In a series of articles published in the Daily, Theresa Wilson has been revealing a series of misappropriations and has been accusing Mary Jo Mertens, managing director of the Memorial Union, of mismanagement and of favoring the McDonald’s entrance in the MU food court to a degree that leaves little doubt about her being partial and biased in her decisions on this issue.

I am following, together with many others, dumbfounded, (in response to) these revelations and, because of their seriousness and extent, I am expecting one of the following two things to happen immediately: either the submission by Mertens of an open letter to the Daily denying the accusations, defending her position and justifying her actions, or else, the submission by Mertens of an open letter apologizing for having gone out of the way to favor McDonald’s, explaining why she did it and, at the same time, submitting her resignation.

If neither of these two alternatives happens, which I would interpret as a sign that Mertens is either guilty or incompetent or both, I would be very pleased to see the Board of Regents taking immediate action, unilaterally terminating Mertens’ contract with the Union, thus reinforcing ISU’s commitment as a public institution of higher education in keeping equal distances regarding all private corporations seeking to make investments on our campus.

It’s high time highly paid university officials be held accountable for their actions, in particular when their names are involved in scandals of this kind.

George Voutsadakis

Graduate Student

Mathematics