NDSU Athletic Budget Up in 2004-05

[WYOBISONMAN]

A couple good stories in the Forum this morning about increases in athletic budget. It will be up a whole bunch next year.

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=57824&section=Sports

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=57872&section=Sports

The article has many comparisons to the Big Sky schools and a discussion of challenges facing NDSU. It is very apparent that to kee[ the D1 move on track some significant money needs to be raised and attendance at athletic events needs to increase to generate revenue. Folks, get out your checkbooks and send your money in to Team Makers......This is where the rubber hits the road.

[Bison_Kent]

I will have to admit that this is a very aggressive schedule (money-wise) but I think it is also very attainable.

I think once NDSU gets the 60 scholorship average and when a conference is found funding will be much easier to come by.

The next three seasons are the true test of a school's division I ambitions with no NCAA basketball money and no chance for DI-A football guarantee games.

NDSU will be up for the challenge, I think. It looks like Irv is getting a lot of donations from non-F-M area people. Now, we just need the F-M area people to see the big picture. NDSU and the F-M area are now a Division I school and metro area.

Come out and support it Fargo. Fargo has always wanted to be classified as a DI city. Now it can be and I think will be.

[Bisonguy]

Very good read. Looks like FB will be fully funded in 2005.

I'm not suprised about the increased support from those outside of the FM area. Hopefully the general populous of Fargo will see reason to support NDSU. The conservative thinking in Fargo might take a little longer to see the benefits of DI.

[BisonFan]

The general populous of Fargo would be more generous if its members were paid comparable wages to those with similar jobs in other job markets. Granted, there are a few good jobs in Fargo, but the fact is many college graduates that accept employment in Fargo have been left wondering what they went to college for when they hear how much they will be paid. *I'm sorry, but I just heard of someone that was offered a Job in HR at a nationally respected accounting firm here in Fargo and this person's starting wage was under $20,000 a year. *Fargo and North Dakota as a whole generally speaking doesn't pay enough for people to have the option to give money to NDSU, which is why NDSU is looking more outside of North Dakota for funding this DI transition. *I'd love to support Bison athletics, but I need to keep a roof over my head, gas in my car, and food in my fridge. Its a matter of priority. Things may be different for those who are married and have two incomes in North Dakota, but for someone like myself that has to pay all the fixed costs of living (in addition to the variable costs) on one income, it just isn't feasible to be donating money to NDSU, which never gave me a penny in financial aid because my Parent's made too much money...money that never went to me.
*

[BisonMav]

The general populous of Fargo would be more generous if its members were paid comparable wages to those with similar jobs in other job markets. Granted, there are a few good jobs in Fargo, but the fact is many college graduates that accept employment in Fargo have been left wondering what they went to college for when they hear how much they will be paid. *I'm sorry, but I just heard of someone that was offered a Job in HR at a nationally respected accounting firm here in Fargo and this person's starting wage was under $20,000 a year. *Fargo and North Dakota as a whole generally speaking doesn't pay enough for people to have the option to give money to NDSU, which is why NDSU is looking more outside of North Dakota for funding this DI transition. *I'd love to support Bison athletics, but I need to keep a roof over my head, gas in my car, and food in my fridge. Its a matter of priority. *
All most people in Fargo have to do is pay $8.00 for a game ticket and fill the seats at the dome.

[NDSU_grad]

I thought the Forum articles today were excellent. What I found the most interesting was that Chapman has the power to waive tuition. It seems if we really get into a pinch, that would be a good temporary fix. All in all, I'm very impressed with the work done by Taylor and Inniger.

[whatever_]

I agree with all of you. As a single guy in the Minneapolis area I too struggle to pay the bills...but pay that $8 to fill one seat and that will make the difference.

[JBB]

Pick it up at stop n go. I used to do that all the time. Get into town a couple of hrs before the game, get gas and ticket at stop n go, head for Dacotah Field. Up until the Bottle Incident you could sit about anywhere you wanted for general admission. After, you could still find a good seat.

By the time the FFD opened I could afford to join Team Makers. By the time the BISON are in a 25,000 seat stadium some of you guys will want to join Team Makers too. Money wont be such a problem. In the meantime its only $8 too see the game.

[JBB]

Its clear why we are moving up. NDSU is a huge intellectual resource and one of the best ways to maximize this potential is moving into DI athletics.

Dr. Chapman is looking for $100 million in resarch dollars. He knows from his experience with Alien. People from other parts of the country enjoy and relate to DI athletics. It can only help NDSUs prospects.

An extra couple of million is real cash, but small potatos when its rolled into the big picture. A bargin I would say.

[WYOBISONMAN]

In the end it really isn'yt about the athletics, but about the reputation of the entire University. It was like one of the AD's quoted in todays Forum article said.....Sweat said she wouldn't even need to look at those reports. She's been to NDSU for the Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in 1985, 1987 and 1994. She was at the 1987 Elite Eight women's basketball tournament when her husband, James Sweat, coached Norfolk to the national tournament.

"I think North Dakota State should have been Division I a long time ago," LaVerne Sweat said. "I don't know what was not pushing them forward, maybe location in terms of other Division I schools around them. Maybe travel is too far."

This is a move that should have been made years ago. Chapman had the vision and the balls to make the move......in athletics and academics.

[JBB]

Thats exactly right. So many have missed the point. Its not about winning and losing and its not about athletic budgets, those are tactical problems. Moving up is the strategy, and its a good one, aimed helping the University across the board.

Focusing just on athletics it appears we will have games with some big ten teams and Iowa State. I hope we can foster relationships that will help in other sports too. I hope we can be competitive.

[tony]

It's going to be a huge task to raise the money to be successful in DI. Those articles really put it into perspective.

It's scary but certainly doable.

[IowaBison]

We'll my wife and I just did our part writing out a big check to Teammakers, though I think I'll need to contribute a little more to make sure wrestling is not in jeopardy.

[Tatanka]

Nice to see NDSU going balls to the wall on the whole football scholarship thing, as opposed to the more relaxed approach employed by our rabbit friends to the south. Of course, either approach is clearly superior to that of the douchebags to the north...