Athletic Funds

In response to “Giving Women a Sporting Chance,” editorial, Oct. 24:

I agree with your conclusions about the division of athletic funds on the basis of gender equality with respect to the Cal State system, but I disagree that the same rules should be applied to USC and UCLA. At those institutions football and basketball are quasi-professional sports, which generate about the same gross revenues from admissions and TV rights as the Lakers, Clippers, Rams and Raiders.

The avowedly professional teams pay their players sums totaling in the millions of dollars, while college participants receive little more than free tuition. A fairer distribution of athletic monies at USC and UCLA would be to grant football and basketball players a one-third share of all gross revenues from their respective sports, with the remaining two-thirds of revenues divided equally to support all non-revenue-producing sports on a gender-blind basis.

EDWIN J. PERKINS

Los Angeles