<p>Actually dobby, fundraising for athletics is separate from general fundraising for the university. The former doesn't negatively impact the latter, to the contrary. Big athletic donors like Haas are also big donors to the university general fund.</p>
<p>The fact is the univerity has a football program which is housed in a very unsafe building which will have to be overhauled. Seismic retrofit has been an ongoing effort across campus since the 1980s. The stdium will have to be done sooner or later. We are presented with an opportunity to address that issue now at no cost to the University, it is stupid to not proceed with the plans from a financial standpoint. </p>
<p>As to the connection between facilities and performance, it is well established. USC had the worst basketball arena in the conference and one of the worst programs, but they suddenly shot up and landed top national recruits after building new facilities last year. There is little doubt that we would lose Tedford to the pros or a big-time college if we don't give him to tools to compete with other leading programs. As it is, he could double his salary elsewhere, but has been loyal to Cal, provided the university is committed to give his team decent facilities. He has put up with the poor facilities with the expectation that they will be upgraded down the road. Cal is the only team in the conference whose weight room cannot accomodate the whole team at once.</p>
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Look, Berkeley has had a great atheletic tradition throughout its history.
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Cal has been mostly mediocre in the last few decades in the "big" sports. This is lagely due to the apathy if not outright antagonism of its former leaders towards sports. between 1960 and 2000, Cal has had the second worst football record in the conference ahead of Oregon State.</p>
<p>You don't seem to like the football experience at Cal, which is fine, but it is undeniabe that it brings the campus together and helps build school spirit. Only someone who is really biased against college football would support the travesty that "Save the oaks" represents.</p>
<p>PS: What do you mean by "Save Berkeley, Fight the University!"? Do you actually hate your university?</p>