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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   30419 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of November 21, 2022

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How Colleges and Sports-Betting Companies ‘Caesarized’ Campus Life

The online gambling deals have helped athletic departments recoup some of the revenue they lost during the pandemic. The partnerships bring in extra funds that schools can use to sign marquee coaches and build winning sports teams. Mr. Haller, Michigan State’s athletic director, said in a news release at the time of the Caesars deal that it would provide “significant resources to support the growing needs of each of our varsity programs.”

The partnerships raise questions, however, about whether promoting gambling on campus — especially to people who are at an age when they are vulnerable to developing gambling disorders — fits the mission of higher education.

Some aspects of the deals also appear to violate the gambling industry’s own rules against marketing to underage people. The “Responsible Marketing Code” published by the American Gaming Association, the umbrella group for the industry, says sports betting should not be advertised on college campuses.

promoting gambling to 18 year olds is the latest way in which college sports are distorting the goal of college. at uc boulder, the school gets $30 every time someone downloads an app and makes a bet. the faculty managed to ensure that this money went to the right causes, though:

“We came up with the idea that the money from the referral bonus could actually go toward diversity and inclusion and equity efforts at the university, in particular because a lot of the money in athletics are made from underrepresented minorities,” Mr. Hornstein said. A spokesman for the university’s chancellor, Philip DiStefano, confirmed that some of the money will be used to expand mental health and diversity initiatives.

I recently had to take a road trip to Oklahoma. I live in one of the strictest states in the country for pot; Oklahoma has extremely loose regs on medical marijuana.

Now, I should say up front- I don’t care about people smoking pot on their couch, but I want nothing to do with it, don’t like it or want to be around it or even be reminded overmuch it exists, but you do you.

And, well, seeing the billboards for medical marijuana(prescription guaranteed!) or obviously non medical marijuana for prescription holders made me rethink my ‘this stuff should be legal so we can tax it and spend the money on roads instead of having the black market spend it on murdering children in Mexico’. Strip clubs are now the only Vice that’s allowed to be a Vice in dark corners; you have to drag everything else out into the public view and make us aware of it. And all this in rural Oklahoma.

It’s funny, because the OK government used to be soooooo upset about marijuana that it kept suing Colorado. Pay no mind to the enormous casino next to the Red River; it’s Chickasaw, so it’s fine. Random pop-up gambling at gas stations, they’re cool too. But keep that devil’s lettuce out of here.

At least opioid abuse is still impolite.

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