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Show THURSDAY, MARCH 9 , 2000 UNIVERSITY JOURNAL OPINION !PAGE 10 TOURNAMENTS BENEFIT US ALL ny may have noticed the hundreds of high school students n our c ampus and lack of parking spaces near the entrum over the past few weekends. You may have felt burdened to explain to an usher as you entered the Centrum that you were just going to your class: You may have been bothered by the extra garbage or heavy traffic in the bathrooms. Most likely, you probably decided it wasn't worth it to wait in the 15-person long line at Hogi Yogi, the convenience store, or even off-campus venues to get a bite to eat. Before you declare how stupid and inconvenient it is to have all of these high schools here for basketball tournaments, it might be best that you know of the tremendous amount of benefits the university and community receive. The economic development Cedar City receives when high school teams come to town is enormous. Athletes and their families spend money everywhere they go: the grocery stores, gas stations, fast food establishments, restaurants, and on entertainment. The Cedar City Chamber of Commerce conservatively estimated that each high school basketball tournament brings in an average of $500,000. There have been three basketba ll tournaments over the past three weekends. That is $1 .5 million. How do college students benefit? The businesses in Cedar City contribute a large amount of money to the university. Many clubs and organizations go to local businesses for contributions. The extra volume of business is re-invested back into the university in the long run. The businesses also provide jobs for numerous students. The hi gh school students patroni ze the SUU Bookstore , Convenience Store, and food establishments on campus. 1/Vhile this may be seen as an annoyance to college students, they are spending a large amount of money that enables these conveniences to be on our campus in the first place. The university charges the Utah High School Athletic Association a general fee for use of the facility. This fee pays for all overhead costs. We, the students, are not paying for it. When high school tournaments are held on campus, massive amounts of students are exposed to the university in a way that they would not otherwise be. Ninety high school teams have visited the SUU campus since December due to basketball tournaments. The high school students have the opportunity to explore the campus, interact with college students, and see the benefits SUU has to offer. Their parents see the friendliness of the university and support their child's decision if they decide to continue their education here. The admissions office can talk to more students at one time without having to travel, thus saving them money. SUU physical education students have the opportunity to get the hands-on experience of running a tournament they will need in the future. Coaches at SUU get a chance to look at numerous athletes at one time, thus making recruitment more successful and economical. High school teams started having tournaments at SUU with the building of the centrum in 1986. From 1986 to 1990, enrollment nearly doubled and it continues to increase. The athletic teams have also improved. The .Journal sees ·a direct correlation here. Steve Lunt, physical education department chair, initiated the idea of having high school tournaments on campus and has spent numerous hours on this endeavor. The Journal applauds him and everyone else involved in making this university a better place. DIRECTING STAFF ANO DESK PHONE NUMBERS: Editor Kam1lynn Egan 586-7750 Arts Editor L.iZZy Rugg 865-8443 Sports Editor Jasen Asay 865-8443 Ad Manager Miranda Mabbutt 586-7758 Faculty Advisers Larry Baker 586-7751 Morris Brown 865--8556 SENIOR STAFF WRITERS ANO REPORTERS' DESK 586-7757, 586-5488 Tho Uf'iwrsity Journal os published eve,y Monday and Thu<soay ot !he aead.mc yea, by and fOr 1he st\Jden1 bo<fy of Sou!l>em Utah Um,9™1y II rocer,,es -.........,, rrom lhe unovers11y's c:ommunicaoon ~ p.at1men1 and from the Ur"IIV8fl1ly adm1nts.tratton The v.ews and op.n.ons exptessed ,n the JoumaJ are those of 1nd1vldual and do not necesanly rellect lhe .,_. of Ille ,nsblUIKln fac.jly. sial! o, .iudent body 1n ge""'al The w,sq,ec1 editorial dinodly obove ,s Ille _..,., or lhe JoumeJ as a single enllty Le118B io lhe musl be lyped and ,ndude lhe name and phone number Only 11,e name will l>8 pnnied Nomes w,I not be 'M1l1hekl undet any ara.mstanc:es and lhe edlle< reserves e6tinQ pnvileQes. Leite/$ must be submltled by 5 pm Th.ndey$ for 1nd\,sion ,n Monday ecibOnS and by 5 pm M onday s for Thu<sday edlbOns Grievoncn: Arft indMdual Wltll a gnevance against lhe Joomal should dna sucn pr-m IO the editor If unruclved. lhal gnevanc:.e should ll>en be a.reeled IO Ille facul1y lhe Jouma/ SIMnng CommRtee, wtvch ,. - N d by Or Frw, G 586-7971 Unlwn/ly Journal: Offices ,n SUU Tecnnotogy Buolding 0 11 Ma,I It SUU. Coda< C,ty. Utah 8'1720 FA)( (~35) 585-5-487 E-mall .-eu J0Uffl8l@1w.edu "°'"" vn,_..ry rn, "'-• son. ('° J PRINTEO OH RECYCLED PAPER PLEASE RECYCLE THIS COPY MORE SPAce ..... "' • .. LETTERS Students have right to be informed issue. Incidentally, we all feel as • 1f we' ve been able to hold We appreciate the Journal's worthwhile activities in locations enthusiasm for informing the that have suited our needs. students about the different In closing, we would ask the candidates and issues involved SUU students to continue to in the 2000 SUU elections. The take the initiative by· getting to students deserve the opportunity know the remaining candidates to cast an informed vote and we and asking them what they can thank you for extending them do for you. The people running the opportunity to do that. in each party are good Along those same lines, we people and deserve the fee1 that it is aiso important 'We feel that it is opportunity to ta1k with each student that they are that the students are able to be as informed as possible important that the running to represent about all of the issues Students are able to be individually. They have each concerning the elections. dedicated countless hours The "Parties Promote Bad aS informed as pOSSib/e and personal money to have Politics" editorial published the chance to represent in the March 2nd edition of about iSSUeS COnCeming you . Also, the executive the Journal presented th t· , councils of each party have uninformed conclu sions e e ec ,ans. shared a weekly dinner over about the party system, i....._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __, the last month to talk about organization of the parties, different issues that have and the candidates. ask the candidates about their arisen during the campaigning The putting together of a party platform issues . The example process. We invite the Journal to is a pain-staking process that used in the article to illustrate talk to any executive council involves weeks of research and how the party system promotes . mem ber about any rumors or effort. We have each taken bad politicking was incorrect. perceptions that you feel the measure.. to find people that we Whereas one party did reserve students deserve to know about. feel would represent the all the rooms in the Smith center · Again, we thank the Journal and students well in each respective for the durat ion of e lections • we say to the student body, get college . The process included several weeks ago , the intent out there and vote! interviewing t ea chers and was to be ab le to have the Cody Wilson students alike in order to find option of choosing appropriate , Stephen Nelson candidates who could commit to rooms for their nightly activities. Sara England serve the students during the They planned to release all of JeNae Hatch upcoming year and do well. The the other rooms for the other Stephanie Kukic handing out of food and other parties after they decided on the Michael Wasden activities is important because activities. This has not been an To the Editor: the students in a university setting are asked to vote for a person to organize their activities during the upcoming year. What better way to decide which activities vice president to vote for than by judging their activities? Handing out food can also give the students something fun to do while they I SOUTHERN UTAH UNIVERSITY · CEDAR CITY UTAH Assocla~ Editor Anna Turpn 586-7759 Opinion Director Cami Peri\ins 586-7759 Photo Editor Corky Foster 586-7750 Copy Editor Deborah Peny 586-1992 Focus Editor Jessica Blonqulst 586- 1992 BeireR Gi\le Her A Li1TLe . I ' |