Edition: U.S. / Global

Not Deserving

Published: June 23, 1996

To the Sports Editor:

In "Parker Deserves The Chance," (The Times, June 11), Ira Berkow devotes his entire column to the cause of an individual who seems to be unworthy of our sympathy. After having sexually assaulted a female student in high school and allegedly achieving a C+ average at a small community college in Arizona, Richie Parker is to be rewarded with an expenses-paid college education at Long Island University.

I don't think Richie Parker deserves to spend the rest of his life wearing a scarlet letter, but at a time when assaults by athletes on women seems to be an increasing phenomenon, it is hard to understand why someone like Richie Parker deserves favorable treatment.