The Colorado Daily

Save softball and save $6 million!
BY ERIC CORNELL
Monday, July 17, 2006 9:12 PM MDT

The Daily reports (7/14) that the softball diamonds on CU Farrand Field 
are to be removed as part of “$5.7 million field renovation plan.”

I'm very sad to hear the news. The CU Staff summer softball league plays 
on those fields. It's a very popular activity - three or four hundred 
students, staff and faculty play ball there during a typical summer week - 
and it's a unique activity as well. Nowhere else on campus do faculty, 
staff and students all rub elbows in one sociable activity.

My wife and I have played for years. It's the sort of friendly, low-key, 
co-ed league where even a guy who's had his arm cut off is still welcome 
to play! The sounds of a late summer afternoon softball game, the crack of 
a bat, the snap of a glove, the cheers from the bench, lift the spirits of 
non-participants on campus as well. The fees collected from the softball 
teams cover the cost of maintaining the field.

And why are we giving this all up? We are spending almost $6 million and 
sacrificing summer softball, for what? The Daily reports that an outdoor 
performance stage is to be installed. Having outdoor performances on the 
field is a terrific idea, but one can rent a quickly assembled stage for a 
few thousand dollars. Why not try renting a few times, and see how it 
works, before committing to such a large expenditure? Softball and 
concerts could easily co-exist.

We are told also that Farrand Field is to be shut up behind a thick stone 
wall. Since I've come to CU, many patches of open space around campus have 
been gobbled up for buildings and parking. Farrand Field is one of the 
last remaining green patches, and we are walling it in? This would be a 
mistake even if someone were to build the wall for us for free. At the 
price, it is really unwise. If the wall is somehow deemed absolutely 
necessary, I think one could still play softball inside it.

My understanding is that the university is facing something of budget 
crunch. Let's cancel this project and save a cool six mil. Unlike so many 
of the painful cuts we've had to face, this one will actually leave the 
campus community better off!

Eric Cornell, a 2001 Nobel Prize winner along with Dr. Carl Wieman, 
teaches in CU's physics department. The views expressed here are his own, 
and not necessarily those of the Colorado Daily management or staff.

http://coloradodaily.com/articles/2006/07/17/opinion/your_take/yourtake2.prt