Advertising in the Emerald is an effective way to reach an audience, especially with a quarter-page ad. But one never would have known it from the 23 people who looked almost lost in Columbia 150 the afternoon of March 5. The subject was Ducks athletics, a topic that normally draws crowds. But the program title was a turnoff. In big bold letters at the top of the ad was: “UO Task Force On Athletics.” “Task force” might describe movement of U.S. aircraft carriers into the Persian Gulf. But it doesn’t attract students and faculty to a discussion of athletics.
I’m task-oriented. So I attended. Few others did, even though the panel had impressive members and some headliners, including the track and field coach, Martin Smith, and Professor James Earl. In recent weeks, Earl has been featured in The New York Times and The Chronicle of Higher Education for his role in starting a movement that is sweeping the nation.
Explanation of that action likely could fill 150 Columbia with the help of only a classified ad. It deals with concern over excessive spending on varsity athletics that often dwarfs funding for programs essential to the University’s academic mission. Earl was president of the Faculty Senate when, in 2001, it passed a resolution to rein in spending on the athletics “arms race.”
Within months, seven other Pac-10 faculty senates passed the resolution. After a year, it took hold in the Big Ten Conference. In April, Earl will be in Chicago for a meeting of the National Collegiate Athletic Association that will address the question, which could result in the most significant changes for intercollegiate athletics in a century.
If forum sponsors can afford another ad, why not use this as a heading that pulls no punches: “Are Colleges Spending Too Much Money on Varsity Athletics? Is the Tail Wagging the Dog?” Another boost for the crowd would be too import speakers with dynamic identity. For a program on the money issue, the top speaker would be one with a University identity — the new NCAA president, Myles Brand. He went to the NCAA in January from the presidency of Indiana University, where he had moved after being president at Oregon.
Other topics that would fill 150 Columbia and stir the pot that needs stirring could be:
* Are Corporations Gaining Too Much Influence Over College Athletics?
* Did the University Drop WRC Membership to Get Money for Autzen
Expansion?
* Should the Oregon Sports Network Exclude Stations that Carry Other Programs Which Demonize Minorities, Including Black Athletes?
Good topics can dramatize the issues and attract audiences. They can, that is, if they don’t scare away the crowds with a name like Task Force.
George Beres is a former University sports information director.