Sympathy for Seahawk Fans

By | February 7, 2006

Each and every year Super Bowl Sunday rolls around and becomes the only day of the year where I honestly question whether or not I’ve gone bi-polar. I usually get all excited and treat the day as a holiday, only to watch the game stricken in horror, as flashbacks of Scott Norwood’s wide-right continuously plays over and over again in my mind, causing me to cry hysterically before the first Bud Light commercial.

But two nights ago didn’t yield those same emotions.

Instead, amidst watching the Burger King cirque-du-soleil and finding a newfound respect for Ameriquest, I finally found a sick satisfaction in that someone has finally felt my pain – I’m talking about Seattle Seahawk fans everywhere.

Thank God I’m not a Seahawk fan, because after Sunday night if I were one, I’d probably be wanted for murder right now.

First of all, I’m an AFC guy. But after being forced to watch the actual game because 124-year-old Mick Jagger and the non-beer commercials were so boring – something about how ugly people use Dove soap – I started to feel bad for Mike Holmgren, because I suddenly realized that Seattle never really had a chance from the start.

The final chapter of Pittsburgh’s fairy tale was ready to be written. Bettis was finally going to earn his long-awaited championship ring in his hometown, Detroit. And to the liking of every person in the entire world, the story is a great one, exactly like the ones previous to it – like sixth-round draft pick, Tom Brady leading the Pats to victory three times in four years with an offense that featured players who played on both sides of the ball, not to mention the NFL’s gem from a few years back, Kurt Warner coming from NFL Europe to Super Bowl MVP.

Although the stories might make everyone a little teary-eyed, I never would have thought that the media moguls of the United States would finally come to taint America’s passion, football. On the biggest night in sports, with the entire world watching, the NFL and its officiating crew took the game into their own hands and absolutely blew it.

The calls were suspect – such as official Bob Waggoner flagging Darrell Jackson in the first quarter for offensive pass interference after catching what would have been a touchdown pass. Offensive pass interference? In a Super Bowl?

Seattle was then called for holding on the 2-yard line on a play where even John Madden contested that he didn’t see holding. If Madden tells you he didn’t see holding, then it’s pretty obvious that there wasn’t a penalty.

Best of them all was the quarterback sneak Big Ben executed on third down as he supposedly broke the plane of the goal line in the second quarter. It took Bill Leavy and his crew at least five minutes to signal the call and then about three seconds to review it on instant replay.

Thank God the replay of Matt Hasselbeck being down by contact in the third quarter was so obvious that even Bill Leavy couldn’t screw it up.

One question I have is where is Joey Porter when it is the appropriate time to actually say something? Notice how the outspoken Steelers linebacker is suddenly so quiet. It’s kind of hard to trash talk when you’re the one who is in Peyton Manning’s shoes.

While we can’t argue that it is a big market versus small market occurrence because of the salary cap, we can at least see the argument behind the mishap. After Hines Ward crying in the post-game press conference after a playoff loss to the Patriots, Jerome Bettis’ last stop in Detroit, and the world’s passion for hating everything green, the officiating blunder was bound to happen.

And too bad it had to happen to the Seahawks, as if anyone cares anyway. Think about it – before two nights ago could you name one starter on defense for Seattle? Also, why is it that no one seems to remember that the league MVP Shaun Alexander happened to break the record for touchdowns in a season? Seems like nobody wanted to notice them with personalities like Porter, Big Ben, Hines Ward, and Troy Polamalu in the mix. While watching the game, a friend of mine even noted that Alexander seems to look like a chunkier Tiki Barber.

I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad for Seattle fans though. If anything, we should be thankful that we will now instantly forget that Super Bowl MVP Hines Ward held out for most of training camp at the beginning of the season in hopes for a pay-raise. The Steelers also finally proved that Bill Cowher really can’t smile – his mouth just ends up perfectly horizontal.

Sympathies to all Seahawk fans – at least the team got to go to the pre-game parties, hangout with celebrities, and stand next to my girl Michele Tafoya on the sidelines.

Tim Kuhls is the Sun Staff Writer. That’s Kuhls, Baby will appear every other Tuesday this semester.

Archived article by Tim Kuhls

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Seniors Kick Off Class Campaign

By February 8, 2006

The Class of 2006 kicked off their Senior Class Campaign for Cornell last night by pledging to establish a new scholarship for future seniors and solicit contributions from at least half of this year’s graduating class. The Class of 2006 Scholarship will match 1,000 small student donations with a $25,000 endowment from the Lindseth family.
Interim President Hunter R. Rawlings III and Trustee Carolyn Chauncey Neuman ’64 encouraged 60 campus leaders selected from the Class of 2006 to participate in the ‘Lindseth Challenge’ by organizing and volunteering for phone-a-thons to collect donations.
While the scholarship will specifically benefit one senior each year for the next 50 years, the contributions collected from the graduating class will be used to meet “emerging needs at the University,” said Michael Zuckerman ’06, co-president of the Alumni Class of 2006.
Many of the speakers noted the dual purpose achieved by the campaign: to leave a gift for Cornell and to maximize participation between the senior class and the University.
“I believe that staying connected with Cornell is good for you,” said Neuman, who advised students to “return to Ithaca often – as often as possible – because Cornell’s treasures will always be waiting for you.”
“You have become the university; you are the university; you make the university what it is,” said Andrew Lindseth ’79, speaking on behalf of his siblings and parents, Jon A. and Virginia M. Lindseth ’56. “Now, you’re about to become the future of the university,” Lindseth added, encouraging seniors to “become part of a tradition of support for education.”
The Senior Class Campaign chose to emphasize the tradition highlighted by Lindseth by establishing the lasting scholarship.
Rawlings said that he hoped “one of you [seniors], 50 years from now

