Conduct code concern

First, in the interest of full disclosure, let me say that I am a University of Maine alumnus, a football fan, and a white male. Second, all I know about what happened the night of June 10th between Mr. Minor, Mr. Gomes, and the female student is what I have heard on WZON radio and read in this paper. With that said, I truly feel this is a dark day for UMaine. This whole proceeding is full of red flags that tell me the process for adjudicating this alleged infraction of the Student Conduct Code is seriously flawed. Here are some of my concerns.

Timing – The incident took place in June. The decision to suspend Minor and Gomes should have been made well prior to the start of the football season, not late September. It is untenable to have a process that potentially leaves the alleged perpetrators and the alleged victim of a heinous crime on the same campus for months. This needs to be fixed.

Makeup of the Student Conduct Code Committee – This is embarrassing. Two black students are on “trial” for sexual assault and the “jury” [committee] contains no one of color. The “judge” [chairwoman] is a board member of Rape Response Services. Turn this around. What if the jury was all black and the judge was a football coach? Imagine the outrage. If the SCCC is going to deal with such serious and charged issues as rape (and I am not sure they should), then the process needs to beyond reproach. The method of selecting the committee needs to be fixed.

Behavior of the coaching staff – Coach Jack Cosgrove does not appear to be on the same page as the administration. He has as much as said he feels the players are innocent. He allowed their jerseys to be displayed on the sideline during the Rhode Island game, apparently as a show of support. What makes this very troubling is, I have the utmost respect for coach Cosgrove and he is in a position to know a lot more than I about what happened. But you can not have the administration saying one thing and the coaching staff saying something else.

Behavior of the administration – Joe Carr and President Peter Hoff both defend the process. They say it is time-tested, aka “circle the wagons.” Hoff defends Dr. Elizabeth Allan saying she is a “rising star” at the university. Well, guess what, Minor and Gomes were rising stars at the university as well, and neither has anything to do with objectively adjudicating this matter. Allan should have disclosed her potential conflict. The jury should have been ethnically diverse. Hoff should admit mistakes were made and require appropriate corrective action. Maybe the Student Conduct Code Committee process works well for most issues, but in this instance it appears to be anything but beyond reproach.

Lastly, I would say any process that results in a highly respected UMaine alumnus and past chairman of the Board of Trustees (attorney Harry Richardson) stating that Minor and Gomes were “railroaded” is a broken process. It appears to me that the university has really bungled this whole thing. What I want to hear form President Hoff is what changes are going to be made so that this type of controversy never happens again.

Randy Poulton

Winterport

Alum proud of Bears

I had the pleasure of attending the University of Maine game against Florida International here in Miami (Oct. 19). I proudly wore my Maine T-shirt, and was hoping I wouldn’t get too many comments from the opposing teams’ fans. Much to my surprise and pleasure, there were about as many Maine fans as there were FIU fans.

Not only did the team’s win make me proud, but the sportsmanship and pride they displayed was fantastic. We have a team to be proud of, no matter where they travel.

I am proud to be a University of Maine alumni.

Vivian Farr

Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Hockey parents proud

As parents of the Brewer Youth Hockey Travel Squirt team, we wish to thank the Brewer Youth Hockey association, the Brewer City Council, WZON and The Weekly for acknowledging the teams’ Sportsmanship Award. The team earned the Governor’s Cup for the least penalty minutes of the Tier II teams in Maine for 2001-2002.

The encouragement to play fair, play clean and strive to do their best has been a commitment from all levels, coaches, parents and team peers. We are grateful that each team member was recognized at the Brewer Town Meeting where medals and certificates were presented.

This promotes Brewer’s Community of Caring values and supports the team’s efforts. Being interviewed by a reporter from The Weekly and having a team photo published also added to the excitement. It was an honor for our 9- to 11-year-olds.

In this time of much negativity in society it is wonderful to have our children live up to the values that parents, Brewer Youth Hockey and the community of Brewer believe in. The children’s influence on their peers will help Brewer to grow in a positive way. Our children are the future of our society. Promoting fair play and positive values will have far reaching benefits. The skills on the ice go beyond skating and puck handling; they are life-long.

Thanks for the support and positive reinforcement.

Brenda Nadeau

Ken Nadeau

Brewer