As Panelist, Rutgers Athletic Director Spoke About Responsibility in November Every day seems to bring a new development in the Rutgers scandal, and a video featuring the former athletic director Tim Pernetti on a panel at New York University last year provides interesting viewing. It was video of Mike Rice, the men's basketball coach, hurling insults and basketballs at players, broadcast last week by ESPN, that led to Rice's firing and the resignation of Pernetti. Pernetti appeared in November at a New York University Sports & Society Program panel on the topic "Is Anyone in Charge of College Athletics?" The panel discussed the usual slate of issues in college sports today: the Penn State sexual abuse scandal, money in college sports, the culture on campus surrounding big school sports programs, hefty television contracts and educational standards. It happened around the same time that Rutgers officials were discussing what to do about the behavior of Rice. At the panel, Pernetti described the role of an athletic director within large institutions: "What's going on here is a serious moral debate about responsibility," he said. He acknowledged that the Rutgers athletic department was never going to outspend larger programs like Penn State, Texas or Notre Dame. "The one piece you can control, which is making sure whether it's a recruit or a coach or an administrator, you control human capital," he said. That's the only piece you can truly control anymore. And if you can find the right human capital that have that responsibility about them can you absolutely eliminate anything from happening at a university that's got 40,000 undergrads and 700 student athletes in 24 sports? You can't. I got up in front of the board when I first got the job and they said under you nothing bad is going to happen, and I said I can't make that promise but look at what you can control and human capital is what you can control. Rutgers officials announced Monday that the university had started an investigation of the men's basketball program, my colleague Steve Eder reports, and Robert L. Barchi, the university president, has been scrutinized for how he handled the Rice matter. Some writers have said that Pernetti was a scapegoat for other administrators at the school. Pernetti's comments can be seen here, courtesy of N.Y.U."s Sports & Society Program.