The question of whether Shawn Mansoff should return to the University
of Maine hockey team is an interesting one.  While I agree with Cathy
that the decision for Mansoff to return or not is ultimiately up to the
team, I think that certainly the fans who support the team and the
university should be able to air their opinions -- and I suppose this
list is just as good of a place as any.
 
First off, why does Maine even need Shawn Mansoff?  I'd argue he'd be
sitting on the bench at Maine if he returned.  He played mostly
defense, Maine now has 8 solid defensemen.  At forward, Mansoff
wouldn't break into the top three lines and you mean to tell me he is
more valuable than Jason Vitorino, Jim Leger or Bobby Stewart?  No way.
 To a certain degree I can understand Mansoff thinking he "can" come
back, but I don't know why Shawn Walsh would want him.  Maine's team
and its depth are far different from the Shawn Mansoff days.
 
I'm not convinced that Shawn Mansoff is innocent of the charges against
him, either.  Remember that innocence and guilt has many faces for a
college student.  Shawn Mansoff could have been found innocent in a
criminal court of law, and therefore does not face any jail time or
fines under Maine's hate crime laws.
 
But let's not forget that Mansoff was suspsended for one year by the
University of Maine.  What does that tell us?  It tells us that the
conduct code officer of the university found him either guilty or
responsible for certain violations of the student conduct code.  Now,
in legal sense the level of proof is different.  Essentially a student
judiciary process is equivilent to a civil trial with the evidence
needing to show it was "more likely than not" that the person is guilty
as opposed to a criminal trial where the level of evidence is "beyond a
reasonable doubt."
 
UMaine does not suspend students (especially high profile students such
as a hockey player) for one year unless it was found that it was "more
likely than not" that he was guilty of violating the student conduct
code and/or he was deemed a danger to the university community.  It is
a serious thing to be suspended for a year, let's not sugar coat that
folks.  What happened is a big deal.
 
I do not know this for a fact, but I do have an understanding of law
and how things work.  But I want to state for the record that the above
is my suggestion given the fact that Mansoff was suspended for a year.
That said, the student judiciary process is set up SPECIFICALLY so that
students can be EDUCATED without facing criminal prosecution.
 
So that said, if Shawn Mansoff wants to return to the University of
Maine and is admitted he should be allowed to return.
 
The question of whether he should be allowed to play hockey again is a
different question in and of itself.  While Mansoff may have a "right"
to return to school for his education, he does not have a right to a
scholarship or ice time on the hockey team.  Mansoff was suspended
indefinitely from the hockey team, and I have not seen that suspension
lifted, nor should it ever be.
 
This was a deplorable situation and I had fortune enough to meet the
judge who presided over the Bryan Masotta part of this case, who echoes
those sentiments.  This situation brought unneeded attention to the
University of Maine and did a great disservice to a program (as Cathy
aptly noted) struggling with the pride of its past and forging a new
pride.  Maine has had enough bad press to last at least a couple
decades.  A decision by Walsh or the team to allow him back will only
further detract from this team's on-ice performance and will again
bring ethics into question.
 
Mansoff may not have been found criminally guilty, but there was enough
evidence to toss him out of school for a year.  As far as I'm concerned
that's also enough evidence to never allow him to play hockey for this
school again.
 
---
Deron Treadwell - [log in to unmask]
 
"Any idiot can face a crisis -- it's this day-to-day living that wears
you out."
                                        - Anton Chekhov