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 HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.