Thursday, October 4,1990
Letters to the Editor
continued
(continued from page 4)
have gotten away with it.
What was your thinking when
you did it? "What are they gonna
do? Boycott classes?" Not after
paying $2OOO to attend them I
won't. Is that what you were
planning on? Hmmm? Well,
enjoy you lavish receptions, and
get the most out of that rent-a
jungle you have in the Reed
building. It's on me.
James Barrett
9th semester
Electrical Engineering
Technology
Defending GU
I noted that the Gannon
University men's basketball
program was negligently
misrepresented by a member of
your staff in the Sept. 6 issue of
The Collegian.
Susan Cepicka's interview
with Behrend basketball player
Gregg Blair concerning his
former basketball career at
Gannon was misrepresentative of
Blair's actual comments, and was
therefore in violation of
acceptable journalistic standards.
The article in question states:
"At Gannon, Blair saw a
different type of athletic program
in which it was basketball first
and classes second. At Behrend,
he claims to not have that type of
pressure on him anymore. 'I am
known as a college student here,
not as a basketball
It just isn't cool to talk about war
by Mike Royko
"You know what's great about
Americans?" asked Slats
Grobnik. "We’re so cool, that's
what."
What prompts that proud
observation?
"Well, just listen to what
people are talking about.”
Such as?
"They're talking about who's
winning the football games, the
baseball games, what they saw
on TV, how was their vacation,
how their cars are running, how
the job’s going, what the
weather's like, how much sump'n
costs. Yeah, that's really cool."
But those are normal,
everyday topics of conversations.
Why does it strike you as being
noteworthy?
"Because if you listen to
people, you wouldn't have a hint
that we're gettin' closer and closer
to a real war. And it looks like
there's no way we can avoid it,
and a lot of people are going to
get killed. But do you hear people
talking about that? Nah. We sort
of say, 'Hey, what me worry?’"
Oh, I’m sure people are
concerned.
"Who? Ted Koppel?"
Most people. They're aware of
the growing tensions in the
Middle East
player,"remarks Blair. 'I just want
to play here.'"
There is nothing in Blair's
quoted comments that even
implies that his athletic program
at Gannon put "basketball first
and classes second." I also could
not find anything in the comment
"I am known as a college student
here, not as a basketball player,"
that even suggested that he no
longer has " that type of pressure
on him." I am also unclear as to
where the idea of "pressure"
originated in this matter -• again,
there is nothing in Blair's
comments that mentions pressure
of any sort. Not only is the
article inaccurate, it is extremely
ambiguous.
Since Cepicka does not
attribute these comments to
Blair, it is clear that she is
imposing her own personal views
and opinions upon the subject
matter, which is unprofessional
at least, and libelous behavior at
most.
A conversation between
Gannon Knight sports editor Jim
Roddy and Cepicka confirmed
that Blair did not actually say
anything to confirm the
implications that appear in her
story, and that Cepicka was in
fact writing what she perceived
to be the truth, based on what she
had "heard from other people."
This type of bias has no place
in news writing, and I think it is
your responsibility to be sure
that all future news is based on
facts and can be properly
attributed. Personally biased
pieces like Cepicka's should only
be found on the editorial pages of
a newspaper.
I suggest that in the future a
"Yeah? But are they really
aware? Or do they think this is
just another made-for-TV crisis
where we put up some yellow
ribbons for hostages, then the
whole thing kind of fades away?
You think people really know
that when this thing gets going
there's probably going to be
thousands os American troops
getting killed? Not hunnerts, but
thousands. And that this could be
the biggest land war since
Korea?"
Well, there is still the
possibility that it could be
averted.
"How?"
Saddam Hussein could
withdraw from Kuwait as we're
demanding.
"He won't do that because
then he'll look like a loser and all
the other Arabs will laugh at him
and then he won't go down in
Arab history as big heat."
Then maybe our blockade will
be effective. Deprived of food and
other necessities, he'll have to be
reasonable.
"That sounds good, except
they can grow enough food to
scrape by for a long time. And
there's ways stuff can be
smuggled in to them. You know
how long the blockade would
have to last? Some of the Gls
over there would have gray hair."
The Collegian
bit more care be exercised by The
Collegian editorial staff in
editing nonobjective and
unprecedented information from
"factual" articles.
Michele Wroblewski
Editor-in-Chief
The Gannon Knight
Glaring mistake
I am writing in response to a
Sept. 6 article in The Collegian
which headlines "Players discuss
coaching change."
As sports editor of The
Gannon Knight, Gannon
University's student newspaper, I
noticed a glaring mistake in the
article. It reads: "At Gannon,
(Gregg) Blair saw a different type
of athletic program in which it
was basketball first and classes
second."
I believe that a few facts were
overlooked.
For Bob Dukiet, the head
men's basketball coach at
Gannon, academic success by his
players is the number one
priority. Written on his marker
board in his office, where he
often meets with players, is the
following list:
1. ACADEMICS 2.
BASKETBALL 3. WORK
ETHIC
It cannot be made any clearer.
Dukiet practices what he
preaches, also. He, along with
assistant coach John Reilly and
Academic Advisor Sally LeVan,
actively monitors each student
athlete's academic progress. In
fact, academic activities double
athletic activities time-wise.
