Another UND controversy

[JackJD]

I don't know if many in South Dakota have followed the latest controversy at the U of North Dakota. The Student Government President called for a student government "vote of no confidence" (must have a Parliamentary system up there ) against UND President Kelley and some other administrators. Then, someone started one of those internet petitions asking for their resignations. One wag on UND's message board put together one of those videos using a clip from a recent movie on Adolph Hitler etc., and substituting an imaginery dialogue based on the current dustup. It's pretty funny.

[Nidaros]

Re: Another UND controversy

Seems like I have seen this before like maybe a year or two ago. Its clever though.

Really sad how D1 issue has done every thing but help UND. I really don't have a problem bringing back Flickertales.

[JackJD]

Re: Another UND controversy

Seems like I have seen this before like maybe a year or two ago....

The video clip has been used countless times. There is (may be more than one...I'm not sure) a website that has the clip plus many others and allows one to add their own subtitles. This particular one is "new" -- the controversy it is based on is just a week or 10 days old.

[SDSUAlum08]

Re: Another UND controversy

I don't know if many in South Dakota have followed the latest controversy at the U of North Dakota. The Student Government President called for a student government "vote of no confidence" (must have a Parliamentary system up there ) against UND President Kelley and some other administrators. Then, someone started one of those internet petitions asking for their resignations. One wag on UND's message board put together one of those videos using a clip from a recent movie on Adolph Hitler etc., and substituting an imaginery dialogue based on the current dustup. It's pretty funny.

Is it all because of the nickname controversy? These guys just keep digging their own grave.

[Hammersmith]

Re: Another UND controversy

Seems like I have seen this before like maybe a year or two ago. Its clever though.

Really sad how D1 issue has done every thing but help UND. I really don't have a problem bringing back Flickertales.

I don't know if this is the one you're thinking of. It's gotten a bit dated as many of the people referenced have moved on. It was created just before UND announced they were moving up. But it still has a couple of the best lines ever in it. Authorship goes to a BV regular.

[JackJD]

Re: Another UND controversy

Is it all because of the nickname controversy? These guys just keep digging their own grave.

I don't know what started this fight. I think there's a lot of frayed nerves in Grand Forks. Perhaps an outside adviser would suggest they try to air their differences in private because they don't need more public fighting. Too many distractions for what has always been a good academic school.

Hammersmith: I remember that one. It's a classic.

[Hammersmith]

Re: Another UND controversy

Is it all because of the nickname controversy? These guys just keep digging their own grave.

It's a piece of it, but probably not a big piece.

There are a few things going on here(ND). There's an ongoing battle between a Republican dominated legislature and our higher-ed system. A side-effect of a basically one-party system in ND is that the right fringe is waaaay the heck to the right. This fringe faction pretty much hates higher-ed(because all university presidents and faculty are evil liberals don'tchaknow). There's a partially overlapping faction which wants to consolidate all power into the state legislature because they're the only ones smart and wise and honorable enough to run things. One or both of these factions have a pet lapdog that runs a political website which specializes in smear tactics. Most of his stories are about 20% truth, 30% lies, and 50% spin.

Then we've got the UND student president. Apparently he can't be bothered to show up to meetings. The meetings he's supposed to attend have a set time and have had that same time for years. Previous student presidents have understood that you don't schedule a class for that time. The current guy apparently didn't agree. So he regularly misses the meetings where things are discussed and then turns around and claims things are being hidden from him. (because the admin doesn't bend over backwards to fill him in on the meeting he skipped)

And the colleges in ND are switching over to a different tuition and fees model. There will still be some separate fees, but individual course fees will be mostly eliminated. For example, when I was going to college, music lesson classes cost an extra $25 per credit; that sort of fee is going to be eliminated. Also, online courses are not currently counted as part of full-time tuition; they cost extra. The new model will treat online classes the same as regular. To create a revenue-neutral model, that means those fees and charges need to made up somewhere, and that means higher base tuition. One more thing is an attempt to improve graduation rates by bumping up full-time status from 12 credits to 15 credits. And they threw a tuition bump for that as well. It all came to a projected 10-12% increase in tuition two years from now. Students heard about that and freaked.

