Dispatches from the Ivory Trailer: Is it time to consider real budget cuts for college athletics?
Written by Matt Zuefle
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 22:57
As hoop fans from Athens, Ohio, to Spokane, Wash., are reveling in March Madness, behind the scenes university budgets continue to be whittled away. Lately, some administrators are beginning to address a set of questions that many observers doubted they ever would. Among those questions are: Where do the cuts in college athletics need to start, and how deep might they need to go?
As I noted in a previous column (Dec. 14, 2009), according to the NCAA’s own reports, only 25 of the 119 FBS Division I schools made money during 2007-2008. In that same column, I also noted that Hofstra University had decided to drop its football program. It’s worth noting that Hofstra’s decision is not as unusual or isolated as it might appear at first glance.
Health-care reform will help the general welfare of all Americans
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 22:55
To the Editor:
I am writing because I feel compelled to do so in support of health-care reform. I believe that we all should support our president and all senators and congressmen and congresswomen who support this reform. They are not doing so for themselves, but for ALL Americans.
In March, honor and celebrate the social workers among us
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 22:54
To the Editor:
In 2008, social workers held 642,000 jobs in America, and projected employment is estimated to reach 745,000 in 2018. More social workers will be needed as baby boomers age and life spans increase. March is National Professional Social Work Month. It is a fitting time to recognize unsung heroes in our community who not only work every day to help people and families navigate difficult life transitions, but also work to solve the problems such services address.
We need to address the growing Web divide in rural America
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 22:51
To the Editor:
I am writing you not only as a concerned citizen but as an IT professional and small-business owner in the IT sector. I have spent most of my life living in rural areas and currently live in rural Meigs County. I am a partial owner of a computer-consulting company in Athens, and I work full-time as an IT support specialist for Ohio University.
Research being endangered at OU with ongoing cuts to budget
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 22:50
To the Editor:
Dr. Bruce Aronow, who spoke last Tuesday night as part of the Kennedy Lecture series at Ohio University, resides at the forefront of genetic medicine. He heads a laboratory that has yielded multiple papers in high impact journals, recently including one in Nature. I wondered, did he come from a university where higher-level biology courses were forgone for administrative salaries and football coaches? My guess was probably not.
Blithely ignoring economic facts, Tea Party members pursue extremism
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 22:48
To the Editor:
I have a few questions for the Tea Partiers that I think a lot of Americans are wondering about:
Income taxes are now lower than they have been since 1930. Tax rates under Reagan, Bush I, Eisenhower, Ford and Nixon were higher. In fact, the top tax bracket under Eisenhower was 91 percent while today it is 30 percent. Is the tax burden really too high? Why do these low tax rates make you so angry? As the top tax bracket rate gets lowered, the tax burden increasingly falls on the middle class. Do you agree that the middle class should take on a larger share of the tax burden? Since 1992, the bottom 90 percent of Americans have seen their incomes rise by 13 percent in 2009 dollars, compared with an increase of 399 percent for the top 400 wage-earners, yet taxes for these people have decreased dramatically. Is this a positive or negative development?
Keep Monday as opening day of Ohio’s deer shotgun season
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 22:47
To the Editor:
Surveys are currently underway for a proposal to change deer gun season, which starts on a Monday, to the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Those in favor of the Saturday opener state that work or other commitments keep them from hunting opening day. If the season started on a Saturday, those who work on Monday would also have the opportunity to hunt the first few opening days, generally the most successful days of the season.
Pay-for-parking plan may backfire, send OU spiraling down
Written by Joseph Bernt
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 22:45
So Associate Vice President for Facilities Harry Wyatt wants to grab $518,625 from faculty and staff salaries by charging $150 to $325 to hunt for nonexistent parking.
Why do this? To, as Harry asserted, “maintain a pedestrian-friendly campus and to improve our carbon footprint.” Harry should think twice about his scheme.
From one environmentalist to another, Rep. is right on Burr Oak
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 22:44
To the Editor:
Regarding the letter from Ryan Dilworth that so hastily attacked Rep. Debbie Phillips for her involvement in the Burr Oak mining situation: There is no good solution when a mineral-rights holder chooses to extract coal or oil from underneath land owned by someone else. My family endured this very intrusion on our property and was forced to watch an oil company come onto our land and destroy significant areas to remove “their oil.” The mineral rights had long ago been separated from the surface rights, just as they have been under Burr Oak State Park.
When dictator orders you to church, that’s the time to refuse to go
Wednesday, 17 March 2010 22:37
To the Editor:
I know that this is a mainly secular paper, but please listen. In the near future there will be a very mean world dictator worse than Hitler. He will make it a LAW that everyone attends church on Sundays. HEAR THIS! DO NOT ATTEND CHURCH WHEN IT’S LAW!! If you mock this and stubbornly do attend, you will be PUNISHED VERY SEVERELY! If you decide not to go, you will be MARTYRED for Jesus and you will be EXTREMELY HAPPY because of your decision. I must preach this now JESUS WILL COME SOON! Go to amightywind.com to learn more.
To preserve OU’s academic rep, hard decisions are necessary
Monday, 15 March 2010 00:30
To the Editor:
Dr. Bruce Aronow, who spoke last Tuesday night as part of the Kennedy Lecture series at Ohio University, resides at the forefront of genetic medicine. He heads a laboratory that has yielded multiple papers in high impact journals, recently including one in Nature. I wondered, did he come from a university where higher-level biology courses were forgone for administrative salaries and football coaches? My guess was probably not.
Faculty can be saved at OU if everyone shares the pain
Written by Lorie LaPierre, Ph.D.
Monday, 15 March 2010 00:27
Like many, over the last few weeks I have been amazed at the budget information presented at the budget and FutureOU forums, printed in The Athens NEWS and The Post, and most recently, presented at the first AAUP meeting that I’ve ever attended. As you all know, these current and future cuts will mean the demise of this university. This is not speculation; this is a fact.
Pleasing those in power not necessarily a recipe for good TV
Monday, 15 March 2010 00:25
To the Editor:
Vladimir Putin knew that he had to control the media in order to gain and keep political control. I am sure if you asked the state-run media in Russia how things were going, they would say, "all is well, ship shape, very diverse opinions here. Why, we have shows that Putin likes a lot, and we have shows that Putin absolutely loves. Can't be any more diverse than that!"
Breaking the sound barrier: Rachel Corrie’s (Posthumous) day in court has arrived
Written by Amy Goodman
Monday, 15 March 2010 00:24
An unusual trial begins in Israel this week that people around the world will be watching closely. It involves the tragic death of a 23-year-old American student named Rachel Corrie. On March 16, 2003, she was crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer.
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