Chancellor Francis T. Borkowski’s Football Opportunities Study committee has crafted a recommendation to expand facilities used by varsity athletics, specifically football, in phases to the tune of over $32 million.
    Tonight at the SGA senate meeting, university administrators will unmask a plan to pay for phase one of the recommendation, which will most likely include a new student fee. The committee, which met for the last time Saturday, only had one active student member, Student Body President Ryan M. Eller.
    Hiding under the excuse of lost office space due to future plans to demolish Broome-Kirk Gymnasium to make way for a new dining facility, the committee is pushing for the expansion of Owens Field House to include new offices, locker rooms and a larger weight-lifting facility.
    Also in the plan is the renovation of Kidd Brewer Stadium to include increased seating to 25,000 seats, a new press box, spectator facilities and new turf, not to mention the new party deck for the Yosef Club. New entrances and better handicap access to the stadium will also be added.
    Varsity Gymnasium will be transformed into a powerhouse athletics training facility, adding indoor practice areas for many varsity sports and, of course, varsity football.
    Roachel J. Laney and other university officials said last Tuesday phase one of the plan will cost roughly $13 million. But who really knows?
    The Board of Trustees is scheduled to approve this recommendation Dec. 6, but no architect has been called upon to estimate final costs.
    What kind of ship are we running here?
    Associate Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert L. Shaffer said Friday funds must come from multiple sources including private funds and student fees. They just don’t know yet.
    Shaffer confirmed the proposed fee for the completion of phase one will be between $55 and $75 per student starting next year and continuing until the loans are paid off, if approved by the Board of Trustees and Board of Governors.
    Students should be outraged.
    Do we need this right now or do certain “friends of the university” want this? It’s crystal clear student voice on this matter falls on deaf ears. Why? It’s our money at stake.
    If students aren’t outraged, parents who pay for their children’s education should be.
    In a time when students are already being charged for past, present and future facilities, another student fee increase to support something that is not currently seen as a need is outrageous. We already have the Student Recreation Center in the works that will fill most students’ recreational needs.
    The plan to increase varsity football and varsity athletics should be funded by raising money to pay specifically for these enhancements. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University recently overhauled their athletic facilities using monies raised through fundraisers. Instead of always placing the burden on students, the university must find alternate means for funding this desire.