I am writing in response to The Post’s Monday article, “Largest Chunk of General Fee Promised to Athletics.” I’d like to make two points about the university’s budget:
Firstly, while most of this information is not new to me, I realize that it may be to the average student. I, too, have had to hunt down this information. The university should make the budget breakdown information readily available to students. As we are the largest contributors to university revenue — Student Senate has taken to calling us the “majority shareholders” — it is crucial that we know what we’re paying for. Otherwise, why would we want to buy “stock” in the university, especially if the university is going to conduct itself like a corporation?
Secondly, the fact that the majority of the general fee money is used for athletics is more than outrageous. We are an educational institution and athletics is an extracurricular activity. Period. Personally, I worked very hard during high school to be accepted into a good college and hopefully receive a scholarship. I did receive a scholarship, but it is minuscule in comparison to the “free rides” some athletes receive. And even further, athletes are given more leeway in meeting syllabus deadlines because of game and practice schedules.
What incentive is there for students to succeed in academics, study and try their best when they could just pick up a rubber ball instead? The university is indirectly telling students that academics are not appreciated and that entertainment is what’s important.
By creating this disparity between athletes and students who are here purely to learn, the university is also creating animosity between students.
I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m not working my butt off to be told that some athlete with a 1.0 GPA is worth more to the university than I am. I acknowledge that there are many athletes who do well in their classes and have other aspirations that surpass football and basketball, but the university doesn’t seem to put a spotlight on those qualities. If the measure of our worth at this university is based on our ability to throw a football or dribble, then no wonder we’re kept in the dark about the budget.
Natalia Radic is a junior studying journalism at Ohio University.
