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A SPIRIT THAT IS NOT AFRAID • NEWS SINCE 1893
THURSDAY, SEPT. 28, 2017
VOL. 125 • ISSUE 6 • FIRST COPY FREE THEN 50¢
SPORTS
CHUCK PERSON ARRESTED COACH AND FORMER STAR PLAYER CHARGED IN FEDERAL COURT ON BRIBERY CHARGES ACCUSED OF FUNNELING ATHLETES TO AGENTS, MANAGERS IN RETURN FOR BRIBES Chip Brownlee EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Auburn basketball associate head coach Chuck Person is facing bribery charges as part of a federal criminal probe into a wideranging scheme across NCAA basketball that involved top coaches allegedly funneling athletes to agents and financial advisers. Person was arrested overnight Monday but was released Tuesday after a detention hearing. He has been ordered to appear in New York federal court on Oct. 10 at 9 a.m. He has been suspended from the coaching staff without pay. “This morning’s news is shocking,” the University said in a statement. “We are saddened, angry and disappointed. ... We are committed to playing by the rules, and that’s what we expect from our coaches.” The University said it is working with investigators and cooperating with law enforcement in any way possible. Nine others, including coaches, managers, financial advisers and representatives of a major sportswear company, are facing charges as well. Coaches at Southern California, Arizona and Oklahama State are also charged as part of the scheme, along with an Adidas representative. According to the charging documents, the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York have been investigating the alleged scheme in NCAA athletics. The investigation revealed numerous ADAM SPARKS / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Then-assistant coach Chuck Person chats with head coach Bruce Pearl at an Auburn basketball game.
SENATE
» See PERSON, 2
ELECTIONS
Student Senate keeps ‘so help me God’ in oath Chris Heaney CAMPUS REPORTER
The Auburn Student Senate has voted down a proposal to remove “so help me God” from the SGA oaths of office. After some debate, the Student Senate made a final decision on the wording of Election Law section 717.2, keeping the phrase in the oaths. Graduate College Sen. Max Zinner, who faced mostly opposition by other senators, argued that particular wording wasn’t appropriate for a public university. “I want to represent all students; not all students are Christian or monotheistic or religious in any way,” Zinner said Monday night. “They all can run for SGA, so I don’t want people to be saying something that is against their deeply held beliefs whether they are religious or secular.” Section 717.2 outlines the oath that the president of the University is to administer to new senators, schools council officers and SGA executives upon taking office. “I do solemnly promise to support the Constitution and the laws of the Student Government Association of Auburn University and to perform the duties of my office to the best of my ability. So help me God,” the oath of office reads. “I think some could interpret that as the SGA having an official position on the question of religion,” Zinner said. Engineering Sen. Sarah Hill presented a Facebook survey that asked if the wording should be removed from the oath. Hill said that the survey was shared from her personal account and shared to SGA Facebook pages. The survey received 1,365 responses, only 178 of which weren’t students, 28 Facebook shares and 281 comments. Ninety-six percent of people who took the survey answered “no” the language shouldn’t be removed and left comments largely supporting the wording of the oath. Many of the comments, which were present-
» See SENATE, 2
BILL CLARK/CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY/NEWSCOM/ZUMA PRESS/TNS
Roy Moore wins runoff GOP candidate for U.S. Senate Roy Moore speaks during a candidates’ forum in Valley, Ala., on Aug. 3, 2017.
Sam Willoughby COMMUNITY EDITOR
Roy Moore is one step closer to becoming the junior U.S. senator from Alabama. The controversial former chief justice bested the incumbent Sen. Luther Strange on Tuesday night, capturing about 55 percent of the vote to Strange’s 45 percent. The Associated Press had called the race before 8:30 Tuesday night. “I fought in the courts against liberal judges that have usurped their authority over that Constitution, and I’ll fight for you in the United States Senate,” Moore said in a victory speech in Montgomery. Results in Lee County were closer than they were statewide. With only nine percent voter turnout, Moore won the county with close to 52 percent of the vote to Strange’s 48 percent. Strange needed more urban and suburban counties like Lee, Montgomery and Baldwin Counties to have a chance. He only won Jefferson, Shelby, Sumter and Madison counties. “From the beginning of this campaign, my
priority has been serving the people of Alabama,” Strange said in a concession statement. “Tomorrow I will go back to work with President Trump and do all I can to advance his agenda over the next few weeks.” Moore received the most votes in the initial Republican primary in August, but wasn’t able to win more than 50 percent of the vote and avoid a runoff. Washington Republicans’ millions of dollars and President Donald Trump’s support for Strange appeared to not have had much of an effect in the end. The president tweeted for months in support of Strange and made an appearance with him in Huntsville on Friday. Trump won Alabama in the 2016 general election with 62 percent of the state’s vote. But, according to a poll released by Alabama-based polling firm Cygnal, only 31 percent of primary voters said his endorsement made them more likely to vote for Strange; on the other hand, 30 percent said it made them more likely to vote for Moore. The other third said it didn’t make a difference at all.
“Traditionally, in Alabama it has been hard for any popular politician to have coattails in a high-profile race,” said Phillip Rawls, a retired Associated Press reporter who covered Alabama politics for decades. “People will make up their own minds, it doesn’t seem to influence them who endorses who.” Negative ads against Strange have portrayed him as a corrupt member of the “swamp.” In February, then-Gov. Robert Bentley, in the midst of a sex scandal, appointed Strange to fill the vacant Senate seat left open by Jeff Sessions. Strange, who at the time was attorney general of Alabama, was thought to be investigating Bentley. “He ran a spirited campaign centered around a dissatisfaction with the progress made in Washington,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. “I share that frustration and believe that enacting the agenda the American people voted for last November requires us all to work together.”
» See ELECTION, 2