To the editor:

On Nov. 6, 2011, a Journal-World Saturday Column opined that Lawrence folks should pay a lot more attention to academics and a lot less to sports. On Nov. 8, I wrote, paraphrasing Mark Twain, that the J-W is in an excellent position to actually do something about it. On Nov. 10 and 11, three articles appeared about the college choices of Lawrence prep swimmers, each with a color photo. In those same two days, six “public events,” nine lectures, four concerts, the opening of “A Midsummer-Night’s Dream,” and a distinguished professor’s inaugural lecture, all at Kansas University, received nary a mention.

On May 24, 2012, Chancellor Gray-Little presided over the annual luncheon honoring retiring faculty and staff who had contributed, in sum, 992 years of service to KU. A number of the honorees would themselves have made good press. For example, University Distinguished Professor Richard DeGeorge served for an astounding 53 years and had a delightful anecdote about his 1968 facedown of Students for a Democratic Society. Think about those missed opportunities the next time the J-W editorializes for a better balance between academics and sports. Or lavishly reports a high-school hoopster’s visit to KU that might or might not result in a commitment for one to four years.