Days of wine and roses

One word came to mind as the spending habits of Dr. David Sweet, president of Youngstown State University, his wife, Pat, and a top lieutenant, Dr. George McCloud, were detailed in four investigative stories published last week by The Jambar, the student newspaper: sacrifice.
Here were three individuals who had put their physical well-being, and perhaps even their health, on the line for the good of YSU, and student reporter Angela Olin had the temerity to write unappetizing stories about the way Dr. and Mrs. Sweet and McCloud wined and dined on the public tab.
The newspaper's investigation headlined, "The Sweet Deal: The perks of being the president," was based on Olin's four-month review of the spending practices by the president (his wife, though not an employee of the university, was an active participant) and the special assistant to the president.
"As students paid rising tuition costs for which he lobbied, YSU President David Sweet was using public funds to rent a limousine service, for him and his wife to dine on lobster and chateaubriand and to order room service to their hotel rooms," Olin wrote in the cover piece.
As for McCloud, who is Sweet's choice for a vice presidential slot, the reporter wrote about his $250 lunch at the five-star Spago restaurant in Beverly Hills and a $2,396 trip to China and Hawaii.
The tone of the stories was decidedly negative, but Olin can be forgiven. As a budding journalist, she has yet to master the art of looking beyond the obvious. Had she done so, she would have labeled her reports thus: "The Sweet Deal: The sacrifice of being the president, his wife and a member of his inner circle."
Beautiful people
Take McCloud's visit to Spago, a restaurant that is adorned with Hollywood's beautiful people. It was replete with danger.
What if McCloud, eating lunch at the world-famous restaurant, deep in conversation about higher education, were distracted by Paris "My Cups Runneth Over" Hilton? McCloud could easily have missed his mouth and stuck his forkful of endive salad in his eye. Blood everywhere.
As for his trip to China, he could have contracted SARS, or in Hawaii could have been attacked by a shark. But he was willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the institution.
Likewise, the Sweets made enormous sacrifices when they ate chateaubriand or stayed at the Ritz Carlton in Naples, Fla., or drank $28 bottles of Caymus Conundrum.
Take the chateaubriand, a steak. There was always the risk of mad cow disease, but one of them ate it -- for the good of the institution.
Or how about "a room with a view" at the Ritz Carlton? Think it's easy looking out the window at the deep blue sea, watching seagulls floating in the jet stream? After the dirt and grime of Youngstown, such a pristine scene can easily cause permanent brain damage.
And the wine? Raising a glass to toast a big donor to the university, members of the board of trustees or even faculty members could result in major headaches -- if the toasts go on and on.
According to Olin's investigation, on Feb. 7, 2003, the Sweets hosted eight guests for dinner and ordered 12 bottles of wine that cost $184. In addition to the wine, the other costs of the evening included food at $330 and flowers at $76.
The menu, as described by The Jambar, included hors d'oeuvres of asparagus rolls, olive cheese balls, French onion soup, beef burgundy, petite browned potatoes and lemon angel food cake.
Time bomb
Each of those items was a potential time bomb. What if there were pits in the olives? Or the crust in the onion soup was so hot it caused third-degree burns?
But the Sweets were troupers to the end. They ate and drank for the good of the institution.
Even the $252 spent on a "blooming plant" for events at the Sweet residence carried with it danger. What if the plant turned out to be a giant Venus' flytrap and started gobbling up the fattened guests?
To be sure, the stories in the college newspaper make for interesting reading and the reporter, Angela Olin, is to be commended for poring through the records.
But rather than criticize the Sweets and McCloud for living high off the hog on the public tab, the newspaper should be applauding them for their good taste.
Oh, gar & ccedil;on ...
XNEXT WEEK: Part 2 -- without the tongue-in-cheek commentary.