I love the University of Houston. I love UH so much that upon completing my bachelor’s degree I came back for a master’s degree and a doctorate. And on Tuesday I will be voting against the student referendum for a new football stadium and the Hofheinz Pavilion renovation.
UH students face an unstable financial environment. In 2009, 42 percent of new students took out loans to pay for their tuition while 82 percent received some form of financial aid.
UH is made up primarily of students who attempt to work their own way through school or who receive assistance of some sort to make their way through.
Moreover, the job market upon graduation is bleak. UH wants 39,820 students who are facing financial uncertainty and who are already having a difficult time paying for school to give them at least an additional $90,000,000.
Students will subsidize the athletics department to a tune of $4,407,707 this year. Every semester you are charged a student service fee. This semester the fee was $190. About 27 percent of that fee is allocated for intercollegiate athletics.
If the referendum passes, over the next 25 years, students would pay at least an additional $90 million on top of the $4.4 million that we already pay. Students would be spending over $210 million to subsidize the athletics department.
Alumni who attend the games are financially stable enough to spend money on UH. The cash-strapped students should not be asked to shoulder the burden.
— Samuel Brower, Ph.D. student, education
The Daily Cougar has a 250 word limit so they shaved off quite a bit of what I initially had written. I'd just like to add that I'm a diehard UH football and basketball fans, I am at most home games, and I make multiple away trips a year. I am personally willing to pay for a new stadium. I just don't think it's right to push that cost onto other students who may not use the stadium, especially before the vast majority of alumni are even asked to donate. Thanks.
I'm pretty sure alumni have been asked, repeatedly, and then again several more times to contribute. This seems like a last resort, especially knowing that they have been raising funds for a new stadium since 2010. UH would not be the first school to include a fee that goes toward athletic expenses, including a new stadium. I know that UNT has done that. I genuinely appreciate your opinion, though. As an undergrad alumni and current master's student, I will be glad to pay an additional $100 a year (especially considering games are free for students) if it will help improve my school and increase recognition and the campus environment.
To the Daily Cougar: I can only assume that the reason you printed this letter (aside from your famous editorial incompetence) is that this is the best logic that can be offered against the Athletic Fee. Either way, you're doing neither proponents nor opponents a favor by allowing the spokesperson for the movement be so incompetent.
>UH students face an unstable financial environment. In 2009, 42 percent of new students took out loans to pay for their tuition while 82 percent received some form of financial aid.
How does this illustrate an unstable financial environment? 2009 was 3 years ago. People borrow money to pay for school now. It's the modus operandi. A better statistic for stability would be unemployment in the city of Houston (where most Cougars live and work and attend school) – which is among the lowest in the nation right now and has been throughout the recession. In fact, a recent report from the Fed Reserve Bank of Dallas indicated that Houston has regained all the jobs it lost during the recession. Yep, sounds like we're really struggling. I don't care for anecdotes, and the actual data which is statistically significant points towards "things are fine and getting better." Nice job using scare tactics, though – the voters don't like to be intimidated.
>Moreover, the job market upon graduation is bleak.
What does this have to do with the Student Service Fee? If it were lower we'd all be likelier to get jobs? Hey, I like this – I'm going to tell the grocery store clerk that they should give me half off on my next purchase because it will help me get a job. Are you sure you're a PhD student?
>UH wants 39,820 students who are facing financial uncertainty and who are already having a difficult time paying for school to give them at least an additional $90,000,000.
I'm sorry you're having a tough time of it, but many UH students are competent in managing their finances, and happy to work hard, and want not only success for UH students themselves, but also want to support the future value of their degree (ie, we care about the value of our education on an ongoing basis – something that, as an education major whose job will be protected by a Union with a no-fire clause, you don't have to worry about – you're welcome for me paying your contractually mandated inflated future salary with my taxes, though) and for future generations. This is partly about self-interest, but also partly about supporting the future of the University and future generations. Not supporting UH now isn't about stability, it's about greed, selfishness, and short-sightedness.
PhD in education huh? That explains it. Those that can do, those that cant teach…
So the daily cougar is deleting people's comments now? Free speech at its finest i see…
Did they delete your comment? I'd assume they would do that if used profanity or engaged in ad hominem attacking. If not, then yes, the Daily Cougar is being insensitive to your rights. But, I'm willing to bet you didn't abide by the rules of the site.
