To the editor:

Yes, Ms. Barth is clearly out of sync with the current priorities here at Kansas University (“Losing touch,” June 1). The raison d’etat of the modern university is to generate revenues, and one specious formula says that this is best done by putting together a winning sports program, particularly football. Without an 80,000-square-foot indoor training facility (complete with a hydrotherapy room), KU has little hope of attracting the talented football orcs (think “Lord of the Rings”) to become Jayhawks.

With this new facility and well-paid coaching staff, the wealthy KU alum will now be able to spend those six or seven Saturdays in the fall watching the home team clobber its opponents. This, in turn, will induce them to give more money to KU, which can then be spent on even more cement, steel and asphalt. So what if the beautiful arbor of ancient trees north of Potter Lake had to be uprooted and paved over? Who cares that winter sledding down the Campanile Hill is now a thing of the past? One last suggestion for KU officials: instead of Memorial how about changing it to Mordor Stadium?

Ray Finch,

Lawrence