Fw *telegram Article..new Stadium Quotes

[OldTimer]

http://www.star-telegram.com/college_sport...ory/803985.html

[FirefightnRick]

Yesterady's event was first class all the way. Great job RV and company.

Also, I got a chance to peek at the new Media guide. Very cool looking! Great job to Eric Capper on this as I believe it's the very best yet.

It was great to see all of you again. Can't wait for the season to get here.

Rick

[NT91]

Yes a very nice job by all!

[BeanCounterGrad'03]

Did we see this coming for Padron...I believe this was the first time I heard that he had diabetes.

It sux but he's gotta do what's best for his health.

[Dodge2007]

Out of the athletic office, look for two former SLC players not to be on the roster this season. I would be shocked if they come back.

I guess the skipper of the freakin SS Minnow has good intel.

[UNTflyer]

A separate athletics fee is surprising to me. That would require legislative approval, and I just can't trust politicians with our future.

Why not just raise the fee now to get the stadium moving, then seek to separate the fee down the road?

[NT80]

A separate athletics fee is surprising to me. That would require legislative approval, and I just can't trust politicians with our future.

Why not just raise the fee now to get the stadium moving, then seek to separate the fee down the road?

OK, I'm confused. I thought a per-semester-hour athletic fee is what students were going to vote on in October and that is what was needed. Is this now something different? What's the difference in fees and what is best "long term" for UNT Athletics??

"Bataille favors a student referendum on a new per-semester-hour athletic fee to help finance the project. UNT currently has a student services fee that helped pay for a new campus recreation center and natatorium, as well as other women’s athletic facilities. It’s rumored that a vote could occur as early as this fall. If students pass it, the Board of Regents, and likely the Texas Legislature, would need to approve an athletic fee. Currently, the athletic department budgets out of the student services fee pool, and "that is not the way to run an athletic program," Bataille said."

[UNTflyer]

OK, I'm confused. I thought a per-semester-hour athletic fee is what students were going to vote on in October and that is what was needed. Is this now something different? What's the difference in fees and what is best "long term" for UNT Athletics??

I had thought we were just raising the student services fee. The difference is that an athletics fee would have to be first voted on by students, then approved by the state legislature. That scares me.

[Green Dozer]

I had thought we were just raising the student services fee. The difference is that an athletics fee would have to be first voted on by students, then approved by the state legislature. That scares me.

The student vote or the state legislature vote scares you? Flyer, I know your Facebook stats don't reflect it, but I think the student vote should scare you. It was going to be a challenge to pass a fee increase, but now an additonal fee. That will be tough given the high price of food, gas, etc. right now. FYI, your work and enthusiasm is appreciated.

[UNTflyer]

The student vote or the state legislature vote scares you? Flyer, I know your Facebook stats don't reflect it, but I think the student vote should scare you. It was going to be a challenge to pass a fee increase, but now an additonal fee. That will be tough given the high price of food, gas, etc. right now. FYI, your work and enthusiasm is appreciated.

The student vote doesn't scare me. As long as the information gets out there, that we would move the athletics portion of the student services fee to a dedicated athletics fee and add a small, incremental increase.

The legislative approval scares me. It can get tabled in committee, it can be added as an amendment to an unpopular bill (like what happened to the Law School), they can miss the deadline for getting the bill in front of the House, it can simply be voted down by the strong UT/A&M-connected legislators. I just see a lot more potential for failure in the Legislature. And keep in mind, our legislature meets only once every two years -- if it fails this session, it won't get another chance until 2011.

[DeepGreen]

The legislative approval scares me. It can get tabled in committee, it can be added as an amendment to an unpopular bill (like what happened to the Law School), they can miss the deadline for getting the bill in front of the House, it can simply be voted down by the strong UT/A&M-connected legislators. I just see a lot more potential for failure in the Legislature. And keep in mind, our legislature meets only once every two years -- if it fails this session, it won't get another chance until 2011.

All good points. Too many opportunities for legislators to keep North Texas down once again.

[UNTflyer]

All good points. Too many opportunities for legislators to keep North Texas down once again.

Exactly. I just don't see any advantage for creating a separate athletics fee.

