An arena here, an arena there, pretty soon you’re talking real money…
So, baseball’s the new thing at the UO, in case you hadn’t noticed, which means the Athletic Department is going to have to build a brand new baseball stadium. These are some big plans for a brand new AD who was brought in to essentially ensure the building of a new basketball arena. So, new basketball arena, new baseball stadium, a new learning center for athletes… no wonder professors have been harping about Athletics expenditures all year. The baseball announcement has created a new window for criticism, and much of it makes a good deal of sense. Biology prof Nathan Tublitz’ piece in the Register Guard today sticks it to Kilkenny on a number of fronts, including financing and space rental…
How will erecting an arena “continue to pump money back into the university’s budget”? No funds currently flow on a regular or irregular basis from athletics to academics, and there are no plans for such flows to occur. Moreover, if the arena fails to generate sufficient income to make the loan payments, funds will be diverted from academics to athletics.
I’ve been against plans for a new arena from the get go… McArthur rules, and with a little work it could be even better. Also, why can’t we let baseball be the Beavers thing? We already have basketball and football, right? Isn’t it kind of pathetic for us to jump into a new sport just because the Beavs are doing well at it? Then again, maybe Kilkenny’s just trying to stick it to the Em’s. Either way, it all seems a little “color changing helmet“-ish to me.
