Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
Apparently, not everyone is a fan of the Wildcat Coal Lodge. Early this morning, protesters hung this “Ball Homes Building” banner from the Main Building on UK’s campus. Another banner reading, “YOUR AD HERE! Call: 257-1701″ was hung across the pillars in front of Memorial Hall. The theme: UK is for sale.
For those of you that have been living under a rock, the UK board voted 16-3 to approve rebuilding and renaming Joe B. Hall Wildcat Lodge to Wildcat Coal Lodge, after a $7 million donation from a group of private donors. The proposal has fueled a national debate and has many UK students outraged. But, this morning’s public protest on campus is the first to use old linens and elementary arts and crafts.
From Kentucky.com:
UK spokeswoman Kathy Johnson said that campus police noticed the banners about 5 a.m. They were taken down, she said, because they violated administrative rules. According to the rules, the director of the student center has to approve signs on buildings and they must be sponsored by a student organization that is marked on the sign.
… I’m relieved that Kathy issued a statement to clarify that the signs are a campus violation and were not approved by the university. For a second there, I thought UK really was for sale. But, we all know UK wouldn’t just pimp itself out for the money, right?
—————————————
This post was brought to you by The Awesome Auger - “Take The Hard Work Out Of Yard Work”
[powered by WordPress.]
Bill Keightley Report : Never to be forgotten.
30 queries. 0.913 seconds
November 4th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Gotta agree with the students here. What if Porcini’s had donated 7 million to the UK basketball program?
November 4th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Ultimately, students will learn that the money wins. I felt the same way when I was a student. While forcing “coal” into the name is a little awkward, the money will enhance the basketball program, which in turns makes a lot of money for the university. Basketball and football generate a lot of revenue for UK and naming a building after donors isn’t new, and it won’t ever stop. Live with it and just grit your teeth.
Go Cats!
November 4th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
Tune in tomorrow for post world series rundown.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
It’s funny to me that the “students” want to protest coal. Friends, take the tax revenue from coal out of the equation and the cost for in State students would be a lot higher. Like it or not, but the tax revenue from coal fuels the state.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
2) agreed
Idealism was one fantastic part of my college experience, but as Robert Frost so eloquently wrote:
“Nature’s first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.”
Welcome to the real world young people.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
Well said #5
November 4th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
And as the great philosopher Dr. Dre said:
“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.”
November 4th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
Just when it looks like this debate is going away, BAM! It comes right back. The proposed name is idiotic, but it is settled, over, done. Move on folks.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
I agree with the students but….
There’s 7 million reasons the adminstration doesn’t care about the students.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:27 pm
2) How often exactly do corporations/industries get to put their names on university campuses? You all seem to be acting like this occurs pretty often…
November 4th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
When someone comes up with a alternative form of fuel that doesn’t cost 6 fold the cost of coal to produce and use, that directly contributes to Kentucky’s State Economy, I’ll be glad to listen. Until then grab another tree and dance the night away. GO BIG BLUE
November 4th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
As Blackstreet said in No Diggity, “Ain’t nothin goin on but the rent, no doubt”
November 4th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Maybe, if ALL of the 27,000 students at UK are willing and able to chip in $500 each you can get the word “sucks” to follow the word coal.
Just a thought.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
WHOOO CAARREESS!!!!!!!! Think about it:
Hi my name is Joe I am a famous horse trainer, I am famous for all of the races I won in the past, in fact I am the all time leading trainer in wins. The problem is my facilities are getting a little old and the economy is bad right now. Because my facilities are old, no owners want to give me their good horses, so everyone who decided to upgrade their facilities before the rough times are drawing all the good horses, and now everyone is catching up to me and my untouchable win record.
Hi Joe I am Tom and I am stanky rich for selling Tom’s Blow Pops, I like horse racing and I will give you 7,000,000 to update your facilities if you call it Joe Blow’s Training Facility, what do you say….
Your Choice…
Sincerely,
CAnTuckeeCOALBoi
November 4th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Cue the ignorant post from lexslamman.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
I don’t care who ya are. That’s funny right dur.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
14- You’re comparing a for profit business to a non-profit, state sponsored, “independent” university with aspirations to be a top research and education institution?
November 4th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
14- Is your point that someone should have put BCG down?
