I've read most of the complaints about the Metrodome, and I've even watched the Gophers, Vikings and Twins all play there. While it may not be the greatest venue for any of those teams, it is serviceable and it is paid for.
So, at a time when the U is raising tuition steeply and cutting programs, Minneapolis libraries are closed to save money, firemen are laid off and most metro area counties and cities are likewise facing drastic cuts, what makes a person with $35 million burning a whole in their pocket decide that what the state really needs is another football stadium?
Even if you were a U alumni who loved football and lived in a suburb where there were no fiscal challenges, wouldn't the fact that your neighbor cities, or at least the county you in which you lived was suffering make you think that perhaps there was a better way to spend $35 million?
I know what I'd do with $35 million -- and it doesn't involve any kind of stadium. Think of how much good that money could do in Minneapolis if used for real needs. It seems a safe bet that this donor does not live in Minneapolis, doesn't it?
Is this another symptom of selfishness, as discussed in a commentary written by Jim Miller, executive director of the League of Minnesota Cities? (http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/4074878.html) Isn't this selfishness a core problem all across society, from over-paid school superintendents and their HR spin-doctors to self-serving politicians to citizens who can't be bothered to worry about anything as long as it is not in their backyard?
The more news I read these days, the more disheartened I become. My wife and I do volunteer work for a couple of non-profit charities, and donate money to a bunch more. But it feels like we are spitting into the wind compared to the increasing avalanche of short-sighted greed and selfishness. Frankly, it makes me want to up and move -- clear out of the country.
Chris Johnson Fulton
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