BYU football: E-mails may shed light on Hadley?s suspension

FILE - In this Sept. 7, 2013, file photo, Brigham Young's Spencer Hadley (2) and DJ Doman (18) celebrate with other players following their NCAA college football game against Texas, in Provo, Utah. BYU linebacker Spencer Hadley has been suspended indefinitely from the football team following a violation of team rules. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

Provo ? As is their custom, BYU officials would not reveal the nature of senior Spencer Hadley?s transgression when they announced Tuesday that the star linebacker was suspended five games for violating the school?s honor code.

However, a photo obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune from the University of Utah via a Government Records Access Management Act (GRAMA) request that depicts Hadley partying at what appears to be a Las Vegas club sheds some light on what may have led to the suspension.

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The Tribune could not verify the authenticity of the photo and has chosen not to publish it.

A source with close ties to the program also said Hadley had been suspended after clubbing in Las Vegas.

Documents obtained from the U. show that a person calling himself "Darren Lucy" and a "die hard Utah Utes fan" e-mailed the photo to Utah?s compliance office, at 2:16 p.m. Monday.

The U.?s compliance office forwarded the photo/e-mail ? which also alleged potential NCAA violations ? to BYU Director of Compliance Chad Gwilliam 12 minutes later.

Tuesday morning, BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall announced that Hadley, a starting inside linebacker, had been "suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules."

BYU spokesperson Carri Jenkins confirmed Tuesday afternoon that Hadley violated the honor code, but would be allowed to remain in school. Just as she did when BYU suspended basketball star Brandon Davies near the end of the 2010-11 season, Jenkins reiterated that specific violations of the honor code are not made public.

The e-mail string shows that U.?s compliance office replied to the fan by writing, "The NCAA can only investigate with evidence. If you have pictures, that would be helpful." The fan replied that he would "supply more pictures soon."

He never did, according to U. attorney Robert Payne, who facilitated the GRAMA request.

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The GRAMA request was sent to Utah by The Tribune after online reports surfaced claiming that photos of Hadley had been sent to both the U. and the newspaper. The Tribune never received any photos directly.

Emily Potter of the NCAA replied to a request from The Tribune regarding whether the NCAA was looking into the matter by recommending that "you contact the school about this matter."

Thursday, BYU?s Associate Athletic Director for Communications, Duff Tittle, said that the school has not had contact with the NCAA ? in either direction ? regarding Hadley?s suspension.

Wilson?s wheels

One thing BYU defensive coaches and players learned after watching film of the Utes? first three games is that Utah sophomore quarterback Travis Wilson is incredibly mobile for an athlete of his size. Wilson rushed for 142 yards against Oregon State, the most by a Ute quarterback since Floyd Hodge had 179 against Wyoming in 1979.

"Don?t let him do that. That?s our plan," Cougars secondary coach Nick Howell said. "We are not going to let him do that. We are not going to let him out. If we let him out, somebody is wrong."

Howell said Wilson broke off long runs against the Beavers because OSU let Utah have the numbers advantage on the boundary side.

"We are going to line up right and have enough people where he is, and we should be OK," Howell said.

Falslev?s fire

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Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/cougars/56893313-88/byu-hadley-utah-sltrib.html.csp

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US and Iran eye diplomatic defrosting at UN

WASHINGTON (AP) ? President Barack Obama and Iran's new president may meet briefly next week for the first time, marking a symbolic but significant step toward easing their countries' tense relationship. An exchange of letters between the leaders already has raised expectations for a revival of stalled nuclear talks, though Iran is still likely to seek an easing of international sanctions in exchange for significant progress.

In small steps and encouraging statements, Iran's leaders appear to be opening a door more widely to detente in their nuclear dispute with the U.S. Cautiously optimistic yet still skeptical, Washington is weighing whether Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's recent overtures actually represent new policies or just new packaging.

"Negotiations with the Iranians is always difficult," President Barack Obama said in a recent interview with ABC News. "I think this new president is not going to suddenly make it easy. But, you know, my view is that if you have both a credible threat of force, combined with a rigorous diplomatic effort, that, in fact, you can strike a deal."

Both Obama and Rouhani will be in New York next week for the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. The White House hasn't ruled out the possibility of a direct exchange, though spokesman Jay Carney said no meeting is scheduled.

Obama has long said he would be open to discussions with his Iranian counterparts if Tehran shows it is serious about curbing its nuclear program.

"There have been a lot of interesting things said out of Tehran and the new government ? and encouraging things," Carney said Thursday. "But actions speak louder than words."

