Captain Joe Goes to College

EVER SINCE THE LOADED SUPERTANKER UNDER HIS command foundered on Bligh Reef in April 1989 and unleashed an 11 million-gal. spill of Alaskan crude oil into Prince William Sound, Skipper Joseph Hazelwood has been a marked man. Last week, when the Maritime College of the State University of New York announced that it had hired Hazelwood to help teach cadets how to stand watch, environmental groups were quick to remonstrate. "This is truly amazing," said the Sierra Club.

* Not really. Hazelwood had long been one of Exxon's most accomplished skippers and was acquitted of all major charges against him. Evidence presented at the trial suggested that the actions of the third mate on the bridge as well as the helmsman may have been responsible for the fatal course error. Unlike Hazelwood, who admitted to violating company drinking policy, both these men kept their jobs. Hazelwood, in fact, may be uniquely qualified as an instructor. No one has a more intimate -- or more painful -- understanding of the course material. Cadets should find him a teacher with something to say, as well as a sobering object lesson.