Eastern should disband all athletic teams.

In one fell swoop, each and every athletic team, whether it is a club or an NCAA recognized team, they should all be swept away.

Good, I have your attention.

Now, of course, ridding Eastern of all athletic teams is not only unimaginable, but simply unrealistic.

But we need to take a long look at the apathy among our student body toward athletics and then take a look at the gigantic endeavor Athletic Director Barbara Burke would like to begin with the proposal to completely renovate our campus in order to build a brand new football stadium and several other athletic facilities.

In an article that appeared in the March 2 edition of The Daily Eastern News, it was reported that the new “master facility plan,'” while being “very flexible” and relying solely on input from donors, would include a new football stadium along Fourth Street, rugby and soccer teams being relegated to one new field, Lantz Arena being renovated, O’Brien Stadium featuring only track and field events, a new softball field and a paving over of the campus pond and something dubbed the Panther Performance Center.

I can appreciate the desire to upgrade facilities for our athletic teams. And I also recognize that, so early in the planning phase on such a project, many aspects are up in the air.

How much money will be asked of students? How many different variations of the current design will come about? How long will the project take?

But the bottom line is that Eastern is barely a Division I school. There are very few other schools our size that compete in Division I and, judging by the lack of interest generated by our student body, one must question the need for such a garish display of athletic pride.

We are a university that features athletic teams; we are not an athletic training ground that features some schooling.

The Martin Luther King Jr. University Union is old and showing numerous signs of wear and tear. McAfee Gymnasium is hardly used anymore and when it is, one cannot help but notice the building seems a stiff breeze away from falling over. The McAfee clock and the newer clock tower near Booth Library do not even keep time.

Our university is several million dollars in the red because the state has left us high and dry. Students are in constant fear of leaving school because they cannot get the financial aid they so desperately need.

And we want to change the entire face of our campus? Where would people park their cars? Our parking lots are filled to capacity and there simply is nowhere else for the university to expand outward for more parking without requiring a shuttle to bus people to campus.

This is not the time for such a project. We can hardly get students to our games as it is, and the university needs funding in literally dozens of other areas first.

Our sports teams are a great source of pride. And if all funding for this project could come from the pockets of the athletic department only, then I have no qualm.

But, our university should not feature a larger sports facility than academic facilities, and we must determine first and foremost if enough interest will come from our student body to warrant such an over-the-top endeavor.

David Thill is a sernior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-7942 or at [email protected].