Mangiaracina: We won’t be national champions in this

By Nick Mangiaracina

Thursday, November 20, 2008

The case of Larry Sinks vs. KU Athletics Department reached its conclusion in July. Sinks, owner of Joe College, would soon be $127,337 poorer.

The ruling was that Sinks could not sell nearly 50 of his shirts although the rationale behind why he couldn’t sell these particular shirts still remains a mystery.

“Trademark infringement” was the given reason yet no definition of how these shirts infringed on the University’s trademark was ever given. The University simply thought its reputation was damaged as if it were a person.

Apparently Sinks is guilty of using the color blue and the word “hawk” and of taking money away from the Church of the Athletics Department.

What the decision amounted to was a classic ’70s obscenity trial where Sinks was the pornographer and the University was the ultra-moral religious right.

Like the cases brought against Larry Flynt of Hustler magazine, no one could define the term obscenity beyond the classic, “I don’t know what it is, but I know it when I see it.”

More disturbing than the Athletics Department’s harassment of a local business owner who did no wrong is the reason it seemed adamant about pursing him.

In the last 20 years, taxpayer support of higher education has dwindled, leaving colleges searching for other revenue sources. In the process, universities have looked to other revenue to cover their losses, like T-shirt sales.

Although the football and basketball games have become the main attraction, in the background blares the real game that is being played — the quiet privatization of America’s universities.

The University, according to a KU news release, receives only 24 percent of its funding from the state and another 20 percent from federal research grants and contracts. This means that most of KU’s funding comes from private sources.

So the free market must be working wonders for the University then, right? No. In a study of higher education in Kansas, the non-profit group Citizens for Higher Education found that per student, the University of Kansas is tied with K-State for last place among Big 12 schools for funding of higher education.

Among faculty, for its size, salaries are lower in Kansas than the average among the Big 12 schools and below the national average.

The study concluded, “Kansas, once a leader in supporting higher education, has reduced its financial support to the point that it is below national averages and nearly the lowest among Big 12 states.”

Less support has meant skyrocketing tuition for students, lower faculty salaries and less accessibility to college for the poor and the middle class. This is alarming because a college education is increasingly becoming a prerequisite in maintaining a middle class lifestyle.

Kansans value higher education, but they don’t want to pay for it. Just last week Gov. Kathleen Sebelius ordered KU to cut its budget by 3 percent, which is the opposite of what should have happened.

The value of higher education can’t be overstated, but it will require more tax payer support if it’s going to thrive.

Higher education will become what the elites decide it should be and not what the general public decides. College will become nothing more than a business that serves the rich.

Rock Chalk Rich Jayhawks, go top 10 percent! That’s my vote for a new KU T-shirt.

— — Mangiaracina is a Lenexa senior in journalism.

Comments

Abita (anonymous) says...

Good info Nick, well done.

California schools are considering cutting the number of admitted students to better meet the needs of those they do admit. It's not ideal, but nothing will be. Another solution would be to work harder at getting students out in four years instead of five, thus reducing costs. Lowering salaries of teachers and administrators, cutting funding to less essential programs and creating a specific fundraising drive to meet the 3% shortfall from this year’s budget all have to be seriously considered.

We just aren't going to see more tax payer dollars anytime soon. It's time to start thinking about other viable solutions. While the windmill idea seem crazy last spring, investing in energy saving technology is absolutely necessary (I don't even believe in global warming). We should expect more and better research from professors. Students pay for many of them to work while some are not contributing research. What are alternate solutions besides gov. funding and raising tuition?

November 20, 2008 at 11:05 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

rstewart (anonymous) says...

here here, har har.
shakes hands in air*
yay!

good one.

November 20, 2008 at noon ( | suggest removal )

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