Stadium Update

[UNTflyer]

Tonight, Rick V was the guest speaker at the Student Senate meeting and the topic was the football stadium.

He basically went over the need for stadium, the who, when, what, and why which has been discussed here at length.

One new item- there will be a special student section within the student section, one that has about 150 seat backs and a student organization will be chosen for each home game to fill those seats.

At the Tulsa game, we officially had just shy of 7,000 students in attendance. Guys, that is 20% of the entire student body!

Rick stated that we need a dedicated athletics fee, increased from the current $3/hr allocated from the Student Services Fee to $10/hr. This would be an increase of 233%.

I expect a bill to be introduced to the Senate next week asking for a referendum.

Edited September 11, 2008 by UNTflyer

[NT80]

Tonight, Rick V was the guest speaker at the Student Senate meeting and the topic was the football stadium.

He basically went over the need for stadium, the who, when, what, and why which has been discussed here at length.

One new item- there will be a special student section within the student section, one that has about 150 seat backs and a student organization will be chosen for each home game to fill those seats.

At the Tulsa game, we officially had just shy of 7,000 students in attendance.

Rick stated that we need a dedicated athletics fee, increased from the current $3/hr allocated from the Student Services Fee to $10/hr. This would be an increase of 233%.

I expect a bill to be introduced to the Senate next week asking for a referendum.

Thanks for the report. 7000 students was very good; I wish the outcome of the game was different to make them want to come back.

The special student seatback section is a nice incentive to promote. Is this dedicated athletics fee similar to what Lamar, UTSA and Texas State have recently passed? Would this still need to go thru the Texas Legislature since it's not a stadium fee?

Edited September 11, 2008 by NT80

[UNTflyer]

Thanks for the report. 7000 students was very good; I wish the outcome of the game was different to make them want to come back.

The special student seatback section is a nice incentive to promote. Is this dedicated athletics fee similar to what Lamar, UTSA and Texas State have recently passed? Would this still need to go thru the Texas Legislature since it's not for a specific use or stadium fee?

I think the students will continue to come back. If you haven't been on campus during the week this year, you're missing out on a great new spirit of school pride and the concerted efforts to promote the football games. Todd Dodge is constantly promoting the games on campus.

Yes, a dedicated fee is what Texas State et. al. recently passed. All new students fees, no matter what the purpose, must be approved by the state legislature.

[Hunter Green]

That's great news. Thanks for the update!

[Zeke]

Yes, thanks for the update Flyer. Stay after this until it is done!!

[Green Crazy]

Hopefully the seatbacks wont actually be used.

[JesseMartin]

Has there been any explanation why the dedicated fee is going to be based on hours of enrollment rather than a flat fee? I know some people railed against the flat fee for the Rec Center, but the argument in favor was that you can take a 1-hour class and use the amenities just as much as full-time students. Of course, those were the same people who didn't really know much about what was going on. With the Library Fee, it's generally accepted that students who enroll for more credits will have greater need of research and study time, so it makes sense that it's hourly (if it still is).

I'm still concerned about the vote...if the students vote "no", please tell me you're just going to try again next semester instead of overriding their vote again.

Also...20% of the student body is awesome for UNT, depressing as that may sound. Lots of games early in my collegiate stay at North Texas had considerably less than 5% of students there...and we had less students at the time.

[UNTflyer]

I'm still concerned about the vote...if the students vote "no", please tell me you're just going to try again next semester instead of overriding their vote again.

If the students vote "No", I honestly don't know what will happen. It would certainly put a huge dent in the University's plan to move forward in other areas. Overriding the vote in the Senate would be the "nuclear option". I don't believe we will get to that.

Guys, I can't tell you how excited students are about this stadium. And it's all due to Rick V, Todd Dode, Jeff Kline and other student leaders actually going out and selling this plan to the students. When this vote passes, we will owe them all a huge "THANK YOU" for their hard work.

[bstnsportsfan3]

im trying my best to make sure my residents at Victory get all the correct info and go vote....correct info and how this stadium benifits them are hugh....word of mouth is also hugh....im trying my best...and i wanted to give Flyer a Big Thank You for all your doing. RV, Coach Dodge and everyone else is doing a great job and im sure this thing will pass...just the student support and spirit from last year to this year on campus is truly amazing....a BIG TY for everone who is helping make UNT a better place for everyone!

[UNTflyer]

One other thing to note...

HKS wants to make this stadium special. They want to be able to brag about it as it will be their first college football stadium. HKS says they want to build a stadium for "a team of the future"

Also, I want to apologize to the creator of "Students Against a New Stadium", Joe McNulty.

I have claimed on this board that the creator of the group was not even a student. I based this claim on his Facebook profile that says he is a UNT alum. This is not the case. Joe is a current student at UNT and an SGA Senator. His opinion on the stadium is one I disagree with, but as a student his opinion is just as valuable as mine.

