Your Feb. 2 story "State lawmaker's push for USCB funding draws scrutiny" should have included an acknowledgment that state Rep. Bill Bowers was helping the University of South Carolina Beaufort increase state funding.

To imply that he was infringing on an ethics law was too thin to stick. He is working for USCB, not for himself, and is imminently qualified to be there. You failed to mention that he is also a certified public accountant. Funding for USCB is within his purview: No conflict. To link him to an ethics violation was a tawdry, muck-raking slant that didn't reflect what happened.

I have had the honor of knowing him as a student, a teacher and a statesman for more than 40 years. He continues to be recognized as one of the cleanest, straightest legislators in the State House. He deserves better from the local paper.

John W. Dodge

Varnville