I just read today's Digest and I was struck by a certain dichotomy in several
of the discussion topics. On the one hand, Tony Buffa gets beat up for
bemoaning the fact that faculty salaries suck compared to those of athletic
coaches. The general tone of the responses is, "Hey Tony, wake up and smell
the coffee...the basic economic fact of life is that winning teams bring in
the big bucks and you physics PhDs don't!"
 
On the other hand, there are also a couple of messages complaining about the
big bad IRS who wants to tax all those bucks that the athletic departments
bring in. In this case, I'm sure, the schools trumpet the quality education
provided by their quality faculty and deny any heinous motivation, like a
desire to accumulate filthy lucre.
 
Seems to me that the responses to Tony's posts clearly imply that college
athletics is nothing more nor less than the big business that the schools
themselves so fervently disavow to the IRS. My sympathies lie with Tony,
although I fear neither of us will live long enough to "see it come home to
roost."
 
Bob Stagat
RPI '64 & '68