Don’t Devalue CSUN Athletics

Recent events at Cal State Northridge should not devalue the football team and athletic department.

First, we must put aside the political correctness of the anointed who oversee the fantasy world of academia and get to the hard facts.

The football and men’s basketball teams are the quickest way to garner recognition, interest and support from communities.

The present administration should not be allowed to make a decision with such long-term effects. President Blenda Wilson has been at CSUN only a short time. Her resume leads one to believe her main concern is public relations. Wilson is by past history a short-timer.

The athletic department had no choice but to play lineman Jonathan Beauregard (who stands accused of two counts of attempted murder). The presence of Beauregard on the field should only embarrass himself, not the athletic program.

The players who walked out (of practice last week) are wrong, but their concerns about the football program always getting the short end of the stick are valid. How can football, which draws 2,000 to 3,000 people, be given 14 scholarships, while women’s volleyball, which may draw 100, gets 12?

Also, the players who walked are constantly being jerked around by self-centered minority-student groups that won’t care one bit about them once graduated. It’s a shame these players don’t have the character to stand up on their own two feet. They are certainly capable of it.

MICHAEL HANNIN

Woodland Hills

Editor’s note: Hannin was a member of the Northridge football team in 1967.