To the editor:

Chuck Woodling’s Tuesday column is worth reading. He reports a survey which shows faculty at major universities have given up fighting the battle of control over football and basketball. Millions are being reaped and spent on coaches and facilities without any apparent connection with or benefit to academic missions. Nonetheless, most professors are reported to have resolved themselves to acceptance of the inherent disconnect between education and entertainment.

Also worth reading (but not surprising to anyone currently familiar with college costs) is another article in Tuesday’s Journal-World which reports major increases during the past 10 years in the cost of a college education. These increased costs have led to massive debt loads our children face to simply graduate from college. Are we surprised at this? If Kansas Athletics Inc. reaps millions from a banner football season shouldn’t something go back to the academic community and to the students?

Revenues and spending in college sports have shown a dramatic increase while, in the same time, costs to students have dramatically increased. In a time when top coaches’ salaries have increased from $1 million to $4 million, tuition costs have grown at an astonishingly similar rate.

It doesn’t matter though, I guess, if the mission of the university is simply entertainment.

William Skepnek,

Lawrence