JUDICIAL AFFAIRS PUTS UNIVERSITY TO SHAME

When the slogan, "Fear the Roo," was created, it could not have been
foreseen that it might be co-opted by embittered and disenfranchised
students, faculty, staff and alumni. However, given the recent Akron
Beacon Journal series about the impact of the University of Akron's
judicial system on one of its former graduate students, people have a
whole new reason to "Fear the Roo."

The articles, which ran Sunday and Monday, chronicled the events
surrounding the arrest, prosecution and suicide of Charles Plinton, a
25-year-old Lincoln University graduate who had come to UA to pursue
his master's degree in the department of public administration.

Plinton was sanctioned by UA's Office of Student Judicial Affairs
following his criminal court acquittal. He was found "responsible" by
a vote of 3-2.

Frances Robinson, Plinton's mother, believes UA is "responsible" for
her son's death. Many in the community feel the same way.

Make no doubt about it, Plinton killed himself because of what the
university did to him. The university's disgustingly shameful brand of
justice set into motion a series of events that left a promising young
man feeling like a failure.

Finally, the public relations department has found a story it cannot
spin.

Plinton was a good guy. He was positive, outgoing and respectful. He
cared about doing the right thing. When student judicial affairs
extinguished his academic career, he felt hopeless and lost.

The Office of Student Judicial Affairs can have this effect on a
person. After all, it tried Plinton in a tribunal for a crime for
which a jury had acquitted him. By university standards, only
one-third - less than half - of the evidence needs to point to a
person's guilt.

Messages posted on Ohio com in response to the story expressed dismay,
anger and disappointment over the university's role in the events.
Only one message supported the university. A good number of the
comments were from citizens who asserted they would not support the
university or allow their children to enroll. That probably got Luis
Proenza's attention.

In fact, he issued a statement Wednesday in which he expressed his
concerns over some of the issues raised by the Plinton case.

The university told the Beacon Journal that the deal to place a
convicted felon among its students to entrap them involved only three
people. The president of the university supposedly never authorized
the plan and was not even apprised of it.

That sounds a bit out of character for an administrator who is so
"hands-on." If that is the case, changes must be made, starting with
the removal of anyone involved in this backroom plan. Either way, it
looks like Proenza's streak of good fortune and seemingly Teflon
exterior could be no longer.

Proenza announced he will be conducting a thorough assessment of the
judicial affairs office. If he doesn't, he will quickly lose the trust
of the university and the community.