KSU is in the process of planning for a $750 million to $1 billion dollar "campaign".
Plus, what don't you get about the reality that ku has 1000's more alumni than K-State does??? (It's kind of like trying to explain that you don't need to spend $30 million dollars . . . well $20 million dollars since the engineering, site prep and practice fields took up nearly $10 million ... on a new football facility when you've already got one.) What's even more funny is that ku's previous giving record of like $102 million for one year, nearly half came from one donation from the Hall Foundation . . . and that was during a "campaign", so using Deluge/KthUg logic that doesn't really count . . . . but reading the annual report for that year from the ku foundation they didn't put any * next to the numbers and note "Happened during a campaign therefore it doesn't count."
In terms of Tom Kivisto, all we have is ku athletics "word" that he was current on his donation (but strangely report a $3.1 million loss on a "promise to give" donation) . . . the same people that report $81 million dollars in revenue on financial reports, and then say they only got $53 million dollars in revenue that same year and therefore can't afford to give faculty and staff a discount on their tickets . . . the same bunch that uses student fees to build a facility that 99.4% of the students will never set foot in.
Associate Athletic Director Jim Marchiony said the athletic department could not pick up the cost of the discount program, but said the department would continue to allow faculty and staff ticket holders to sit in preferred seating locations without the requirement that they become donors to ku Athletics. The department also offers a special half-season ticket package to faculty and staff that is not offered to the general public, Marchiony said.
ku Athletics generated about $53 million in revenue for the 2007-2008 school year, according to the department’s annual report. But Marchiony said expenses are near the $53 million mark as well. (LJ WORLD April 1st, 2009)
Discontinuing ku staff discounts
Recently University of Kansas Executive Vice Chancellor Richard Lariviere told employees and retirees the university would no longer offer 20 percent discounts to athletic events nor provide retired faculty free tickets to Lied Center events, thus saving $451,000, about the equivalent of 11 employee salaries (4/3, Local).
ku gives few benefits to its faculty. Many universities provide free tuition to faculty children and health insurance to retired faculty. Not at ku. Recently ku began charging retired faculty to park on campus, formerly a perk. About the only benefits retired faculty received have now been rescinded.
Many retirees on fixed incomes have been adversely affected by the economy and will give up the higher-priced tickets so the university can sell them at full price to others. One wonders why the $451,000 wasn’t taken from salaries of the athletic department and administration.
R. Vance Hall
Overland Park
Posted by letters editor on April 11, 2009 at 10:30 PM | Permalink
Comments
Why would expect any different from any university, all they care about is money and their athletic departments.
