NEVADA-LAS VEGAS Phone card probe involves students, athletes

The university found bills that included unusual long distance charges.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS -- UNLV campus police are investigating whether students, including athletes, used a university phone card without permission, possibly running up thousands of dollars in bills.
University officials confirmed in a statement that the probe started April 28, after a review of bills that included unusual long distance charges. It is not clear how many students used the PIN number to make calls.
"The investigation is complex and time-consuming because of the amount of data involved," the statement said.
Mum's the word
UNLV officials, including president Carol Harter, athletic director and head football coach John Robinson, and UNLV Deputy Police Chief Mike Murray did not comment Monday. Calls were referred to university spokesmen, who said the investigation was confidential.
"Because the matter is under investigation, we're not going to have any other comment," UNLV spokesman Tom Flagg said.
Athletic department spokesman Andy Grossman said that "when the UNLV campus police investigation concludes, the athletics department will conduct an NCAA rule violation investigation."
NCAA officials in Indianapolis declined to say Monday whether UNLV had contacted them about possible infractions.
Reports of the phone card investigation were first reported Sunday by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Harter told the newspaper that as many as 200 people could be implicated. Harter did not say how the PIN number had been obtained or how long it had been abused, though an official said it belonged to the athletic department. Murray said the calls totaled more than $10,000.
Shocked
Regent Steve Sisolak said Monday that he was "shocked" to hear about the case over the weekend.
Sisolak said he wasn't sure how the investigation would affect the school, which is on probation until December 2004 because of previous violations. The NCAA has labeled the school a "repeat violator."
"This is a delicate situation," Sisolak said. "People are concerned about the NCAA situation. I'm very concerned about it. But I'm very confident that President Harter is going to do a complete, thorough investigation."
A letter sent Sunday to the Nevada Board of Regents that was obtained by The Associated Press apologized for keeping the two-week investigation quiet.
"I regret that you learned about this via press coverage," UNLV Vice President for Student Life Rebecca Mills wrote. "However, in order to protect students' rights and to allow an unbiased investigation, we have treated this as a confidential matter.
Army-Navy game
PHILADELPHIA -- The 2009 Army-Navy football game will be played at Philadelphia's Lincoln Financial Field, the mayor's office announced Monday.
Last month, the service academies said Philadelphia would host the game in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008. The 2007 game is to be played in Baltimore. This year's game is also to be played in Philadelphia on Dec. 6.