82SiouxGuy

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That's all there was, a short note that he mentioned it at the University Council meeting. I think that either the Herald or WDAZ had it also. The judge told both sides that they should try to settle out of court so I am sure that UND has made at least some effort. But I don't see either side compromising enough to reach an agreement any time soon.

How about something like this? I don't know if the font is right or not.

Sure it does. It's better for Maturi if the stadium is sold out to Minnesota fans rather than half full of the opposing team's fans. He would much rather get his fan base excited and buying tickets, because they will also buy other UMTC stuff which is more money in their coffers. I don't think that NDSU is going to get any Minnesota fans excited. Of course, not even Wisconsin or Iowa has gotten UMTC football fans excited lately.

Smaller cars do much, much less damage to roads than large SUVs, trucks, etc. You can drive over a stretch of highway many times with a small car and still stress the road less than driving over it 1 time with a loaded truck, or a few times with a large SUV. So, less tax money will balance out with less repairs for a long time, until alternate fuels become a major factor on our roads. In spite of the high gas prices, I don't see electric or other alternate fuels taking a major share of the market any time soon. And when we reach that point they will probably set up a tax on whatever the source of energy is that is being used. If we go to electric you will probably have a special meter that tracks how much is used just for your vehicle and you will pay a special "fuel" tax on that amount.

Most of the gas tax money is supposed to be used to repair and replace highways. It's a use tax. If people are driving less, using smaller cars, etc., then there will be less damage done to the highways and they will need less repair and replacement. So, that would probably be a wash as far as the government goes. Less money coming in but less that they need to spend. And for those people that believe government would never shrink, if they want to keep spending up by moving money to some other project they will also find another way to bring in more money. There is always something else that can be taxed.

In this case DI is actually right (I didn't know I would ever say that ). There are a lot of times when an innocent person could need a lawyer to protect their interests or their reputation. It isn't just the "upper crust" as you call them. But money does increase the odds of using legal council. That is part of the world we live in right now. None of that means that I think Chapman is innocent. There isn't enough information available to the general public to know either way. And there is a chance that we may never know the whole truth. But it is suspicious that he is having trouble dealing with a second chancellor in such a short period of time. He has done a lot of very good things for NDSU during his tenure. But that doesn't guarantee that he hasn't made mistakes, even big ones perhaps.

Many of us are disappointed about that.

That may be another future gift, but I think that it would be really quick to announce something that soon.

Giving to colleges jumps.

That is your opinion and you are welcome to it. Other people disagree and that is their opinion and they have a right to it. You do come off as negative and as a jerk at times. That is also your right but others don't have to like it. One of the first rules of fundraising is to make sure that you have a majority of the goal already pledged (formally or informally as long as you trust the pledge) before you make the goal public. You also need to have a plan that can work. There is absolutely no guarantee that the goal will be reached. But a good plan can make it possible. If the school is going to officially announce this goal and the plan, my guess is that they have some large pledges already in hand. They just aren't ready to make the whole project public yet. Here are a couple of other things to think about. Hundreds of billions of dollars, if not trillions, will be distributed in the United States over the next couple of decades as our older generation passes away. Much of this will be passed down to family. But most experts in the field of philanthropy believe that more money will be distributed to schools, churches and non-profit groups during this upcoming period then in any previous period, and by a large margin. UND has very loyal alumni and many of them have done very well financially. It would not be a surprise if that group starts to make some larger pledges. I have no idea if that will add up to $400 million (the amount of increase needed to reach the $500 million endowment). But it has a chance to be a significant amount. The last 2 large gifts that have been announced may be just the start of this whole project. Only time will tell if this discussion is "ridiculous".

I am sure that Ottawa would have loved to draft a player that would step right into the NHL, but that is totally unrealistic for all but a very few players (like Sid the Kid). Even your timetable of being in the league in 2 years is unrealistic for almost all players, and especially for a defenseman. Defensemen often take 2 to 3 years of college plus at least 1 or 2 years in the AHL to get up to NHL speed. Most defensemen don't stay in the NHL full time until they are at least 22 or 23, even high draft choices. And, as we have seen recently, they can play the position into their early 40s. It just takes longer for players at this position to develop. Part of that is learning how to play the position and part of it is growing and developing physically. If Brian played 1 more year at UND and then played half of the following year in the AHL he would still only be 21 when he got called up. I am pretty sure that Ottawa would be very happy if Brian developed into a regular contributor by the time he turned 23 (which will be near the end of the season in 2010). That would still give him 15 or 20 years of regular play if he lasted that long.

The last plan I heard was to open in stages over the next 2-3 weeks. They will start with 1 restaurant and some rooms like revolutionz said. My guess is that they would like to have the water park open by this weekend, or some time next week for sure. Then they will open a second restaurant and finally the 3rd.

Ray Richards is also very popular with kids in town. It is usually very busy in the mornings and early afternoons with young golfers during the summer.

Is it possible for you to drink more during games?

