ksu sucks Posted December 28, 2008 Report Share Posted December 28, 2008 http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/12/et...st_univers.htmlThis story was on the front page of cleveland.com tonight. What's everyone think? They make it sounds like this could postpone construction to the point were we cant open up at the INFO next season. That can't be true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbozeglav Posted December 28, 2008 Report Share Posted December 28, 2008 http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/12/et...st_univers.htmlThis story was on the front page of cleveland.com tonight. What's everyone think? They make it sounds like this could postpone construction to the point were we cant open up at the INFO next season. That can't be true.how? The house lies nowhere near the footprint of the stadium and does not impede the university from being able to complete the stadium project. All it gets in the way of is the new residence halls. The stadium WILL open next year, regardless of what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZipAlumn Posted December 28, 2008 Report Share Posted December 28, 2008 The same people that comment in the Beacon must comment in cleveland.com. I personally don't think that there is anything wrong here. The son bought the property with the idea of making a profit and anyone with any intelligence could see that when the University expanded this was the direction that it would go. The father excused himself from voting on the sale and the price was not out of line with what was paid others. Buy the property, finish the deal, and build the dorms. This smells a little (or a lot) like politics to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipsrifle Posted December 29, 2008 Report Share Posted December 29, 2008 Didn't see anything in the article that mentioned that it would hault construction of the stadium. Remember folks, the PD is in buisness to make money hence the reason for the article. It's too bad UA has had to go through such bad press for the new stadium but I guess that goes with the territory when you are landlocked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksu sucks Posted December 29, 2008 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2008 Didn't see anything in the article that mentioned that it would hault construction of the stadium. Remember folks, the PD is in buisness to make money hence the reason for the article. It's too bad UA has had to go through such bad press for the new stadium but I guess that goes with the territory when you are landlocked."They need to buy that house," said Warner Mendenhall, an Akron attorney who represented at least a dozen property owners in negotiations for stadium land. "As a city we need this to be a successful project. . . . Despite this glitch, I would urge the university to go forward."I guess it was that quote that made me feel like the PD was slightly hinting at some type of postponement. Nothing remotely substantial. And looking back now I feel like I was reading to closely. Besides, all of us and the PD know damn well that this isn't the case, but I just felt that they may be trying to somewhat fool the uninformed average Clevelander into believing the article was more important than it actually was. As you said, its all about money, and dirt sells. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdt1420 Posted December 29, 2008 Report Share Posted December 29, 2008 Isn't it a little bit unethical to use so many tax payer dollars to fund an investigation into a $40k profit NOT funded with tax payer dollars?We all knew this stadium was going to be built there a loooooong time ago. I wish I would have bought property and then leveraged it into a quick payoff.Non-story... move on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdt1420 Posted December 29, 2008 Report Share Posted December 29, 2008 BREAKING NEWS ALERT:The Beacon and PD are joint reporting that a bull dozer used in the construction of the stadium ran over a gopher hole, thereby forcing the animal to dig another way out. Nefarious but somehow electable people in local government are calling for Luis Proenza to be tried as a war criminal at the Hague. Online article commentors and Can't State fans that know how a computer works are rejoicing in the streets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootforRoo44 Posted December 29, 2008 Report Share Posted December 29, 2008 BREAKING NEWS ALERT:The Beacon and PD are joint reporting that a bull dozer used in the construction of the stadium ran over a gopher hole, thereby forcing the animal to dig another way out. Nefarious but somehow electable people in local government are calling for Luis Proenza to be tried as a war criminal at the Hague. Online article commentors and Can't State fans that know how a computer works are rejoicing in the streets.LOLdont forget the special group of Ohio.com commentators that only go on there to bash the university and everything it does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippysgotagun Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 Didn't see anything in the article that mentioned that it would hault construction of the stadium. Remember folks, the PD is in buisness to make money hence the reason for the article. It's too bad UA has had to go through such bad press for the new stadium but I guess that goes with the territory when you are landlocked."They need to buy that house," said Warner Mendenhall, an Akron attorney who represented at least a dozen property owners in negotiations for stadium land. "As a city we need this to be a successful project. . . . Despite this glitch, I would urge the university to go forward."I guess it was that quote that made me feel like the PD was slightly hinting at some type of postponement. Nothing remotely substantial. And looking back now I feel like I was reading to closely. Besides, all of us and the PD know damn well that this isn't the case, but I just felt that they may be trying to somewhat fool the uninformed average Clevelander into believing the article was more important than it actually was. As you said, its all about money, and dirt sells.I love how Mendenhall says the city needs this product to be successful while he successfully swindles the U out of $3M for Joe's Sun Bar.