Bro. Askia
New Member
Putting athletics ahead of academics
http://www.thecharlottepost.com/editorials.html
George E. Curry
editor-in-chief of the NNPA News Service
Two years ago, the Baltimore Sun filed a federal Freedom of Information request with the University of Maryland to obtain a copy of the contracts of the school's football and basketball coaches. The university, a tax-supported institution, fought the request. Last week, the Maryland Court of Appeals ordered the school to release the documents. Now, we know why the University of Maryland tried to keep them secret.
Curry
Both basketball coach Gary Williams and football coach Ralph Friedgen are guaranteed annual salaries of more than $1 million. Various incentive clauses allow them to earn at least another $400,000 each year.
To put these salaries in perspective, consider this: Clayton D. Mote, the president of the University of Maryland's flagship campus at College Park, earns $337,999 per year. William E. Kirwan, the chancellor of the University of Maryland system, earns $375,000. And Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., the poverty-stricken governor of Maryland, earns $140,000.
Something is wrong with this picture.
Why should football and basketball coaches earn three times more than the university president? Why should they earn 10 times more than long-serving full professors? Equally important, what message does this send to the students who are under the illusion that the role of a university in a democratic society is to educate its populace, not to serve as a farm system for the National Football League and the National Basketball Association?
In defending the high salaries, Athletic Director Debbie Yow told the Baltimore Sun, "We want Ralph to be competitive with the other ACC coaches who are doing great things, and we want Gary to be competitive with the other basketball coaches who are achieving at high levels."
In fairness to Williams and Friedgen, they are not even the highest paid coaches in their conference. Williams trails Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Fiedgen earns less than Florida State's Bobby Bowden and Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer. In football, LSU's Nick Saban, after leading his team to a shared national championship (with USC) last season, is guaranteed at least $2.3 million annually. Both Bowden of Florida State and Bob Stoops of Oklahoma earn more than $2 million a year.
In basketball, Kentucky's Tubby Smith has an eight-year, $20 million contract, and Louisville's Rick Pitino has a six-year, $12.4 million deal.
Clearly, Williams and Friedgen are collecting what the market will bear. That's the American way. But is it the right way?
I think teachers, not coaches, should be the highest paid workers in society. Everyone who excels in life can attribute part of that success to smart, caring, dedicated teachers - from pre-school to graduate school - who enjoy imparting knowledge to students. Where would we be without them? Increasingly, teachers are working in financially-strapped districts that don't even provide them with basic supplies. Consequently, they dig into their own wallets or purses to augment limited school supplies.
And we reward them by complaining: Today's teachers are not as good as those in the old days. Anyone worth his/her salt wouldn't go into teaching. Teachers are merely collecting a paycheck. Instead of being grateful that these dedicated people decided to enter the teaching profession, knowing they could make more money elsewhere, many of us ridicule them, take them for granted or, even worse, don't think about them at all.
The disclosure of the University of Maryland coaches' contracts proves that at the college level, at least, we place more emphasis on what athletes do on the football field or basketball court than how students perform in the classroom. As a society, we ought to be ashamed. President Bush should worry about this disparity rather than the use of steroids in athletics. Let's get our priorities straight.
A look at the contracts reveals the extent to which the coaches are pampered. One would think that anyone earning more than $1 million a year could afford to purchase his own automobile. But, no, coaches need allowances for that as well. So Friedgen gets a $12,000 annual automobile allowance while Williams gets only $8,000. Overall, Williams can earn up to $1,871.021 and Friedgen $1,469,000, when you count all of the shoes and broadcast deals.
I want to make a modest proposal. No coach should make more than 50 percent of what the president of the university earns. In the case of Maryland, that would still be more than $175,000 a year. If the governor of the state can get by on $140,000, surely a coach can squeak by on $175,000 a year. If nothing else, adopting my proposal would prove that we don't put athletics ahead of academics.
