SOUND OFF: A BLEMISH ON A FORMER GOOD NAME

The majority of readers who responded to the question of whether Ohio State University should rename The Roger D. Blackwell Inn because its former marketing-professor namesake has been convicted of insider trading and other financial crimes (http://jeffreyseglin.blogspot.com/2006/07/sound-off-tainted-name.html) agreed with Ruth Wagner of Madison, Wisc., who writes, "Mr. Blackwell's name should definitely be taken off the building."

"OSU was fully aware of his blind ambition and actually contributed to it," writes Ken Dodson of Columbus, Ohio. "They should now have the guts to do the right thing."

Bill Kotys, also of Columbus, believes that once Blackwell's appeals are complete, OSU should return the money and rename the inn: "[It's] representing the university in a very bad light, ... [and] it only would serve as a negative reminder to everyone that it's 'about the money' and not about integrity."

"If his conviction is ultimately upheld, keeping his name on the building would be a public embarrassment and would teach students and others a lesson that is better left untaught," writes Lawrence Herman of Columbus.

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Jeffrey L. Seglin, author of "The Right Thing: Conscience, Profit and Personal Responsibility in Today's Business" (Smith Kerr, 2006), is an associate professor at Emerson College in Boston, where he teaches writing and ethics. He is also the administrator of http://jeffreyseglin.blogspot.com, a Web log focused on ethical issues.

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