Asbjornson's donation and athletics

[kennethnoisewater]

Instead of dumping large chunks into buildings and stuff, the school would be wise to look into a perpetuity. That would be one hell of an infinite stream of cash flows.

MSU already has a $120M-plus endowment, which is nice but it's not huge. But that's where you'd put a perpetual gift, and I'd argue that's not where it's needed the most. Granted, $50M would give that a nice boost, but MSU's endowment is already bigger than UM's (only comparing because it's apples-to-apples, not for competition's sake), so it's not critical. What is critical (if you agree with Cruzado) is building to allow for more students. I don't necessarily disagree, especially when that growth can be supported by adequate resources (facilities, faculty, residences, etc).

Back to endowments though...Montana has done a great job, IMO, with the MT endowment tax credit, which can be applied to any gift given to an endowment. A "normal" gift to a non-profit, which is generally used either for operations or capital projects, only gives the donor a tax deduction. So I think there have been a lot of Montanans that have taken advantage of that and supported the qualifying endowments of non-profits, most notably MSU. Money in an endowment is restricted, and the interest that is spun off can be used for various things. Many organizations are able to support themselves on an annual basis simply because somebody left a fortune to them and their fortune gives them the income they need for operations, then they don't have to hire some idiot like me to raise money or have bake sales and 50/50 drawings at the Lions Club.

Plus, if a donor wants the money used for something specific, it has to be used for that reason. Of course, an organization will usually convince a donor what is needed and make it seem like the donor's idea, but the truth is, Norm wanted it used for buildings and it will be used for buildings. He's a smart guy though. If MSU's endowment was dwindling, he probably would have seen the need and put it there.

[SonomaCat]

I've touched on it in a few other posts, but I suspect that the new building and new program that will result are things that will have a huge impact not only on MSU students, but on the development of new tech companies in the Bozeman area and beyond, which will yield economic benefits that will be huge for decades to come. Norm is a very bright guy and is very forward-looking (particularly for a man of his advanced age), especially when it comes to creating businesses, and I have to imagine that's a huge motivation for him structuring his gift the way he did.

I would look at this building and these new programs not merely as "costs," but rather as investments in business assets that will have a huge ROI, because I'm sure that's how he's looking at it.

[[cat_bracket]]

Asbjornson is also a Korean War vet. There's a fairly successful race horse named Norman Asbjornson sired by Real Quiet, who lost the Triple Crown by a nose in the Belmont after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

I've seen drawings of Jake Jabs Hall. It's impressive. 45,000 sqft. It'll be interesting to hear/see what this building(s?) will look like. I've heard that Jabs Hall only used $18 million of his $25 million donation.

What effect do these projects have on recruiting?

From the sounds of Colter's interviews it sounds like the players are introduced to their potential professors who give them a tour of their department. Some of the players comment that the attention given to academics helps swing them over to MSU.

[norcal cat]

Asbjornson is also a Korean War vet. There's a fairly successful race horse named Norman Asbjornson sired by Real Quiet, who lost the Triple Crown by a nose in the Belmont after winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

I've seen drawings of Jake Jabs Hall. It's impressive. 45,000 sqft. It'll be interesting to hear/see what this building(s?) will look like. I've heard that Jabs Hall only used $18 million of his $25 million donation.

What effect do these projects have on recruiting?

From the sounds of Colter's interviews it sounds like the players are introduced to their potential professors who give them a tour of their department. Some of the players comment that the attention given to academics helps swing them over to MSU.

There is actually a webcam on the construction of Jabs Hall. http://www.montana.edu/us/pdc/projects/ ... /JabsHall/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Scroll to the bottom of the page. I think both these projects are huge draws for future students not to mention all the other projects happening like the new dorms and revamped dinning halls, etc. I personally think this is just these two projects are beginning of some big things to come to MSU in the next ten years.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

This donation is awesome no matter what effect it has on recruiting. Good engineers make the world a better place to live, and I'm an English teacher saying that, not an engineer.

[grizzh8r]

This donation is awesome no matter what effect it has on recruiting. Good engineers make the world a better place to live, and I'm an English teacher saying that, not an engineer.

