Newspapers / Gardner-Webb University Student Newspaper / Nov. 19, 2004, edition 1 / Page 4
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Page 4 Friday, November 19, 2004 The piidt Donations could go to better things Six million dollars spent on stadium Jennifer Menster Pilot editor-in-chief During halftime of Saturday’s last home foot ball game, Spangler Stadium will be dedicated to the university. Construction on the sta dium began last school year and was pretty complete at the beginning of the season. Now, the stadium that cost more than $6 million will be presented in front of athletes, students, faculty. staff, donors and trustees alike. Six million dollars. That’s a lot of money. So much could be done with six million. You could put the money toward feed ing the hungry or housing the homeless. A portion of that could go toward researching cancer or AIDS. Maybe start a scholarship fund for underprivileged children who can’t afford to go to college. The possibilities are end less. Six million dollars. What did tons of people do with a portion of $6 dol lars? They donated it to Gardner-Webb University to renovate Spangler Stadium. The three-level complex with a seating capacity of 7,200 is costing the institu tion more than $6 million. Forget even making donations to world problems like poverty and AIDS. Why not donate money to the sci ence department, whi^^s using the same equipment it used in the 1970s; or give money to Financial Aid, so students who have been on the work study waiting list for months, even years, can get a job to help pay their tuition? Many say the stadium is going to benefit the entire school. Athletic-wise, it will look nice when the football team plays top-ranked Division I teams. The stadi um will also help recruit football players. That’s great; nothing wrong with that. But what al^U recmiting the biology and chemistry majors? Or the art students? Several administrators believe the stadium will bring in money to help the university. But when? Seat prices went up a whole $2. That’s not going to help much. The institution is going to somehow have to pay back the portion of the $6 mill that was not donated. Loans? Bonds? They have to be paid back and with interest. But at least we have more seating for football games. to ttffi The Pilot welcomes and encourages letters to the editor and gmse columns. We want all stu dents, faculty and staff to have a voice in the paper. Please send all via email ed gwupilot@yakoo.com or campus mad to box $192. All letters are subject ta editing hy The Pilot Jfet* grammar, spelling and AP Style. Plea.se keep letters around 350 words or le.ss: Thank you. Topic: Would a state lottery help education? But we must ask ourselves — what is more important? A little money spent or education for those spending their money? It should be obvious that education is the better answer. Jennifer Menster Pilot editor-in-chief Let’s look at the numbers. I discovered the following infor mation from the John Locke Foundation of North Carolina’s Web site: Approximately $87,229,144 goes ffon^orth Carolina residents to the S(«Karolina State lottery. ^^proximately $11,850,125 goes from North Carolina residents to the Georgia lottery. □proximately $113,570,000 rom North Carolina residents to the Virginia lottery. And, approximately $42,971,028 goes from North Carolina residents to the Tennessee lottery. Do you get the point? Did you add it up? That is $255,620,297 of North Carolina residents’ money that is being spent in out-of-state lotteries. That is $255,620,297 that could be spent in North Carolina. That is $255,620,297 that could go to education, scholarships, teacher salaries, better curriculum projects in schools... all things that better the future of our state. However, a lottery is far from coming into existence in this state. The very fact that lottery Web sites have a “help” link shows that gambling addiction is a very real problem. Why exacerbate the situation by having a lottery in North Carolina? Opponents are too worried that the poor will feed on the lottery. But we must ask ourselves - what is more important? A little money spent or education for those spending their money? It should be obvious that educa tion is the better answer. In North Carolina, about 42.5 pereent of state expenses wm^ toward publie schools according Bp the Office of State Controller. In dol- lar amount, that is about $5,872,954,662. In South Carolina, more than $682 million is given to educatjp| through the lottery. Think of all the money that could go toward education in North Carolina, a state obviously larger than South Carolina, if there was a lottery here. The state could improve teacher salaries, give more scholar ships, offer better programs in the classrooms. The possibilities are endless. It is time for the state legislature to stop debating the lottery and put a plan into action. The less fortunate may not win the million dollar pot, but with a lot tery, their ehildren are more likely to get a scholarship to college and make millions. Jacob Conley Pilot staff Kenny Rogers once sang, "You got to know when to hold ko^^when to fold ‘em, ISsw xw^to walk away, know when to ran.” Unfortunately, some people don’t heed Kenny’s advice. These people are gambling addicts and that’s why North Carolina should not implement a s\*e lottery. I know there is a gamblers anonymous hotline, but how many addicts actually realize they have a problem? I know not eveiy one who plays the lot tery buys tickets instead of b^^hy give those who ^Fld l^^nce to do so? As for