Human Capital

   News items: Philadelphia drops school music program to save money and meet budget. But not football.
   Chicago is spending $33 million toward a 10,000 seat, $173 million basketball arena for a private school, even as it closes 50 public schools because of a $1 billion budget deficit.
   "We can't afford neighborhood schools, but we can bankroll an unnecessary basketball arena for a private university?" said a New York Times report, quoting Bob Fioretti, a Chicago alderman. The new arena would host the team from DePaul University, the largest Roman Catholic college in the nation.
   Meanwhile, many college football coaches are paid more than university presidents.
   In times of budget-trimming, the first to go are music and art programs. True, not everyone has music and art talent.
   But it's also true that not everyone makes the team, or even has the ability to play. True, everyone can watch sports. Also true, everyone can listen to music.
   Moreover, injury and age can halt a playing career, but the mind works always.
   And yes, revenue from ticket sales and media coverage can subsidize other academic pursuits, and defenders claim it does. But in what proportion?
   To a large extent, college football is a farm team system for the professional league, the NFL. Unlike baseball farm teams, however, college players are not paid. Officially, that is. Supposedly, they are still amateurs.

   On balance, many young folks see no adequate return on their investment in higher education. Certainly not from a degree in the Humanities, despite warnings and urgings from senior corporate executives and think tank studies. As far back as the 1980s, Charles L. Brown, chairman of AT&T, cautioned that a well-rounded education -- including the liberal arts -- was essential for those aspiring to senior management.
   And just last week, a report from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences noted that America needs citizens who are "educated in the broadest possible sense," who are "experts in national security, equipped with the cultural understanding, knowledge of social dynamics and language proficiency to lead our foreign service and military."

   So there it is. Not just technical skills, but also a background in culture, sociology, language and other humanist values to fully understand and deal with national and international issues.
   But with schools closing, teachers unemployed, students unable to read, write and calculate at basic levels, how can the nation survive, much less maintain leadership?

   Football, however, seems to be much more important.