University clubs deserve as much recognition as basketball program does

Peter Messana makes some interesting points in his letter to the editor ("UA should seek more big sponsors," Thursday). He feels that the basketball program and the university would be better served if they filled the advertisement slots around the court with "multiple big sponsors." Why stop there? Why don't we just find a sponsor who is willing to pay the big bucks to have the entire arena named after it? Yeah, we could change the name from the McKale Memorial Center (sic) to the Arizona Nike Arena. Personally, I think this idea ranks right up there with the idea to do a similar sellout of the Student Union. To think, we could soon have the Microsoft Student Union become the focus of university life on this campus.

Let's use this university for its original purpose - to serve as an institution of higher learning where students can and actually want to be involved. The clubs on campus are doing some wonderful things for the university and the surrounding community. They deserve more recognition and assistance from the UA. Why don't we use the advertising slots to highlight these clubs and organizations? This would certainly help solve the student apathy problem. People might actually want to become involved if we let them know what was out there.

I love basketball. However, I doubt the program is suffering so much that it needs the advertising dollars. It certainly doesn't have as much trouble getting funding as the clubs do. The university should take this opportunity to be different and show that it supports its student body.

By Eric Proctor (letter)
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 20, 1997