CRISTIAN ECHEVERRIA

Over the course of collegiate history, universities have spent their fair share of money on their respective sports programs. Not only do they spend money on players’ tuition but also on sports facilities, equipment, staff salaries, sports complexes and many other expenses.

As students at Emporia State, many of our student fees include athletic expenditures for services and facilities that only athletes can use.

According to an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, over a decade ago, some universities athletic programs were forced to work out in dorm rooms or any open space due to lack of sports funding.

Since 1997, universities’ budgets for athletics have doubled at an average of more than $1 million per year. Large universities are going crazy when it comes to spending in their athletics programs. Louisiana State spent $15 million in 2002 on the Cox Communications Academic Center for Student Athletes.

At ESU, the athletic department is no exception when it comes to spending. In 2008, ESU spent $3.1 million from students towards privilege fees, which included funding for athletics, according to the ESU Budget Development and Tuition Committee.

Other large universities spend even more. Texas A&M spent $27 million on the Alice and Erle Nye ‘59 Academic Center inside its football complex. The list goes on with universities trying to outspend each other.

Some might think this is not a problem considering that the cause is to help academic success. What happens to the rest of the campus? Do they get $15 million facility for their disposal?

The fact is that students are charged athletic fees that go toward sport facilities that are only accessible to athletes in those programs. There should be some type of cap on how much a school can spend in a certain department. The cap should be decided by size of school with in each division in the NCAA. This creates an even playing field for all universities.

A lot of people would be against this proposal, saying that a college should not be regulated and that it is not the larger school’s fault that they have a good program. At the same time, there are students that could use the extra help from these academic services but are unable to benefit.

Although having top notch facilities for training ultimately aids the sports programs, what benefit do the students who are paying for the upgrades get?

Students should have full access to all training facilities regardless of what department they belong to. If students from any major can go to the Cremer Richel Computer Lab which is designated for business majors, then any student should have full access to any training facilities offered to athletes.

Cristian Echeverria/The Bulletin

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