To the editor:

I wish Dolph Simons would restrict his KU sniping to his Saturday columns. There’s no room for personal resentment in Journal-World editorials.

He thinks KU officials should be shocked that Nebraska was tossed from the American Association of Universities. But he himself wrote that Nebraska has had AAU problems for over 10 years, that an in-depth review was performed, that AAU members had the final say, and that it takes a two-thirds vote. Frankly, I’d assume KU officials already knew.

He wrote “an example of the bitterness or rivalry among Big 12 schools is revealed in news reports out of Nebraska.” But his “example”? Merely the fact that the chair of the review committee is a former UT president. Excuse me? How’s that an example of “bitterness or rivalry”?

And he wrote “There is no justification for KU officials to believe their school’s AAU membership is safe or guaranteed.”

However, he neglected to mention that the chancellor released a letter about this very issue Monday, saying “membership in the AAU is not static or guaranteed.” (Sound familiar???)

Nor did he mention that the chancellor and provost have been expressing concerns about KU’s AAU membership for quite some time. They’ve even detailed those concerns about areas where KU is below AAU average (i.e., student retention, graduation rates, faculty research productivity) and are working to improve them … without a shove from the AAU.

Perhaps Mr. Simons could try to be a bit less gleeful about the possibility of KU problems … at least when writing editorials?