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Wilson Quarterly
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http://wwics.si.edu/index.cfm?fuseaction=wq.essay&essay_id=105061

The Wilson Quarterly, excerpt from

Higher Ed, Inc.
by James B. Twitchell

...

Really good schools have all those so-called competitive amenities, all those things that attract students but have nothing to do with their oft-stated lofty mission and often get little use—Olympic-quality gyms, Broadway-style theaters, personal trainers, glitzy student unions with movie theaters, and endless playing fields, mostly
covered with grass, not athletes. This marketing madness is now occurring among the mass-supplier insti­tu­tions. So the University of Houston has a $53 million wellness center with a five-story climbing wall; Washing­ton State University has the largest Jacuzzi on the West Coast (it holds 53 students); Ohio State University is building a $140 million complex featuring batting cages, ropes courses, and the now-essential climbing wall; and the University of Southern Mis­sis­sippi is planning a full-fledged water park. These schools, according to Moody’s, are selling billions of dollars of bonds for construction that has nothing whatsoever to do with education. It’s all about branding.

...

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Emma

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a water park? Did anyone else know about this plan?

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Reporter

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What is the date on this?  I seem to remember this discussed on the old FireShelby board.  I seem to recall research showed it coming from some "dreaming" or "wish" list of a Student Gov. document, but nothing official. 

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Flash Gordon

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The initial reference was in a N.Y. Times article of October 5, 2003. It turns out it was part of a pie-in-the-sky briefing given to the rec sports people by a consultant. It was never actually on the drawing board according to reports at the time. At least that is what I was told when I called about the plan.

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Brand me with an eagle claw

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quote:
Originally posted by: Flash Gordon
"It turns out it was part of a pie-in-the-sky briefing given to the rec sports people by a consultant. It was never actually on the drawing board . .

". . . and the University of Southern Mis­sis­sippi is planning a full-fledged water park. These schools, according to Moody’s, are selling billions of dollars of bonds for construction that has nothing whatsoever to do with education. It’s all about branding."


Thank heaven the water park was never seriously on the drawng board. Even Moody's sees that such projects are frivolous and pertain to branding rather than to education. How can the IHL, the legislature, and the taxpayers of Mississippi allow the good ship Nitchampburg go so close to the iceberg? 



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