C.U. Continues Major Fundraising

By February 8, 2006

Cornell administrators are preparing to set in motion the public phase of the University’s fourth capital campaign. $650 million has already been raised for the initiative, which is scheduled to last until 2011.
Planning for the campaign began in 2002. Laurie Robinson, director of development for the office of alumni affairs and development, explained that Cornell has several projects in need of funding. Among them, the new Life Sciences Technology Building and the West Campus Residential Initiative. When these fundraising objectives started to “pop up,” the need for a university-wide fundraising campaign came into focus, Robinson said.
According to Laura Toy, interim vice president for the office of alumni affairs and development, there are three reasons the University launched the capital campaign. First, Cornell’s needs have expanded enough to require an influx of money. Second, government support for the University has decreased. Finally, the campaign is a way to involve a new set of donors. Right now, the University’s major patrons are alumni who graduated in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Now, graduates from the 1970s and 1980s have come of age and many are in a position where they can start to give back to the University.
Chip Brice, director of gift planning, agreed with Toy that reaching out to alumni from the 1970s and 1980s is one of the major goals of this campaign. He explained that the campaign is not just about money, but also about establishing connections that will cultivate the next generation of Cornell leadership.
In May 2004, the Board of Trustees received a plan for the capital campaign. After approval, the “nucleus fund” was officially launched on July 1. Staff from throughout the University are now assessing campus priorities to determine where funds would be most useful. Toy said that priorities will be set through a bottom up process: ideas start within the individual departments, move up to the deans and eventually reach Provost Biddy Martin, who will decide on the potential areas for growth. Robinson expects that when President-elect David J. Skorton comes into office, he will add his own objectives into campaign priorities.
Toy explained the current thoughts about Cornell priorities. Academic investments will be placed in areas where Cornell is positioned to be a leader. These include areas in life sciences, sustainability, computer information and one humanity department, which is yet to be determined. Money will also go towards helping students pay the hefty tuition so that the University will remain accessible to students from every socio-economic class. Maintaining the faculty will require funding also. Within the next ten years, one-third of Cornell faculty will reach retirement age. Because other prestigious schools are facing this same demographic, Cornell will not only need money to attract new upstanding faculty, but also to keep the current stars from leaving Ithaca. Finally, the most visible placements of the funds will go towards building facilities. Several buildings are already underway, such as the Life Sciences Technology Building, Milstein Hall in the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, a new building for the physical sciences and facilities for Gates Hall, the new Computing and Information Science building.
At the end of the day, however, the donors will ultimately determine their money’s allocation. Toy said that generally, donors tell the University where they want their gift to go. It is hoped that they will choose from among the projects that are most important to Cornell.
Gifts to Cornell are also increasingly taking forms other than cash. According to Brice, more then 80 percent of the donations to Cornell have been “planned gifts” which include real estate, artwork, trust arrangements and stocks. The University often turns these gifts directly into useable funds. For example, if an alumnus donated 100 shares of a stock to the College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell would take ownership of the stock and sell it. The revenue would then go to the designated college. “Planned gifts are a component of a successful campaign,” said Brice.
Over the campaign, Robinson and Brice will keep raising private funds for Cornell in mostly the same way as they have always done, but their demands will increase. Another difference of this capital campaign is its objective to raise money for very specific projects. As Robinson and Brice talk to potential donors, they will now be pushing certain University priorities.
Right now, the Alumni Affairs and Development Office, Interim President Hunter R. Rawlings III, Provost Martin and the deans are contacting potential donors and assessing initial gifts. Through this touch-and-go process, the final financial goal will be determined and announced as the campaign shifts into its public phase. The goal is to have 30 to 40 percent of the commitments in hand before then. Toy predicted that the campaign may be launched into its “public phase” even as soon as next fall. She hopes the start will be “something with a lot of splash to let every Cornellian know what the academic aspirations are and subsequently how the campaign will help fund those aspirations.”
Right now, $650 million has already been collected. Toy expects to have received $900 million by the end of June. The overall campaign will last seven years – two years in the nucleus fund stage and five years in the public stage. This is the same time period as the last capital campaign completed in 1995, which helped build the Kroch Library and the Goldwin Smith Lecture Hall D.
Toy herself, is well prepped to take care of such a large initiative. She has been at Cornell since 1990 where she has lead smaller campaigns, including the renovation of Lincoln Hall and the campaign for athletics.
Toy became the Interim Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development when Inge Reichenbach, resigned in spring 2005. Toy said the search for a permanent replacement was on hold until the Board of Trustees named a new president. Now with the selection of Skorton, Toy said, “the search is underway once again.”
President Skorton also is likely to be up to the challenge of a multi-billion-dollar campaign. He recently finished a $1 billion campaign at the University of Iowa. Those fundraising skills were noted as one of the major reasons he was chosen as Cornell’s next leader. Toy said she expects Skorton ” to be an engaged and involved partner.”
Countering the assumptions that former president Jeffrey S. Lehman ’77 withdrew from his office last summer because he did not meet the fundraising expectations of the board, Toy said, “I do not think that is a fair assessment.”
Toy emphasized that Skorton will not be the only fundraiser. “We shouldn’t underestimate the role the deans are playing in the campaign and that they will continue to play,” she said. She also felt that it was very fortunate that I Rawlings jumped back into office and kept the new campaign from being derailed by Lehman’s resignation. Since the beginning of the nucleus fund phase, Toy has seen momentum increasing. She attributes this progress to Rawlings, the deans and the Office of Alumni Affairs and Development.
Archived article by Casey Holmes Sun Staff Writer