simple class assignment evolved into an interdepartmental predicament pitting the journalism department against the Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics and Campus Recreation at Texas A&M University – Kingsville (TAMUK) David Gines.
Gines both directly and indirectly threatened Communications major Frank Russell with academic misconduct in emails to Russell and Professor of Journalism/Communications at TAMUK Manuel Flores.
Tensions began after Russell emailed Jaquelyn Westbrook, assistant director of development for athletics, in an attempt to conduct a follow-up interview based on a previous set of questions answered by Gines. The email interview was part of a class assignment for advanced reporting taught by Nicole Morris, who is also The South Texan adviser.
Westbrook forwarded the email to Gines who then emailed Flores.
“I do not know who is teaching this course, but some reigning is in order [sic] and quickly. Seeking interviews under falsified information is Academic Misconduct,” Gines wrote to Flores. “I am a faculty member, and I will file misconduct on every instance if these students are not immediately corrected. Thanks in advance.”
Flores forwarded the email to Chair of the Art, Communications, and Theatre (ACT) Department Todd Lucas and replied to Gines.
“It’s an advanced reporting course, Scott. I don’t think it’s falsified information. I believe it’s for a story that instructor is having her class work on for the student newspaper,” Flores wrote. “In this case, they are South Texan reporters, as the memo said. They are trained to ask questions and will continue to do so as long as they do in an orderly and proper manner.”
What Gines considers to be “false” information appears to center on the wording of one particular question emailed to Westbrook by Russell.
“The questions you are posing that state you ‘talked with Scott Gines’ and ‘8 faculty members were relieved of their roles’ are not factual or true and falsely representative of my previous written answsers [sic] to your questions,” Gines wrote in an email to Russell. That email concluded with, “My recommendation is that you [Russell] pose questions that accurately reflect the data you collected to date. I view anything shy of this standard to represent Academic Misconduct.”
The “falsified” information Gines is referring to is