UH needs to sort out its priorities
Some criticized the building of the new basketball facility for its misplaced prioritization. | Kevin Portillo/The Cougar
It is becoming clear that UH prioritizes funds in a questionable manner.
After a costly $120 million football field and $25 million upgrades to the basketball development facility, the talk of an enhanced baseball field only leaves me to believe that money management falls in the hands of a teenage boy.
When paint is chipping off the walls in the Roy G. Cullen building and desks are still used from the 1980s and a fountain project still on hiatus, UH is telling its students that sports-related programs are more pressing.
It is commendable to want to boost morale and gain national attention for our talented teams, but at what cost are we giving up necessities for commodities?
Is an upscale sports culture really that important to the everyday commuting student? Do we really need a lounge at a baseball field?
“You can tell that the Cullen building is older, the paint on the walls, and the ceilings are deteriorating,” English senior Anna Dodds said. “It looks like a prison.”
This is the typical learning environment for the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences students who primarily meet in the Cullen building.
Students can be seen struggling to cram tablets and paper on the ancient desks that are provided.
In light of UH expenses, we must remember that hefty salary that fits perfectly into our chancellor’s Louis Vuitton purse, amounts to more than $700,000 annually.
It’s quite a reality check when a chancellor of a university makes more than the president of the United States.
UH provides its chancellor with more than enough to live comfortably and it’s time to distribute some of that to the educators.
“I think the money used for the baseball field could go towards the CLASS department, they overuse the graduate student teachers who barely get salaries enough to live, why not pay them better?” an English senior Mariesha Keys said.
Enhancements in older buildings are the need UH is not considering, the buildings are the heart of a good institution and a reflection of our dedication to equalize the learning field.
Teachers are also the necessities, and they are not properly funded. They are the driving force to delivering us to our dreams and the people on the front line waiting patiently to be paid as such.
UH needs to halt the “innovation” of a sports culture and return to a basic understanding for the purpose of college: create and maintain an environment where education is praised over play.
CORRECTION: The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences was originally misnamed.
Opinion columnist Phylicia Sneed is an English senior and may be reached at [email protected]
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