Hey now, English teachers are valuable too! I attribute a lot of the success I had in college and now in my profession to some amazing English/Language Arts teachers in middle school and high school. My highest score on the SAT was English and I tested out of English 121 @ MSU. I was still required to take an English credit to satisfy core, so I took Engllish 123 my junior year and it was a breeze. I was usually the final editor on group projects that involved a report or paper.

On the other hand, my wife - who is quite intelligent - had crappy English teachers and struggles with proper punctuation and sentence structure.

[TomCat88]

I see the BOR approved the expense of the first $5 million of this. It didn't say what that was going towards, but it's probably includes design and utilities. Anyone know?

[Hawks86]

I see the BOR approved the expense of the first $5 million of this. It didn't say what that was going towards, but it's probably includes design and utilities. Anyone know?

Planning and design services.

http://mus.edu/board/meetings/2014/Mar2 ... -R0313.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[vike_king]

I see the BOR approved the expense of the first $5 million of this. It didn't say what that was going towards, but it's probably includes design and utilities. Anyone know?

Planning and design services.

http://mus.edu/board/meetings/2014/Mar2 ... -R0313.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I hate it when there are no pictures........

[TomCat88]

I see the BOR approved the expense of the first $5 million of this. It didn't say what that was going towards, but it's probably includes design and utilities. Anyone know?

Planning and design services.

http://mus.edu/board/meetings/2014/Mar2 ... -R0313.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I hate it when there are no pictures........

Especially after seeing what they did with Jabs Hall for just $17 million. MSU already had a pretty sweet looking campus and strong academics, and this just adds to it. Considering the setting (Gallatin Valley, mountains, Bozeman) MSU has to be able to make a very strong pitch to student-athletes.

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

This donation is awesome no matter what effect it has on recruiting. Good engineers make the world a better place to live, and I'm an English teacher saying that, not an engineer.

Hey now, English teachers are valuable too! I attribute a lot of the success I had in college and now in my profession to some amazing English/Language Arts teachers in middle school and high school. My highest score on the SAT was English and I tested out of English 121 @ MSU. I was still required to take an English credit to satisfy core, so I took Engllish 123 my junior year and it was a breeze. I was usually the final editor on group projects that involved a report or paper.

On the other hand, my wife - who is quite intelligent - had crappy English teachers and struggles with proper punctuation and sentence structure.

I just mentioned my field to point out that I'm not an engineer saying engineers are important, but rather someone from outside engineering who recognizes its importance. If I thought teaching English was a waste of time, I'd still be stocking shelves or stripping roofs or changing oil

[grizzh8r]

This donation is awesome no matter what effect it has on recruiting. Good engineers make the world a better place to live, and I'm an English teacher saying that, not an engineer.

Hey now, English teachers are valuable too! I attribute a lot of the success I had in college and now in my profession to some amazing English/Language Arts teachers in middle school and high school. My highest score on the SAT was English and I tested out of English 121 @ MSU. I was still required to take an English credit to satisfy core, so I took Engllish 123 my junior year and it was a breeze. I was usually the final editor on group projects that involved a report or paper.

On the other hand, my wife - who is quite intelligent - had crappy English teachers and struggles with proper punctuation and sentence structure.

I just mentioned my field to point out that I'm not an engineer saying engineers are important, but rather someone from outside engineering who recognizes its importance. If I thought teaching English was a waste of time, I'd still be stocking shelves or stripping roofs or changing oil

So basically, you would have gone to UM?

[BLACKnBLUEnGOLD]

This donation is awesome no matter what effect it has on recruiting. Good engineers make the world a better place to live, and I'm an English teacher saying that, not an engineer.

Hey now, English teachers are valuable too! I attribute a lot of the success I had in college and now in my profession to some amazing English/Language Arts teachers in middle school and high school. My highest score on the SAT was English and I tested out of English 121 @ MSU. I was still required to take an English credit to satisfy core, so I took Engllish 123 my junior year and it was a breeze. I was usually the final editor on group projects that involved a report or paper.

On the other hand, my wife - who is quite intelligent - had crappy English teachers and struggles with proper punctuation and sentence structure.

I just mentioned my field to point out that I'm not an engineer saying engineers are important, but rather someone from outside engineering who recognizes its importance. If I thought teaching English was a waste of time, I'd still be stocking shelves or stripping roofs or changing oil

So basically, you would have gone to UM?

Now THAT would be a waste of time