FB: American Rivers Conference

[doolittledog]

24 - Hopefully not the number of kittens our barn cat ends up delivering in my office!!!  She was outside my door so I let her in to warm up a bit and she went right into the corner and started having her kittens!!!  This will be an interesting afternoon 

Good luck with that Dog!  I can not say that I have ever seen live birth before, so that would be a treat to watch. 

My wife had c-sections that I had to stay out of...so I haven't seen live birth before either!!!

This Wartburg deal is sounding kind of interesting.  I know their giving over the last 2 years was near the bottom of the IIAC and their endowment I think is only higher than Loras.  If they are relying on loans instead of giving for all the building they did they might have an interesting future ahead of them.  We will see I guess. 

[Klompen]

There is no doubt that Ohle has done some great things for Wartburg. Their athletics are the best in the conference and they have certainly built their fair share of new buildings. Seems like he was a charasmatic, much beloved leader.

That being said he was probably wise for getting out now. As I understand it, WArtburg has more than $80 million in debt and much of those payments are yet to come into full swing because of balloon loans. There is no other way to slice it, Wartburg is going to be in for some LEAN years for quite some time. You heard it here first- the WArtburg of the next 10 years is going to face some real struggles financially. And I'll also venture to bet that they will be hard pressed to maintain their athletic dominance, especially with a changing of the lead dog, who was obviously a big athletic supporter. Time will tell...

Oh, man, I hate to have to agree with a Storm fan, but I was thinking the same thing when I heard the news.  That is a load of debt to have, particularly with the funding for debt getting so tight thanks to the mortgage loan crisis.  I have no idea how the debt was financed or if the tightening of the loan industry will affect what has already taken place, but I would have to think it would be hard for Wartburg to try to maintain their recent progress in this financial climate.  I would also think it might affect the quantity and quality of applicants for the position.  Of course I am just speculating, but I believe we have heard about the Wartburg junk bond rating before and proven leaders might be less inclined to take a position where they might feel that their hands are tied when it comes to making their mark on the school.  Then again, it might be just the position for some new up-and-comer who believes leaving a mark can be done by turning around a high debt school. 

[Klopenhiemer]

There is no doubt that Ohle has done some great things for Wartburg. Their athletics are the best in the conference and they have certainly built their fair share of new buildings. Seems like he was a charasmatic, much beloved leader.

That being said he was probably wise for getting out now. As I understand it, WArtburg has more than $80 million in debt and much of those payments are yet to come into full swing because of balloon loans. There is no other way to slice it, Wartburg is going to be in for some LEAN years for quite some time. You heard it here first- the WArtburg of the next 10 years is going to face some real struggles financially. And I'll also venture to bet that they will be hard pressed to maintain their athletic dominance, especially with a changing of the lead dog, who was obviously a big athletic supporter. Time will tell...

Oh, man, I hate to have to agree with a Storm fan, but I was thinking the same thing when I heard the news.  That is a load of debt to have, particularly with the funding for debt getting so tight thanks to the mortgage loan crisis.  I have no idea how the debt was financed or if the tightening of the loan industry will affect what has already taken place, but I would have to think it would be hard for Wartburg to try to maintain their recent progress in this financial climate.  I would also think it might affect the quantity and quality of applicants for the position.  Of course I am just speculating, but I believe we have heard about the Wartburg junk bond rating before and proven leaders might be less inclined to take a position where they might feel that their hands are tied when it comes to making their mark on the school.  Then again, it might be just the position for some new up-and-comer who believes leaving a mark can be done by turning around a high debt school. 

If these statements are true, I look forward to reading what the Wartburg faithful have to say about this. 

[sc_stormchaser]

I don't know if many of you are familiar with Drake's financial struggles of the late 90s and early 00s, but it was a sinking ship. They were cutting programs (many of which have not resurfaced), budgets and staff. They bounced back about four years and are doing quite well again. Jack Ohle left Drake in '98 to become president of Wartburg College and I'll leave it at that.

[doolittledog]

From the Council for aid to education http://www.cae.org/content/news.asp

And from US News and world report http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php

School  -  06 giving  -  07 giving  -  endowment

BV -------6,087,576-- 2,094,706-- 130,454,220

Central - 8,577,290- 9,465,471--  72,442,818

Coe -----24,365,844- 8,429,822 -- 76,803,235

Cornell-- 5,511,896--7,789,761 -- 69,166,653

Dubuque 12,244,641- 28,134,349 - 47,067,695

Loras-----5,131,748 - 6,914,801 ---- 25,941,634

Luther ----10,865,369 - 9,313,744 - 97,673,391

Simpson - 3,604,209 ---3,800,849 - 71,347,121

Wartburg - 5,724,727 - 5,877,387 - 40,915,153

[TheOne89.1]

24 - the total number of years it will take to pay off my college loans

And Knightcallers wonder why I say "no" when they call me asking for me to donate to Wartburg.  I got a great education, but with high costs I want to pay of my tuition before giving back.