November 4th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
10. Nike pretty much has their logo on every college jersey in the country. Nike and their mistreatment of foreign factory workers is well documented. Does the Nike symbol next to the Kentucky name not offend you? Does the University of Kentucky stand for mistreating Vietnamese people?
I mean, I honestly don’t see the difference between a logo on a jersey and a sponsored name on a building. At least the coal industry gave UK $7 million.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:44 pm
10- I do see a big difference between sponsorship and branding, especially once the names come onto buildings on campus. It’s a slippery slope straight to the Green Party School of Political Science.
November 4th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
I would expect a little more creativity from a campus protest. Apparently, the art majors weren’t offended enough to participate.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
17.) Hey smarty pants if you would spend your time thinking about what I said rather than trying to sound intelligent and critique me then you would know the answer to your question. Let me help, if you think for one second that the basketball team does not bring revenue to the state of Kentucky and the University of Kentucky then you are fooling yourself. The better the team the more people watch the more revenue brought in the happier the people the more money they spend and then starts the circle of life…… ‘preciate ya
November 4th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
18.) That would have helped as well….
November 4th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Is it just me or does the “Ball” part of that banner looked really horribly photoshopped? I assume it’s real, but the image just looks like a bad fake.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
I think what you are missing is how backwards it makes UK sound to the rest of the country. It may not be this way in Kentucky, but to the rest of the country coal is a thing of the past…an outdated technology that they are striving diligently to replace as an energy source. How about Stanley Steam powered automobiles sponsoring the team? Would that make us the team of the future?
November 4th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
17- Hey smarty pants, they’re not just sponsoring the basketball team, they’re branding a university building that houses both athletes and non-athletes. That makes it a public university building being branded by an industry, please point out how I am at all wrong about that?
November 4th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
If some people came forward with $50million dollars for renaming a building where political science courses were taught and wanted to name it the Democat’s Education Building, would you all still see no problems with it?
November 4th, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Am I the only one who doesn’t care about coal one way or the other but still thinks this is a really stupid idea? I’m with the students on this one in one respect: if the name of the dorm is for sale, then why not any other building on campus?
Oh, and one would think that a public university responsible for educating the Commonwealth’s leaders of tomorrow would try to act with a little more integrity than to fall at the whim of any paycheck that happens to grace its inbox. You would think. And you would be wrong.
November 4th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
10) The only time that comes to mind for me is on WKU’s campus. The football stadium is called Houchens L.T Smith stadium. Houchens is business that owns a bunch of grocery stores and stuff.
But your right, it doesn’t happen very often.
November 4th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
25 let me count the ways of how stupid your reply is, oh wait haven’t got that much time left for that, I’ll just be brief then. Coal counts for 90% of Kentucky’s needs so depending on where you live that outdated tech as you say is more then likely keeping your lights on & your ass warm! Plus nationally it counts to close to 60% or better, so in closing COAL IT’S OUR FUTURE & frankly not a thing wrong with UK naming the lodge after an industry that means so much to this state! So to all you tree huggers here & out there good luck scratching 2 sticks together & staying warm then, oh wait can’t do that either it goes against your name TREE HUGGER, right?
November 4th, 2009 at 5:03 pm
28- I’m right there with you, my problem isn’t with the name coal, it’s with letting industries/corporations name buildings at a public university, where do you stop it? And, how will this not raise suggestions of conflict of interest every time the mining engineering department puts out a new study/paper.
November 4th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
26.) I would guess that you were talink to my post in post 22.) Either way that is where your wrong. It is being named after a sedimentary rock. It is being funded by a person that makes his money from an industry mines a sedimentary rock. It would be like naming the Library W.T. Young Thoroughbred Library. This is no different than the Joe Craft Center only with a different name. Smarty Pants…
November 4th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Put #30 on a house political action committee.
November 4th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
32- A sedimentary rock?! The creationists would not like the implications that go along with that at all…
November 4th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
5 and 13 - you are on a roll today . . . good stuff.
Even if it were a “brand” used on a UK building is that any worse than the surname of some crony who was somehow in the Board’s good graces when a building was built. At least with the brand, you know what the University received $.
Issue = Dead
November 4th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
32- If it were actually the case that the word coal in the name wasn’t due to branding by people in the coal industry and was just meant to be representative of an industry that built up Eastern Kentucky, I would have no problem with it. But, as many people have stated, that name was bought for $7million, and they sure didn’t leave it up to the university which sedimentary rock they named it after. So don’t start saying that this isn’t branding for the coal industry.
