Press Releases

December 13, 2001
Students Say Federal Funding Not the Answer to Preventing Terrorism in Sports

Owners, players and fans--not the U.S. Gov't--deserve burden of financing security for professional sports events, according to Sports PR class at Southampton College

Contact:
Darren Johnson
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081

In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the U.S. government should not bear the brunt of financing the safety of professional sporting events. That's one of several conclusions reached by Southampton College students who have been assessing terrorism's impact on the sports industry.

Although the government will spend billions to ensure homeland safety, and may federalize airport security, students in a course titled "Sports Public Relations" were opposed to major federal subsidies that would beef up security for multi-millionaire owners and players.

"Since the owners, players and fans are all concerned with safety, all of them should pay their share of the expense," said Logan Kingston of Westampton, NY. The class recommended that players should contribute 1 percent of their salary, owners should pay 1 percent of the team payroll, and fans should pay a 25-cent tax per ticket.

In regard to civil liberty issues, the students at Long Island University's Southampton College were divided on how much impact terrorism should have on sports:

• They supported the use of video surveillance at sporting events, even if it included videotaping every single entrant to an arena or stadium.

• The Southampton College students opposed restrictions on contact between fans and players (such as baseball players signing autographs during warm-ups), despite acknowledging that fame and wealth could make athletes terrorist targets. Fan contact, they determined, was too integral to the nature of spectator sports.

• The students supported government control of the airspace over major sporting events, even if it disrupted travel for the masses.

The "Sports Public Relations" course, offered through the College's Division of Professional Studies, is taught by Joseph Dionisio, a features editor at Newsday, and a sports journalist. The course is part of a minor in Sports Administration at Southampton.

Herb Sherman, director of the division, says Southampton College is one of the few colleges in the nation offering the minor in Sports Administration. "The minor is a natural for many of our student-athletes," he said. "Those who don't want to enter the sports industry as players can get in as administrators."

The students in the class, eight of whom play intercollegiate athletics for the College, include: Mike Daquino, a senior from Farmingville, NY; Chris Dell?Anno, a junior from Flushing, NY; Rafael Diaz Jr, a senior from Bronx, NY; Nyree Frazier, a sophomore from Bridgeport, CT; James Grigo, a senior from Southampton, NY; Diane Guest, a senior from Springfield, TN; Nicole Harmon, a sophomore from South Ogden, UT; Logan Kingston, a junior from Westampton, NY; Jason Lewis, a senior from Roosevelt, NY; Andreas Nilsson, a sophomore from Svedala, Sweden; Angela Panzarella, a sophomore from Holtsville, NY; Scott Schult, a junior from Williamsville, NY; Delmar Shaw, a sophomore from Riverhead, NY; and Teresa Stewart, a sophomore from Allentown, PA.