Editor:
As a student at the university for almost four years I have become very much used to nepotism in student government. Now, I see that I am also being forced to deal with that same problem as a reader of the Arizona Daily Wildcat. I have no factual basis for this accusation, only my innate hope that it was nepotism, and not gross incompetence, that was the active factor in the hiring of Patrick Moran as a sports writer. I sincerely hope that he is somebody's "brother" or best friend and that whoever is in charge of hiring sports writers was forced into it. Please, please tell me my assumption is correct.
I have always enjoyed reading the sports section in our newspaper until Mr. Moran was hired. I have never seen such an obvious lack of journalistic professionalism in my life. Not only is Mr. Moran one of the worst writers I have read, but he lacks even a basic knowledge of sports. Mr. Moran's March 29 column perfectly illustrates my point. The column was loosely based on the teams in the men's Final Four (about 40 percent), yet more than half the inches in the article were filled with Moran's inane opinions and ridiculous allusions. No newspaper pieces, not even a column, should have the writer referring to himself in the first person 11 times. I would not want to hear those things half that many times from a source that I believed in. I hope that the Wildcat can admit to this hiring malpractice and see that it is stopped. Either that or they should take a hard look at who is hiring sports writers and reconsider their position.
J.R. Bulkley
Microbiology Junior