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Better athletic facilities will attract more 1st class athletes which will better the overall Athletic program which will in turn increase donations to the University and provide more funding to the items on your list.
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<p>So what? I can just as easily point out that having an overall better ugrad program "will in turn increase donations to the University and provide more funding to the items on" the list. What I want to know why it's more important to build the proposed center than it is to save the lives of many students, faculty, and staff while at the same time save millions of dollars on research equipment and space.</p>
<p>It is a widely held belief among geologist that the Bay Area is long overdue for a major major earthquake. And it's no secret that in such an event many big and important buildings on campus are likely to suffer heavy damage. </p>
<p>Of course, Berkeley has nowhere near enough money to fix them all at once. So why not go for the really crappy important buildings? That means Latimer, Lewis, Tolman, Wurster, McLaughlin, etc. Fixing up most of the "very poor" or "poor" buildings would cost less than the new facility. Aren't research and lives more important than...getting more trophies?</p>