i don't know the humans involved but i do kind of feel bad for tracz or however you spell his name. by all accounts, the guys has worked his ass of for kstate (his employer) for twenty years and he's done a really good job. he wins some kind of national awards. people that know him all seem to like him. i hope his bosses pulled him aside and were like "hey we know this is bullshit, but this is what we're going to do".
given the frank stuff though, this is doubtful. maybe they learned though.