To the editor:

Were I new to Lawrence, and unfamiliar with the style of “this writer,” I would draw from the Saturday Column of Aug. 26, (“KU needs to find dean who can build on School of Fine Arts”) the following inferences, among others: KU has a history of forming weak search committees that attract subpar administrators; KU does not support its School of Fine Arts; KU does not search for deans who are winners and who encourage excellence in teaching, research and motivating students; KU Provost Richard Lariviere is determined to remake KU in his own image.

Of course, none of these assertions is ever made in the column, but the inferences are clearly invited by the posing of pointed questions unaccompanied by answers. Because KU is a public institution, the composition of the search committee will not be secret, and that composition and the progress of the search will be reported in this paper.

The unsupported implication that the process is mysterious and flawed is silly. Many of the questions posed in the column (What role do alumni play? What skills will be important? How important is fundraising?) could have been answered by a simple phone call to the provost. I’m sure that if such a phone call was made, but no answers were forthcoming, “this writer” would have reported it.

I suppose this liberal use of innuendo is easier than actually doing the research, but it’s hardly journalism, and certainly not becoming of an “award-winning” newspaper. It’s cheap.

Greg Simpson,

Lawrence