Rancheria wins big by giving to university
Fresno Bee 1/11/07
A few months back, after Chukchansi agreed to pay $16million for naming rights to Fresno's municipal stadium, I wrote a wise-mouth piece saying we should plaster more casino names on our local treasures.
Little did I anticipate that Fresno State's president would actually accept $10 million from Table Mountain Rancheria and ask California State University system trustees to name the school's not-yet-built library tower for the rancheria.
John, I was being sarcastic.
The school calls the $10million a gift. The rancheria, which operates Table Mountain Casino, says it wasn't trying to one-up Chukchansi and that the money reflects its commitment to education and the San Joaquin Valley.
If you believe that, you also believe casinos are built to provide people with entertainment — not to separate them from their money.
Call the $10 million a gift, if you want, but this is a business transaction.
The school gets to turn what was a plain-Jane library renovation into an architectural statement with Indian themes, and the rancheria that happens to run a casino gets the legitimacy of academia — not to mention name exposure in the heart of the campus.
I have to hand it to Table Mountain. If trustees approve, the rancheria has pulled off the bargain of the century.
For $6 million less than what Chukchansi pays for 15 years of brand ownership of what is primarily a baseball stadium, Table Mountain rubs shoulders with Fresno's best-known institution for as long as the tower stands.
Sports and gambling go together like beer and peanuts.
Education and gambling?
Like lobster and champagne, unfortunately.
By putting Table Mountain's name on the tower, Fresno State is endorsing the activity — gambling — that made the rancheria's donation possible.
It's a subtle thing, I admit. But it's there nonetheless. I wonder how many students with term papers to write will look up at the tower and head to the casino instead.
The implied message is that bright people gamble and that gambling is part of university life — just like footnotes, laptops and Vintage Days.
Or should I say, blackjack, slots and Psych 101?
Table Mountain, for $10million, becomes part of Central California's largest academic research library and gains a hold on the minds and souls of Fresno State students.
What's next? A Table Mountain bus from the student union to the casino?
Granted, the school's Web site describes the donation as "the largest single cash gift" in Fresno State history. But if the university was selling a piece of itself to a casino operator, it should've raised the ante.
Not that long ago, Save Mart Supermarkets and Pepsi-Cola Bottling Co. pledged $40million over 20 years for the university arena. The library and all the respectability that comes with it is worth at least half that, don't you think?
With $10 million more, the school could've endowed student scholarships and academic chairs and hired a tutor or two.
It sold on the cheap, instead, and settled for a monument to Table Mountain and Welty's campus-for-sale legacy.