Enron Forces Academia to Follow the Money

“A Fellow May Squirm a Bit in a Chair Endowed by Ken Lay” (Feb. 24) reminded me of a morality play. It has the elements of “rationalization,” “the end justifies the means” and “every man has his price.” I am not qualified to judge whether the good that these educators do for society through the endowments is greater than the harm that was done to those who lost their life savings. I do believe that those quoted in the article who discounted or whitewashed the behavior and unethical creative business practices of Enron’s and Arthur Andersen’s key leaders rationalized that the endowment money wasn’t tainted--and they are shameless.

Am I holier than thou? That’s a good question that others will have to decide. I do feel comfortable that my middle-class lifestyle was not derived at the expense of many thousands of others whose lifestyles were trashed.

Chuck Mont

Burbank

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I’m sick to death of your articles and letters to the editor criticizing Kenneth Lay. The man is a true American patriot, an American hero, being given a bad rap. The executives of Enron followed the laws as set forth by Congress. They observed all the regulations and accounting practices required. Each day we read of another corporation that followed the same procedures. We all know that the executives of Enron will never be convicted of any violation of the law. I’m sorry that so much money was lost, but anyone who invests in stocks must be prepared to lose it all or stay out of the stock market.

Robert Profaca

Long Beach