'It is really unfortunate and surprising that Gov. Riley has chosen to defend the payment of $4 million by the University of Alabama to the new football coach Nick Saban. His stipulation that the pay will not come from taxpayer money is oversimplification at its worst.

Even the common man on the street knows that such a big expenditure will now force the university to raise its tuition fees, cut scholarships, increase stadium ticket prices and quadruple the lease payments of its stadium concessionaires. Even the donors to the Alabama athletic program will now have to multiply their contributions to offset the pay raise of coach Saban.

Sadly, ordinary students and middle-class ticket holders will be the main victims of such misappropriation of university funds. How about the parents of the students who now have to suffer additional financial burdens by paying more for their children's tuition fees? Are they not Alabama taxpayers?

Such a very big payout also sends a very wrong signal regarding the priorities of the university. It now becomes very apparent that education is no longer the No. 1 priority in the campus. It is also now clear that boosters run the university, instead of academic minds.

It is also perplexing that the university is pleading for more money from the state educational trust funds, but at the same time has the audacity to squander annually $4 million of university funds to gain football prestige. UA is an educational institution, not an NFL franchise.

Mark Esmero
Montgomery'