The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/24/09 Section: News

Sanford Stadium is no longer a contender for hosting the 2018 or the 2022 World Cup soccer tournament, and University President Michael Adams explained the decision to the media Thursday.

Adams said he received a letter April 6 from FIFA about Sanford being on the list of possible hosting stadiums, but cited preoccupations with the legislative session, the Board of Regents and admissions decisions as his reasons for not addressing the issue before Monday.

"We were aware of the issue," he said. "But had not paid that much attention to the letter, in that we had to find it. If you saw my desk you would understand that."

Adams said he spoke with Athletic Director Damon Evans about the issue last weekend while the two were in Nebraska for the gymnastics national championship.

"We had another lengthy conversation about it on Monday this week, where we made a final decision not to offer Sanford Stadium as a site for the World Cup soccer games," he said.

Hosting the tournament would require "a complete makeover and leveling of the field, dislocation of the hedges and considerable expense that the letter is pretty silent on as to who will bear what," Adams said.

Adams also said the July series of game dates would disrupt preparation for spring commencement and may even disrupt the first football game. He said he spoke with the Athens-Clarke County mayor, Heidi Davison, after making the decision and explained to her the reasons for declining the offer.

"While that would have certainly brought a number of visitors to town were we to be one of the sites selected, we decided given all other things we were dealing with, it would be proper for us to spend our time on some other efforts," he said.



The Navy School

Adams said the University is in negotiations with the Navy to begin moving some departments of the College of Public Health to the Navy School campus before the Navy is completely off the property.

"There are some security issues, obviously, that we would have to get through there to make that possible," he said Thursday. "They are already beginning to downsize in a few areas, and we've indicated a willingness to lease space in six or seven locales."

Adams said the plan is for the College of Public Health and the Medical College of Georgia Partnership to occupy the Navy School campus by 2012. But he said when spaces open up on the campus the University is "willing to spend the money" to lease the property.

"This is a 58-acre, 24-building opportunity that will allow us to create a substantial health sciences campus that will serve the state and deal with some of the systemic public health problems that exist in the state of Georgia," Adams said.



Living Wage

During the University Council meeting Thursday several students and faculty voiced their opinions to Adams about the University's lowest paid workers.

Adams met their concerns of the University not offering a living wage by saying the University has done the best it can do.

"It's all a zero sum game and we've done the best we can do," Adams said. "I don't expect substantial increase in that minimum wage base until there's improvement in the national and global economy."

He said his view going forward is to do more to take care of faculty salaries, but he is "not unsympathetic to the situation and the plight of [low wage workers]."

"Most of the money at any great university is invested in faculty and senior administration," Adams said. "And I believe that's appropriate."

Adams said he has worked closely with the governor, the legislature and the Board of Regents to ensure staffers do not lose their jobs. He also said no employees will receive pay raises in fiscal year 2010.

"We are the best employer in this region by far for unskilled labor," he said. "At this point, there's not more blood in the turnip."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools