<p>ya, but u read it twice! crack head:)</p>
<p>I’m a varsity athlete who is on scholarship purely for academics. Most of my team is the same way. Hopefully I can provide some perspective who exceeds first and foremost in academics, but also has extensive experience in athletics and music…</p>
<p>About 25% of my small LAC are varsity athletes. None of our sports make money I’m sure. But ALUMNI pump millions of dollars into our school for new sports facilities all the time. They say “use this money for a new gym” or one swim alumni or parent (can’t remember which) said “use this money for a new swimming scoreboard.” You aren’t going to say no to free money. Most who played varsity sports remember their time practicing and competing as the best part of their college experience here. Just as marching band members love remembering marching at football games as their favorite experience or drama members remembering putting on plays as one of their favorite experiences. </p>
<p>And don’t tell me that music has more educational merit than sports. I know experiences may vary, but I’ve had very extensive experience in both and actually I was probably better on my instrument in high school than I was in the pool. But I think I learned a lot more in swimming than I did in band. And I certainly liked it more too.</p>
<p>I agree that a lot of money goes to athletics that would be better used in academics. Look at UF. State budget cuts have forced cutting faculty and courses out of the curriculum. Yet Urban Meyer recently received a raise. It wasn’t from ticket sales, it wasn’t from the university, the raise largely came from BOOSTERS. </p>
<p>FWIW, athletes at my school have a higher average GPA than non-athletes. Most athletes report higher grades in season because they are forced to manage their time better, and because of pressure from coaches.</p>
<p>Next time you pass by sports facilities, look at the name of it because chances are it has someone’s last name that donated most of the money to build it…</p>
<p>Oh, and I should add that UF has become really competitive to get into largely because of their athletic programs. Students from my high school, including many of the top graduates, chose UF because they wanted to be a Gator. U of M used to be a more premier institution but has suffered athletically, so more students are choosing UF. FSU has also been losing ground to UF.</p>
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<p>how many chemistry departments make that much? exactly.</p>
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<p>thousands of freshmen chemistry kids doing the same lab experiment in every school definitely contribute a lot to society… right?</p>
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<p>what’s a “real job”?</p>
<p>I hope when you get a house there is no garbage pickup service and no one come to help you when your roof is leaking. Maybe you will widen your outlook on life.</p>
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I would rather live in a world without professional athletes than in a world without doctors and engineers. But hey, that’s just me.</p>
<p>Dont try and play that card. When I say a real job, I mean a job that actually serves a purpose and gets something done that needs to be done. I work as an EMT/FF so dont try and tell ME to widen my outlook. What good does a pro baseball player do for society.</p>
<p>Academic departments are not supposed to make money. You PAY to go to SCHOOL, if they made money, you wouldn’t need to pay. My department is an exception. If your sport is self-sufficient then thats great, but I am not majoring in football and paying 50k a year to use a gym.</p>
<p>Also notice how I said a MAJOR in chemistry (or any other subject for that matter). Also, have you ever noticed that you cant just jump right into physical organic chemistry, you need to learn the basics first. (hey its kind of like learning to throw a ball before playing baseball). Never seen a pro-football player make a life-saving pharmaceutical. Yet we pay scientists meager wages and idolize the athletes. That’s some messed up stuff.</p>
<p>I played Ice Hockey for 11 years and realized I wasn’t going anywhere special with it so I gave it up and started volunteering as an EMT/FF instead (much better use of my time). </p>
<p>I do agree that sports have a place in this world, but that place is not above academics or public service.</p>
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<p>[Pujols</a> Family Foundation : Faith, Family & Others](<a href=“Pujols Family Foundation”>Pujols Family Foundation)</p>
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<p>[url=<a href=“http://www.xenith.com/]Xenith[/url”>http://www.xenith.com/]Xenith[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Founded and helmet designed in part by a former college football player and now a physician.</p>
<p>Again, I’ll state it (over and over it seems) if you cut athletics, you cut out my major. Way to not effect academics…</p>
<p>I agree spending money on sports is a huge waste. We need to spend that money on academics and not athletes. Look at Tiger Woods, they’re just going to cheat on their wives and drive into trees ruining perfectly awesome cars. They’re not even that smart.</p>
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<p>Because politicians don’t cheat on their wives or have car collisions ever. And most of them are lawyers. Isn’t it supposed to be like hard to get into law school? Don’t they need to be smart?</p>
<p>I learned so much more playing football than I ever did in a classroom. And I am a better person and student because I played football in college, and that means I am going to contribute much more to society as a result.</p>
<p>Personally, I don’t see the use of performing arts, or the English Department in general, because they don’t seem to contribute anything to society at all. But I know that I probably don’t really understand anything about these subjects, so I shut up and I don’t criticize other people for having different interests and different ways of learning than me.</p>
<p>Gimme your lunch money, nerds.</p>
<p>Notice he is now a PHYSICIAN, and not a pro football player, the football field did not train him in medicine. I’d be willing to bet that McNabb couldnt design that. Also, Pujols is an exception to the rule. Take a look at Vick.</p>
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<p>Please. For every Vick, there are 100 Pujols’</p>
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<p>Exception to the rule anybody?</p>
<p>But you need to notice what many of these athletes are giving to: Research centers, children’s foundations etc. The money should never go to the athlete, it should go to these organizations. We shouldn’t be paying athletes this much, we should be paying people like scientists, engineers, teachers, social workers, firefighters etc… The athletes should not be the intermediary for this funding. Our society has misplaced values.</p>
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<p>Capitalism. Deal with it.</p>
<p>Yes, it is capitalism. I love capitalism, but that doesnt mean that people’s values are misplaced.</p>
<p>No, it doesn’t mean that people’s values are misplaced. Thanks.</p>
<p>I meant to say that peoples’ values ARE misplaced (typo). Do you know what made this country what it is today? Science. Do you know why our country prospers and can pay for so many things? Science. We have the worlds best scientists and doctors, but still their abilities are limited because people would rather watch someone hit a baseball than support someone who is curing cancer. Did you know that athletes did not used to be paid nearly their current salaries, that was when kids in our society aspired to be scientists and engineers. Dont try and say football made this country great. Because science, medicine and engineering are what allowed this country to proposer so that we can have large football, baseball, basketball etc… teams. When is the last time you saw someone major in football? Ever notice that most people get out of sports after college because they realize that their time is better spent on real work? Bet you did not know most of these things.</p>
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<p>Last time someone majored in football? When was the last time it was OFFERED!!! Them getting out after college-- hmm… maybe because they have to MAKE MONEY… quite a concept there. Many of those former college athletes get “real jobs” to make money instead of being dirt-poor like some former college students who found it more important to learn things like art and drama and philosphy that don’t pay…</p>