Dear Editor,

In regard to Tuesday’s Op-Ed regarding the overpriced product of athletics; I praise the humor employed by Mr. Hesse.  Unfortunately, I disagree whole heartedly with his opinion on the issue.  Firstly, I wish to state my opinion that it is not worth the sobriety of two cases of beer to allow ASUW to play “Mr. Smith Goes to the Union to hammer out how much money the Voodoo club gets for their spring mixer.”  Beer, to me, typically seems to enhance the state of this campus more than any political official in the ranks of ASUW I’ve encountered through my four years on campus.

Regarding the specific issue of athletics however, I find the argument in question to be short-sighted and lacking acknowledgement of the full athletic achievements on our campus of the University of Wyoming.  

There is no denying the fact that the athletics department “pushes” football and men’s basketball more than any other sport, but that does not mean the student fee to athletics is solely devoted to those two sports.

I will be graduating from Wyoming in a week or so, and after that, if I intend to see every Wyoming football game in the coming season without being a student, it will cost me $195.

Conversely, for the $77.50 athletics student fee, UW students are granted access to every home event in the following sports: football, volleyball, wrestling, soccer, swimming & diving, tennis, cross country, track & field and basketball. I did not mention golf but should the university ever open up tournament play at Jacoby, I guarantee that students would not have to pay to see the university golfers in action.

As far as the qualitative flaws within Hesse’s piece, I would like to point out some successes from UW sports in recent years.  Volleyball finished with more than 20 wins this year, as did women’s basketball. Wrestling yielded two All-Americans; swimming and diving won many events, as did cross country and track with multiple individual and team accolades.  Soccer, golf, tennis?  All successful. At least more than the .358 combined winning percentage from the football and men’s basketball teams over the past three years.

At the end of the day, your perspective on this issue comes down to your priorities. If you regret the last three years of fees you have paid and would rather get season tickets for one year with the Nuggets or get 30 cases of PBR, go for it.  

As for me, I consider the opportunity to support my school and peers in all sports a worthy reason to spend less than $100.  More than school spirit or financial sensibility however, I consider the admission to all UW sporting events completely worthwhile, at the very least, for the free t-shirts.

Wesley Gates Kempton

Senior, Communication Major