"Cal-Berkeley Cuts 5 Athletic Programs"
Published: September 28, 2010
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/29/sports/29cal.html?_r=2
It is clear that college Football means more to Berkeley than other popular sports and academic programs. In this article it is clear to spot this inequality. Baseball and men's Rugby along with five other sports programs were cut in September 2010 when the football budget was slowly increasing in 2008-2009 year. Due to placing eighth in the Director's cup last year, Berkeley has shown incredible financial support just by protecting them from a monetary cut. Only the top 14 athletic football programs made money last year and that number is decreasing at a steady rate. Berkeley obviously wants to keep their team in those top statistics to make money at the expense of other important athletic teams. Students who were in these teams may have some help from the university administrators who are honoring previous scholarships and helping with transfers but it will still vastly affect their athletic and academic career. College football is an important aspect of the college experience and can help the college but inequality is unacceptable when they are not accounting for the recession. If Berkeley's football team ends up placing 20th in the coming years and the revenue they bring in diminishes, those teams that will have been cut in vain.
-Kathleen C.
KIN 338I Sec 01, T/TH 930-1045
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The University of California at Berkeley is one of the most storied public, institutions of higher learning in the nation. As far as athletics goes, Berkeley’s athletic teams compete in the Pac 10 (now Pac 12) conference, which is one of the top six division one sports conferences. The six teams dropped from intercollegiate play were the men’s and women’s gymnastics, women’s lacrosse, men’s rugby and baseball. In particular, men’s rugby and baseball were two storied athletic teams that had accomplished a lot for the university. The men's rugby team had won 25 national championships since 1980. They will continue to compete for the university but they have been dropped to a varsity club sport, which means they will have to come up with their own methods of funding if they want to compete. The baseball team has won two national championships in their history and produced 53 professional baseball players like: Jeff Kent, Xavier Nady and Conor Jackson to name a few.
Making these cuts will save the university approximately four million dollars a year, which will help fund other programs. The baseball program has begun to reach out to its community and has already received approximately five million dollars to help fund its season. In times like these, it is up to alumni and supporters to step up and help in whatever way they can to keep these athletic programs afloat.
Juan Favela
Kin 338I
Tues-Thurs
9:30-10:45
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