Saturday, September 5, 2020

The kids are back in Madtown! Because the UW needs the money


There's a reason why I haven't been getting food or drink around State Street or other areas in and around the UW campus for the past 3 weeks.




Side note - I don't get why Wando's is open in the first place. All indoor parts of bars in Dane County are supposed to be carryout/takeout only, and there's no patio there (that I've ever seen anyway). Does Wando's really have 51% of its sales be food, so it's considered a "restaurant" vs a bar? Seems surprising.

And some parts of the campus community have now been ordered into lockdown.


But at least some Badgers are recognizing the danger, and adjusting their habits to avoid outside contact.


U RAH RAH, BABY!

So why aren't we just going full-time online at Madison and other UW campuses, and having a large number of students learn at their homes? I bet these deadlines have a lot to do with it.

And the deadline for a full dorm refund also appears to be on September 11. Sure seems to explain a lot, doesn't it?

But I can't blame university administration for this, because they're stuck in a no-win situation. The anti-UW WisGOPs in the Legislature aren't going to give more money to the university to backfill the tuition and dorm losses if in-person classes are ended and/or students are sent home. So to avoid even more of a financial mess, the incentives point toward having students stay on campus to try to keep funds, and try to pretend things are as normal as possible.

It's the same reason that I told my wife last night that the Badgers WILL be playing football this year, and likely sooner than later. Because the Athletic Department would go under if they didn't, as this article yesterday summed up, which goes over the big losses that will exist even with football in Fall 2020 or Spring 2021.
Because of the pandemic, UW Athletics has projected a $100 million loss of revenue for this school year, $40 million of which is from Big Ten distributions that are fueled largely by football TV deals. Revenue from ticket sales and concessions ($30 million), donations ($15 million) and sponsorship and licensing ($15 million) also are expected to fall sharply.

To address the shortfall in a budget that was expected to be $140 million, the department will turn to unrestricted gift funds held in a reserve fund and is looking into opportunities to borrow money, Athletics staff members were told in an Aug. 21 meeting.

On the expenses side, UW has reduced salary through a work-share program, furloughs and pay cuts affecting 377 employees but has not issued any outright layoffs, according to a spokesperson. The department also has instituted hiring and travel freezes, limited spending to essential matters and deferred or canceled some capital projects.
Now imagine what that might look like without the revenues from TV and radio broadcasts from Badger football. Ugh

So we stagger on as the Fall semester of 2020 starts, much like a lot of other parts of American life these days. Lay back and watch the COVID cases rack up, which will keep happening, even if we create a semi-Bubble around campus and students try to take precautions.

Because I keep coming back to this catchy song from my college days, which is about vacationing over campus socializing, but the concept is the same.



Or for you classic-rock types.


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