Not to mention, the fallacy that if we didn’t spend this money on athletics that it would all be available for academics.
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Not sure if Rob Zaretsky is hosting a table at the UH Honors College event this spring (aka The Great Conversation) but would be fun to buy his table and only talk UH athletics all evening.
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This was a guest editorial in a paper that runs Charles Krauthammer, David Brooks, and Kathleen Parker every week. The sports desk had zero to do with this. It is a viewpoint in the community held by some and he got to present it. Over the last few years, we have gotten very favorable editorials by the Chronicle editorial board in the left-hand column of the Opinion page.
This wasn’t necessarily the Chronicle’s view, but the dissenting view of a UH faculty member. C’mon, guys. We have differing views here, too, on a variety of subjects. Do we ever accuse the Admin of being anti-anything because of what we write?
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I think the point is that the Chron has printed the same subject material from Rob Zaretsky three times in the last 1+ years. What most of us need to realize is that the Chron is just looking for clicks – nothing more.
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How much is the football deficit each year?
I wonder why Rice keeps funding football.
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Great point
Rice is an example of what you get when there is strong faculty opposition to sports in general and football in particular. Never fear, the factions including alumni who support the programs will continue to do so. But will the programd ever thrive? Thete’s a midern new football facility. Most high school gymns are bigger than Rice’s basketball court. The baseball program does seem to do well. But we never want to be that program.
Just in case anyone in Houston missed it, the Chronicle wants to be sure that EVERYONE gets a second chance. It is running the Zaretsky article one more time, thus time in Section A, Page 2. Paired with th recent political cartonn in the middle of the editorial section showing UH as nothing but a stepping stone in college football, you could get the idea the Chron has serious issues with the presence of sports at UH.
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Don’t a lot of people buy the newspaper to read the sports section?
I don’t have an answer to that. My guess is there are many reasins why people buy and read the Chron. I don’t typically read the sports section until I’ve gone through other sections and the editorials. But that’s me. As writer Micky Herskowitz used to say, “In the shopping center if life, sports is the toy department.” Gotta keep perspective. Others might see it differently.
It is always the same song and dance. People want freedom of speech, diversity of thought…until someone says something the disagree with. I am fine with people who feel like UH is putting too much resources into athletics. It’s their opinion and they are entitled to it. It’s a good dialogue and a relevant issue. I don’t necessarily agree with the premise at UH, but I definitely see it being played out at other schools. Schools with crumbling classroom infrastructure spending big bucks on athletics isn’t right.
Duarte should be asked on why this keeps going on. That is not right and is clearly intended.
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If he doesn’t host a table that raises money for the Honors College, then he needs to shut his mouth entirely. If he isn’t participating then he proves he isn’t interested in helping to raise money for academics.
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I get that. Gray Matters columns isn’t done by staffers at the Chron. They’re often quirky and have covered the gamut of topics. But even if it is an opinion piece that isn’t in the sports section, some of these things should be researched and confirmed. I’m sure it’s not a long walk across the newsroom to ask for some help. That’s what journalism is about - getting it right or admitting you effed up if you didn’t. At least that’s what it used to be about.
That is the entire problem. Way too often newspapers or even major news organizations refuse to confirm their sources. There is a big difference between reporting facts and confirmed facts. It is fine to express your opinion but to add figures/statistics without confirmation it equals to misinformation. It can be extremely damaging. How many times has the chron failed? I stopped counting long ago.
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What do you think the table cost would be? That could make for a pretty eventful evening!
I believe it’s $250 per person and $2500 per table.
Dr Zaretsky didn’t lead a discussion last year but has in the past:
Most of you are in a constant bitchfest over the Chronicle, and most of you claim to not be customers either now or never. If somebody on their circulation staff were to look at the message boards, one would conclude that few of you buy the paper anyways, so why would they worry about pissing any of you off?
The Chronicle ran the guest editorial. What is the big deal? You aren’t buying the paper anyways.
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Roland Bernier, an alum of the UH Law Center, wrote this rebuttal piece that the Chronicle printed today. Very good piece.
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