The crowd is on theirfeet yelling and cheering for their favorite member on the team. The group isgoing from yard line to yard line quickly and smoothly. This is an excitingprogram. However, it isn't what you think: it's a marching band performing duringa football game.

How is it that even though the band works extremely hard,performs for the crowd, and competes, football teams and most other sports teamscontinue to get more money for their programs? I am not saying that those sportsdo not deserve the money, I just believe that music and other arts programsshould come before sports. Some very talented people play instruments and deserverecognition for their achievements. Did you know that some colleges don't evenoffer scholarships for music? I don't believe that scoring points, putting a ballthrough a hoop or in a net is as important as being able to make people laugh orcry with emotional music or other art. A world without sports would be lessentertaining, but a world without the arts would be extremelydepressing.

I look at the newspaper and see schools around the countrylosing programs that inspire creativity, intelligent thinking, and buildcharacter. Then I turn the page and find that a school's basketball team wontheir game the night be-fore, and it makes me very angry. While sports programsare thriving, music and art programs are slowly, tortuously, dying out.

It is imperative that school boards organize equal or better funding for music,art, and theater programs. Let's save the constructive ways to express joy,sorrow and anger before teens turn to something else. People always say that weneed to find a way to make the world a better place. Well, this is a good firststep.