“Twenty-six percent of all dollars donated to Division I-A colleges and universities now go to athletics, according to an analysis published in the April 2007 issue of the Journal of Sport Management. In 1998, the comparable figure was 14.7 percent.

“In fact, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported late last year that overall spending on sports has been growing “at a rate three times faster than that for spending on the rest of the campus.” And for most schools, according to recently released NCAA research, sports program costs exceed revenues. Only the top athletic powerhouses make money —- and, frequently, only when they win.

“Where’s the money going? Mostly, it goes to build new stadiums, arenas and practice facilities to showcase the schools’ gladiators. George Washington University, for example, in the nation’s capital, recently announced “the largest single donation in the institution’s history.” The $10 million gift was not for an academic program, but for the renovation of the Charles E. Smith Center, where the Colonials’ basketball teams play.

“Ten million dollars is just the tip of the iceberg. Schools in the six top college athletic conferences, which include the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12 and Pac 10, received more than $3.9 billion in donations for athletic facilities from 2002 to 2007 alone, the Chronicle of Higher Education says. What’s more, “Over the next few years, [these] big-time athletic programs hope to raise an additional $2.5 billion for new buildings.”

“The question that needs to be asked is why are schools spending big bucks on athletic facilities for a relative handful of semipro athletes when academics should be their focus?”

Read the full column

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Do we need those ramp meters?

By AJC Opinion | Monday, July 28, 2008, 07:37 AM

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A lot of drivers dislike the new “ramp meters” being installed at on-ramps all over the metro area. We’re supposed to have 166 of them in place by 2009.

The special traffic lights are designed to regulate the flow of vehicles onto the freeways. Tom Vanderbilt, author of “Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us),” cites a case in Minneapolis/St. Paul in which the state shut off the Twin Cities’ ramp meters, and traffic congestion got worse.

Have you had occasion to use ramps equipped with the meters? What did you think? Do they help the flow of traffic or do they just slow you down?

Read the @issue package:

Eaten alive by traffic

Q&A with author Tom Vanderbilt

Road warriors’ quiz | Slower speeds more efficient

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