FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[quakes75]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4494218.html

and here is what I found when I searched. At the bottom it talks about it

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/nation/4494218.html

and here is what I found when I searched. At the bottom it talks about it

Ahh, the couple news sources that I looked over that used the AP version didn't have that at the bottom.

[hasanova]

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070124/NEWSREC0101/70123018

That is where I am getting my source from. It is the Greensboro news & record.

quakes75 - Unfortunately, this is today's front page lead story in the Greensboro News & Record.   I had also noticed the reference to Barnette's status as an All American football player.  Sometimes newspapers will add some extra information, as the N&R did today, when it's a story with added local interest.  Later, when it's picked up by the wire services, they may edit it for size and pertinent content.  Either way, this is of real concern because people were injured, because of the alleged motivation, because it is negatively affecting so many lives and because it is a PR nightmare for the college. 

[allsky7]

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070124/NEWSREC0101/70123018

That is where I am getting my source from. It is the Greensboro news & record.

     As previously mentioned, we need to let due process happen but I couldn't help but notice the eerie similarities to what happened just down the road in Durham in the days immediately following that incident. When students show up with signs saying "Liar"..."Cover Up", I assume that they have already convicted these three students. I am not making a judgement call about the case at Duke or Guilford but it seems some are mighty quick to assume guilt. That in itself is very disturbing.

[abnrgr]

where do I send my check for the players defense fund

[pakownr97]

pakownr97

  Kerosene for heat ? Who you kiddin!!!!  Just be careful to much of that moonshine 'll blind ya Cuz!!!

Thanks for the advise, but I could never waste good 'shine for heat.  Jist don't seem right!

[pakownr97]

Learning to spell "pompous" -------- Four years of Bridgewater College   $120,000



Now where did you find that picture of Dad?  That's not fighting fair.
He had a couple too many belts of that 'shine PA_Wesleyfan was talkin' about.  But he didn't drink much before he played Santa with the kids at the mall.


Discovering careers with a Bridgewater diploma  -----  Priceless

[pakownr97]

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070124/NEWSREC0101/70123018

That is where I am getting my source from. It is the Greensboro news & record.

quakes75 - Unfortunately, this is today's front page lead story in the Greensboro News & Record.   I had also noticed the reference to Barnette's status as an All American football player.  Sometimes newspapers will add some extra information, as the N&R did today, when it's a story with added local interest.  Later, when it's picked up by the wire services, they may edit it for size and pertinent content.  Either way, this is of real concern because people were injured, because of the alleged motivation, because it is negatively affecting so many lives and because it is a PR nightmare for the college. 

'Nova,

I am sure that some will think negatively about the college because of this incident, but most of us will not judge Guilford by this incident.  I can tell this is killing you personally, but life experience will tell all of us that this could happen at any college, or anywhere else.  I know it seems ironic that it would happen at a school with such a strong Quaker influence, but it can happen anywhere.  Try to stay calm until the facts are made public.  No one should blame Guilford College for this incident.  Bad people, not passing judgement, can strike anywhere.

I don't usually close with "peace" because it is normally a meaningless cliche, but in this case, I close with a sincere  PEACE!

[K-Mack]

Those types of incidents have occured while I was at the school as well. They never got this kind of attention. The only reason that it has is because of Barnette being involved. That is the strangest part about it as well though because Barnette never was the type of person to do anything like that. Although people do change over time, I still do find it hard that he may have done something like that.

I would have to respectfully disagree.  No where in the AP version (that 99% of the news sources used) did it mention Barnette being an All-American.

I will admit that had they not all been football players, it wouldn't be getting the press it has.  We, as a society, have deemed it more "newsworthy" if Justin Timberlake pees on a church than if Joe Schmoe did.

The fact that the students that were allegedly beaten and cursed at were Palestinians, and that it happened on a college campus (a Quaker one at that), certainly makes this stand out more so than the occasional fight between a couple drunk students.

That's true, from a newsworthiness angle. If the swim team tells a couple of kids to go back to Finland, it's still a hate crime, but hardly news.

Still, I get the sense that these things begin to take on a life of their own, and with the American media being so expansive and so competitive these days, it might get a lot more attention than it deserves.

All the more reason to go out of your way to keep your nose extra-clean.

I am using the same Greensboro News & Record link, I think.
http://www.newsandrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070124/NEWSREC0101/70123018

Looks like they are updating this throughout the date as things develop.

