Money for coaches' salaries can be better spent on academics

Editor,

I'd like to say good riddance to Rocky Long because, let's face it, paying a coach $750,000 is a joke. That money could be used for academic purposes and hiring and maintaining student employees as well as faculty. That money could be used for lab equipment and other more important things on campus as well.

As far as I can tell, about 75 percent of the students really don't care about athletics, and I have been here since 2005 and haven't bothered going to a single football or basketball game, because I couldn't care less.

I've been told about the exorbitant costs of concessions at the games, and I thought, why don't they use that to sustain the program and pay the coaches? I don't agree with how the University spends its money on the Athletics Department when the scientific, medical, law, engineering, art, foreign languages, music and theater departments can make much better use of $750,000.

UNM should be ashamed for paying Long that much money when most of the students don't care about the football program, but they do care about their education. That's why they're going to school in the first place.

Seth Richey

UNM student