To the editor,
This is in response to the column by Matt Mosher (Cut school sports, not my Classes, Nov. 18, 2009).
His belief that UB and SUNY should reduce the level of competition from Division I to Division III is misplaced as a way to avoid $90 million dollars in budget cuts system in wide in SUNY. The $7.5 million dollars that comes from UB to help support athletics is a very small percentage of UB's budget.
The vast majority of the funding comes from dedicated payments in the student activity fee (which I am glad to pay as a UB Parent), ticket sales, advertising, television appearances and private donations (of which I proudly make every year as well).
UB Athletics allows UB to advertise itself to the entire nation for the quality of research that is being conducted at UB. The UB Reaching Others advertising campaign is run on national television every time that UB appears on an ESPN channel. That is a benefit for the university that they cannot otherwise afford to do. The ads will help UB attract more highly qualified students and additional research dollars to help UB accomplish its academic mission.
Rather than complaining about a small portion of UB's overall budget going to athletics, Mr. Mosher should be asking why $750.00 of the additional $900.00 paid in tuition from the Spring 2009 semester through the Spring 2010 semester was used to balance the entire budget of New York State. That cost UB over $14 million that should have gone into providing quality education and services to its students. Instead, it went to help pay for a totally dysfunctional legislature in Albany.
UB has worked hard over the last 20 plus years to get to where it is today in athletics. It is in one of the premiere non-BCS Conferences in the country and under the leadership of Athletic Director Warde Manuel has become an overall winning program the last few years. There should be no cut back in the funding for athletics at UB.
Overall, athletics have become a plus for UB and a win-wwin situation for UB both on and off the field.
Ronald Balter
2008 Russel J. Gugino Award winner
Dr. and Mrs. Edmond J. Gicewicz Family UB Athletics Hall of Fame
