New Jersey

...to a comparable the passion of those who think that that the purpose of educational institutions should be to fill stadiums.

Because Rutgers couldn't "afford" to assist my son in his engineering degrees, it worked out for the best, as he was generously funded right through a Masters degree at a university that valued his intellect and is now in an excellent doctoral program.

They had a football team at his University of course; the weren't very good at playing football but the University did manage to turn out some people who should have fine productive careers before them not tied to jock straps and tailgate parties.

The bottom line is that he is unlikely to return here to work. When Phil Murphy ran for Governor he specifically pointed to this issue in the rally I attended, but it seems we still value football above what I believe would be a more worthy goal.

I'm disgusted that Rutgers values jock straps more than art, more than science, and more than engineering since again, my personal priorities define something other than sports mania as the reason to have universities. I can't really think that placing high value on a game should override the other serious issues before the State of New Jersey.

I fully acknowledge that there are people in New Jersey who are thrilled to contribute to Michigan and and other Big 10 football programs by providing an easy foe to beat, albeit an expensive foe for us, but I would wish to fund other priorities. They're paying the football coach 4 million bucks a year. They could fund the stipends of around 130 graduate students for that money, fulfilling what I personally regard as the prime mission of educational institutions, producing highly educated citizens.

I'm sorry if my opinion offends anyone, but I stand by that opinion.