Last Comments Before The Vote

[Glad To Be Green]

Of course I have no way of knowing how the election will go but I do want to thank my staff, the students and the many individuals who have helped get information out about the stadium. I will be out of town most of next week at Sun Belt Conference meetings so let me just clarify a few last things.

I have tried to give out as much information and been as accommodating as possible to let students see and know why we feel this facility is important. We have worked to modify, correct or expand information over the weeks so that everyone is correctly informed. Here's what we have tried to convey through the information.

The plan and mandate is that we build this stadium green, per the newly adopted policy on campus for all facilities and that has been a part of the planning in all the discussions with architects. The architects have told us through their research that it would make it the first LEED certified college football stadium in the country.

The fee will not go into effect until the semester the stadium is open so many current students won't pay the additional fee.

The current $3 "Athletic Fee" portion of student services fees will be dropped if the referendum passes, making the increase $7 not $10.

The resulting fee will still be less than most in our own conference and equal to or less than those currently in place or already approved for several schools in Texas, many of which are affiliated in the FCS, have no football or are at the Division II level.

Student fees could only be used to fund half of the cost of the stadium and the athletic department/university will have to raise the remaining half.

That, unlike some other states, no state funding can be used to build athletic facilities.

Students will "still" not have to pay for tickets when the new stadium opens. A current student ID will still get them into games at no charge.

The stadium has accessibility issues in almost every area and although we have made several improvements over the last two years, gameday presents a number of challenges with everything from inadequate restroom and concession facilities to bad press box and seating configurations.

The current master plan for the University shows the football stadium south of I-35 not in its' present site and it has been that way for several years. This is one of the reasons, the main reason, there was never a "formal" plan to renovate Fouts and there was never a statement made to anyone saying that we had. We only stated that discussions concerning areas such as drainage, excavation and ADA challenges had taken place. That coupled with the Master Plan moved us away from the idea of a renovation.

In this last week on both sides may make claims or statements that may or may not be substantiated. I unfortunately am not in a position to control that but I hope each side will keep it fair.

In addition to the "facts", we do believe the new facility will help increase attendance, attract higher profile opponents to Denton and put us in a much better position to recruit the very best student-athletes. We also believe it helps change the perception of the program and the university's commitment to an overall great institution and can lead to new and increased participation by alumni and others who can help many areas of the university. However I have stated to students over and over again that building a new stadium doesn't guarantee anything but that not building it and not investing in the program will definitely make it harder to get where they want to be from a football and athletic program stand point.

We have compiled this information on fact sheets that are going out to all students on both sides of the issue. I believe we have made a good case and shown the need. As we can not control the other factors affecting the vote, I wish us all the best in this very important decision. And I ask that we all continue to support our teams, our coaches and our university.

[Green Mean]

May the force be with us.

[meangreenfreak]

Of course I have no way of knowing how the election will go but I do want to thank my staff, the students and the many individuals who have helped get information out about the stadium. I will be out of town most of next week at Sun Belt Conference meetings so let me just clarify a few last things.

I have tried to give out as much information and been as accommodating as possible to let students see and know why we feel this facility is important. We have worked to modify, correct or expand information over the weeks so that everyone is correctly informed. Here's what we have tried to convey through the information.

The plan and mandate is that we build this stadium green, per the newly adopted policy on campus for all facilities and that has been a part of the planning in all the discussions with architects. The architects have told us through their research that it would make it the first LEED certified college football stadium in the country.

The fee will not go into effect until the semester the stadium is open so many current students won't pay the additional fee.

The current $3 "Athletic Fee" portion of student services fees will be dropped if the referendum passes, making the increase $7 not $10.

The resulting fee will still be less than most in our own conference and equal to or less than those currently in place or already approved for several schools in Texas, many of which are affiliated in the FCS, have no football or are at the Division II level.

Student fees could only be used to fund half of the cost of the stadium and the athletic department/university will have to raise the remaining half.

That, unlike some other states, no state funding can be used to build athletic facilities.

Students will "still" not have to pay for tickets when the new stadium opens. A current student ID will still get them into games at no charge.

The stadium has accessibility issues in almost every area and although we have made several improvements over the last two years, gameday presents a number of challenges with everything from inadequate restroom and concession facilities to bad press box and seating configurations.

The current master plan for the University shows the football stadium south of I-35 not in its' present site and it has been that way for several years. This is one of the reasons, the main reason, there was never a "formal" plan to renovate Fouts and there was never a statement made to anyone saying that we had. We only stated that discussions concerning areas such as drainage, excavation and ADA challenges had taken place. That coupled with the Master Plan moved us away from the idea of a renovation.

In this last week on both sides may make claims or statements that may or may not be substantiated. I unfortunately am not in a position to control that but I hope each side will keep it fair.

In addition to the "facts", we do believe the new facility will help increase attendance, attract higher profile opponents to Denton and put us in a much better position to recruit the very best student-athletes. We also believe it helps change the perception of the program and the university's commitment to an overall great institution and can lead to new and increased participation by alumni and others who can help many areas of the university. However I have stated to students over and over again that building a new stadium doesn't guarantee anything but that not building it and not investing in the program will definitely make it harder to get where they want to be from a football and athletic program stand point.

We have compiled this information on fact sheets that are going out to all students on both sides of the issue. I believe we have made a good case and shown the need. As we can not control the other factors affecting the vote, I wish us all the best in this very important decision. And I ask that we all continue to support our teams, our coaches and our university.

Thanks Rick. I appreciate all your hard work on this stadium and for our Athletic Department in the past several years. We can and we will be the program we all know and expect North Texas to be. Our best days are still ahead of us!

