This Comparison Strikes the Wrong Note

Whether J.A. Adande is correct regarding rules against financial assistance to athletes [Feb. 29], there is a larger social issue here. These seemingly altruistic patrons seek to fill desks at colleges with athletes. But do they offer aid to poor students who want to be doctors, accountants or teachers? And coaches characterize their similar concerns for athletes as offering opportunity to often-disadvantaged or at-risk kids. Yet is it not also a conflict of interest when they need these players to win games?

The focus of colleges seeking to increase minority attendance should be on enrolling students, not recruiting athletes.

RICHARD BAKER

Beverly Hills

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J.A. Adande repeated the fallacious comparison of student-athletes to music students when trying to rinse the newest layer of grime from the UCLA basketball program. He went on to quote Peter Dalis, who claims that demands for cleanliness in UCLA basketball are “not consistent with the way the rest of the institution works.”

But neither is the UCLA basketball program itself. Among the many inconsistencies, one stands out: Almost all of the UCLA music majors, even the star performers, leave the institution with degrees.

NATHANIEL GROSSMAN

Professor of Mathematics, UCLA