Dear Editor
After reading the article about the possibility of an athletic fee, I was outraged. How could it possibly be fair to expect every ETSU student to pick up the tab for a football team that does not benefit every student and in some cases even embarrasses students?
Let’s face the hard reality that the ETSU football team is one of the worst. If the school is losing a million dollars a year on football alone, then why do some on the football team enjoy a free ride? Better yet, answer the question, “Why should anyone be forced to pay $105 for someone else to enjoy a free ride?”
It seems to me that every parent out there that tells their kids to “study hard and make good grades” is misleading their children. What they should be telling them is “learn to play sports so everyone else will have to flip your bill through college.”
How about the athletic department holding a few fund- raisers? This way if anyone on the football team or basketball team wants a free ride through school, his or her buddies and teammates have to work for it.
If the school does decide to make everyone pay for the athletic department here, then I believe that they should offer each and every student an explanation of exactly how the sports programs personally benefit them and why they specifically should give their money to them.
I used to believe that college was about education and I hope that one day it will be.
James Villanueva

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