Don't bet your house on it, bud.They deleted mine as well as multiple other posts from other users. I used no profanity or ad hominem attacks.
Well-done, Sam!
Alumni who attend sporting events already support the Athletic program in the form of Season Tickets and donations to Cougar Pride. As a soon to be graduate I am happy to pay the minimal fee of $45 dollars a semester and then once I graduate I will continue to support UH through Cougar Pride and Season Ticket purchases. Maybe you should read the MOU that our own SGA negotiated with the Athletics Department to ensure that students were receiving benefits that aren't available at most other institutions. I believe your numbers will end up being inflated due to the clause in the MOU that stipulates a "Money Back Guarantee" Where if the athletics department raises more money for the project, (which they almost certainly will) The money goes back to SGA and the students. Dr. Khator continues to talk about building a Tier 1 UH. This includes athletics. Which even if you don't like it Athletics is the cornerstone of major US colleges and universities today.
Thanks and Eat 'Em Up
Who do you think has raised the money so far? $90 million seems like a lot until you consider it is over 25 years. $45 a semester? That is nothing to raise the quality of life on campus and elevating our stature in the national opinion. Students will continue to go to games for free, no matter how much higher we rise. Ask people who go to other schools in the state and ask if they'd like to go to their events for free. You're making a mountain out of a mole hill.
This is outrageous. I am embarrassed to share a degree from this university with you. If you are not able to see how in today's world athletics plays a major role in a school getting grants for better teachers than you are not reading enough. Athletics makes alumni come back and give, it makes the college experience. If you do not understand that your tuition is not just for an education but an experience then you learned nothing about college while in college. It is people like you who will ruin this university. Think about the correlation between UH athletic's achievements and increased enrollment. ITS ALMOST 100%!!! If you want this university to grow this is a must. You are an idiot.
this fall ill be attending UH while supporting a wife and 3 children and if i could vote now id eagerly vote YES
once upon a time being physical fit was seen as just as important as mentally fit which is why even schools like Rice, Harvard and Yale still play sports!
So how come I don't see any articles on here that are for the fee? Equal distribution would be nice…
Plus, students get free tickets, so basically $45 season tickets to get into EVERY sport is beyond a great deal.
You don't read them because you haven't submitted any. And you get in because students pay over $4.4 million to the athletics department through the student service fee. No student gets in for free.
Well I guess you should have lobbied a bit more, but the stadium and renovations are official now…
Its $45 dollars a semester. You pay more for one physics book. Stop being drama queens.
I am a member of UHAA, and I now have a son who is a freshman at UH. As a student, I helped pay for the Rec center, even though I never got to use it due to my schedule (I attended full-time while working one, two or three jobs and raising four children as a single mom). Did I complain about funding the Rec center? No! I'm proud my university has such a fantastic facility, and little did I know at the time I would have a son who loves spending all his extra time there! Same goes for a new football stadium — ours is sorely out of date, and paying for it by increasing student fees is no different than improving parking lots, academic buildings, etc. We are a major university with an aging campus and upgrades are a necessary part of business! This year, it's a new stadium, next time around, it may be a new health center. Just because you don't support athletics doesn't mean the athletic program isn't an integral part of the school. I'm proud to see the forward strides our university is making on ALL FRONTS!!! So, I help fund progress as an alum, and my son's student fees help also. And NOBODY IS WHINING AT OUR HOUSE!!
maybe tilman fertitta can spend some of his millions on the school since him and the other regents, who are heavily into developing/construction, think it's so important that we make this school really big. tilman can sell his 8 million dollar yacht and a few properties and save students millions in loan interest and probably stop a suicide or two.
meanwhile digital technology is allowing schools to develop free online courses and cheap accreditation and people are struggling to survive – but yeah it's really vital the rich powerful people in charge keep squeezing money from students to build these outdated institutions that barely educate (except for lessons in obedience and mindlessness) many students.
and it's most vital that we build a fresh new stadium to have some of the worst students throw around a ball. everyone knows that appearances are everything, so we must have the newest buildings and stadiums and the rest can be swept under the rug.