Iran has repeatedly said it wants sanctions eased as a first step to make any significant progress in nuclear negotiations. Sanctions levied by the U.S. and Europe have contributed to a rapid rise in inflation and unemployment in Iran.

Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful and that it is enriching uranium to levels needed for medical isotopes and reactor fuel. But Western powers, including the U.S., fear Iran is trying to build a nuclear bomb.

Whether any headway is made on the nuclear issue could hinge on how the U.S. and Iran handle negotiations to dismantle Syria's vast chemical weapons stockpile. Iran is the chief benefactor to Syria, where an Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack on Damascus suburbs killed as many as 1,400 people, according to U.S. and Western intelligence agencies, who blame the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Yet Iran has been vociferous in its condemnation of chemical weapons attacks in Syria. In an op-ed published in Thursday's Washington Post, Rouhani said Syria "has become the scene of heartbreaking violence" and pledged to help facilitate dialogue between Assad's regime and the rebel opposition.

"But to move beyond impasses, whether in relation to Syria, my country's nuclear program or its relations with the United States, we need to aim higher," Rouhani wrote. "Rather than focusing on how to prevent things from getting worse, we need to think ? and talk ? about how to make things better. To do that, we all need to muster the courage to start conveying what we want ? clearly, concisely and sincerely ? and to back it up with the political will to take necessary action."

Robert Einhorn, who left the State Department in May after serving as special adviser for arms control and a negotiator on the talks with Iran, said the nuclear discussions could dissolve if the Syria plan fails.

"I think the American public, the American Congress would say, 'Oh, you've got to be kidding. ... Look what happened last time. The Syrians weren't serious; do you think the Iranians are serious about diplomacy? They're just going to play this out, they're going to play for time and advance their nuclear program, just the way the Syrians did on the chemical weapons,'" Einhorn, now at the Brookings Institution, said last week at the Atlantic Council think tank.

"On the other hand, if you had a good deal, if the current efforts resulted in the end of Syria's chemical weapons program ? verifiably, credibly and quickly, with the absence of military action ? I think this could have very positive implications on prospects of diplomacy and willingness to take a risk on diplomacy in the case of Iran," Einhorn said.

Since Rouhani's election in June as the Islamic Republic's president, he and Obama have exchanged letters in what U.S. officials describe as an encouraging easing of Iran's defiance of the U.S. In contrast to his recalcitrant predecessor, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Rouhani is widely seen as a moderate politician who may have more autonomy to govern under Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It's unclear how many letters Obama and Rouhani have exchanged. The U.S. president sent at least one letter after Rouhani's inauguration in early August and Iranian officials say the new president did respond.

White House officials said Obama's letter to Rouhani touched on the long-stalled negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program, one of the main roadblocks to diplomacy between the two countries. Officials said Obama indicated that Washington was ready to resolve the nuclear issue in a way that would allow Iran to demonstrate that its program was exclusively for peaceful purposes.

"The letter also conveyed the need to act with a sense of urgency to address this issue because, as we have long said, the window of opportunity for resolving this diplomatically is open, but it will not remain open indefinitely," Carney said.

Rouhani, in his first interview with a Western media outlet, told NBC News that he thanked Obama for his outreach and "expressed Iran's viewpoint on the issues raised in his letter and some other issues."

In 2009, shortly after taking office, Obama also wrote to Khamenei expressing a desire for a different type of relationship between their countries. People familiar with the outreach say Khamenei responded with a letter of his own but gave little ground and, ultimately, the communications fizzled.

Einhorn also predicted that negotiators from the U.S. and Iran will sit down for direct one-on-one talks about the nuclear issue in the near future ? a direct negotiation that he said has not happened since 2009.

Any direct exchange between Obama and Rouhani at the United Nations would be largely symbolic, with substantive negotiations on Iran's nuclear program almost certainly reserved for talks with officials from both governments.

Trita Parsi, the president of the National Iranian American Council, said Rouhani has a narrow window of opportunity to show the U.S. and the international community that he's more serious about negotiations than his predecessors.

"He doesn't have much time to show that his approach is more effective than the regime previously," Parsi said. "It's important for him to present something at the U.N. that is very memorable, that really adds to what he has already been doing over the last couple of weeks."

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Associated Press writer Brian Murphy in Dubai contributed to this report.

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Follow Julie Pace and Lara Jakes on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jpaceDC and https://twitter.com/larajakesAP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-iran-eye-diplomatic-defrosting-un-075527046--politics.html

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