Letter to the editor: Troubling assertions

To the editor:

Your recent in-depth article dealing with the one-year accomplishments and plans of KU’s athletic director (“Tough Task,” Aug. 4) was troubling on a number of levels. His assertion that “fixing the football program “will ‘raise all boats’ and benefit the university as a whole” is questionable at best. What does a winning football program have to do with the challenges facing today’s student?

He goes on to tout the creation of the Team Health partnership between doctors and trainers from LMH, KU and KU Athletics to purportedly care for the “safety and well-being of our student athletes.” Have any of these health care experts bothered to read the mounting, incontrovertible evidence linking football, concussions and brain disease? Moreover, what about the thousands of KU students who can’t afford health insurance?

The AD also touched upon the “legal issues that are brewing just outside the athletic department’s gate,” asserting that he and his legal team “are well prepared.” Mmmmhhh. Are they planning to use some of the $196 million dollars from the Adidas contract to cover the legal expenses from NCAA violations? Write this down: Where there’s big money, there will also be corruption.

Reading this article reminded me of similar instances of corporate malfeasance, where under the façade of providing a necessary service (e.g., giving students an education and healthy opportunities), greedy individuals exploit the learning environment to siphon off revenues to line their pockets.

Ray Finch,

Lawrence

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