[DBQ1965]

24 - Career Int's for UD's Jim Martin between '64 - '66 ...So, DBQ1965 probably announced some of those over the PA system at Chalmers Field back in the day!!!

Yes ... I did.  And road games were broadcast back to campus on KUDD (ugh!).  Could there be any worse call letters? 

Later, the call letters were switched to WGVU (the "wonderful, golden voice of the University") but then campus radio faded from the scene.  Now WGVU are the call letters for Grand Valley State University Public Broadcasting.

[Walston Hoover]

I have no idea what the actual numbers are. I do know that Wartburg set a goal in '02 of raising 88 million to take care of a lot of campus improvements and fill some new positions. The new dorm is owned by the construction company who built it and "rent" is paid to them. I believe something similar is being done with the community center part of the "W".
If anyone saw the facilities at Wartburg-Student Union, Science Center, and PEC, along with overcrowded dorms before Ohle got there, I would venture to guess them in the bottom third, at least half, nationally. They are easily in the top 25 % now.
Wartburg athletics were fine before Ohle got there, they will be fine long after he leaves.
If anyone has the debt load numbers, I would like to see them.

[Floyd in Iowa City]

24 - the total number of years it will take to pay off my college loans

And Knightcallers wonder why I say "no" when they call me asking for me to donate to Wartburg.  I got a great education, but with high costs I want to pay of my tuition before giving back.

6 - The number of years it took me to pay off my undergraduate loans from Luther and my graduate school loans from UNI (hardly had any tuition or loans at the state school).  I have real concerns in general about the escalating costs of going to college, but am especially concerned about how much it might cost my son to go to college (he is 4 right now).  Costs have gone up a ton just since the 1990s when I was a student.

My wife and I and other Luther alums from around my age that I know do give back to the college every year, but we are hardly at the place where we can give $1000 a year or anything approaching that.  The older Norse alums are carrying things for us right now.

I am sure Wartburg will be fine and they did a lot of the building before the cost of steel went through the roof.  The new president takes over with a totally different physical campus than what was there 15-20 years ago.

Endowment building is more consistent at some schools than others, but look at how much Coe and Dubuque caught up these past two years.  I am sure it is a pretty hit and miss process at most schools around the country.

[Walston Hoover]

24 - the total number of years it will take to pay off my college loans

And Knightcallers wonder why I say "no" when they call me asking for me to donate to Wartburg.  I got a great education, but with high costs I want to pay of my tuition before giving back.

I still give some right now, but when those loans are paid off, those payments are going to Wartburg instead of iowa Student Loan.

[TheOne89.1]

Anyone know if any IIAC guys got calls for NFL minicamps?  Looks like the Packers are trying out a few D3 guys with Beavers from UWW getting an invite to minicamp and a WR from Mississippi College signed a free agent contract with them.  Maybe these guys will pay off like Bill Schroeder did in the late 90's.

[5 Words or Less]

Anyone know if any IIAC guys got calls for NFL minicamps?  Looks like the Packers are trying out a few D3 guys with Beavers from UWW getting an invite to minicamp and a WR from Mississippi College signed a free agent contract with them.  Maybe these guys will pay off like Bill Schroeder did in the late 90's.

Several D3's, but no IIAC

http://www.nfldraftbible.com/Latest/2008-UNDRAFTED-FA-TRACKER.html

[5 Words or Less]

24 - Most tackles in 1 IIAC game, 2007

• Mark Mashburn University of Dubuque vs. Buena Vista 11/3/07

[Mr. Ypsi]

24 - Most tackles in 1 IIAC game, 2007

• Mark Mashburn University of Dubuque vs. Buena Vista 11/3/07

dutchfan1 claims two Central players have had 24 tackles against IIAC teams (previous page).  Please clarify?

[5 Words or Less]

More Central stats for you....

24 - Tackles in a game for Kris Reis vs. Simpson (1989), tied with Rick Sanger vs. Loras (1994).

24 - Most tackles in 1 IIAC game, 2007

• Mark Mashburn University of Dubuque vs. Buena Vista 11/3/07

dutchfan1 claims two Central players have had 24 tackles against IIAC teams (previous page).  Please clarify?

Central team record vs. IIAC season high in 2007