I actually admire the dean's restraint ... one doesn't have to look far down the road for an example of how not to proceed when an alleged crime becomes big news on campus.

This sums things up rather well:

Many students expressed concern that their school — a Quaker college with a long history of diversity and social justice — was being portrayed in a bad light.

"I love Guilford College. It has such a great reputation for being open-minded," senior Ryan Kitaif said. "It's sad a couple of idiots gave our school a PR nightmare."

[abnrgr]

"I love Guilford College. It has such a great reputation for being open-minded," senior Ryan Kitaif said. "It's sad a couple of idiots gave our school a PR nightmare

Yea a PR nightmare like the moron who took box cutters on a plane a year or so ago. That is bad PR. That's bad press.

Okay Ryan lets don't eat our young before they are cooked. Typical

[hasanova]

K-Mack - I thought the Dean's restraint was on target as well.  Let's get the facts straight before we act.  Last year's events, down the road in Durham, were a lesson for college administrators everywhere.

Ryan Kitaif, I might add, was a reserve the last few years on Guilford's men's basketball team.  In my opinion, athletes, like everyone else, cannot and should not be painted with one brush - and especially so on a college campus.  Their politics, their social conscience, their intellect and their demeanor literally run the gamut of the human experience, as does any cross-section of the student body.   I was a collegiate soccer player and have relatives who have played and are now playing college sports.  I like to think we have the same sense of honor and moral compass as anyone else.

The truth will be found in this case and I, for one, value accuracy over haste.  If a wrong was commited, it will come out in due time.  If a wrong was not committed, then that will come out as well.   

[hasanova]

Pakownr97 - Thanks.  You're right, this is bothering me (and thousands of other Guilford students, alumni, faculty, employees, parents and friends), but I am patiently waiting for the facts to come to light.  And yes, it is one of life's ironies that something such as this is alleged to have happened on a Quaker campus.  This bitter little slice of life is not the Guilford I know - or want to know.

Just as any American, I understand the raw emotions we felt before, during and after defining events such as 9/11.  I was - and am - as angry and confused as anyone else.  Just as millions of us did, I wanted to strike back.  To me, there are clearly times when force and might are not only needed, but demanded.  This incident, by almost any definition, was not one of those times.  Logic and understanding may have been defeated by something much more coarse.  We'll see.

[K-Mack]

One thing that bothers me is that the more you boil the story down, like that old grade-school game telephone, something like "as many as 15 people were on the scene" becomes "15 people jumped these guys," etc.

Frankly, it's one of those situations where you don't know what to believe. I don't think you have to have had journalistic training to realize there's often more to each side of the story than what the police were told. And that's really all I know at this point.

I'd be interested to learn what Barnette means by he's being treated unfairly. It's definitely possible that the whole story isn't coming out, or that people are jumpion to conclusions. But then again, it's not hard to envision some drunk guys whaling on someone while spitting racial slurs, even on a "tolerant" college campus.

As a former football player (as well as editor of the school paper, and being involved in performing arts), I remember what it was like when people tried to box you in, or people from other walks of life look at football players like maniacs. Not even that, they look at you like the big, evil bullies, let's say, with no morals (I think someone said this earlier). Like you're the kind of guy they've always wanted to get back at their whole lives. And a lot of time that's the furthest thing from the truth. But then again, if it was a story where a bunch of white guys had allegedly beaten up some poor black kids screaming the N-word, I have to wonder how pissed I'd be.

So there's no way to know what to think without filling in some of the blanks in your own mind and taking sides. Which isn't always wise.

All you can definitely say is this is looking real bad right now, for everyone. It would be a major victory for involved parties to spin it into something positive.

[abnrgr]

hasa and K mack
I believe you guys are right on in your assessments but from my experiences in 16 or so odd countries and leading or commanding hundreds of Americans over the years I can tell you there is ALWAYS somebody that will intentionally or not, make something or somebody look bad.

People screw up even in the elite units.

BUT my point is lets not fry the fish before they are scaled. 

Yea I tend to lean to the athlete at Guilford (or an American) for they are the true minorites at Guilford. The 160 players or so I saw over the past 5 years were great Americans and I would take most to war. 

What about it Papi?

[quakes75]

Ranger you couldn't be more right about it. The athletes are the minority at that school and I experienced it for four years myself.