Obviously you have a problem with time awareness. The average baseball game lasts approximately 3 hours or 180 minutes. If you figure 2 minutes after each half inning plus during at least a couple of pitching changes within the innings, that would lower playing time to 140 minutes. Pitchers for each team throw well over 100 pitches in an average game, lets say 110 for this equation (probably low). That gives us a total of 220 pitches thrown. That is an average of 1 pitch every 38 seconds. And the actual number is probably under 30 seconds because there are usually more pitches thrown during that time. So the average time between pitches is approximately the same as the time between plays in a football game. During that 30-38 seconds, many decisions can occur and be relayed to a variety of players around the diamond. And that doesn't even take into account whatever action occurs after the pitcher throws the ball. The Whistler, shep and mikejm are right, baseball is a great game. The problem it has with much of the younger population is that it doesn't have much for extreme action. It doesn't have vicious hits or constant action. It is a game of planning and decision making. That is why I love the game. Then I watch football and hockey to release my aggression.

My guess is that it won't be related to the Athletics Department. I think that the AD would have been mentioned as part of the announcement. But it looks like some great news for UND no matter what the gift is or how it is going to be used.

Also mentioned in this thread.

I think that you may be reading too much into the mentions of the endowment and research. Almost every announcement dealing with the Foundation or a large gift mentions the endowment and research because those are the main focus of the Foundation at this time. I do think that the AD would be part of the announcement if a large gift were going to the Athletic Department. I would expect that a good portion of a large gift would go into the endowment in some way, with a portion perhaps targeted to a specific project or function much like the large gift last fall.

I have seen very few problems over the last several years, and most of them were small. The same cleaning program has been used since the building opened and the Alerus Center does the same thing. They bring in a crew of at least 20-25 people for about 4 hours to clean after an event, and longer after bigger events like the Minnesota series. They make 3 passes through the arena. The first pass they pick up garbage and empty bottles. The second pass is to sweep the floor. The 3rd pass is to mop the floor. And that is just in the arena area. The regular staff handles the concourse and the bathrooms. It would probably cost $12-15 per hour for regular employees if you include taxes and benefits. That would run somewhere in the $8-1,200 range for each event, double that for a weekend of hockey. And you would have to find at least 30-40 people willing to work either very late at night or early the next morning just about every weekend just to get enough people that would show up. This isn't unique to Grand Forks. They do similar cleaning programs in a lot of places around the country. Some groups do a better job than others. The staff should be responsible for the cleanliness of the building. They are supposed to check on the job before people leave. But it is very easy to miss something, especially in the shadows under the seats when the lights are down low. And they turn the lights down low to save more money. The last number I heard was approximately $30,000 per month for utilities (heat and lights) during the winter and that was a couple of years ago. This process works great for both sides. It solves a major headache for the arenas and saves them some money. And it gives a lot of non-profit groups an excellent fundraiser so they don't have to go out and sell us more garbage that we don't need (how many tins of popcorn, or pizzas or flower bulbs do you need). No, they don't do as good a job as professionals would do. And some of the groups probably shouldn't be asked back. But it is a good solution that is normally effective. But again, it is a big building and things can get missed. If you see something that needs to be done, especially if it is there 2 games in a row, let some of the staff know so they can get it fixed.

A lot of different organizations do the cleaning throughout the year as fundraisers. It is much cheaper and more efficient to clean that way rather than paying a regular staff. It could easily double the cleaning bill to hire regular employees. That money would come out of the Athletic Department budget. But they are not professional cleaning people so they don't do as good a job. Also, it is difficult to see things at times because they turn down the lighting during the cleaning, that is why things can get missed. The full time employees of the REA should eventually find these things, but sometimes they don't. So, if you see something that needs to be done, let people know about it instead of letting it go.

As has been said on this board several times, IT'S JUST A MARKETING SLOGAN. That's how marketing works. Force of the North would be a very tough name to use, it is multiple words and too long. If there is a change they will have to get everyone involved because they will want people to buy into the name and that would be difficult if any name is forced on people. No new name would be popular with everyone, but they would need a core group to accept it.

I know several people that are probably better shots than the average LEO. But, I would guess that most LEOs would react better and be a little more calm when faced with a person shooting at them. The LEOs have at least a little training for those situations. The average person, even people with carry permits, don't usually have that training. So I believe that the LEO would probably be more accurate in a high stress situation. And my concerns with having too many people carrying guns is more about the increased odds of accidents and honest people making mistakes than about criminals. You are right, the criminals will have weapons no matter what the laws say. But people make mistakes, security features can fail, things can go wrong. And it is a numbers game. If we have a much larger number of people carrying weapons, we have a much higher chance of those things happening.

You make some very good points, although I do have some concerns about too many people carrying guns. But, according to most of the reports I have read, the portion that I have bolded may or may not have been possible. I believe that he was wearing a bullet-proof vest. So a couple to the chest may have just been annoying to him (probably painful). And according to an FBI report from law enforcement experience, no matter the number of shots fired from a handgun, most of the time only 1 or 2 solid torso hits at best could be expected. Therefore it would be a bit much to expect anyone, much less a non-LE person, to hit someone twice in the chest and once in the head when someone else is shooting at them. The FBI report can be found here on page 6. So, someone else with a gun would have changed the situation, but the chances of it being that simple to eliminate most of the people being killed may not be accurate. Of course, someone else could have gotten a lucky shot and ended the situation after the 1st or 2nd shooting. We will never know.