It looks great!
It looks great!
Ho! A cheer for Green and Yellow!
260 freshmen still in hotels. Could cost NDSU almost $1 million by the end of the year.
Hotel hot tub not worth commute
Do you think NDSU is secretly pleased with the situation? News stories like this could really help when campus officals go to the Leg. and ask for permission to build more apartments and residence halls. I was a little worried that the Leg. wasn't going to allow it if NDSU asked because of Bison Court and the two LLCs being built so recently. Maybe the campus can finally start replacing University Village.
I haven't been following closely because I'm not a local anymore but at first blush 1 and 2 don't seems too smart to me. Look around at the rest of the country and the rest of the developed world. An economic storm is here. It hasn't hit the upper mid west because you've been living high on food prices and a farm property bubble, but this is a catergory 5 storm and no one is going to get through unscathed. Put that money in an emergency fund the storm surge is coming your way and you'll need the levy.
I have the honor to be Your Obedient Servant - B.Aud
We all live in stories... It seems to me that a definition of any living vibrant society is that you constantly question those stories... The argument itself is freedom. It's not that you come to a conclusion about it. Through that argument you change your mind sometimes... That's how societies grow. When you can't retell for yourself the stories of your life then you live in a prison... Somebody else controls the story. - S. Rushdie
Would housing be affected by that? I think new housing is self sufficient and the state just needs to approve it, not pay for it.
That being said, I will also be voting against Measures 1 & 2. I'm not totally against the idea of oil lockbox, but Measure 1 is the wrong way to go about it IMO. Locking 80% of the yearly revenue is too much, and requiring 75% approval from both houses to access the remaining 20% is ludicrous. And Measure 2 is an even worse idea.
Personally the impression I got from Gene Taylor talking yesterday that ALL NDSU would be effected by the measure. You may be rigth on the specific housing issue , I would not know how the funding works.
Give Gene a call, or send him an email, I am sure he will respond on this issue.
They are working on a Team Makers email to go out also.
After a little reading I feel better about measure 1. That's a finite source of income so if you let it all run into the general fund or are allowed to raid the existing oil tax reserve fund willy-nilly, you're setting yourself up for a hard landing. The first $100 million apparently would be available for general spending, an increase over the $70ish that currently goes to the general fund, but then, beyond that it gets much more difficult for the legislature to access the principle. I like the concept but I'm not sure how much pain you're in for on the front end becuase I wasn't able to find historical numbers on what revenues typically are and how much legislative dipping into the cookie jar has occured to date. So, I'm not convinced that the $100 million is the right number, but I like the general idea. This is just me, but if I were King of North Dakota for a day I'd be spending all that 'found' oil money on renewables. I understand that the higher ed board is opposed presumably because they see themselves getting a good sized piece of this unexpeced pie for infrastructure improvements and deferred maintenance. I can understand that but it does not strike me as a sustainable solution to their long term problem.
Measure 2 is a disaster and should be voted down.
I have the honor to be Your Obedient Servant - B.Aud
We all live in stories... It seems to me that a definition of any living vibrant society is that you constantly question those stories... The argument itself is freedom. It's not that you come to a conclusion about it. Through that argument you change your mind sometimes... That's how societies grow. When you can't retell for yourself the stories of your life then you live in a prison... Somebody else controls the story. - S. Rushdie
With all due respect, I call bullsh#t on that one.
Developments are bonded, if they can justify it on paper it really doesn't matter what the state revenue is (not really, but kinda).
Personally, I'm all for Measure 1. There is a reason for rainy day funds. For those of you who are missing it the North Dakota economy couldn't be doing any better.
But you know what, it ain't gonna last. The price of oil is falling faster than NDSU in the rankings. Below $60 and all that hullabaloo out on the range is done. Part and parcel with this is production agriculture. Prices appear to be returning to some semblance of normalcy, but input prices will lag and those with poor foresight are going to get pinched.
You spend now when things go bad in 3-5 years and ND will be suckin' hind tit. Saw the same thing happen in Iowa 8 years ago. Times are good. Make promises, cut taxes. Economy changes and ouch, ouch, ouch.
I'm all for a TIE (transportation, infrastructure, education) fund with all proceeds going to capital projects.
Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir."
Scrooge-"Are there no prisons?". "Plenty of prisons..."
Scrooge-"And the Union workhouses." . "Are they still in operation?". "Both very busy, sir..."
"Those who are badly off must go there."
"Many can't go there; and many would rather die."
Scrooge- "If they would rather die," "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."
Dont shoot the messenger. Call Gene Taylor, and he will give you all the figures on it. He had them all at the luncheon yesterday.
Article in the forum indcates that all the oil revenue is now going to fall with the drop on prices.
http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=218742
It will be in the forum tomorrow.
Do they still have the rule require all freshman to live in dorms? It's a great experience and all but that could alleviate alot of pressure right there.
Don't matter. FIVE-PEAT!