Missouri State: Have You Lost Your Damn Mind?!?!

Nothing like being a year late and a million bucks short in bitching about this, but...An article in today's Springfield News LoserLeader threw out an article about how a university professor, from the economics department, called into question the accounting practices over the construction of the JQH Arena.

This is turning out to be a 3-way pissing contest between the SNL, MSU president Mike Nietzel and the econ. department at MSU(at least with those that have tenure, wink wink). The university professor in question is Reed Olsen. His claim? Here's the meat in this cluster fucked sandwich:

"There is a problem: a loss of at least $400,000 and maybe more," said Reed Olsen, professor of economics at Missouri State University. "And it's not going to be better this year."
Olsen raised his concerns in a dissenting report last month after a faculty committee report showed the arena had a surplus of more than $2 million in its first year of operation.
Jim Lampe, professor of accountancy and chair of the Budget and Priorities Committee, penned the committee report, in which he recorded $3.3 million in revenues for the arena and $1.2 million in operating expenses and debt services for the new arena.
But Olsen has found Lampe's report problematic, saying the new arena isn't paying for itself.
That is because JQH Arena incurred more expenses, including the debt service, than the old arena but doesn't make enough new money to cover them, Olsen said.
He argued Lampe improperly included pre-existing revenues from the Hammons Student Center -- which is not considered new dollars -- in the calculations.
Olsen said only the new revenue, or the amount over and beyond the $1.2 million in seat assessment fees Hammons Student Center recorded in the 2007-08 year, should be used.

But it doesn't end there. Mike Nitzel Nightzel Nightengale...ah whatever the hell his name is, put out this email to the student body covering his ass assesing the situation:

Faculty, Staff and Students:

In light of Tuesday’s article in the Springfield News-Leader about one faculty member’s claim that JQH Arena ran a deficit in Fiscal Year 2009, I wanted to provide to the campus the following facts:

1. JQH Arena had revenue over expenses and debt service of $1.1 million is Fiscal Year 2009. Because the Arena came in under budget, the University was able in Fiscal Year 2009 to use bond proceeds to pay the interest on the debt service. In future years, these bond proceeds will not be available, but we will still be in good shape because in addition to the $1.1 million in revenue, we will have additional revenue from currently unbudgeted receivables from various existing naming right commitments in the Arena.

2. Hammons Student Center had excess revenue over expenses of about $300,000 in Fiscal Year 2009

3. Hammons Student Center and JQH Arena are budgeted in the University’s auxiliary fund, not the general fund, which collectively had revenues over expenses of $3.9 million in Fiscal Year 2009

4. Most of this information is available in documents that the News-Leader had requested Monday through the Missouri Open Meetings, Open Records Law, but had not yet received. (The law provides 72 hours for responses.) Likewise, had the News-Leader reporter been willing to wait at least 24 hours for my reply to e-mail questions she sent to me Monday, much of this information would have been provided. One wonders why the front-page article was published Tuesday without waiting to receive the information that had been requested Monday.

5. In addition, most of this information is included in the Faculty Senate Committee Report on JQH Arena, which was chaired by Dr. Jim Lampe. There was only one dissenting opinion on that Committee.

Those interested in controversy are sometimes ill-suited by accurate information. Such is the case here. There are individuals within the University and community who want JQH Arena to be the scapegoat for our budget situation. It is not.

We have posted the documents that summarize the revenue and expenses for JQH Arena and Hammons Student Center for Fiscal Year 2009 at http://www.missouristate.edu/financialoutlook . They provide an accurate summary of these two facilities’ finances.


Mike Nietzel
President


Bottom line, for what it's worth, (1) Always take what you read out of the SNL with a grain of salt, (2) Always take what you hear from the university office with a grain of salt, and (3) Who really gives a shit? The damn thing was hell bent for being built.

JQH Arena is a waste of money and resources, period. It never should have been built in the first place, but the Hammons family we just HAD to have the damn thing built to show how great we are, how full of shit spirit we are and to, of course, attract the big headlining acts touring the nation like...Bebe Neuwirth!!! YEAH!!! ROCK ON MUDDA FUKKA!!!!


I am the Complaint Department Manager and JQH Arena took my parking spot!(Don't think for one second that I'll forget about that, ya punk ass bitches!)