Akron, Ohio ? The anonymous source in the New York Times story about Ohio State’s football program finally has a name.

She is Norma C. McGill, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

How do we know this?

McGill contacted the Dispatch, which had been trying to reach her since a July 13 story by the Times implied Buckeye football players received special academic treatment, and hinted at outright fraud and cheating.

Turns out McGill contacted the Times, which began that investigation at her request. She did so after she was fired from her job as a graduate assistant.

Turns out McGill never actually saw any cheating.

“I don’t know how true the story is, I just knew something wasn’t quite right and I wanted it to be investigated,” she said.

Turns out McGill said she got her information from running back Maurice Clarett.

Turns out McGill says she’s homeless, and the Dispatch reported there is a police report saying she failed to pay a bill at the Columbus Hyatt.

Turns out she did indeed spend some time this year in a hospital for depression, and also was hospitalized with the same problem in the early 1990s.

Turns out she might not be the most reliable source, and this might not be the finest piece of journalism ever to be published in the New York Times, especially because the paper knew of the woman’s psychological history.

Let’s not be naive. Clarett received a nice break in his African studies course, being allowed to take an exam orally rather than on paper. But the professor said she also did this for other students who she believed needed help. It’s her class, and she can pretty much run it as she chooses, assuming no ethical boundaries are shattered.

That’s all we really know.

Everything else in the New York Times story is open to question, which happens when your main source is someone with their own troubles. The Times story said McGill and a professor suspected tutors were doing work for football players, but they had no proof.

It is outrageously easy to cheat because of the Internet, where term papers are available at the click of a few keys and a valid credit card number. Let’s not be naive and assume every Ohio State football player is a Rhodes Scholar who belongs on a church window.

But this does not appear to be a football program out of control, especially when 27 players made the Big Ten All-Academic team. Since coach Jim Tressel was hired, player behavior has improved. The days of constant personal fouls and never-ending trash talk during the John Cooper Era have ceased.

It’s too bad that Tressel hasn’t been able to address these charges of academic problems, either by his own decision or that of the administration. His voice needs to be heard.

Clarett’s not talking either. That’s the problem with this story. So little is actually known, and the more information that comes out leads to more questions.