[NCMeanGreen]

The student vote or the state legislature vote scares you? Flyer, I know your Facebook stats don't reflect it, but I think the student vote should scare you. It was going to be a challenge to pass a fee increase, but now an additonal fee. That will be tough given the high price of food, gas, etc. right now. FYI, your work and enthusiasm is appreciated.

OK...maybe I am naive as hell...but why would the student body NOT want a new stadium, even if it meant a new fee increase!!??!!

We need that new stadium in order to be competitive, and surpass other schools. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SCHOOL PRIDE!!?!?!?

Also, this is T E X A S for crying out loud...doesn't EVERYONE LOVE FOOTBALL!!!

Do what is right for your school...U...N...T...EAGLES, U.N.T. EAGLES FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!!

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

All good points. Too many opportunities for legislators to keep North Texas down once again.

--- We need to get more UNT alums in the legislature. Even non UT and Aggies might be helpful as well. We would been UNT instead of NTSU as early as 1961 if the UT alums in the Senate had not objected to the name and refused to pass what had been approved by the House..

---There are three ways that our Law school can be shot down.... First they have to pass the Law School, then then they have to fund it, and then the Governor has to sign it (actually not veto it) . In the last session our "fine" Governor vetoed (line veto) the health insurance for community colleges that had been state funded for years. In many cases the local college districts had to raise taxes or in our case they cancelled the raise we were to get and diverted it to insurance. I know this sounds political but it is with reason... and not because of his political party he. He doesn't seem very pro-UNT or even pro-education either.

Edited August 3, 2008 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[woody82986]

OK...maybe I am naive as hell...but why would the student body NOT want a new stadium, even if it meant a new fee increase!!??!!

We need that new stadium in order to be competitive, and surpass other schools. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SCHOOL PRIDE!!?!?!?

Also, this is T E X A S for crying out loud...doesn't EVERYONE LOVE FOOTBALL!!!

Do what is right for your school...U...N...T...EAGLES, U.N.T. EAGLES FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!!

Yes... It's you being naive. I honestly don't know where some of you people went to college or hung out during college but it wasn't UNT or the places I have hung out in. The people I know and the people I run around with are all for the new stadium and whatever we need to get it done. To a good portion of the students at UNT, this would simply be one more fee that they don't an and won't benefit from. The majority of UNT students have NO school pride. ZIP, ZILCH, Nada. No, not everyone loves football. No, not everyone gives a crap about the university, which is evident by the large numbers of students walking around with Tech, UT, OU, and A&M shirts and hats on. It's almost like we are the biggest junior college in the US!!! There is a core of great students who cares about UNT, UNT sports, UNT everything... but that's a minority. If you ask every student at UNT if they are ok with increasing fees for almost any reason, the answer would be no. That's just reality. What we have to do is overcome that sentiment with education on the facts about a new stadium, and get the people who agree with our side of this coin to the polls when the vote comes. I am sure people have already started spreading half truths and outright lies about the new stadium because they don't have the facts and don't care to learn. All they know is they don't want to pay any more money each year than they absolutely have to. I'm simply tired of half the Alums on here wondering why the hell all 34,000 students aren't packing the stadium each home game in the fall. It's just not going to happen right now or overnight. I think the work that has been done to increase student involvement in atletic events lately has been great and we are growing a great core of UNT fans that will help snowball the excitement for UNT athletics, but we are taking steps now that will show noticeable improvement a few years from now... and not today. I want this student vote to pass because I know we need it and I know I want a new stadium. We just need to realize that not everyone feels the same way as we do, and we need to realize that as much sense as a new stadium makes to us, it won't make sense to everyone... Wow, I think this might be my longest rant ever on this message board. Hope it makes sense. I need a beer. haha GO MEAN GREEN!!!

[mad dog]

OK...maybe I am naive as hell...but why would the student body NOT want a new stadium, even if it meant a new fee increase!!??!!

We need that new stadium in order to be competitive, and surpass other schools. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SCHOOL PRIDE!!?!?!?

Also, this is T E X A S for crying out loud...doesn't EVERYONE LOVE FOOTBALL!!!