November 4th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
30- I don’t live in Kentucky, and that’s why I’m talking about PERCEPTION of the UK brand OUTSIDE the state. And, like it or not, coal does not have a good PR image outside of Kentucky. As I’ve stated before, I use solar and geothermal in my Chicago home, with only about 6% of my total energy consumption coming from “the grid”. I don’t appreciate the personal attacks, and it shows how close-minded the Commonwealth can really be that I can’t say that there are better alternatives than coal without getting lambasted. My point was that while putting coal in the name might not seem like that big of a deal to a Kentuckian living in state, it IS that big of a deal to the rest of the country. Even if others are depending on it for their energy currently, 90% of America is looking for alternatives (which means they don’t think coal is a good idea). UK promoting what is PERCEIVED NATIONWIDE as a “problem” does not look good for the school. It doesn’t help that Kentucky and West Virginia are the only places in America that would actually defend coal use for electricity. I’m just tired of everyone assuming I’m a close-minded, inbred hillbilly before they get to know me because I’m from Kentucky, and putting the word “coal” on a high-profile building can only make that worse.
November 4th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
37) Thank you.
November 4th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
37) i’m with Secretariat on this. not a good PR move by the university.
as a member of the construction industry, i will add that this sort of thing happens all the time in the construction of university and other public facilities. Stadiums, arenas, and even more commonly ballrooms, conference centers, and other public components of a larger building may be sponsored. These corporate donations are usually pursued by the owner to help offset the overall cost, while giving the naming rights and advertising opportunity to the third party. The decision always lies with the owner and in this case, i believe, UK erred.
November 4th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
People who actually care what buildings are named are losers.
November 4th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
40) WOW, that comment really took no thought at all, uh?
Here, let me try:
People who live in Ay-thens are losers.
Nice, that made me feel so much better about myself.
Thanks for sharing and now…. piss off you!!!
November 4th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
its ok to take coal money to build a library or dormitory ar any number of facilities they have funded for decades but now since the coal moniker is attached to the hallowed UK basketball program its all hypocrisy….come on guys……get off your high horses and accept it as the way we do things….
November 4th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
I support the students on this 100% — keep sponsorship by industries out of Kentucky Basketball. There’s a new UK College of Pharmacy building opening up Dec. 1st that Coal could have built and named, but they chose UK Basketball as a scheme to capitalize on the fan’s deep connection to the Commonwealth’s program. It like a corporation sponsoring a religion in my mind. The next thing you’ll have is Rupp renamed “Friends of Coal Arena” and instead of Cawood’s Court you have “Coal Court”.
November 4th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
42- This is a dormitory being named after coal… they’ve done this with any of the other “facilities they have funded for decades”? No, so why here why now?
November 5th, 2009 at 7:14 am
37 good for you, have a gerbil spinning in a wheel for all I care, but the point is YES the nation & our sercurity needs are SERVED by coal, as I said upperous of 60% or better, so your nayeve if you think otherwise. Plus I live here, work in the industry, it supports my family would you like for me to take your livelyhood under attack & start spewing things I know NOTHING ABOUT, I think not, right? Plus I’m done talking about this, leads me to the old saying you can led a horse to water but you can’t make him drink, same applies to the libs & wet behind the ears yet students, aka tree huggers that post here & know nothing about the industry of which I have been a part of for over 20 years. This was a good move by UK, I applauded it’s going to happen so long live WILDCAT COAL LODGE, GO BIG BLUE!!!!
November 5th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Let’s see - I would change my child’s name to coal for 7 mil - I would put a large sign in my front yard proclaiming my house the Coal Mecca for 7 mil - I would paint my car black and call it the Coal Mobile for 7 mil. I don’t see what the big deal really is. Yes, it’s stupid to name a building Coal, if anything they should have used the business name. But they are large supporters of the University and they are IN-STATE supporters.
November 5th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
41) Name the building whatever the people who donate the money want it to be named, profanities excluded. If Obama wants to give us $7 mil of his, not tax, money call the the Wildcat “Obama” Lodge or if “W” wants to do the same, go for it, I don’t care. 6 months after it is built neither will anyone else who doesn’t live in their mom’s basement.