The Rosy Side of UNL Budget Cuts

By: Mr. Wilson on April 15, 2011
You might think it's bad news that UNL has announced $5 million worth of budget cuts. It will mean lost jobs and lost educational opportunities. That stinks. But there's a plus side. No really. Some good comes out of every bit of bad budget news at UNL. See, every time UNL's budget is mentioned, out come the folks who have no understanding of how the budgets of UNL's academic and athletic sides relate to one another. And that's fantastic, because instantly you can tell oodles about the worth of an individual's blatherings. If a person understands that the Athletic Department budget is distinct from that of the rest of the University, he may be worth listening to. But if he thinks a cut in Food Science is Tom Osborne's fault, you immediately know he's a doofus. And since you know the doofus doesn't let facts get in the way of his ranting, you can be pretty certain all of his opinions are fact-free. In other words, you can ignore his verbal dribbles on every topic! Yay! You don't have to look far for examples. Here's a good one from 10/11's website. The ironically-named "Bye bye education" goes above and beyond by also bringing the City Council into play:
Sacrifice education for basketball at an arena...great decision, Lincolnites! You certainly have your priorities in order! Tom Osborne does not know everything, and everything that he says is not God's word! He was wrong about the arena, and now our universities are suffering because of the lack of funds! That guy should retire and just call well enough alone before he makes more bad decisions for the rest of us. Of course, good ole John Camp (city council member, and owner of half of the Haymarket) was lobbying in favor of the arena, too. Looks like that guy is going to make a killing on the arena. What does he care about education, though, as long as his pocket book gets fatter by being in a position of power. GET JOHN CAMP OUT OF OFFICE!!!
See how easy that is? By doing us the favor of conflating all sorts of unrelated things, "Bye bye education" has pasted a big ol' "I R Dumb" sign on his forehead. Obviously that doesn't do us a whole lot of good in an anonymous web venue, but plenty of folks say the same sorts of things when they're fully identifiable. When they do, you quickly know just how much their opinions are worth. Seriously folks, please stop relating monies that have no relation. There are plenty of things to not like about the UNL Athletic Department, but stealing money from academics is not one of them. On the contrary, thanks to its support services the Athletic Department provides superior educational opportunities to a population that, on average, would otherwise be significantly worse off. If you want to talk about athletics taking funds from academics, check out the budgets of the other State colleges and universities. You'll have a better chance finding what you're after over there.

Comments

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Fletch
April 15, 2011 at 2:06PM

But if you look to other universities to complain about them taking funds from education and spending them on athletics, how can you blame Jon Camp? And, Mr. Highly Educated 10/11 Commenter, if you’re going to bitch and moan about the guy you want out of office, maybe spell his name right.

jwiltshire
April 15, 2011 at 2:33PM

I don’t know how Tom Osbourne can make so much money and we have to cut budgets in education, when we have to pay for an expensive war in Afghanistan, and Cisco just discontinued the Flip camera at the Arena.

peter
April 15, 2011 at 2:56PM

Yes, the monies are unrelated, but it is still painful to see academic programs axed to save $5 million while work is underway to spend more than 10 times that - $55 million - on expanding the stadium.

Mr. Wilson
April 15, 2011 at 3:13PM

That represents a reflection of odd priorities, yes. But the reflection is of we the consumers, donors and taxpayers, not the University. That’s where too many folks slip up—they point the mirror in the wrong direction.

nicole
April 15, 2011 at 3:25PM

Yes, the expansion of the stadium will cost a lot, but it is an investment that will result in increased ticket revenue and also include research facilities for academics.  And the money is coming from a different pot than acadmeics.

nicole
April 15, 2011 at 3:27PM

“academics”.  ugh, now I look like one of the uninformed ranters.

Fletch
April 15, 2011 at 3:51PM

LOL @ “Osbourne” - well played!

It reminds me of all the great Husker “fans” that post online about their favorite players of yester-year, such as Tommy Frazier, Grant Winstrom, Jason Peters and more. True fans!

Chief Cassidy's psydchic
April 15, 2011 at 7:47PM

Most people who post comments to Lincoln’s mainstream media websites usually do so for one of three main reasons:  1.) To hyperbolically rant about their set-in-stone pet political view of the moment; 2.) to chum the waters and troll for hyberbolical ranters willing to take the bait; 3.) to court the Carrols Corporation’s expansion into Nebraska.

Eric
April 16, 2011 at 2:48PM

Couldn’t agree more Mr. Wilson

Gene
April 18, 2011 at 5:21PM

UNL Athletics actually gives money to the academic side of the house.

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