This week, we reported on a study conducted by three advertising students in which 397 were surveyed to see if they would attend football games if there was an on-campus stadium.
Of those students, 65.74 percent said they would.
While the advertising students are confident in their numbers, such a small sample size without absolute randomness creates questions of the survey’s ability to represent the study body.
During our reporting, we have seen scores of students protesting the stadium proposal, most notably during the student-only forum held on Feb. 1, where dozens of student protesters were forced to leave after interrupting the session multiple times.
Even with all this information, it isn’t clear if the silent majority of students favors a stadium a few blocks away from its fans’ residence halls. Not to mention, a stadium that neighbors community members’ lifelong homes.
While the jury is still out on the student opinion, it’s only a part of the equation—and potentially the easiest of all parties with valid, critical opinions. There is also the faculty, administration, alumni and community members.
Will the stadium bring disruption to the neighboring areas where many lifelong residents call home? Will the borrowing of money and pressing of donors make other university projects stagnant? We eagerly await the university’s environmental impact study, which is allegedly being conducted with the building plans approved in the Feb. 8 Board of Trustees meeting and may be able to answer some of these questions.
It will be an important step in building a stronger dialogue with community members, and hopefully put to bed questions asked by us, student protesters and neighboring residents.
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