Each team member is required
to work on his basketball skills
individually and with the team
for just ten hours a week.
Team members are also
Then we might have to
negotiate a settlement that is
satisfactory to both sides.
"Like what? President Bush
says we won't settle for anything
except getting Kuwait back. And
Hussein says he ain't never
giving it back."
Maybe Bush will change his
mind.
"No way. Remember when
people said Bush was a wimp?
Professor George Will even called
him a lap dog. Now he's acting
like a tough guy and you can tell
that he likes it. But if he pulls
out, Hussein wins. Or if he just
lets the troops sit there for the
next year or two or three,
Hussein still wins. So people are
going to start saying Bush is a
wimp again. And he's like every
other president, worrying about
what the history books will say
about him. I don't know why
presidents worry about that. More
people read the National Enquirer
than history books."
Assuming you're right, that
conflict is inevitable, then maybe
we can end it quickly with those
quick, surgical air strikes the
experts talk about
"Bull. You don't win wars
with any air strikes that are quick
and surgical. This ain't like
taking out tonsils, you know."
But we have air superiority.
required to attend classes
(approximately 15 hours/week),
go to study hall (5.5 hours), and
meet individually with the
academic advisor for one half
hour per week.
So compare the numbers: ten
hours of basketball to 21 hours
of academics.
"...it was basketball first and
classes second."
Also, each player’s professor
fills out a form every two weeks
about the player's attendance,
class participation, assignment
quality, and present grade in the
class.
The form is then returned to
the basketball office, where the
coaches and academic advisor
determine if the player is meeting
the academic requirements.
If he is not, he is suspended
from the team until improving
his academic standing.
"...it was basketball first and
classes second."
Has the system produced
results? Three of four Gannon
seniors on last season's team
graduated in May of 1990. The
fourth is on schedule to graduate
this coming May.
Graduation is the objective in
the Gannon basketball program.
"...it was basketball first and
classes second."
Finally, Dukiet instructs to
his team to "Use the game of
basketball. Don't let it use you.”
Dukiet wants his players to
take advantage of the educational
opportunities they have received
because of their athletic ability.
He has clearly set the standard
that, at Gannon, the emphasis is
classes first and basketball
second.
Sports Editor
The Gannon Knight
"Yeah, we had all kinds of air
superiority in Korea. And before
we landed at Normandy, we had
air superiority over Europe. But
where were those wars fought?
Right down on the ground.
Because that's where you fight
wars. So forget about surgical air
strikes. When this one gets
going, it'll be down and dirty.
The only time air superiority
ended a war was when we nuked
Japan."
Well, there are those who say
we should consider...
"We should consider what?
Nuking Iraq?"
I've heard readers say it.
"Then refer 'em to a shrink.
We nuke Iraq and every Moslem
in the world is crazy mad at us.
And the rest of the world will say
we're creeps. And Bush goes
down in history in the same
chapter at Attila or Dracula.
Yeah, we'd look good. I can read
it now: 'The United States, to
preserve stability in the Middle
East and protect its national
interests, nuked Iraq, killing a
few million innocent men,
women and children.' Hooray for
our side.”
You sound alarmingly
pessimistic. You seem to think
there can't be a negotiated
settlement, that war is inevitable
and that it will be a terribly
Nine under fire
In a previous Letter to the
Editor, nine members of the
English faculty claimed to find
offensive a particular word used
to demean people of African
descent.
Nonetheless, argued the nine,
the novel "Huckleberry Finn"
deserves to be highlighted in the
classroom despite its repeated use
of this offensive word. Their
excuse is that no book "cannot or
does not offend someone."
But there are different ways to
offend people. We can offend
narrow-minded people by
presenting ideas with which they
do not agree. (The nine gave the
example of some Fundamentalist
Christians who might be offended
by the teaching of evolution.) We
can offend people of color by
using racial slurs. The former is
unavoidable if our goal is
education. The latter is
unacceptable at an institution
which values a diverse
constituency.
By suggesting that literature
courses would be bland if they
were not peppered with ethnic
slurs, nine members of the
English faculty do a disservice to
their discipline. They should re
examine their stance in light of
their stated commitment to a
"just and color-blind society."
Jim Roddy
costly conflict with great loss of
life.
"Yeah, great loss of life.
That's what usually happens
when two big armies come at
each other with their bombs,
missiles, tanks and bullets. With
all these wonderful computers and
high-tech gizmos, some old
fashioned things never change.
Like when a bullet smacks you
in the head, you die. When a
bomb lands on you, there's
nothing left but bits and pieces."
You paint a very bleak
pictures.
"Hey, don't worry. Be cool
like everybody else. Just say:
Hey, the president knows what
he's doing or he wouldn't be
president. And let's all call the
local talk show guy on the radio
so we can fax a cheery message
to the boys over there. And,
remember, if all hell breaks
loose, this country has got a big
supply of yellow ribbons.
Besides, the timing looks good."
What timing?
"The experts say the shooting
won't start for a few months."
Why is that good?
"It won't screw up the
playoffs or the World Series."
That's a relief.
"You're learning to be cool."
Or stupid.
"Either way, it works.”
Page
Gary Nelson
Assistant Professor
Mathematics