Letter to the editor: WSU Athletics should consider alternatives to student fee

ANDREW CHILD | Pullman

When was the last time you went to an expensive steak house, ordered more food than you needed and gave the bill to a stranger on the street?

If your answer is never, then we are on the same page.

WSU Athletics has been increasing expenditures and ensuring the public their bill would be paid for by “bonds, donations and millions of dollars of revenue generated by the new Pac-12 television contracts.”

However, now they are proposing a mandatory fee for all students.

Considering students may need to pay this fee with a student loan, if the University is going to require to pay a mandatory fee to get Athletics in the black then I think this “loan” from the students should require the athletics department to pay back these fees plus 10 percent compounded interest once they are in surplus (fiscal year 2021).

Possible alternative solutions:

1) Increase student ticket, sport pass, and ZZU Cru fees, which would increase revenue by only targeting students interested in sports.

2) Penalize head coaches for losses. Currently we reward coaches above their base salary for winning; perhaps salary deductions might inspire higher performance levels from coaches (Annual Salaries: Mike Leach, $2.75 million; Ernie Kent, $1.05 million). At our current performance level, this option would get us in the black faster than any student fee.

3) Garnish wages of administrators responsible for fiscal decisions, considering they make more than any human being needs to live comfortably in Pullman (e.g. President Schulz, $625,000; Bill Moos, $640,000).

4) Auction off usage of the president’s and head coach’s suites at football games. I think they make enough to buy their own tickets.

There is a myriad of ways to recoup money for the Athletics deficit, but forcing every student to foot the bill is fiscally irresponsible and an improper use of administrative power.

Students didn’t authorize Leach’s salary or facility renovations, so they aren’t fiscally responsible for the repayment.