the hotline and other links to help gambling addic tion, most of the ones I found were run by the gaming indus try, and I had to navigate through flashing pop-up ads that promised me millions just to reach them. Would a gambling addict be able to resist the temptation to play? I doubt it. Take a look at how much money is spent on the lottery each year. In Georgia alone, $2.16 billion worth of lottery tickets were sold last year. That entire sum eould not have come from the casual gambler. The very fact that lot tery Web sites have a “help” link shows that gambling addic tion is a very real problem. Why exacerbate the situation by having a lottery in North, Carolina? Those in favor of a lottery contend that it would improve the state’s economy by stopping gamers from crossing the bor der into South Carolina. But is it( the chance of winning instant cash driving people to the Palmetto state? Or is it the cheaper gas? Take Gardner-Webb stu-. dents, for example. They most likely go to Gaffhey for the out let mall, not the lottery. Besides, just because South Carolina does something does not mean North Carolina has to follow suit. It’s the same analogy that your mom used to quote any time you wanted to do some thing with your friends. “If your friends jumped off the roof would you do it too?” I serious ly doubt it. Governor Mike Easley says that the lottery is necessary for education. How does this edu cational plan affect us as GWU students? The North Carolina plan would be modeled after Georgia’s. In Georgia, 35 percent of • oceeds from the lottery goes the H.O.P.E. scholarship fund. These scholarships cover 100% of tuition to state-sup ported schools as long as the ^tudent maintains a 3.0 GPA. B While that sounds nice and rair, the fact is that these schol arships only go to students who go to in-state public schools. If such a plan were imple mented in North Carolina, think of the implications it could have on private schools like GWU. If public institutions are more affordable, then the enrollment at private schools could go down, causing many budgetary and fiscal crises. So, while the lottery might at first seem like harmless fun, consider the effects a lottery would have on addicts and pri vate universities, and leave gambling to Kenny Rogers. za NT a humor column by Jeff Davis A traditional holiday Thanksgiving: Digested I don’t know about you but I really like Thanksgiving. If there’s anyone out there who does n’t like Thanksgiving then I have a bone to pick with you - a turkey bone, that is. This is a holiday about eating, who doesn’t like eating? I like eating. I’ll stand up for eating, or sit down, whatever 1 need to do. We all know the history of Thanksgiving, we think. As a serious journalist I researched the history of this holiday. This time 1 really did look it up. In 1621, starving pil grims in the New World were treated to a feast pro vided by the generous Native Americans. The DAVIS Wampanoags helped the pilgrims sur vive the harsh winter. WampM^g is a fun word; try saj^it with a straight face. Anyway, a tradition of remembering this event began. The pilgrims would later return the favor to the Native Americans by shar ing European diseases and then forcing the survivors off their land, but we won’t include that in our Thanksgiving celebration. The emphasis of this holiday has shifted over time to the most noble of all birds, the turkey. Yes, it’s not just • nksgiving, it’s Turkey . We’ll stuff a turkey, stuff ourselves and fall asleep on a piece of stuffed furniture while watching football players show their stuff. If that’s not enough the next day we’ll all go out shopping for stuff with which to stuff our closets and Christmas stockings. Surprisingly there is a point to this rambling col umn. As silly as our Thanksgiving traditions have become, such as eat ing ourselves senseless, we should all consider the things for which we give thanks. Aside from the spread of food on the table in front of us, we should be thankful for our family, friends, health, shelter and all other things with which God has blessed us. It was the late president John F. Kennedy who once said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” I really need to end this incoherent column now because my mouth is water ing thinking about grand ma’s cooking. I’d hate to ruin my keyboard. So for The Jeff Zone, I’m Jeff Davis saying, “Happy Thanksgiving everybody!” Visit http://www.expage.com/the jeffzone for more. The Pifer Gardner-Webb University Box: 5192 Phone; 3533 iWww.gwupilot. com E-mail: gwupilot@yahoo.com edi tor-in -chief Jennifer Menster sports editor Sean Hubbard Photo editor Kaylin Bowers copy editors Katie Main Amanda Wood product inn manager IVes Rice web fidi tor Sarah James contrihiitors Jeff Davis Joel Fluty Scor ■ Chn. nnuiy riWia ^^f rady staff Abbie Crago Jacob Conley Sheyahshe Littledave Anna Sieges Vic Sloan Robin Taylor advisor Denise A. McGill The Pilot is the official Gardner-Webb University student newspaper. It is produced by students under the supervision of the Department of Communication Studies. Gardner-Webb fosters an atmosphere in vMch student jour nalists may re|»rt cn natters of GcxiTim interest and write criti - cally about Uiiversity issues, poli - cies and programs without fear of reprisal. At the same tine The Pilot adheres to hi(^ standards of integrity and jcunalistic responsibility.
Gardner-Webb University Student Newspaper
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Nov. 19, 2004, edition 1
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