Do what is right for your school...U...N...T...EAGLES, U.N.T. EAGLES FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!!!

The reasons are many and varied. It can be something as simple as not wanting to pay more money or as complicated as a deep-seated objection to subsizing the social elite. But the fact is that, aside from that small but wonderful core of students who really appreciate and embrace their school, it is a sea of apathy and "fight the power." UT and A&M draw students who are ready to be proud of their school, who are mature enough to realize that being proud of your school actually helps you. North Texas tends to draw the student who is either in nothing more than a degree, or the student who wants to go to school at a place where it is chic to bag on it. And it drives me crazy that the one thing that would send a message that "the era of apathy is ending" is being put in the hands of the people who have made it their mission to oppose it.

I hate to say it, but I find myself asking the tough question: if North Texas is currently ruled by the apathetic, if generations of students have worked and are working to keep it that way, and if the administration isn't going to push for wholesale change, then when is it okay to ask "what's the point?"

Maybe some of the oldtimers have some advice on how to handle it, but I am struggling with justifying continual expenditures of time, money, and attention when it seems like everyone is content to wallow in apathy and mediocrity. Is this why we have so many graduates and alums that give up on North Texas and follow a program that is serious about improving itself?

What do I say to the guy who asks me why he should pay attention to a school that won't address such a glaring deficiency without approval from a group of students who will never accept it?

[UNTflyer]

Let's just wait and see what happens this fall. I know that school spirit is better than it has been in recent history. There is support on campus for the stadium, but it won't be a cakewalk. It will take a lot of hard work, but I believe when the stadium drawings come out and the campaign begins to get the fee passed, we will be happy with the results.

[Green Dozer]

The student vote doesn't scare me. As long as the information gets out there, that we would move the athletics portion of the student services fee to a dedicated athletics fee and add a small, incremental increase.

The legislative approval scares me. It can get tabled in committee, it can be added as an amendment to an unpopular bill (like what happened to the Law School), they can miss the deadline for getting the bill in front of the House, it can simply be voted down by the strong UT/A&M-connected legislators. I just see a lot more potential for failure in the Legislature. And keep in mind, our legislature meets only once every two years -- if it fails this session, it won't get another chance until 2011.

I do not think the UT/A&M legislators care as much as a lot of people think. I do not think they would vote down something that has been passed by the students. It is wishful thinking that UT/A&M care what we do.

[UNTflyer]

I do not think the UT/A&M legislators care as much as a lot of people think. I do not think they would vote down something that has been passed by the students. It is wishful thinking that UT/A&M care what we do.

If the bill stood on its own, I would agree. But these things often are tacked on as an amendment, and it only takes one committee chairman with an agenda to either stick it on an unpopular bill to ensure it fails, or a popular and necessary bill to ensure its success.

[eulessismore]

If the bill stood on its own, I would agree. But these things often are tacked on as an amendment, and it only takes one committee chairman with an agenda to either stick it on an unpopular bill to ensure it fails, or a popular and necessary bill to ensure its success.

A good point, UNTFlyer, especially considering that it was an amendment that sank (for now, anyway)the UNT Law School towards the end of a legislative session. Indifference can't be relied on when the legislature is in session!

[drex]

Before you have a heart attack over this thing, just remember one name---Bill Miller, circa 1990. Now, do your homework and you will see why I am not quite as panicked by a student vote on a worthwhile project.

[UNTflyer]

Before you have a heart attack over this thing, just remember one name---Bill Miller, circa 1990. Now, do your homework and you will see why I am not quite as panicked by a student vote on a worthwhile project.

Why don't you narrow it down a bit? "Bill Miller" and 1990 turns up a lot of hits on Google.

[eulessismore]

Before you have a heart attack over this thing, just remember one name---Bill Miller, circa 1990. Now, do your homework and you will see why I am not quite as panicked by a student vote on a worthwhile project.

Is this the matter in question?

Bill Miller throws down the gauntlet, UNT 1990.

[UNTflyer]

Is this the matter in question?

Bill Miller throws down the gauntlet, UNT 1990.

Now that's funny.

[UNTFan23]

Now that's funny.

I wonder if it was passed.