Letters on school football, WSU president, legislative computer system, Billy Graham
School football not worth physical cost
The tragic and early death of a young Kansas football player should be memorialized by ending school football (“Student-athlete collapses at game, later dies,” Nov. 5 Eagle).
Such deaths are rare, fortunately. But concussion is common. Five to 20 percent of young players have at least one concussion in every season of practice. Young athletes who have one concussion are at two or three times increased risk for more concussions in the same or following season of play. One concussion marks a huge increased risk of a catastrophic head or neck injury. Rules, equipment, referees and monitoring help very little.
Kids go to school to learn. Each concussion often results in headaches, memory loss, absenteeism and difficulty concentrating. Why do we damage our students this way?
A kid in a small school is often under peer pressure to “choose” to play. There is a scarcity of eligible players. Coaches often send kids back to play too soon.
Ending school football would leave opportunities like the Pop Warner leagues for students who want to play. Ending school football would divert physical education resources and time to activities that last a lifetime: workouts, bicycling, jogging, etc. What lesson will be memorialized from this young man’s death?
Steven Miles, Minneapolis, Minn.
Professor of medicine, University of Minnesota
Turned blind eye
As last year’s student body president at Wichita State University, I see some stark similarities between ousted University of Missouri president Tim Wolfe and WSU president John Bardo. Both turned a blind eye to the marginalization of minority groups at their respective campuses.
Wolfe didn’t use his position to condemn the systemic racism that affected many of his students. Similarly, Bardo did not condemn the racist, bigoted comments directed toward students at his institution regarding the renovation of the WSU chapel. Like Wolfe, he abandoned his students at the moment of public criticism. That is not leadership, and there has been no accountability yet for Bardo’s inaction.
I was told that Bardo didn’t want to renovate the chapel because it would hurt the school’s political and financial relationships. He and his leadership team have somehow flipped the narrative to read that they were supportive of the changes from the beginning. Such misrepresentations show he is focused solely on courting private donors and members of the Legislature.
Matt Conklin, Wichita
Proud of work
Ensuring that Kansas taxpayers and their hard-earned tax dollars are carefully and wisely used is a bedrock objective in providing state services. All involved must be prudent managers of public resources.
That’s why it’s important that Kansas taxpayers understand more of what’s being done to address implementation issues surrounding the Legislature’s computer system. Unfortunately, some facts about this have been incorrectly reported.
Propylon has the highest regard for the outstanding work done by the staff of the Legislature. These employees often are asked to do the nearly impossible and have it done yesterday. Unfortunately, that pace can lead to shortcuts, and when those shortcuts become embedded in the system, technical problems inevitably result.
But those problems can only be resolved when they’re specifically identified and protocols are followed for resolution. Unfortunately, that never happened. In July, upon learning of legislative frustrations, we set out to resolve issues (July 19 Eagle). Yet this effort was met with further delays.
Propylon is working in partnership with Kansas to resolve the situation. We’re proud of the work we’ve done in Kansas and look forward to a good outcome.
John Harrington, Lawrence
Chief executive officer, Propylon
Missing Graham
I have read The Eagle my entire life. (I am now 84.) It is a real disappointment to me that The Eagle has discontinued the Rev. Billy Graham’s column. His wisdom spans all generations and provides daily inspiration for many.
Irene Shaw, Wichita
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This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 6:04 PM with the headline "Letters on school football, WSU president, legislative computer system, Billy Graham."