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Saturday, August 19, 2006

Mooooo Part Twoooooo

posted by Mike Coffey
Obviously I stated my point unclearly in my original Moooo entry, so I'll try to clarify and simplify.

I find it illogical that, at a time the athletics department has a critical unfunded need like the Joyce Center renovations (that will help multiple sports), over 90 percent of a windfall like the Fiesta Bowl payoff was redirected to the academic side of the equation.

I find it illogical that the athletic department has to turn over such a large percentage of its significant surplus to Notre Dame while having to go hat-in-hand to University donors to get funding for projects like the Joyce Center.

I did not say the athletic department should keep all of its money. I did not say support of ND academics by athletics is a bad thing -- in fact, I said the complete opposite of that. I simply don't see why the athletic department is not allowed to take care of its own overdue needs before turning over funds to Notre Dame for "graduate stipends" and the like. It does not seem like an efficient way to budget.

And yes, the Joyce Center is the second-most-used building on campus. Dorms are used mostly by the couple hundred students who live in them. Classroom buildings are used mostly by the students who have classes there. The Joyce Center is used for men's and women's basketball games (players, students and fans), men's and women's volleyball games (players, students and fans), men's and women's aquatic sports (players, students and fans) and dorm sports. The bulk of the athletic department is housed there, and a lot of coaching offices are located there. The pool is used by the community year-round. And I believe a couple PE rotations have their classes there. It also hosts the major convocational events (frosh orientation, JPW, and graduation, including Mass for each). All of which makes it the second-most-used building on campus after the Admin Building.
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5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have to agree with alot of the other posters concerning this topic. You're fishing for a problem....and there's none here to find. This is ~$10mm. That's peanuts on a multi-billion dollar endowment. Bowl game money will not be used to fund the upgrade of the basketball facilities. That's a simple fact. ($3mm spent on upgrading basketball facilities wouldnt do anything anyway). Property/Building/Individual Fundraising will take care of the JAC, etc.

Honestly, I'm glad that youre not running the university. I dont mean that as an insult. Just that you and I definitely have different views about where the university is headed and how you get there.

8/20/2006 08:50:00 PM  
Blogger El Kabong said...

And like a lot of the other posters concerning this topic, you don't understand the point I'm trying to make because your response had nothing to do with it.

You know nothing about my "view about where the university is headed and how you get there". But don't let that stop you from commenting on it.

8/20/2006 11:10:00 PM  
Anonymous CloseTalker said...

Good points El Kabong, the JACC does have a unique blend of everyday use and quite a few large events. (Though I'm surprised hockey didn't make your list of sports using the building.)

I know this is a silly point to be arguing, but I'm curious as to what your criteria is for "most-used building on campus." You could pretend there was a turnstile at the entrance of each building on campus, and add up the number of people going through it during the course of an entire year. If that's the measure, I'd say DeBartolo classroom building or South Dining Hall are near or at the top of the list. If you measure use by number of man hours spent in a building (perhaps indicating the wear and tear on the structure) I'd think that a dorm like Dillion with 340 students occupied nearly year-round, nearly 24 hours a day has to be very, very well used.

Other contenders may be the stadium or the Basilica. By any method, I can't see the Main Building being number one.

8/21/2006 10:26:00 AM  
Blogger El Kabong said...

I believe it's based on turnstile count. The Joyce Center serves many constituents:

1) Staff
2) Students/Athletes
3) Coaches
4) Fans

Think how many people use the JC on a football weekend, whether to buy things at the gift shop or use the bathroom or watch the game on the big screen in the hoops arena or just get out of the sun. They get up to 11,418+ for men's basketball games and up to 6k+ for women's basketball games. Frosh orientation. JPW. Graduation.

People go to classroom buildings for a class, which means the buildings are in use seven months out of the year. The Joyce Center is in use year-round, with concerts and trade shows over the summer, not to mention the full-time employees who work there every day.

I went my entire Notre Dame career without going into some buildings on campus, including some dorms. I was in the Joyce Center on average once every two weeks for something over my four years.

I'll try to find where I saw the statistic to provide a link.

(BTW, the same would apply to the Admin Bldg -- used year-round, the most visible landmark on campus)

8/21/2006 10:45:00 AM  
Anonymous CloseTalker said...

I'd be interested if you find the stats; I didn't dig anything up after a brief search. I can see how the JACC may rank up there, but I think you're way off on the Main Building.

We could also open this up to the wisdom of the Back Room. Of course it may be that nobody cares.

8/21/2006 12:17:00 PM  

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