Do I have a right to be angry?

My school is having a huge, lavish fundraising dinner to raise money for stadium-style lighting and astroturf for our field.

Someone from CNN is being a guest MC.

Jim Cuddy (of Blue Rodeo) is performing.

My school is looking to raise ONE MILLION DOLLARS.

My question is, what else could be done with that amount of money?

Do these people have ANY idea how many schools in Africa could be built for a million? How many wishes could be granted for terminally ill children? How many houses could be built in New Orleans? How many meals could be provided to people who haven't eaten in days?

I wish they'd look outside of their own backyard and see what it could mean to someone who isn't a priviliged football player.

You're supposed to be angry no matter what.

;)

Sure, you could raise those points. Our local school is also doing the greedy bastard stadium thing.

Football was meant to be played on real grass. Astroturf causes far more injuries to players. Yet another example of the "Man" sticking it to the workers.

amount of money for good causes. For most people, good causes just aren't "sexy" enough to generate much enthusiasm.

It was enough to either start a football team, which we didn't have, or build brand new chem and biology labs.

We got the labs! :)

Obviously my school is the exception to the rule here. You should pose the question of what $1m could do for local academics instead of athletics.

rather than pumping more $$ into one sport - football? How about a new science lab, or better art equipment, or something EVERYONE could use?

We drove by Virginia Tech a few months ago - and the f*cking stadium dominated everything else on the campus. I have no problem with sports but I think the spending levels are obscene and absurd.

But still - I mean my school has one of the worst asbestos/mold/rodent problems in the city. And 80% of the computers don't work.

I think my school has a fetish for spending money on stupid shit, seeing as some "committee" apparently decided that we "need" some kind of statue outside the school. And now they're asking us for design ideas. Isn't that nice - why don't they actually ask us if we really need a frickin' statue!

anything you can use it for on non-game nights to raise funds?
This would be the time to press the issue with the powers-that-be.

I'm surprised they don't put the dough for updated books and other educational media. Especially in this day and age when the US is lambasted every other nanosecond for getting behind...

Oops.

We're crazy, but not THAT crazy. Are you, by chance, south of the Mason-Dixon line? I know football has a lot of weight down south...

ETA: You're in TORONTO? They play football in Canada? Or do you mean soccer-football, instead of American football?

Like I said, they'd probably be playing other sports on it, but still.

:eyes:

I'm with you. I think that every dollar that goes into school sports programs is an abomination against all that is good in the universe.

If it were up to me, sports would be for physical education and health only.