I thought some of you would be interested in this: http://www.utexas.edu/news/2014/12/15/center-sports-leadership-innovation/ It seems like a great idea to me...
Indeed it is a great idea on many different levels, all of which benefit both the University and society in general. It also occurs to me that the Director's initials are DKR and that we have held season football tickets longer than he has been alive. This getting old thing is for the birds.
Waste of money. How much does this program cost and where is the funding coming from? How many parking passes would Robert's salary pay for?
The players have parents(most I guess) and coaches enforcing personal responsibility rules. Coaches enforcing personal responsibility rules already places more emphasis in this area than what other students attending UT are receiving. Powers is not putting this program in effect for all UT students? Don't raise prices 30%, cry about revenue and roll out baloney programs like this one. I am sure there will be a staff, no? What is Roberts and staff salary? How much will this program cost? The administration should be looking at cutting costs, not adding costs if they are raising prices and charging for parking.
Teaching people how to act as grown-ups should not be the responsibility of any university, but recent history shows the need for such an education. High school athletes who idolize university and pro athletes see an unrealistic view of the adult world they are entering. In addition to providing a platform for educating the newbies, this program aims to teach current university athletes responsibility and provide them with the tools they will need to survive out in the real world once the pro money has run out (if it ever starts).
I do not think anyone would be opposed to this had season tickets not gone up. Paying for another buyout and new coaching salary (with Patterson has implied will be higher than Barnes ever made) means even higher tickets in all sports in the future (are we a year away from $25 general admission for baseball?). I guess looking at higher tickets, I would also look at where costs can be cut. If we had the money to support this, I would be for it. However, the rise in prices implies we do not have the money so I would rather cut this cost until we have enough profit to fund this. Having an entire department dedicated to "Teaching people how to act as grown-ups" is an excess and not necessary to the core mission of the athletic department. I trust that Charlie Strong can keep his players in line without this.
Is it a program to educate future millionaires how to spend their money and the cost of the program will be paid by ticket increases and parking pass fees ?
This is embarrassing. Stated purpose of this program: Work with high school coaches to develop a training and certification program on best practices for character development of student athletes including how to detect, intervene and correct troubling or violent behavior. Translation: How do we keep these roided up athletes who’ve been coddled and covered up for since they were 12, from punching guys in bars who are dating their ex-girlfriends? Develop a financial literacy program for UT student athletes that draws from financial professionals and former athletes and that can be emulated elsewhere. Translation: How do we keep the 1-2 athletes that UT sends to the pros each year (though none from football in 2013) from blowing a couple of grand per week at the Cheesecake Factory, earning 50 million dollars in their career, and ending up filing bankruptcy? And how do we keep the other 98 percent of athletes who don’t earn a dime playing sports from doing manual labor when they flunk out or graduate with a C average in Sports Management? Promote faculty- and student-driven research that includes case studies related to decision-making by athletes Translation: How do we keep our athletes from raping women in dorm rooms?
