To the editor:

Imagine my shock when I read in the Journal World last Saturday that Kansas University pays Mr. Mangino $750,000 a season to coach football. This is another obscene example of KU’s misplaced funding priorities. KU says loudly that the state Legislature is to blame for the university’s budget woes, and the legislature is certainly guilty as charged for its failure to adequately fund public education, but given its tight budget, KU’s decision to pay a coach three-quarters of a million dollars a year is indefensible. The mission of a university is to educate, not to lose (or win) football games.

It is well known that faculty salaries at KU are considerably below those of peer institutions. It was downright galling, however, to learn that right here at KU the football coach is paid, by my estimates, as much as 25 faculty members in my department combined. Interestingly, the graduate teaching assistants union, GTAC, recently won significant gains from KU for its new contract. The time has clearly come for KU faculty to unionize as well, in order to improve our salaries and benefits in recognition of the importance of our work for the education of our students.

Megan Miller,

Lawrence

Editor’s note: Of Mangino’s estimated $750,000 income, only $129,380 is salary. Mangino is guaranteed $475,000 in radio-TV and endorsement money. Fringe benefits account for the rest.