Fans and supporters of the University of Maine athletic program will open the newspaper this morning and shake their heads in dismay.

It was revealed Monday that within the last month, four men associated with Black Bear athletics have been charged with violations including OUI, assault, misuse of identification and receiving stolen property.

Three were members of the football program, while the other plays on the men’s basketball team.

Unfortunately, these are only the latest in a growing list of brushes with the law in recent years by UMaine student-athletes and coaches.

Last month, the university suspended three softball players and put the team on probation after it was revealed team members had participated in a hazing party in 2006.

Last March, two UMaine baseball players were dismissed from the squad after a drinking incident on a team trip to Arizona.

In December, volleyball players Jody Connacher and Shelly Seipp pleaded guilty to theft and were suspended for one match each.

In November 2006, women’s basketball associate head coach Kathy Karlsson was arrested in Bangor for OUI. During the same incident, head women’s coach Ann McInerney refused to give her correct name to a police officer.

Karlsson was handed a three-game suspension by James, then returned to duty. McInerney, who was not charged with a crime, was reprimanded in a letter from UMaine President Robert Kennedy and issued a public apology.

McInerney resigned after the season was complete.

In September 2006, one men’s basketball player and a member of the women’s basketball squad, who were boyfriend and girlfriend, were arrested for assault. Rashard Turner transferred and Danielle Hubbard was suspended indefinitely and later left the team for good.

A month before that, football players Anthony Hicks and Garland Webb were dismissed from the team after being indicted for burglary and theft.

In May 2006, baseball player Ryan Quintal received a five-game suspension for OUI.

Those kinds of incidents take away from the numerous successes achieved by UMaine teams in the athletic realm and in the classroom.

In spite of the temptation to lump them together, it would be unfair to characterize the assorted violations as a pattern of behavior by UMaine student-athletes in general.

While their illegal actions cannot be condoned and must be punished both by the university and in the legal system, we can’t paint every student-athlete and coach on the Orono campus as having played a role allowing it to occur.

Among the administrators, coaches, staff and student-athletes who make up the University of Maine athletic department, most are outstanding citizens, dedicated workers, good students and talented athletes.

In essence, each UMaine team as a microcosm of society. Each has a hierarchy of leadership (the coaches) and group members (players) who are taught to obey the rules of that group.

Team members also must comply with the rules of the athletic department, the university in which it resides, and the community, state and country where it is located.

The problem is that at UMaine, like in cities and towns across the country, people don’t always obey the laws.

Even with solid parenting, charismatic leadership, support from professors and friendship of teammates and fellow students, some college students make bad decisions – often exacerbated by the use of alcohol or drugs.

UMaine coaches invest a tremendous amount of time and effort recruiting student-athletes and assistant coaches for their programs. They spend many hours traveling, visiting young people at their high schools and sitting in their living rooms talking with them and family members.

Contrary to popular belief, coaches don’t just offer scholarships to the best players they can find without considering many other important factors. They want talent, but they know in order to have a successful program they must find student-athletes who can thrive in their respective programs, in Orono, Maine – an environment that while relatively quiet and geographically remote is completely foreign to many of the students who come to UMaine from urban areas.

Some may want to criticize UMaine’s athletic administration or the coaches for allowing the unfortunate incidents to happen. But they can’t monitor student-athletes and staff members 24 hours a day.

No matter how much people talk about team rules, the school code of conduct and the appropriate way to behave in the community, some students will ignore it all and perform senseless, unlawful acts.

And along with the victims, the many dedicated people involved with UMaine athletics also pay part of the price by sharing in the humiliation.