Few good options for University of Alaska Fairbanks sports: As forum nears, it’s time to confront reality of paying for services - Fairbanks Daily News-Miner editorial

The University of Alaska Fairbanks plans to host a public forum asking community members to help them pick the best of a bad bunch of options for campus athletics. Scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday, the forum will be a discussion of the potential scenarios put forward by a working group as part of UA President Jim Johnsen’s Strategic Pathways plan. That framework is a means for the university to make long-term changes that will help it streamline and cope with reduced budgets that have become reality in the wake of an ongoing oil price slump and state revenue crisis. And perhaps more than any other budget action, the potential reduction or elimination of college sports have done something important: They have made the public aware that budget cuts are real and consequential — and they will have some very unpopular effects that could be unavoidable. http://www.newsminer.com/opinion/editorials/few-good-options-for-university-of-alaska-fairbanks-sports-as/article_e8dfddde-6f50-11e6-8d16-ef3dcb3b3728.html