Mark Knows It All

When Youngstown State's seven month new president Randy Dunn abruptly quit his job to move to Southern Illinois University, it reminded me of John Paul 1 dying immediately after he became pope.  The conclave picked the wrong one.  The Board of Trustees should have picked Jim Tressel last time around.  This time they did.  Bravo. It was a brave decision given the criticism leveled at the Trustees from numerous sources, including two hit pieces in the Youngstown Vindicator spewing doom and gloom about hiring a perceived non-academic, a really bad guy who cheated and lied, and worst of all...a coach.  Oh, the horror, the horror.  The assumptions of those making these comments are so off base it is almost laughable. Start with don't assume the sanctity and purity of academia.  Behind those ivy covered halls is a cut throat political environment of the worst kind, filled with unbridled competition for money, tenure and promotions, dogmatic professors, unions, research a