Letter to the editor
University should not pay for swim team costs
October 15, 2009
I recently read the article on how the swim team / dive team may be canceled here at UW-River Falls. I am currently in my third year here at UWRF and this article is the first I have ever even heard about us having a swim team. Many of my classmates were unaware that we had a swim team as well.
This lack of interest or awareness of our present team leads me to believe that their disappearance would not be missed by the majority of students here at UWRF.
Furthermore, although I do personally feel sorry for the team members as they may lose their activity due to lack of funding, I don’t understand why the university is considering paying for this. I have never seen a swim team bake sale or raffle to raise money for their events. Why should the school spend $350.00 per year per person for these students to go swimming? We don’t supply the glassblowing students with free glass. We don’t supply the physics students with free lab software. We don’t supply math students with expensive graphical calculators.
In my opinion the school should take that money and reapply it to actual academic interests. School funding should be for its students, not athletes.
Nicholas Lane
Comments
Somorae (Smith) Anderson on 16 Oct 2009: As a well respected Alumni of UWRF and one of Bill Henderson's original team members, I have some comments on Mr. Lane's article. First, these kids are not just getting together to play around in a pool for 2 hours a day. They have been trained in competitive swimming for most of their lives. Why should we deny them a sport that they are successful at. If this were a matter of recreational use of a pool, I don't think that this would be an issue. Although the team is small, they have an impact on the overall academic standings of UWRF athletic teams. Also, Not only would you be telling over 40 students that their sport doesn't matter, but you are telling them because they are not a popular sport your school does not want them. How many of you can honestly say that you have been to every track meet or tennis match just because you wanted to watch? I know when I attended UWRF most went to football games, but it was never to watch the game. What I am saying is that if the high school gets to use the football stadium, why cant we use their pool; even exchange. In Henderson's time as a coach he has grown the team not only in numbers, but also in talent. UWRF is starting to make footprints with the largest collegiate swim meet in the nation. If that is not worth keeping, then I will say that I am ashamed of the direction the school's athletic system is going. Did you even ask the swimmers how they feel?