[Travis Scott]

Of course I have no way of knowing how the election will go but I do want to thank my staff, the students and the many individuals who have helped get information out about the stadium. I will be out of town most of next week at Sun Belt Conference meetings so let me just clarify a few last things.

I have tried to give out as much information and been as accommodating as possible to let students see and know why we feel this facility is important. We have worked to modify, correct or expand information over the weeks so that everyone is correctly informed. Here's what we have tried to convey through the information.

The plan and mandate is that we build this stadium green, per the newly adopted policy on campus for all facilities and that has been a part of the planning in all the discussions with architects. The architects have told us through their research that it would make it the first LEED certified college football stadium in the country.

The fee will not go into effect until the semester the stadium is open so many current students won't pay the additional fee.

The current $3 "Athletic Fee" portion of student services fees will be dropped if the referendum passes, making the increase $7 not $10.

The resulting fee will still be less than most in our own conference and equal to or less than those currently in place or already approved for several schools in Texas, many of which are affiliated in the FCS, have no football or are at the Division II level.

Student fees could only be used to fund half of the cost of the stadium and the athletic department/university will have to raise the remaining half.

That, unlike some other states, no state funding can be used to build athletic facilities.

Students will "still" not have to pay for tickets when the new stadium opens. A current student ID will still get them into games at no charge.

The stadium has accessibility issues in almost every area and although we have made several improvements over the last two years, gameday presents a number of challenges with everything from inadequate restroom and concession facilities to bad press box and seating configurations.

The current master plan for the University shows the football stadium south of I-35 not in its' present site and it has been that way for several years. This is one of the reasons, the main reason, there was never a "formal" plan to renovate Fouts and there was never a statement made to anyone saying that we had. We only stated that discussions concerning areas such as drainage, excavation and ADA challenges had taken place. That coupled with the Master Plan moved us away from the idea of a renovation.

In this last week on both sides may make claims or statements that may or may not be substantiated. I unfortunately am not in a position to control that but I hope each side will keep it fair.

In addition to the "facts", we do believe the new facility will help increase attendance, attract higher profile opponents to Denton and put us in a much better position to recruit the very best student-athletes. We also believe it helps change the perception of the program and the university's commitment to an overall great institution and can lead to new and increased participation by alumni and others who can help many areas of the university. However I have stated to students over and over again that building a new stadium doesn't guarantee anything but that not building it and not investing in the program will definitely make it harder to get where they want to be from a football and athletic program stand point.

We have compiled this information on fact sheets that are going out to all students on both sides of the issue. I believe we have made a good case and shown the need. As we can not control the other factors affecting the vote, I wish us all the best in this very important decision. And I ask that we all continue to support our teams, our coaches and our university.

Thank you RV for what you have brought to this university. Since you came to UNT, we have improved in all sports and built a culture of winning. Yes, we currently have some challenges with our football team but we will turn this around. Your efforts and leadership will bring us to the level we need to be across the board so we can proudly claim to be the featured university in the north Texas area. Go Green!!

[MDH]

Is it wrong to be equally excited for this vote as the one in November?

[Rudy]

Is it wrong to be equally excited for this vote as the one in November?

There's still a vote in November? I thought it was already decided who our new king would be.

[e-bone ver2.awesome]

May the force be with us.

Always.

PS. Can we get Star Wars font added to the site? That is really the only thing I have wanted.

[Rudy]

Always.

PS. Can we get Star Wars font added to the site? That is really the only thing I have wanted.

Maybe we can get Obi Wan to walk past students, wave his hands, and say "I want to vote yes."

[NT80]

I promise to become a better fan if this passes. Really!

Edited October 13, 2008 by NT80

[bstnsportsfan3]

im excited, the other students seem to be excited...and this will energize the entire fan base!

Thanks again rick for all your hard work!

[JesseMartin]

Maybe we can get Obi Wan to walk past students, wave his hands, and say "I want to vote yes."

Obi-Wan leads an entire middle school to campus to vote for the stadium. He points at the poll workers: "You don't need to see their identification. They can go about their voting. Move along."

[OsageJ]

Good luck on the vote. Hope you get the stadium you want!!!

[JesseMartin]

Good luck on the vote. Hope you get the stadium you want!!!

If you come to Denton for away games...I'm guessing you want it, too.

[risinggreen]

Thank you RV for your very well spoken comments. It is very obvious to me as a graduate that this needs to be done for the future of our school as a whole, and I hope that the current students can come to the realization of this ASAP. Best of luck to us all in this coming week.

[LoveMG]

i know most of the current students will do what is best for the school and vote yes. i wish alumni had some say in this important issue. it is a needed fee that has to be obtained first but the long time supporters are being left out of the process.

please vote yes for football and the future of unt!

[DeepGreen]

i know most of the current students will do what is best for the school and vote yes. i wish alumni had some say in this important issue. it is a needed fee that has to be obtained first but the long time supporters are being left out of the process.

please vote yes for football and the future of unt!

Just send the Athletic Dept a 55 Gal drum of $100.00 bills and you will be part of the process.

[houstonmeangreen]

Thanks Rick. I appreciate all your hard work on this stadium and for our Athletic Department in the past several years. We can and we will be the program we all know and expect North Texas to be. Our best days are still ahead of us!

I agree, thanks RV. You are appreciated more than you know. Some of us old timers know what UNT football was like before you became AD and it was not good....as far as facilities, support, etc....you have done a great job...this vote will pass and we will get our stadium. As far as winning games? well..you have some hard decisions to make, but that is why you are the AD.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Is it wrong to be equally excited for this vote as the one in November?

I have never been as unexcited about a vote as I am about the one in November. I'm really hoping the posters who have mentioned a positive pulse on campus about this stadium vote are on target.