By
The Wildcat Opinions Board
John Mackovic, the new UA football coach, has a big name and an even bigger prospective salary. Today, the Arizona Board of Regents will decide whether to approve his $800,000 salary offer.
Mackovic should earn the proposed amount.
However, the efforts of 1,352 UA professors who earn an average $69,870 - less than 10 percent of Mackovic's proposed salary - should be financially recognized as well.
The UA should attract the best in sports, administration and academics. Unfortunately, university priorities usually rank in that order. When the UA proposes $800,000 for a coach, it makes a statement that sports deserve more money than academics.
The communications department should not be starved for professors. Teaching assistants should not be practically starving because their salaries and benefits packages are too low. Professors ought to receive pay hikes - now. Campus day care should actually happen.
The argument is cliche, but it's true.
Many programs at the UA deserve more funding than they're getting, and a slew of professors deserve more money than their current salary. While the university has no major reason not to invest in its athletic department by paying Mackovic such a considerable sum, it should prove that it is not valuing athletics over academics.
Revenue the athletic department generates benefits the entire university. But if the athletic department is a rainmaker, it needs to share the wealth.
Mackovic's grand entrance into the UA athletic department is an exciting prospect for many reasons. His fame as a former ESPN announcer and as a great offensive strategist could both bring in money at the UA and improve the team as a whole. In the sports world, it is in the upper end of coachs' salaries. For the UA, which is trying hard to improve its football program, this investment is not unreasonable.
But in reality, does his skill in the world of football warrant his earning a bigger salary than professors who have been educating people for years? More than UA basketball coach and legend Lute Olson? More than Gov. Jane D. Hull, and even the President of the United States?
Former UA football coach Dick Tomey earned just over $500,000. If Mackovic gets a salary hike, so should university educators. A team generating money is not more valuable than an academic department.
Financial priority lies with sports. This is a social reality that is hard to immediately change. But if the Regents approve Mackovic's salary today without demanding and facilitating more funding for other areas of campus, it is stating that a man who has absolutely no relationship to academics-the primary focus of the university-is worth more than professors. It is taking the path of least resistance by legitimizing society's glamorization of sports.
The Regents should give Mackovic the estimated $800,000. But it needs to give more to the UA community.
It's about fairness, and it's about time.
