In the past 14 years of the University of Oregon's history, we of the student population have watched a significant portion of our tuition money go into the maintenance of athlete-exclusive sports facilities and modifications that serve to benefit a mere fraction of the student community.

While private funds serve as the primary source of capital for the installation of the majority of these ventures, it is the ever-increasing student tuition that pays for the maintenance of these lavish structures that few non-athlete students will ever benefit from, a fact that is generally unfair in the advent of college-wide tuition hikes. 

With these facts in hand, as well as personal experience with the University's less-than-superlative academic status, we the student body would like to formally request from Mr. Phil Knight the designation of $68,000,000 (the cost for the "football palace" that is to be constructed in the near future) for the advancement of the University of Oregon's struggling academic programs.

We request these funds not in aggression towards the thriving sports culture at the UofO, but rather in confidence of Mr. Knight's ability to recognize the necessity of academics in the wake of the world's increasingly educationally-competitive nature, as well a way to sharpen the edge of Oregon college-goers in fields outside of sports.  

In this day and age of social and economic uncertainty, there is truth in the idea that the stability of the American future lies upon the shoulders of the students, the quality of their education, and economic coordination within the community.  

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