Remember When They Called it a Full Ride?

In Steve Springer’s article (“Begging for Change,” Oct. 19) he paints a sordid picture of life in big-time college athletics, especially for football players from indigent homes. I know the feeling of an empty stomach and it is not a pleasant one, but I also know that the solution is not in the provision of NCAA by-laws allowing payment to college athletes.

What UCLA’s Donnie Edwards is truly saying is that he doesn’t get enough money to live on in the manner in which he would like to live. Thousands of potential students in this country from poverty-stricken homes would do cartwheels for the kind of educational opportunities bestowed on football players. We often forget that the college experience often requires a measure of self-discipline and sacrifice, merely for the opportunity to advance oneself, never mind worrying about driving a Pinto instead of a BMW.

Be assured too that a national strike by college athletes would gain no more favor with the general public than did the major league baseball strike.

CURTIS W. TONG

Claremont

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I agree with Donnie Edwards. The full-scholarship student-athletes on the vaunted gridiron UCLA Bruins, who regularly attract standing-room-only crowds at the Rose Bowl, deserve more than the $10,000-$15,000 a year in funding they receive. The California taxpayers should all kick in additional cash and a BMW so Mr. Edwards and others will feel like they belong in Westwood.

JOHN HOUGH

Culver City