Take Your Pick: Cheating or Fraud?

Trojan fans just don’t get it. As usual, in response to a thorough and well-documented story of scholastic cheating, the Saturday sports letters column was full of whining writers complaining about the Trojans being picked on.

Several points:

Yes, I attended one or two gut courses myself. However, I attended the class, did all the work, as did the athletes in said class.

According to one interviewee, an athletic department representative almost took on the role of a T.A., and, in fact, helped athletes who had never shown up to appear at the final exam and sign exams they did not even take. That is cheating by any standards.

No one is saying that USC is alone in this. But it is the latest sordid episode to infect that school’s athletic program. These stories need to be reported on wherever and whenever they happen. It is wrong whether it is USC, UCLA, or any school at any level.

The fact that most of the writers complained about USC being picked on and totally failed to see the larger issues involved is something that should really scare us all.

TONY BARNARD

San Pedro

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Those people who wrote to criticize The Times for exposing that noncourse and automatic A’s for athletes at USC ought to be ashamed of themselves.

They boasted about taking gut courses themselves, which obviously affected their ability to read and reason. A gut course is an easy course. What your story described wasn’t a course at all. The athletes never showed up, did nothing, and were handed a prewritten term paper to add their signatures to at the end of the semester.

That’s not only less than a gut course, it is fraud.

CHARLES SERGIS

Calabasas

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Once again the L.A. Times tries to convict USC without a solid investigation by the proper authorities, NCAA or Pac-10 officials.

Your paper is the most unreliable, anti-USC biased paper in the country. Last year it was the sports agents whom you tried to make part of the USC athletic program to produce NCAA violations. Also, your paper tried to blow out of proportion a USC football player giving some of his personal clothing to a friend who was being recruited by USC.

I hope your reporters will take a vacation to the state of Florida, where “real” NCAA violations are numerous. If you have time, stop in South Bend and see the clean program that Lou Holtz has and ask him about Demetrius Dubose enrolling at Notre Dame.

Once again, your information is unsubstantiated and is making a mountain out of a molehill.

L.G. BERTHOLF

San Luis Obispo

Editor’s Note: The first report of the Demetrius Dubose incident at Notre Dame a few years ago ran in The Times.

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I make the suggestion to the administrative folks at USC that they drop either academics or athletics. Much like someone trying to chew gum and ride a bicycle at the same time, they apparently cannot do both simultaneously.

JIM SCHWEITZER

Brea

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As parents of a USC student-athlete, we feel compelled to respond to the article on the “Easy A” class.

We couldn’t be more pleased with the quality of education our son is receiving at USC. In our experience, Coach Mike Gillespie, his entire baseball staff and advisor Janice Henry have consistently demonstrated their commitment to educational excellence.

Ms. Henry has been tough on our son, and we are grateful to her for that. At the same time, she coordinates, tutors, mentors and counsels on an as-needed basis. In short, she works extremely hard, motivating students to succeed if only to not let her down. It is insulting to see her ethics questioned.

KURT AND DEBBIE ALLEN

Garden Grove

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To paraphrase a scene from “Casablanca”: I’m shocked to read of the allegations regarding USC academic improprieties.

JOSE M. DUENAS

San Pedro