It's snowing to beat the band here in Massachusetts today, so I have taken
the opportunity to catch up on the mail regarding the "suspension" of Shawn
Walsh that I ignored over the holidays.  You would think, with all the
postings on the subject, that someone (besides Ryan Robbins) would cut thru
all the BS and get to the heart of the matter.  Shawn Walsh cheated to
benefit his hockey team,  lied about his cheating, then when he was under
investigation by the NCAA and UMaine attempted to influence witnesses who
were to be interviewed by them (in direct contradiction to instructions he
was given by the investigating authorities) and lied about that. To top it
off, he took money from boosters during his first suspension that he was told
not to take.  And, after all this, Shawn magnanimously accepts his punishment
because the violations happened under "his watch".  Wrong Shawn!  They
happened because you caused them to happen.  It reminds me a little of
Richard Nixon's Watergate mentality. "I'll accept all of the responsibility
but none of the blame."  We obvioiusly have a guy here who cannot distinguish
right from wrong, ethical behavior from unethical behavior.  And then, to
compound the problem, we appear to have a university that condones the
situation.  The coach's actions and inability to pay attention to detail ( I
find that hard to believe) led to suspension and forfieture of games two
years ago.  And now, after an investigation that the University is paying
for, more is revealed that leads to a second suspension and
self-disqualification from NCAA competition.  But the school still doesn't
fire him.  Unbelievable!!    Isn't one of the jobs of an institution of
higher  learning to lay a foundation for
ethical behavior among its students?  Now I know this can be difficult in the
abstract, but the point can certainly brought home when a glaring example of
unethical behavior falls in
your lap.  Did UMaine take this opportunity to show the consequence of
choosing wrong over right?  Or, did they waffle? As we have seen, the school
opted for the latter.  As a result, Shawn may not suffer the consequences (at
least not
immediately) but I dare say the school will.  The University of Maine should
be ashamed of itself.
 
Greg Ambrose
 
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