GEORGE E. CURRY is editor-in-chief of the NNPA News Service and BlackPressUSA.com. His most recent book is "The Best of Emerge Magazine," an anthology published by Ballantine Books. He can be reached through his Web site, georgecurry.com.
http://www.thecharlottepost.com/editorials.html
George E. Curry
editor-in-chief of the NNPA News Service
Two years ago, the Baltimore Sun filed a federal Freedom of Information request with the University of Maryland to obtain a copy of the contracts of the school's football and basketball coaches. The university, a tax-supported institution, fought the request. Last week, the Maryland Court of Appeals ordered the school to release the documents. Now, we know why the University of Maryland tried to keep them secret.
Curry
Both basketball coach Gary Williams and football coach Ralph Friedgen are guaranteed annual salaries of more than $1 million. Various incentive clauses allow them to earn at least another $400,000 each year.
To put these salaries in perspective, consider this: Clayton D. Mote, the president of the University of Maryland's flagship campus at College Park, earns $337,999 per year. William E. Kirwan, the chancellor of the University of Maryland system, earns $375,000. And Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., the poverty-stricken governor of Maryland, earns $140,000.
Something is wrong with this picture.
Why should football and basketball coaches earn three times more than the university president? Why should they earn 10 times more than long-serving full professors? Equally important, what message does this send to the students who are under the illusion that the role of a university in a democratic society is to educate its populace, not to serve as a farm system for the National Football League and the National Basketball Association?
In defending the high salaries, Athletic Director Debbie Yow told the Baltimore Sun, "We want Ralph to be competitive with the other ACC coaches who are doing great things, and we want Gary to be competitive with the other basketball coaches who are achieving at high levels."
In fairness to Williams and Friedgen, they are not even the highest paid coaches in their conference. Williams trails Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Fiedgen earns less than Florida State's Bobby Bowden and Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer. In football, LSU's Nick Saban, after leading his team to a shared national championship (with USC) last season, is guaranteed at least $2.3 million annually. Both Bowden of Florida State and Bob Stoops of Oklahoma earn more than $2 million a year.
In basketball, Kentucky's Tubby Smith has an eight-year, $20 million contract, and Louisville's Rick Pitino has a six-year, $12.4 million deal.
Clearly, Williams and Friedgen are collecting what the market will bear. That's the American way. But is it the right way?
I think teachers, not coaches, should be the highest paid workers in society. Everyone who excels in life can attribute part of that success to smart, caring, dedicated teachers - from pre-school to graduate school - who enjoy imparting knowledge to students. Where would we be without them? Increasingly, teachers are working in financially-strapped districts that don't even provide them with basic supplies. Consequently, they dig into their own wallets or purses to augment limited school supplies.
And we reward them by complaining: Today's teachers are not as good as those in the old days. Anyone worth his/her salt wouldn't go into teaching. Teachers are merely collecting a paycheck. Instead of being grateful that these dedicated people decided to enter the teaching profession, knowing they could make more money elsewhere, many of us ridicule them, take them for granted or, even worse, don't think about them at all.
The disclosure of the University of Maryland coaches' contracts proves that at the college level, at least, we place more emphasis on what athletes do on the football field or basketball court than how students perform in the classroom. As a society, we ought to be ashamed. President Bush should worry about this disparity rather than the use of steroids in athletics. Let's get our priorities straight.
A look at the contracts reveals the extent to which the coaches are pampered. One would think that anyone earning more than $1 million a year could afford to purchase his own automobile. But, no, coaches need allowances for that as well. So Friedgen gets a $12,000 annual automobile allowance while Williams gets only $8,000. Overall, Williams can earn up to $1,871.021 and Friedgen $1,469,000, when you count all of the shoes and broadcast deals.
I want to make a modest proposal. No coach should make more than 50 percent of what the president of the university earns. In the case of Maryland, that would still be more than $175,000 a year. If the governor of the state can get by on $140,000, surely a coach can squeak by on $175,000 a year. If nothing else, adopting my proposal would prove that we don't put athletics ahead of academics.
GEORGE E. CURRY is editor-in-chief of the NNPA News Service and BlackPressUSA.com. His most recent book is "The Best of Emerge Magazine," an anthology published by Ballantine Books. He can be reached through his Web site, georgecurry.com.