Who's to Blame?

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

Your succinct editorial in the issue of December 1 on the present urge to substitute morality for information in education is a tremendous tribute to whatever institutions have contributed to your present attainments.

There should be an additional point made about the relation of morality in behavior and supposed content of education. The immoral people in the basketball fixes are the college presidents involved. Primarily and ineluctably they must accept the responsibility. The initial bribe was offered by them to the student. It was perfectly predictable that he would take the next bribe offered him since his behavior in this direction had been well reinforced.

Mr. Clair Bee, for instance, of Long Island University should have been on trial and actually indicted in the courtroom, along with the professional gambler as briber and student as taker of bribe. I do not single out Mr. Bee for any other reason than that his name is well known and stands as a symbol for all the college presidents involved. Had these college presidents been indicted, and with them their agents, the transmitters of the bribe, there would have been a thoroughly remarkable change in the behavior of college presidents. This change in behavior would have been in the direction of increased morality. This is known as inducing desired behavior by aversive stimulus. Its effectiveness varies with the organism. Since this has not been done, we can predict a repetition of the behavior of the bribed players--and a repetition of holding them "responsible" for the act of taking a bribe.

The final point is that these college presidents, coaches, athletic managers of various sorts, are products of the educational system of some years ago when morality (I suppose) was more taught than it is now. What made them so dishonest that they would stoop to the corupting of the rather simple animals they used to make money for them playing basketball? James A. Walker

Mr. Bee is not president of L.I.U., but basketball coach. However, Mr. Walker's points are certainly well taken.