FOOTBALL, EDUCATION & RACE: A BIRMINGHAM EXAMINATION

     In this morning's WALL STREET JOURNAL, Brett Pulley
examines the battle between residents and the city over helping
the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) establish its
Division I-A college football program.  Specifically, the
Birmingham City Council voted to give UAB $2.2M to upgrade its
football program I by 1996.  "To some people in the loose
coalition opposing" the city giving money to UAB to start
football, "the controversy boils down to a frustration with the
dominance of the university locally and the dominance of football
here and throughout the state."  In the mid-'80s the city gave
$1M to the USFL's Birmingham Stallions to start their franchise.
The city received "some used uniforms and equipment in return for
its investment."  In '91, the city decided to give the World
League's Birmingham Fire stadium concession funds.  Opponents of
public funding to UAB for football say the money would be better
spent on education and economic revitalization of the city (WALL
STREET JOURNAL, 11/23).