Letters to the Editor
crumley
Published Letters: 181 Editor's Choice: 51
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Speaking of hyperbolic
[Read the article: How not to start a trade war]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The sturm und drang boiling over and about all aspects of the U.S.-China trade relationship has reached hyberbolic heights. And for good reason -- there is undoubtedly no more important trade relationship in the world today.
I don't think that it is clear that the China/USA trade relationship is the most important in the world. It may be the one that needs the most work, or the most unstable important reationship, but no the most important. Canada is still the USA's biggest trade partner, and it won't be eclipsed any time soon. That relationship is more stable for many reasons, but that doesn't dim its importance.
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It is about the candidates themselves
[Read the article: Racism vs. sexism, Part 2]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It really isn't particularly useful to compare in generalities whether the country is ready for a black or female President. Specific candidates are going to be on the primary ballots, not gender or races.
With that being the case, I am going to support just about any democrat before Hillary Clinton.
I don't want only members of two families occupy the Presidency for over 20 years. Hillary Clinton winning in 2008 would setup the very real possibilty of that happening for over 30 years (if Jeb Bush runs in 2012 or 2016). Despite how much I like Hillary and Bill, that possibility disturbs me deeply.
So though I would love to see a female President, I won't support Hillary in 2008. I also hope Obama doesn't run, because I don't think that he is ready.
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Samoe old arguments
[Read the article: King Kaufman's Sports Daily]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]King, there really isn't money there to pay the players for most Division I-A programs. Football and basketball (and in some places hockey, baseball, and even women's basketball) support the rest of most schools' athletic departments. of course every knows this - the same arguments come up over and over again.
So let's consider your proposal.
There are probably a dozen or so
programs similar to Alabama that have the resources to pull off paying the players. But where would that leave everyone else? As it is the race to keep up with facilities and coaches pay is a serious problem for most the D-I schools. If players could be paid things would get even worse, especially for the lower echelon teams in the big conferences. This would further hurt the competitive balance in college football and basketball.
I suppose that you could instate salary caps and revenue sharing, but it would be a nightmare. You would be exchanging the problems of the current system, for worse problems.
And let's look at your numbers. You come up with an average salary about 20 k$. That's not bad - that's roughly what some full year RAs and TAs make now. But it is also not that much. For private schools, that's less than current value of a full-ride athletic scholarship, and if you consider out-of state tuition, it is about the value of the scholarship at state schools. So at a school like Alabama that could probably find the resources to pay its players, you could maybe double the players' total compensation, but in my opinion, you would wreck the sport while doing it. It is not a good bargain.
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Thanks for this article
[Read the article: Who's to blame for James Kim's death?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks for this article on what happened to James Kim. I knew James Kim from CNET videos that TiVo distributes. I missed this story entirely when it was happening, and didn't learn of his death till CNET included a tribute to him on one of their videos. I didn't know what had happened to him till this story.
It seems like this truly is a tragedy. I feel for his family.