MN Gov. Jesse Ventura criticized the St. Paul Pioneer
Press yesterday for running a story on alleged academic
fraud by players of the Univ. of MN men's basketball team,
according to Tim Klobuchar of the Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE.
Ventura: "I would like to say [it] just showed me another
example of Pioneer Press sensational journalism. ... I think
it's despicable in the fact that they would release a story
like this apparently that has been going on for what, a
year? ... And they felt the need to release this story the
day before the NCAA tournament. It couldn't have waited
till after?" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 3/11). The Pioneer
Press reported Wednesday that Jan Gangelhoff, a former
office manager for the university's academic counseling
unit, "allegedly wrote papers and did take-home exams" for
at least 20 players. University officials announced this
morning four of the players will not play in today's NCAA
first-round game (Mult., 3/11). Pioneer Press Editor Walker
Lundy said the timing of the story was unrelated to the NCAA
tournament, and he dismissed Ventura's criticism: "This is
the governor who, on his first day as governor, went to the
[Univ. of Minnesota] campus and spoke to a large crowd of
students and said, 'Win if you can, lose if you must, but
always cheat'" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 3/11).
