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The Rice Thresher
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Dalton Tomlin Thresher assistant arts and entertainment editor There's an old saying about stealing a loaf of bread to feed a starving family. The moral of it is that a little wrongdoing is acceptable as long as its purpose is some greater good. That saying doesn't really apply, though, when the bread costs $3,000. The majority of the Rice population found out last week about former Brown College Treasurer David Nu¤ez's theft of a few thousand dollars from Brown College and how his actions caused hundreds of dollars of fees to be incurred ("Former Brown treasurer admits to embezzling funds," Feb. 2). I'm very skeptical of Nu¤ez's explanation and apology in his letter, almost to the point where I can't really swallow anything he says. First, I don't believe for a second that Nu¤ez ever intended to pay back the money he took. If his intentions were as honorable as he wants us to think, he would've paid it back as soon as he had saved it up. Look at it this way: When he was first caught for writing himself a check for $2,000, did he say, "Oh, I'm so sorry, let me pay that back, along with the $1,000 check I wrote"? No, he sure didn't. He even tacked on an extra $500 to that $2,000 as a gesture of good faith to make the confrontation go away. Luckily, current treasurer Sarah Czarnota didn't believe in that faith and proceeded to do an audit of Nu¤ez's books with the help of former Brown President Tim Werner. I applaud them for their efforts and work in this situation. And what was the reason for this theft? According to Nu¤ez, he was paying for painkillers from the black market and a visit to a faith healer for a friend who was dying of AIDS. Now, I can sympathize about his friend - I'm not completely heartless. But that's assuming he's telling the truth. I'm only guessing here, but for some reason I doubt you get receipts from the black market and Mexican faith healers. I find it somewhat humorous that he chose to capitalize "Black Market" and "Faith Healer" in his letter to Brown in order to make them stand out. In my mind there's a very good chance that he's lying about what he used the money for and that he made up this story about his friend in order to play on our sympathies. Even if it is true, Nu¤ez should still be punished. Theft is a crime, no matter what the circumstances. If he had asked Brown for some kind of a loan to take care of his friend, there's no way they would've given it to him. So by not prosecuting, the message that's being sent is that it's OK to steal as long as you have a good reason and that you pay it back . whenever you get around to it. Furthermore, the $2,000 check forgery was discovered last April - one would think this would have prevented Nu¤ez from graduating a month later. Unfortunately, once a diploma is given out, it can't be revoked. That's one thing he'll take away from Rice for good. This isn't about punishing someone as an example so that the next few years of treasurers will be scared straight from thinking they can take a little for themselves without anyone noticing. After this fiasco, I would imagine that most colleges and student organizations will be instituting some kind of policy in the near future so that this kind of problem can't arise. Apparently, through all this mess, Brown is more financially stable now than it has been in the last few years, thanks to Nu¤ez's generous "donation" and a few undeposited payments that turned up during the audit. Ideally, a college's account should be run like a business - would a major corporation ever let a transgression like this slide, no matter how good a job the employee did? I don't think so. I haven't talked to either of them, but if I were in Czarnota or Werner's shoes, I'd be downright pissed for all the work I'd put into making things right. Hell, I'd be mad if I were any recent member of Brown College that almost got screwed out of this money. I urge the members of Brown College and, if need be, the administration to press full criminal charges against Nu¤ez. Dalton Tomlin is assistant arts and entertainment editor and a Wiess College junior.
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