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Supreme Being
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| http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20090817/SPORTS/90817031
The Iowa Board of Regents wants to cut all funding for athletics at the state schools. Iowa cut their general funding a couple of years ago. ISU gets about $3M of their $43.3M athletic budget this year from the general fund, so they could probably survive the cut without too much pain. UNI gets $4.6M of their $11.5M athletic budget from the general fund, so they'd probably face major changes without taxpayer money.
This sounds like a good idea to me. I can't believe my tax money has been supporting ISU and UNI athletics (and Iowa until recently).
 Fear the squirrels |
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: 5/15/2012 4:50:30 PM
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| I agree entirely. I also wonder why taxpayers pay for elaborate booths and displays at the State Fair for State Schools. What possible purpose could they serve that is of a benefit to taxpayers?
Don't pass up the shot. |
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| Update:
This would be a blow to UNI's competitiveness. |
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Supreme Being
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| Howard the Drake (3/19/2010)
This would be a blow to UNI's competitiveness.
If this happens (and it sounds like it will) UNI will have some tough choices to make. Specifically, they'll probably have to decide how important their football team is. I'm guessing they can either have a strong 1AA football team, or a strong athletic department, but not both. Considering the state's tight budget, I have a hard time seeing why taxpayers should directly subsidize UNI (or ISU or Iowa) athletics.
Fear the squirrels |
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Forum Member
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| Wouldn't be just too bad if UNI had to do it more like Drake does. Raise the funds on your own and use Duct Tape & Bailing Wire to make it work when we don't have enough donors.
To compete how we do in so many sports is amazing.
Oh, how the Panther fans would whine if they were taken off the government nipple.
"where's OUR stimulus money????"
armchair |
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Supreme Being
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| http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100911/NEWS/100911001/Without-taxpayer-money-UNI-could-lose-all-sports
The University of Northern Iowa can only modestly cut general fund money from its athletics budget before threatening the Division I status of its sports programs, university President Ben Allen said Friday. ... Currently, UNI’s athletic department receives $4.45 million from the university’s general fund. Allen is proposing that the general fund’s support be cut by more than $200,000 by 2015. The athletic department’s budget is $11.6 million this year.
For UNI's sake, I hope their president is being overly dramatic. Their men's and women's basketball teams just had some of their most successful seasons ever, and their football team is still fairly successful and popular. If the UNI and Cedar Falls community don't care enough to support the Panthers in this environment, I don't see why the state should support them either.
Fear the squirrels |
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| A bit ridic that cutting football or going non-scholarship hasn't been mentioned as Keeler rises to the defense. I can't imagine that scholarship 1-AA football makes money with attendances around attendances at ~12k and prices at $20 and below (not to mention giveaways). Maybe playing an extra guarantee game gets them there, but I'm skeptical.
Also, if the students value the athletics so much, why not student fees? At 13,080 undergraduates, a student fee of $125/year nets $1.635M. That alone covers a good amount (~1/3) of the shortfall. If it's so valuable to students/alumni, it's time to man up and pay rather than expecting taxpayers (most of whom don't care about sports at all, much less UNI athletics) to cover these unquantifiable benefits. |
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