So you've got a president disliked by the general ND community because he didn't save the nickname. A president disliked by the students because of a proposed increase in tuition. A president disliked by the legislature on general ideological grounds. A student body president who uses his own ignorance to claim coverup. A website that will use any(and I mean any) excuse to drag a ND university through the mud. Put it all together and you've got the makings of colossal clusterf--k. Oh, and the ND legislature is in session right now. Wonderful.

That's a somewhat simplistic take, but it hits many of the high points. Kelley(UND pres) is not faultless in this, but much of the uproar seems to be orchestrated. There are also hints that the push from the student body pres was suggested by Bismarck politicians or their allies. What a godforsaken mess.

[slosho]

Re: Another UND controversy

What a GRANDFORKS'EAN mess.

FIFY

[Jacked_Up]

Re: Another UND controversy

That original "from the bunker" report is especially funny. "We still have hockey."

[FargoBison]

Re: Another UND controversy

Seems like I have seen this before like maybe a year or two ago. Its clever though.

Really sad how D1 issue has done every thing but help UND. I really don't have a problem bringing back Flickertales.

I think going DI for all the wrong reasons is one thing that is haunting UND to this day. They more or less moved up because NDSU was having success and not because they were ready for the jump. Years later only 1/3 of their sports are fully funded scholarship wise, right before going DI they added women's hockey and now that sport is losing over $1.2 million a year and that is limiting what they can do for other sports that are crucial in DI like MBB or FB.

Then they have this nickname fiasco, a very vocal group of fans at UND wants no nickname so they can continue to pretend that they are the Sioux. One thing that school needs is closure and to move on to other much more important issues that are causing them issues in DI.

[RochJack69]

Re: Another UND controversy

I think going DI for all the wrong reasons is one thing that is haunting UND to this day. They more or less moved up because NDSU was having success and not because they were ready for the jump. Years later only 1/3 of their sports are fully funded scholarship wise, right before going DI they added women's hockey and now that sport is losing over $1.2 million a year and that is limiting what they can do for other sports that are crucial in DI like MBB or FB.

Then they have this nickname fiasco, a very vocal group of fans at UND wants no nickname so they can continue to pretend that they are the Sioux. One thing that school needs is closure and to move on to other much more important issues that are causing them issues in DI.

Wonder what SDSU's % is of scholarship program funding. Maybe the moral is that the grass is not always GREENER on the other side. Several years ago, many teams changed their name. Can't figure what's the big deal. Demanding sugar daddies can be problematic at times.

[Nidaros]

Re: Another UND controversy

Wonder what SDSU's % is of scholarship program funding. Maybe the moral is that the grass is not always GREENER on the other side. Several years ago, many teams changed their name. Can't figure what's the big deal. Demanding sugar daddies can be problematic at times.

I would say we are getting closer to 100%. UND does not have a Difference Makers Club, like we have got at SDSU. The money raised by the DMC has paid for the extra football assistants.

We are fully funded in football and most of the sports. There are some of the minor sports that might not be 100 per cent, but nothing like UND. You got to remember hockey is god at UND and some of those nitwits just don't get it about the nickname. Hammersmith's post covered it pretty good. There is politics involved too.

[mango4]

Re: Another UND controversy

I would say we are getting closer to 100%. UND does not have a Difference Makers Club, like we have got at SDSU. The money raised by the DMC has paid for the extra football assistants.

We are fully funded in football and most of the sports. There are some of the minor sports that might not be 100 per cent, but nothing like UND. You got to remember hockey is god at UND and some of those nitwits just don't get it about the nickname. Hammersmith's post covered it pretty good. There is politics involved too.

UND has the Champion's Club which is basically the exact same as the Difference Makers Club if I'm not mistaken

[jackrabit1]

Re: Another UND controversy

At least we have a non-offensive mascot... unless you're one of those half-wits from PETA.

[Nidaros]

Re: Another UND controversy

UND has the Champion's Club which is basically the exact same as the Difference Makers Club if I'm not mistaken

The Champion Club is the same as the Jackrabbit Club. The Difference Makers has a special purpose in raising additional funds for one sport, football. I am guessing that at 100k was raised last year and that amount paid salaries for an assistant and a Operations person such as Kado Watson. I looked at UND site and found no special fund raising. In fact I tend to believe giving is not at the level it was 2001 when they won the D2 championship in football. The politics of monker has torn the community apart. Hammersmith and Fargo Bison are basically correct in their comments.