Views Article

[UNTflyer]

The following article will appear in tomorrow's NT Daily:

We All Benefit by Voting "Yes"

The most important referendum in the 118 year history of our school is now in front of UNT students. During Election Week, Oct 13-17, students will be asked to approve a $7/hr increase in fees. This increase will take the form of a new $10/hr Athletic Fee combined with a $3/hr decrease in the Student Services Fee. The primary purpose of the fee is to provide the Athletics Department with the necessary funding to build a new 32,000 seat football stadium.

Students should consider carefully the impact of each possible outcome of this referendum. Passing the referendum will mean that beginning in 2011 students will realize a per semester increase of $105 if they take a full-time course load. That's less than the cost of many textbooks. The fee will immediately allow the University to request that the state legislature approve the fee in the January 2009 legislative session. When the legislature approves the fee, the Board of Regents will then approve the fee and the stadium project sometime next spring, and finally the university president will give the green light to begin construction. A flurry of activity is expected to follow.

Final design plans will be released. Fundraising efforts will begin. Coach Dodge will be able to tell new recruits they will be playing in a state-of-the-art stadium if they commit to UNT, and we can expect immediate improvement in the quality of recruiting. By late 2010, as the stadium nears completion, corporate sponsors will be announced, naming rights for the stadium unveiled, and media attention in the DFW area will turn north to Denton. With a new, start of the art stadium nearing completion, an invitation from a better athletic conference, such as C-USA, MWC, Big East, or a new Southwest Conference, is a distinct possibility as conferences seek to expand and realign. In 2011, freshmen currently enrolled in 2008, will be seniors and become the first students to pay the new athletic fee. The fee will increase their total education costs by less than 3% for the year. The stadium will open to much fanfare and UNT will have its first official sellout in decades. Alumni donations will increase, Mean Green Club donations will rise, funding for all sports increases and the Athletics Department announces plans to add baseball, men's soccer, and more women's sports.

Now let's look at the flip side, and students vote to reject the fee. Mean Green Club boosters, frustrated by years of promises to improve facilities, decide it's not worth it to invest in a program that is going nowhere. Alumni will feel the same, seeing no commitment from students to improve their university. Overall donations to the university, both private and corporate, could decline if we show impede the progress of the growth of the school. As a result of less funding, tuition and fees will increase. Fouts Field continues to deteriorate and maintenance costs rise. Eventually, the school could decide that football is too expensive to operate, and the football team may be shut down. With no football revenue, women's sports are cut to the bare minimum. In less than 10 years, UNT drops from Div I-A athletics and becomes just another "directional" school with minimal recognition and no reputation beyond the North Texas region.

I know there are many arguments against the proposed fee. One argument is, "the team is performing poorly." College football teams go through cycles of success and mediocrity, and we will turn this team into a winning program. Another is, "we can spend the money on better things." Our university is making improvements across the entire system. No money is diverted from academics to fund athletics, as this is a violation of state law. Tuition was increased this year to fund the academic improvements mandated by the Board of Regents, and the demolition of Fouts Field is a necessary step to complete many of these projects outlined in the UNT Master Plan. I submit that none of these arguments should have bearing on this referendum, because the reality is that Fouts Field is in desperate need of replacement. The condition of Fouts Field is as bad as it can get.

My fellow students, this referendum will have a lasting impact far into the future. There is no personal incentive to vote "No," because the fee will not impact most current students. But the consequences of defeating this measure will have a lasting negative impact beyond the football program. I urge you to consider the benefits for your future, our alumni, the community of Denton, and the students who will decide to join the Mean Green Nation in the future.

[THOR]

i'm ready to vote YES.....too bad i can't!

nicely written article

[TheTastyGreek]

Needs more fluffy kitten jokes.

[Green P1]

While I'm 100% for the stadium, I don't care for the article. I think as a student I might be a bit offended by it. Just an opinion.

[JesseMartin]

I like the "increase total costs by 3% for the year". It reminds me of the Pres. Election fund-the only time you get to choose where your taxes go. If taxes (or tuition and fees) are going to be increased, wouldn't you like to choose where it's spent?

[JayDub]

While I'm 100% for the stadium, I don't care for the article. I think as a student I might be a bit offended by it. Just an opinion.

I can see the uproar coming a mile away regarding the statement:

"The most important referendum in the 118 year history of our school is now in front of UNT students."

[UNTflyer]

http://media.www.ntdaily.com/media/storage...s-3462469.shtml

[TIgreen01]

Good job on the article. I definitely appreciate all the hard work you guys are putting into this.

[UNTflyer]

They changed the title of my article.

[filmerj]

They changed the title of my article.

Your original Headline was not sexy enough, However maybe you should make a comment on on the website.

[Green P1]

I can see the uproar coming a mile away regarding the statement:

"The most important referendum in the 118 year history of our school is now in front of UNT students."

It's just chock full of shocking assertions/statements like that.

If it passes we get baseball, if it fails we're out of Div I-A athletics. Maybe the students are more naive than they were a year and a half ago but.....

[Green Dozer]

No comment.

[greenminer]

It's just chock full of shocking assertions/statements like that.

If it passes we get baseball, if it fails we're out of Div I-A athletics. Maybe the students are more naive than they were a year and a half ago but.....

It's a bold, but necessary statement to make them realize the full implications of this stadium.

[akriesman]

Again, nice job Flyer.

[Mean Green 93-98]

It's just chock full of shocking assertions/statements like that.

If it passes we get baseball, if it fails we're out of Div I-A athletics. Maybe the students are more naive than they were a year and a half ago but.....

Neither statement may be certain, but both are likely true.