Letters for Dec. 22, 2024
NIL widens income inequality gap
And on it goes. The rich get richer, and everyone else pays. This time it happens to rear its ugly head in the new, semi-pro college football arena, where yet another promising Washington State University player is lured away to play for a wealthier school. I can’t really blame John Mateer for shopping his talents to the highest bidder, but I certainly blame the NCAA system that allowed this perversion to materialize over the past few years.
These are college athletes playing sports while getting an education – just like the thousands of other students attending school there that will go on to be doctors, lawyers, teachers and countless other professions. Most college athletes already enjoy scholarships and other perks that will forever be out of reach for most of their fellow students. The NIL money could easily be channeled back into the school’s revenue and even be used to drive down tuition costs for everyone.
I do not see why college athletes need to be paid to allow their name, image and likeness to be used while attending college, when that very college is picking up the tab for their entire higher educational experience. This new system is teaching our young people, even earlier than before, that it’s all about money. Meanwhile, schools that can pay will get the players who can play. The rest of these higher learning institutions will be reduced to farm teams in a constant state of rebuilding. In my opinion, NIL should be nil.
John Cross
Spokane
Still loyal to Cougars
Funny about history and the news. Repeating itself, that is. Earlier this year, a letter I sent to the editor at The Spokesman-Review was graciously published. It was titled “The Great Abandonment Continues.” That was right after Pat Chung left for the Dawgs. I also had in mind the athletic director leaving and “the 10” schools quitting the conference.
But now? Let’s see: Gone are the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator, the quarterback coach, many players, and, oh yeah, the head coach, certainly to be followed by many additional players.
I guess we’re in the ultimate rebuild, or “start over” situation.
And the PAC-12 does not even have a full football conference of the required eight teams, nor a media broadcast agreement. I’m just not appreciating Washington State University being the ultimate fallout/downside example of NIL, realignment, landscape college football change.
Despite all that, once a Coug, always a Coug, although that does sound a bit desperate at the moment. WSU Board of Governors – you have your work cut out for you. Make us Cougs proud. Please!
Go Cougs!
Glenn Wallmark
Vancouver, Washington
Almighty dollar prevails again
In Eastern Washington, we have long taken a back seat to our neighboring universities on the West Coast. Let’s be honest, Pullman is not as alluring of a location for a young, ambitious student as Seattle, Eugene, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles or even Phoenix. The weather is not the greatest and the isolation of Pullman compared to universities in other markets in the West is not as desirable. Still, WSU has been able to allure some incredible quarterbacks in their history. Names like Bledsoe, Rypien, Leaf, Falk, Minshew and John Mateer (who may prove to be the most talented of them all) have played for the Cougars.
It has been difficult to recruit, given the money bestowed on Oregon by Nike, large corporate presence in Seattle of Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, Boeing, etc; or the glitz of the beaches in L.A. and the presence of many celebrities. Let’s be honest: Pullman is not exactly the mecca of the West. It’s a great college town, and those of us in Eastern Washington are proud of the school and its achievements given the difficulty and financial challenges they face.
But the almighty dollar has prevailed among the most successful and popular venues in the West and pulled away our biggest and most sought-after universities due to a financial windfall at the expense of the poorer and less desirable locations of Pullman and Corvallis. And now even their fans are suffering as half of their games are across the country! Got frequent flyer miles?
Barry Bauchwitz
Spokane Valley
Follow will of voters with I-2066
Regarding the Dec. 15 article about lawsuits being filed affecting the future of voter-approved I-2066, it’s shameful that the code council is taking so long revising the energy code hoping those wishing to overturn the vote of the people are successful. In most cases, including gas heating, prohibitive is more accurate. I believe that the opinion that the initiative would have failed had the voters been better informed may not be true.
If the voters knew the real impact of the 2021 energy code, it would have passed by a higher margin. For example: My wife and I bought a building lot wanting to downsize since we are retired. The bid from a builder included more than $60,000 in energy code compliance costs. Included was a $30,000 fee we would have to buy carbon credits.
Since heat pumps don’t work well in cold climates, a heat strip has to be included. We would be required to install a solar system that would only work during the day, would not work well on dark cloudy days and would not work at all when the panels were covered by snow. A 400-amp service would be required instead of the traditional 200-amp service.
The truth is that home construction is stalled because one side cannot accept the will of the people. This affects working people and small contractors.
Bill Cusick
Colbert