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BOT approves athletic
fee
Plan to improve athletic facilities moves forward |
Adam
Bennett
Editor-in Chief |
A $75 annual student fee and proposal to expand
the capabilities of varsity athletics at Appalachian State University
was approved with one opposing vote by the Board of Trustees (BOT)
Friday.
Vice Chancellor for Business Affairs Jane P. Helm said the student
fee will be comprised of an annual $55 general fee increase and
$20 from the current debt service fee for W.H. Plemmons Student
Union, no longer needed for the building.
The project, to be completed in phases, will require $30-$32 million
for renovations and additions to Varsity Gymnasium, Owens Field
House and Kidd Brewer Stadium.
According to the plan, approximately half the money will be generated
by student fees and half from privately raised funds.
“The student fees are designed to try to enhance those facilities
[students use through club and intramural sports] … but the
enhancement of areas used by alumni and other members of the Appalachian
family will have to come from private funds,” Chancellor Francis
T. Borkowski said Friday.
Faculty Senate Chair Paul H. Gates Jr. brought faculty concerns
to the table regarding the focus of the university from academics
to athletics.
“The faculty is really quite concerned that spending this kind
of money in this manner represents a reorientation of university
priorities, particularly in the fiscal climate that we face,”
Gates said.
BOT member James M. Deal, Jr. pushed to lower subsistence fees from
$265 to $185 to offset the athletic fee and “keep students
from being hit so hard next year.”
“I feel like the subsistence fee was much more substantial
than the proposed athletic fee,” Deal said. “We have enough
reserves so we can cover any shortfalls. I thought $185 should be
sufficient.”
Student Body President and board member Ryan M. Eller voted against
the fee proposal and asked the board not ask students for more money
for this project in the future.
“What type of message of priorities are we sending students
when we ask of them an increase only for athletics and leave behind
education and technology, leave behind the student union, and we,
just last year, said staff salaries are not up to par,” Eller
said.
“There will be no increase in fees directed to this area in
the future,” Borkowski said. “Student fees are going to
enhance the facility that will be used primarily by students.”
“I don’t know if we made the right decision today,”
Board Secretary Harry A. Nurkin said Friday. “Democracy is
not defined by who wins. Democracy is defined by the freedom to
speak and respect given to all parties involved. Though we disagree,
we do so with respect.”
The BOT vote comes after briefing and discussion from Davidson Consulting
Group (DCG) out of Davidson.
The group was selected by Chancellor Francis T. Borkowski’s
Football Opportunities Study Committee to study the advancement
of varsity football, but it quickly turned into an overall Appalachian
study, said Don Lockerbie, president and CEO of Olympus International,
hired by DCG.
Varsity Gymnasium will become an indoor training center for all
sports, said Lockerbie.
Plans include a new indoor football field surface, transfer of the
current home side to the visitor’s side, and renovations and
additions to Owens Field House, including more office space, locker
rooms and a larger weightlifting facility.
Students petitioning against the athletic fee condemned the BOT
decision.
“I see a continuation of student fee increases occurring every
single year, and I see no end in sight,” senior English and
political science major Partick G. Cash said. “They [BOT members]
do listen to students but don’t act on students’ wishes.”
“There are other problems in the school that aren’t being
addressed,” Junior graphic design major Abbie L. Crumrine said.
“[Administrators] never considered raising fees to fix the
Wey Hall ventilation problems.” |
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