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zen Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 must be a slow news cycleThere are only a couple of things that need to happen here:1) The trustee should be investigated to see whether he simply gave inside info to his son and his son took it u pon himself to seek the property, or if the trustee actively suggested or conspired with the son. There's a difference... though I doubt the trustee did anything and it would probably be hard to find evidence even if he did, but it is something that should get cleared up.2 ) The actual sales transactions of the home does not need to be reversed, but some compensation should be required.... a ) from the trustee's son to the university ... for most of the profit that he took b ) from the trustee's son to the original owner... not for much but a punitive/compensatory act (purchasing a property with prior knowledge that it was worth more... some people wont like this, but I think it's different when you have specific insider info)But I don't think this whole thing is a big deal.As soon as I heard that the stadium was going to go there (that was well over 2 years ago now, wasn't it?) I took a quick look around to see what properties were up for sale in the area. Not that I wanted to sell anything to the university... I was actually looking to see what properties would have their values increased because of the changes. It's called prospecting. It happens a lot in real estate. It's not unethical unless you have insider info. When I got it, it wasn't legally insider, because I didn't talk to anyone who had specific knowledge that wasn't public. The trustee's son did. That's the only problem. It's not the end of the world, but it is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZippyRulz Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 The trustee should have stayed far away from any transaction involving the university for which he works, and should have instructed his family to do the same. It's an obvious conflict of interest. The trustee should resign from the board for abusing his position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UADavid Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 The University was asleep at the switch when this property was sold. They certainly knew they were moving ahead with the project at the time of the sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LosAngelesZipFan Posted December 30, 2008 Report Share Posted December 30, 2008 What's particularly gross about this piece is that the PD hasn't bothered to cover ANY of the massive investment UA has made in Akron over the past 5 years. One of the largest development projects in Ohio has happened with no coverage from its largest paper. This trustee thing is, from what I can gather, just stupid-- on the trustee's part most of all. But to cover that with no coverage of the actual project, let alone the other $400 million in investment being made by the U is just awful. And of course the PD was all over the consolidate UA-CSU rumors last year as well. I hope UA isn't giving any ad dollars to the PD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbozeglav Posted December 31, 2008 Report Share Posted December 31, 2008 The thing is, the media CRAVES bad news. If you were to actually total up the number of minutes of airtime given to bad news versus good news in any given news hour, you'd see that there is a HUGE bias towards the bad news. I guess its because bad news is more intriguing to viewers and gets higher ratings, but I honestly wouldnt know. Even so, your point is valid that NO news coverage on that kind of investment is horrible. It doesn't have to be front-page news or anything, but a good article on what the U has been doing this decade would suffice. On topic... I can't really understand the basis of some of the charges. His son was the one who bought the property, not the father. On top of that, he even abstained from voting on the purchase of the property, which in my opinion should have been viewed as an act of good faith that he wasn't involved in trying to make a big profit. However, as others have mentioned, I am sure there were a ton of people who looked into purchasing property in the stadium's footprint after the announcement and they too would have made out with a profit. These charges really just seem like they are focused on someone who is on the board for the university who is purchasing a property that just happens to be related to the owner of said property. If any other person had done the same thing, nobody would have said anything and just called it a smart investment. Sometimes it seems like people are just out to redflag anyone and anything that is vaguely suspicious... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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