Expansion to Continue In KU Athletic Program
(Editor's note: This is the final article
largest scale intercollegiate athletes.)
KU plans to expand its athletic program. Athletic Director A. C. Lonborg said that present plans call for an addition of 7,200 seats to the football stadium by 1967. Its capacity is now a little under 40,000.
By Terry Murphy
Long range plans, with no target date yet set, call for expanding the stadium capacity to 60.000. Lonborg said that this added seating will be needed to accommodate the increasing student enrollment and the growing local area population.
Another reason given by Lonborg for increasing the stadium capacity is to bring in more revenue needed to finance other sports. Lonborg hopes to see KU have competitive teams in both wrestling and gymnastics.
A MEMBER OF the athletic board, Charles Leone, professor of zoology, predicts that Allen Field House, with its 17,000 plus seats, will become just as crowded as Hoch Auditorium was in years past.
"What I think is needed is an independent faculty committee to regulate scholarships and recruiting at each school. The committee members should have no direct interest in the athletic program."
Charles Oldfather, secretary of the athletic board, sees a need for effective control of college athletics based on trust and confidence among the schools.
"THE WAY IT IS now, everyone is working on a basis of mutual distrust. Schools tend to overlook abuses on the grounds that other members of the conference are doing the same thing."
"As it stands now a school committee rules in good faith on a player's eligibility and quite likely its decisions will be second-guessed and over-ruled by a conference governing body.
"WE NEED TO return to a healthy, moral climate in athletics," Prof. Oldfather said. "An independent committee at each school would act in good faith and their judgments could be accepted as having been made in good faith."
Several schools have de-emphasized athletics. Prof. Oldfather said that these schools are in unique positions that distinguish them from state-supported schools. One of these schools, Chicago University, is a municipal school and another, Marquette, is a Catholic-supported school.
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"The Ivy League tried to de-emphasize sports without success," he said. "These schools have fine academic traditions and attract outstanding students who also are good athletes. As a result, the de-emphasis did not work.
“WHEN I WAS in school at Harvard I got to wait tables at the athletic dining room because I was a miller. This was a form of subsidi-
zation. Since then it has grown to the present situation where athletic skill is a commodity to be bartered," Prof Oldfather said.
Prof. Leone said that the "foolishness at Colorado" is nothing more than an extension of abuses which are prevalent at all schools with large athletic programs.
He said that complete medical care for needs not connected with athletic activities is an abuse. Prof. Leone said that in the past, the athletic board has considered paying bills for eye glasses and dental bills in no way connected with athletics. He also said that giving athletes year-round training table privileges amounts to excessive subsidization.
ON THE IDEA of increasing the number of athletic scholarships Prof. Leone said that the saturation point has been reached.
"The addition of any more scholarships would endanger the athletic program.
"Intercollegiate athletics are a wonderful thing, there is no doubt of that. But the size of the program is not important. It is still the students' team and the spirit would be the same if the program were not so large."
AFTER AN ATHLETE has been recruited and shows promise in his sport there is still another barrier he must clear before he can compete Grades.
The athletic department started a scholastic program with the purpose of keeping athletes eligible. Monte Johnson, former KU basketball player, was hired last June to fill the job of Public Relations Director for the Athletic Department.
One of Johnson's jobs is to keep tabs on the athletes' grades, class attendance and attitude in class.
"WE TRY TO do something about an athlete's grades before it is too late." He sends out academic progress
reports to instructors twice a year in addition to the regular mid-semester and final grade report.
"By working closely with a person and providing tutoring and counseling when it is needed, we often make it possible for a below average student to get a degree in four years."
"THIS YEAR'S BASKETBALL team was an exceptionally fine group of students. The starting five had an overall grade average of 1.99." The grade point system is based on a 3.0 for a straight A average. None of the five are physical education majors.
Johnson pointed out that there were many athletes which did not need tutoring and counseling.
Prof. Leone said that extra tutelage is another excessive subsidization.
A full scholarship for an athlete includes room, board, books, tuition and fees, and $15 a month for incidentals.
"It has become almost a reflex action to provide tutors for certain courses." Prof. Leone said that it borders on maintaining a supplemental faculty.
"ANOTHER THING TO consider is that the tutoring fees are rather high. It is a needless expense."
Prof. Leone estimated that with the expense of maintaining the training table, tutoring service and other extras like medical care, the cost of a full scholarship runs somewhere around $2,000 a year for each man.
"THAT MEANS FOR each full scholarship we add, we must sell 200 more season football tickets. When you look at this closely it appears foolish."
The University of Kansas is not unique among college athletic powers in the country in that they plan to expand their program and facilities.
Thursday, April 19, 1962 University Daily Kansan
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