The Oct. 7 letter from several State House members to the University of Alaska Board of Regents, urging them to keep intercollegiate sports at the University of Alaska Anchorage and University of Alaska Fairbanks, is nonsense. It says nothing about such sports being eliminated at the University of Alaska Southeast in 1990, and how UAS is none the worse for it. College sports represent millions of dollars wasted on the non-academic frivolities of a very small group.

The representatives’ letter talked about athletics and leadership. Baloney. Athletes are not leaders; they’re followers, because they’re trained to be followers. They’re trained as part of a team, not as individuals showing initiative and responsibility. There have been a number of scandals where athletes (and coaches) were monsters, not leaders.

There is also no correlation between athletics and academics. University athletes range from excellent students to illiterate athletic cannon fodder, to be exploited and discarded. Again, college sports are rife with such scandals.

The letter further stated, “College athletics is an integral part of the total University experience.” More baloney. UAA students show little to no interest in intercollegiate events because they’re too busy with academics and life, which is the way it should be. The only people pushing college sports are the ones making money off it.

— Thomas Harrison Morse

UAA Faculty

Anchorage