2008 Woodie Awards
Student fees to pay for new field turf
Jerica Harvey
Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: News
Interim Chancellor Richard Telfer signed the recommendation by Whitewater Student Government to approve $750,000 of student fees to fund the installation of synthetic turf at Perkins Stadium and Prucha Field Dec. 12.
The Department of Intercollegiate Athletics originally requested $1 million for field turf installation for 2008-09, but only three quarters of that amount was recommended to WSG by the Segregated University Fee Allocations Committee.
"Nobody on the committee, when we were brought the proposal, was comfortable with $1 million," SUFAC Chair Patrick Nienow said. "We thought $750,000 … was a good amount because if we went much lower than that athletics would be able to leverage out the non-athlete student usage."
Nienow said it was a good time to take advantage of such a proposal when an anonymous donor was willing to front some of the cost.
According to Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Paul Plinske, the donor brought up the project at the Hall of Fame Banquet Committee Meeting. The donor told Plinske the university football stadium has not been fully utilized. The donor said if students were willing to fund part of the project, he would supply remaining funds and bring in certain installation companies that would reduce excavation costs.
Plinske told the donor Prucha Field, the baseball diamond, also needed updating and the donor agreed to include it into the project.
The donor has already signed a check worth $40,000 to cover the increase in the regular intercollegiate athletic budget. The donor also gave another unspecified amount at the end of 2007.
The Athletic Department will need to find the $250,000 not approved by SUFAC from other donors.
SUFAC did not agree to the funding without added stipulations. First, all students must have access to the fields as part of open recreation. The current fields are used for certain games or competitions and are off limits to regular students.
The Department of Intercollegiate Athletics originally requested $1 million for field turf installation for 2008-09, but only three quarters of that amount was recommended to WSG by the Segregated University Fee Allocations Committee.
"Nobody on the committee, when we were brought the proposal, was comfortable with $1 million," SUFAC Chair Patrick Nienow said. "We thought $750,000 … was a good amount because if we went much lower than that athletics would be able to leverage out the non-athlete student usage."
Nienow said it was a good time to take advantage of such a proposal when an anonymous donor was willing to front some of the cost.
According to Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Paul Plinske, the donor brought up the project at the Hall of Fame Banquet Committee Meeting. The donor told Plinske the university football stadium has not been fully utilized. The donor said if students were willing to fund part of the project, he would supply remaining funds and bring in certain installation companies that would reduce excavation costs.
Plinske told the donor Prucha Field, the baseball diamond, also needed updating and the donor agreed to include it into the project.
The donor has already signed a check worth $40,000 to cover the increase in the regular intercollegiate athletic budget. The donor also gave another unspecified amount at the end of 2007.
The Athletic Department will need to find the $250,000 not approved by SUFAC from other donors.
SUFAC did not agree to the funding without added stipulations. First, all students must have access to the fields as part of open recreation. The current fields are used for certain games or competitions and are off limits to regular students.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Jim
posted 1/30/08 @ 6:17 PM CST
So being a student who only uses the weight room and basketball court how does new field turf benefit me? I can't believe the fees they continue to pile on. (Continued…)
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