Jacobs just treating the symptoms

6/28/2007

Your June 20 editorial's description of the University of Toledo and its athletic department as "hydra-headed"is a bit hyperbolic, but probably closer to the truth that than we old grads like to admit.

Nevertheless, President Lloyd Jacobs is taking great strides to reform UT's jockdom. While it may result in a few heads rolling, Suzette Fronk's should not be one of them. She should be given back her job as assistant director of business affairs. Athletic Director Mike O'Brien may be uncomfortable with her "oversight," but so be it.

But while Dr. Jacobs is treating the symptoms, the life-saving cure must come at the hands of Gov. Ted Strickland. He must replace the Tom Noe-engineered appointments to the UT Board of Trustees with new blood that will give the university the leadership it so sorely needs, donorships and demographics be damned.

Larry Hawkins

Seaside, Calif.

Is Roger Kruse being sidelined because he lined up with the wrong team? It is my understanding from what I read in The Blade that the president of the University of Toledo is suggesting the "team doctor" be replaced by an employee of his organization.

Should this proposal pass, the athletes at the University of Toledo are the ones who will suffer. Roger Kruse has more experience with athletic injuries than any other M.D. in this community. If you question this, contact an athletic trainer in the schools in Lucas County and surrounding area. When they have an injured player they are unable to take care of, they turn to Dr. Kruse - who treats the players at no cost to the school or student athlete.

Not only locally does Dr. Kruse share his knowledge, but worldwide, having been on the U.S. Olympic medical team several times. Let's put politics aside and do what is best for all athletes.

Helyn Carr Mockensturm

Maumee

I read with ongoing disbelief your editorial praising Dr. Lloyd Jacobs and his recent "cleansing" of the University of Toledo athletic department. Wow.

Has any one of those accused, including and most importantly, Dr. Roger Kruse, made any ethical or legal lapses?

You praise the "new" institution of MUO-UT for these actions and others, such as banning drug representatives, but, to my disbelief, you have never reported how that new organization will not see Medicaid referrals in its medical specialty clinics. Also, it is no longer participating in the once-Blade-praised CareNet program.

Kind of selective reporting, wouldn't you say? A state-funded institution that refuses to see Medicaid patients and shuns the popular and successful program for the uninsured and underinsured of Lucas County!

What should the University of Toledo and The Blade, one of America's great newspapers, be paying attention to?

Jim Roby, M.D.

Crossfields Road

The Blade coverage of the University of Toledo's athletic department has been disturbing to me. It is almost a non-story that should have been handled internally by President Lloyd Jacobs rather than hit the front pages in The Blade.

Of particular concern is the possible negative fallout for two friends of mine who have served the university for so many years in such a distinguished manner: Roger Kruse and Jim Klein.

Some readers may conclude that they are part of the problem in the athletic department. Dr. Kruse has been a vital contributor to the good health of our student athletes over many years. I don't think anyone could replace him from the other campus.

Jim Klein, a law professor, has probably been the most loyal supporter of athletics of anyone I know at UT. He knows the Mid-American Conference better than anyone. He was asked to resign his position a few weeks ago and it had nothing to do with the accounting problems in the athletic department, but The Blade did not make that clear in the article.

I think both The Blade and UT could have done a better job on this one.

Dan Seemann

Maumee

Isn't it amazing that the University of Toledo athletic department all of a sudden requires "massive restructuring"? Undoubtedly the accusation of a point-shaving episode requires an internal investigation. However, to simultaneously point the finger at several top-flight professionals is unacceptable and totally unfair.

Dr. Roger Kruse's professional reputation and expertise qualified him to spearhead the Olympics drug-testing program (The Blade ran a feature article on him) but evidently he lacks the skill to remain as UT's team physician? That's rather hard to stomach.

Law professor James Klein eats, breathes, and sleeps UT. It would be extremely tough to find any one individual who is more competent, honest, driven, loyal, and professional than James Klein. Professor Klein is a class act.

Talk about brain drain.

Wayne Milewski

Whitehouse

Instead of continuing his relentless anti-Bush attacks by wrongly asserting that the practice of rendition (transporting a terrorist prisoner to a foreign country for interrogation) is a by-product of President Bush's war on terrorism, Dan Simpson could have disclosed in his June 13 column that this tactic actually began in the Clinton administration.

Largely at the behest of Al Gore and Richard Clarke, Mr. Clinton issued a presidential directive authorizing the CIA to fly suspected terrorists to Egypt or Jordan for questioning, knowing full well that they most likely would be tortured. I wonder why Mr. Simpson has never found fault with the Clinton/Gore rendition policy and why he puts all responsibility for it on President Bush?

Ralph Russo

Findlay

Are they cowards who are afraid to show their faces?

Is it their actions that cause them to cover their faces in shame? Whichever, or both, the Hamas terrorists needn't have bothered. When it is time to meet their maker, He shall know who they are and what they have done and may their souls know no peace.

Adele Federman

Mockingbird Lane

Three cheers for Debbie Mills, who runs the English department at Rogers High School, and the other English teachers in Toledo Public Schools who are encouraging our young Toledo students to be reading, by assigning the challenging book Fountainhead.

I read the June 17 article about student summer reading. I am an avid reader myself and feel we open up so many doors to our own intellect and stretch ourselves greatly by literature. The old adage: "show me what you read and I'll show you who you will become" is still true today.

However, the true heart of what Ms. Mills said is this: "They want expectations. I think they are looking for a challenge. We don't give them enough credit. But as long as we accept mediocrity that is what we will get."

Bravo!

She should keep raising the bar. We must expect more and more out of our brightest and best stars at TPS, and I do mean all the students, from Head Start through senior year.

Christine Thrun

Perrysburg

Detroit's Ambassador Bridge is a perfect candidate for the appropriate use of eminent domain.

What hare-brained cretin allowed a private citizen to own it in the first place? The same nitwits who think that turnpikes should be privatized?

Sid Davisson

Fremont