Where Is Plumm?

[eulessismore]

He posted here today.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

I am starting to miss him too. Where are you Jim?

[PlummMeanGreen]

Hey, thanks for all the MG "huggles." (Is that even a word)?

Thanks for the emails the last few weeks from both the progressives and the, uh, regressives (and you know who you are, right)?!?!?

Seriously, I've been taking a sabbatical at the suggestion of SUMG who said my material was getting a bit old, a bit trite and all but sounded like the kind of lagniape that you might expect from someone who had dimensia.

I did tell SUMG that I agreed to the point that I was even getting tired of reading my same ol' crap myself and so I have taken some time off to start working on my next 9,000 plus posts!

GMG!

PS: I hope everyone's recent holidays were happy ones.

Edited January 15, 2008 by PlummMeanGreen

[Mean Green 93-98]

Good to know that all is still right in the world.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Good to know that all is still right in the world.

You are making me blush, Mean Green 93-98!

I would like to re-post this from one of our Young Gun Alums (at the suggestion of one of my fellow Old Gun Alums from the golden Gulf Coast of Texas).

A great post (below in bold) from ADLER! (And "A-Man" be watching for more proof of conspiracy and codes, pal)!

North Texas has dug it's own hole over the last half century. Is it time to climb out of it? Do we have the right people in place to accomplish that?

For decades the university failed to promote itself through investing properly in athletics. Subsequently, there was very little student loyalty which later resulted in alumni apathy. Instead of gaining publicity through self promotion, the university quietly boasted that it was a 'best value for your money' alternative. The university quickly degenerated into being generic brand X of colleges, reknowned for cheapness not quality.

Athletics were funded on a shoestring budget, enough money to fund the existence of teams, not enough to make them successful enough that they weren't forced to sell 'guarantee' games which are almost certain losses. A perception has been created that North Texas can sometimes be competitive against Sun Belt level schools but routinely gets demolished once it competes outside the Belt against more familiar schools.

Is it time for change?

North Texas was recently listed by the Federal Department of Education as having the 10th largest full-time undergraduate enrollment of all Division 1 colleges in the nation. The numbers are slightly skewed by the 600 or so students at the Dallas campus, but the message is clear that North Texas is easily one of the twenty largest universities in the United States. When it comes to having ability to support athletics size does matter, at least it should. Link Which schools are larger than North Texas and what are their athletic departments like?

Other large schools around the nation have faced the same dilemma. The Sun Belt's two Florida schools FAU and FIU, also colleges with very large enrollment figures have recently decided on plans to build new facilities and create an identity for the schools much like South Florida and Central Florida have done in the last decade. The initial investment was created by increased athletics service fees and the newly created spirit has resulted in massive amounts of before unseen alumni contributions and corporate sponsorships.

Here in Texas, UTSA faced the same dilemma, a large school in a major metropolitan area, having no national image, and being viewed by it’s own community as strictly an educational appliance for students for students that didn't have the opportunity to go elsewhere.

UTSA has responded; UTSA has solicited the city of San Antonio and Bexar County for financial support to build UTSA athletic facilities. The Bexar County bond alone would provide $15 Million to the school. UTSA has also ditched the idea of marketing itself on being cheap to attend. This school year UTSA voted to increase their student athletic fees to the maximum allowed by state law ( $20.00 per credit capped at $240 per semester per student.) Link

Should North Texas also start escalating the athletics fee towards the state maximum? At $240 per semester North Texas athletics would already be able to budget $16 million before a singe ticket is sold, donation is solicited, or corporate sponsorship is made. Is it what North Texas needs to start correcting an issue that was created decades ago?

Is there added costs for the students? Yes. Is it a deal maker/breaker for the students? No. North Texas will still be one of the best values among all colleges.

Should North Texas make a simlar financial commitment? Can it afford not to?

Should alumni and the business community be expected to make a financil investment in something that doesn't seem committed to helping itself? Nobody wants to donate their money towards something they view as having a future of futility.

Will Dr. Bataille strive for making the university into a 'name' university or let it continue to toil in anonimity as a generic educational appliance that invests just enough in athletics to claim they exist.

Edited January 15, 2008 by PlummMeanGreen

[EagleMBA]

All Right!!! A "Plumm fix"! I see the rumors of your demise were greatly exaggerated.

[ADLER]

All Right!!! A "Plumm fix"! I see the rumors of your demise were greatly exaggerated.

Plumm has resurrected.

Is this a Festivus miracle, or another clue in the Plumminci Code?

Welcome back Plumm. People are probably already assigning numerical values to the letters in that latest post trying to decypher the encrypted messages.

[JesseMartin]

You people are nuts...

...

...

...and coming from me, that should mean something

[NT1978]

Plumm has resurrected.

Is this a Festivus miracle, or another clue in the Plumminci Code?

Welcome back Plumm. People are probably already assigning numerical values to the letters in that latest post trying to decypher the encrypted messages.

Adler,

I think you're on to something here. In Plumm's return post there are 35Words in the first two paragraphs and there are 35Es in the remaining post. So somewhere at the intersection of the 35Words and the 35Es lies the solution to all of the Mean Green's problems. Now if we could just figure out what that meant...