Edited September 11, 2008 by UNTflyer

[Green P1]

One other thing to note...

HKS wants to make this stadium special. They want to be able to brag about it as it will be their first college football stadium. HKS says they want to build a stadium for "a team of the future"

Exactly!!

Thats why its so confusing to see the AD keep trotting out the F&S plans. I don't see HKS wanting to add anything that simple to their portfolio.

[houstonmeangreen]

Exactly!!

Thats why its so confusing to see the AD keep trotting out the F&S plans. I don't see HKS wanting to add anything that simple to their portfolio.

So is the stadium we are going to build going to look like the F&S model, or is it something entirely different?

[NT_Eagle]

$10 per hour is pretty outrageous considering what the students pay now. The athletic department better try to keep that part a secret

[UNTflyer]

$10 per hour is pretty outrageous considering what the students pay now. The athletic department better try to keep that part a secret

What's outrageous is that we only charge $3 when Texas A&M Kingsville charges $12/hr.

[NT_Eagle]

What's outrageous is that we only charge $3 when Texas A&M Kingsville charges $12/hr.

Well Texas a&m charges $0 / per hour for a athletic fee, but they don't seem to have any trouble upgrading facilities

[good_ken]

Well Texas a&m charges $0 / per hour for a athletic fee, but they don't seem to have any trouble upgrading facilities

But TAMU does charge student admission into events:

* 19 – Football - $199.50

* 20 – All Sports with Football - $325.00*

* 27 – All Sports without Football - $175.00*

And those ticket locations are handed on a lottery type schedule.

[JesseMartin]

Also, I want to apologize to the creator of "Students Against a New Stadium", Joe McNulty.

I have claimed on this board that the creator of the group was not even a student. I based this claim on his Facebook profile that says he is a UNT alum. This is not the case. Joe is a current student at UNT and an SGA Senator. His opinion on the stadium is one I disagree with, but as a student his opinion is just as valuable as mine.

The question is, is he well-informed and educated, or knee-jerk ignorant? And if well-informed, is he keeping the information from other students in order to bring about in THEM a knee-jerk reaction? I still have a problem with some of the "anti" people on a lot of issues, even my friends, who go out of their way to keep people misinformed so they can get what they want.

[KRAM1]

I hope the athletic dept. is doing what it can to get out the student-athlete vote. With it proposed for $10.00/hr. may will see that as a real burden on UNT's student body without doing any real "comparison shopping" regarding what other universities in this situation charge. Thanks for all the good work on this issue UNTFlyer and keep 'em coming. NICE JOB!

[Green Mean]

One other thing to note...

HKS wants to make this stadium special. They want to be able to brag about it as it will be their first college football stadium. HKS says they want to build a stadium for "a team of the future"

What do they mean when they say special? Will they do a lot of extra things to the stadium yet still keep it within distance of the estimated budget? Seems pretty generic talk to me.

[mad dog]

But TAMU does charge student admission into events:

And those ticket locations are handed on a lottery type schedule.

Yeah... and they have alumni support that we can only dream about. And their alumni base was built around and constantly supplemented by athletic success.

Now, if you want a picture of what taking athletics seriously can do for your school, just look at A&M. You can say what you want to about their traditions, but there's no way you can doubt the fact that there has been unbelievable bleed-over from the dollars and pride they invest in football. I went to a women's soccer game down there once, and it was SOLD OUT. Tennis matches are SOLD OUT. And you get to the point where ANY student's success, no matter which area, is truly celebrated. That's the way the live down there, and that's what a solid football program (and the stadium that goes with it), can do for you.

[UNTflyer]

Well Texas a&m charges $0 / per hour for a athletic fee, but they don't seem to have any trouble upgrading facilities

And if we had the alumni support they have at A&M.

[GreenBat]

And if we had the alumni support they have at A&M.

I'd settle for a quarter or half their support.

[Harry]

Yeah... and they have alumni support that we can only dream about. And their alumni base was built around and constantly supplemented by athletic success.

Now, if you want a picture of what taking athletics seriously can do for your school, just look at A&M. You can say what you want to about their traditions, but there's no way you can doubt the fact that there has been unbelievable bleed-over from the dollars and pride they invest in football. I went to a women's soccer game down there once, and it was SOLD OUT. Tennis matches are SOLD OUT. And you get to the point where ANY student's success, no matter which area, is truly celebrated. That's the way the live down there, and that's what a solid football program (and the stadium that goes with it), can do for you.

Nice post bro. Very well stated.

[Green P1]

So is the stadium we are going to build going to look like the F&S model, or is it something entirely different?

Thats what I keep asking...... don't expect a response to your question.

[Travis]

Thats what I keep asking...... don't expect a response to your question.

From what I have heard what you see is pretty much the stadium as it is going to be. There will be some variations... but nothing that will completely change what you have there.