College Sports Shield Many Academic Sins

Words of praise are wanting to describe the power of two June 27 articles. Bill Plaschke’s brilliant column “Don of a New Day” (Sports) converges with the front page’s “Collegiate Sports Need to Reform, Panel Says.” An extraterrestrial visiting any secondary or college campus in the U.S. would conclude that they are athlete factories, just by seeing how much space is devoted to athletic facilities. As a school board member, I dream of capturing 10% of the energy, time and treasure we squander on youth sports for our math and science programs and for the dedicated and resource-poor teachers on the front lines of this monumental struggle.

True, very true, that sports programs are among the best drug and delinquency prevention programs ever devised, but sports are also pick-up games at the park, intramurals, after-school games on the playground, in the street with the dads and moms and a whole lot more. What glory will Prince Esiobu, the scholar, reap each week? Why such esteem for the physically gifted? At the collegiate level the answer is easy--money. At all other levels, the answer is not as simple. Nonetheless, Plaschke has hit on some vitally important issues that if not addressed will only hasten our evolution to a highly divided culture.

Jim Kalember

President, Governing Board

Oak Park Unified School District

Commissioner Hodding Carter III states, “Frankenstein has already left the castle and is out there wandering around. We need to take action.”

It is important to remember that Frankenstein was not the name of the monster but the name of the monster’s creator. Frankenstein was a cautionary tale about playing god and what is created. The NCAA is hunting down and trying to kill itself.

Jay Gussin

Valencia