Last week in an article entitled The Big Game, I decried the skewed funding by state and local governments that favored athletics over academics. I focused particularly on Texas, where there was inordinate spending on high school athletic facilities and coaches while funding for teachers and academics was being reduced. College coaches were also receiving outlandish sums compared to faculty members, while student tuition was being increased. I noted that this emphasis on athletics over academics did not bode well for the United States in terms of the nation’s ability to compete economically in the years ahead, since an educated populace is a vital resource.
An article yesterday by Jordan Weissmann in theatlantic.com (http://bit.ly/IrgVUe) describes a situation that has arisen at the University of Florida in Gainsville where its sports budget has been increased at the same time funding for its computer science department is being slashed. This is the result of the state cutting the university’s budget by 30% over the last six years, a total of $240 million. Much of the athletic department budget is covered by $36 million in annual contributions from alumni, and the athletic department does generate income for the school, providing $6.1 million to the university’s operating budget last year. However, if the state and the university’s alumni had some foresight, they would be funding an expansion of the computer science department before contributing money for sports. Florida and the nation will certainly derive more future benefits from the computer scientists that the university produces than from its football players.
Resurrecting Democracy
A VietNam vet and a Columbia history major who became a medical doctor, Bob Levine has watched the evolution of American politics over the past 40 years with increasing alarm. He knows he’s not alone. Partisan grid-lock, massive cash contributions and even more massive expenditures on lobbyists have undermined real democracy, and there is more than just a whiff of corruption emanating from Washington. If the nation is to overcome lockstep partisanship, restore growth to the economy and bring its debt under control, Levine argues that it will require a strong centrist third party to bring about the necessary reforms. Levine’s previous book, Shock Therapy For the American Health Care System took a realist approach to health care from a physician’s informed point of view; Resurrecting Democracy takes a similar pragmatic approach, putting aside ideology and taking a hard look at facts on the ground. In his latest book, Levine shines a light that cuts through the miasma of party propaganda and reactionary thinking, and reveals a new path for American politics. This post is cross posted from his blog.
Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020