Reporting about A&T shows good and bad
Recently the newspaper was full of "information" regarding audits and possible wrongdoings at N.C. A&T State University. Folks were pointing fingers, looking suspiciously at one another, afraid to hold conversations with associates and trusted friends, dubious of each others' honesty, listening to unending diatribes about integrity from questionable sources.
All of such conduct was not conducive to intellectual development and growth.
Yes, where there is proven criminal behavior and/or ineptness, they should be dealt with appropriately and according to proper procedures.
The recent announced accomplishments in agriculture and technology by persons and departments at A&T did not come overnight nor were they stumbled upon. They came from good planning, foresight, good administration and hard work.
Life should be about balance. So should reporting, so should celebration, so should our hope.
Thank you, News & Record.
Hosea Butler Jr.
Hialeah, Fla.
The writer is an A&T graduate.
Comments (3)
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A&T alumni and current fans of A&T could alway claim they were raped by white people and that this was the cause of thier shady activities . . . then just "OJ" up and play golf and everyone would just forget that A&T is as imperfect as everyone else.
No one is really buying into these unfair reporting claims except for narrow minded bigots like the Mr. Butler.
Keep stoking the coals . . .
Posted on August 5, 2007 11:03 AM
"narrow minded bigots like the Mr. Butler"
Huh?
I think this is a pretty good letter. A&T does do positive things and, as we've seen, they've got more than their share of problems when it comes to business management.
I'll probably come across as a "narrow-minded bigot", but my experience hasn't shown me that people of african heritage, in general, are proficient at business organization and management.
As with all things, a lot is perspective and sometimes truth can be relative.
Posted on August 6, 2007 11:11 AM
I don't see that Mr. Butler claims unfair reporting but rather requests balanced reporting. Though Allen Johnson did make a slanderously inaccurate inference that "A&T's books were in such disarray that (interim chancellor ) Hackley invited a team from UNC General Administration to untangle them" (05/27), one can't disagree that when one of the nation's premier public HBCU's has three incidences of impropriety in one year, a subscriber-hungry newspaper is going to play it up. (Mr. Johnson, to see books in disarray, visit Fayetteville St. University.)
Balanced? Did we see that 80% of the "sudit findings" were already being handled by university financial officials? In fact, the N&R had already reported the incarceration of one of the fired employees. Were fiinancial officials asked about the validity of and their responses to the "audit"? Auditors can "question" transactions all they want--but where were the complete answers reported?
The news stories reminded me of an early 80's film with Paul Newman and Deborah Winger: "Absence of Malice". Partial truth can be damning.
Posted on August 7, 2007 6:53 PM