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Barrett - Who Voted for This Jerk?
- Thread starter kemajic
- Start date
Barrett's question is more to the necessity of a championship football team compared with the necessity of the academic program of any college or university. Yes, it would be ideal for UM to be like Swarthmore College (wherever or what that is), but UM never has been and never will be the ivy-covered little New England liberal arts institution Barrett would like. UM has world class aspirations, not only in its academic programs but also in its athletic competitions. Hopefully, Engstrom recognizes this: you can't have one without the other. It's just a fact of modern higher education.
Haslam, responding to Szpaller's questions, said that UM receives less public funding for its athletic programs than MSU, due to the viability and necessity of UM's football program for UM athletics. Barrett doesn't realize that he's questioning the entire concept of public support for college and university athletics. All he can do is abide by where colleges and universities are, today, and be satisfied that, with the popularity of the UM football program, more pubic support is not necessary as with MSU, et al.
Haslam, responding to Szpaller's questions, said that UM receives less public funding for its athletic programs than MSU, due to the viability and necessity of UM's football program for UM athletics. Barrett doesn't realize that he's questioning the entire concept of public support for college and university athletics. All he can do is abide by where colleges and universities are, today, and be satisfied that, with the popularity of the UM football program, more pubic support is not necessary as with MSU, et al.
griz5700 said:
A well connected source told me everyone could tell he was in over his head at proffing. The turning point was apparently when he was accidentally overheard saying how he wished a certain student performed better on the midterm. Not sure if true, but it sounded like maybe some of the students didn't like him as much as their previous econ prof.
CDAGRIZ said:
That is truly quality stuff, CDA!! :clap: :clap: :clap:
AZGrizFan said:
Christmas only exists because the Christians felt they needed a holiday to compete with the pagans who celebrated solstice. Same with easter. Pagans were celebrating solstice and equinox for centuries before the Christians decided they needed a holiday about that time also. This won't be popular, but it's the truth.
I know Dick Barrett well. He's a smart and thoughtful guy who's not afraid of questioning other peoples' assumptions. Not a sports fan, but that by itself does not make him a jerk, or an idiot. BTW, Swarthmore is in Pennsylvania, if any of you are truly interested. It always places in the top ten in any national ranking ranking of small liberal arts colleges on academics. Check the latest USNWR rankings. His point is simply to dispel the myth that athletics is completely funded by football revenues, and that a NCAA D-III model, in which all sports were non-scholarship, would free up revenues that could be diverted to academics. Hard to debate the truth of either point. Is it going to happen? Of course not. For one thing, UM has bonded indebtedness for athletic facilities that has to be paid of by program revenues. Holders of those bonds would never forfeit their bond security by allowing UM to reduce program revenues. For another, the Regents would have a tough time reducing state money for UM athletics without taking a proportional cut from MSU and the Frontier schools. Does anyone think that's a realistic possibility?
Just take a deep breath and let things play out a bit more. They've already announced that UM intends to significantly reduce funding for tuition waivers. I'm more concerned about the effect of that decision on the Athletic Department than I am about anything Dick Barrett had to say.
Just take a deep breath and let things play out a bit more. They've already announced that UM intends to significantly reduce funding for tuition waivers. I'm more concerned about the effect of that decision on the Athletic Department than I am about anything Dick Barrett had to say.
If Barrett is so smart and thoughtful, why doesn't he understand that scholarships, while accounted at full cost, are incremental to the University? So if they were eliminated completely, the return in reduced cost would be but a fraction of the booked cost. Possibly he does understand it, but it doesn't fit his narrative, just like the other numerous negative consequences of cutting AD program support that would impact the University. His position might have some credibility if he analyzed both sides of the argument rather than just throw his own narrative up against the wall. Like most politicians, he's pandering to his left constituency.bearister said:
Grizzlies1982
Well-known member
Grizz Man said:
Excellent point.
Shares in "Sacrifices 'R Us" haven't performed nearly as well as shares in "Toys 'R Us".
Grisly Fan
Well-known member
I realize this is OT but since some started it I will say this, the fact that the church moved Christmas near to the winter solstice in no way lessens it's meaning to those who believe. And for those who don't then rejoice in the spirit of giving, peace, and love - all of which transcend spiritual beliefs. In other words, be happy. It's Christmas time!
kemajic said:
Ken, I agree completely. However while the academic side of scholarships are indeed incremental, the room and board is an actual incurred expense.
UMGriz75
Well-known member
Last year, my youngest entered grad school, and for reasons unfathomable, wanted to live in the dorms. It used to be that at the beginning of every Fall Semester, "overflow" would be camped out in dorm lobbies, basements, hallways until the student population could be fit in.kemajic said:
When she applied, she had her choices of dorms and rooms, no crowding, you could get individual rooms easily. It's been a long time since UM had extra dorm space like that.
One of the problems with UM at the moment (that Barrett seems oddly oblivious to) is the continuing ineptness of the administration in recruiting and public relations results in increasing incremental costs for all of the auxiliary services, even as incremental revenues decline. THAT is the core of the current budget crisis at UM, and if he were really interested in attacking the problem, that is what he would be focusing on instead of the long-standing Lefty obsession with sports which has absolutely nothing to do with UM's current problems and governance.
UM downgraded sports emphasis in the early 1950s under Harry Newburn. In contrast, MSU (then MSC) had a very dynamic president in Dr. Roland Renne who used sports as a public relations tool as well as offering a focus of campus activities. He was very successful and MSC grew its way to university status while UM languished somewhat by comparison. Newburn's experiment failed, and sports returned, but it took the air out of the tires for a while.
