Athletics, Leadership Institute and Program Board should be reduced from university budget

Today is the final day for students to send suggestions to Central Michigan University on what it should cut from the 2010-11 budget. The Web site, https://ssl.cmich.edu/ssbag, allows students and faculty members to e-mail suggestions on how the university can save and generate money.
Here are a few suggestions from Central Michigan Life on what the university should cut from the 2010-11 budget:

Athletics

Athletics received $15,996,661 from the 2009-10 operating budget. With the $5,910,703 athletics generated, it has $21,907,364 for its budget.

Athletics needs to boost its own funds and not draw most of them from CMU’s operating budget. The main focus of CMU is academics, not athletics.

Athletes only make up one percent of the entire student body. It should be reflected in the budget, allocating more funds to programs the entire student body can be a part of. Instead of spending $500,000 on FieldTurf for athletes to practice, some of that money could have been invested in keeping computer labs open 24 hours.
It is instances such as this one where CMU needs to make sure money from the budget is not recklessly spent.

Leadership Institute

The Leadership Institute is another program that can be be cut from the budget, as it costs the school $127,392 in the 2008-09 academic year. While the program can be helpful, it is an extracurricular activity, not an academic program. It is not a need for the university when CMU needs to cut academic departments.

Furthermore, leaders can be developed through experience, not through activities such as these.

However, the scholarship the Leadership Program provides, the Leader Advancement Scholarship, should stay, as candidates of the scholarship are active members of CMU and contribute to several different facets.

Campus entertainment

Program Board’s funding should be reduced, as well. It is allocated $290,000 to spend on entertainment via the Central Programming Fund. Program Board brought rapper Fabolous to CMU back in September for $25,000. The show was a disaster.

On the other hand, South Park creator Trey Parker came to the school free of charge and Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium was packed with students.

The solution to attracting more students is not more money, but spending what money you do have as effectively as possible. Instead of random comedians and speakers coming to campus through out the school year, Program Board should focus on bringing three or four great entertainers to campus each year. Students are more likely to come to a few quality shows throughout the year, not small, random comedians they will forget the next day.

Certain programs and departments have not spent money wisely from the university budget this semester.

Students should vocalize their opinions and let the university know where their tuition money should go — before the university decides for them.