Iowa State is reportedly searching for more millions in support of its athletic teams. The money would be used toward a new men’s and women’s basketball practice facility and additional seats for the south end of Jack Trice Stadium.

Currently, the stadium seats 43,000, but the average attendance for home games has been well below 40,000. With the addition, there will be room for 48,000 fans.

Of course, the addition comes at a cost bigger than the million-dollar price tag. (Richard Stark, an athletic booster from Fort Dodge, told the Register he estimated it would be at least $10 million, and some reports have the price tag being as high as $15 million.

Students will be the ones to suffer. First of all, adding seats to Jack Trice will demolish our beloved hillside, destroying the scenic open-air atmosphere where fans can enjoy the game along with feeling a sense of the camaraderie of the Cyclone spirit. And with $9 admission to the hill, poor college students can let their Cyclone pride hang out.

Without the hill, students will have to shell out more money for over-priced seats to see their favorite team play.

Even for a short while last season when the Cyclones proved their staying power, Jack Trice wasn’t near full capacity. How can building more seats be justified unless sometime down the road the Cyclone football team is on a huge winning streak and the stadium is filled with patrons other than the die-hard fans? Of course, then ticket prices will be jacked up anyway, further discouraging limited-budget students from attending and depriving them of the full college experience.

There is no doubt Hilton Coliseum is bursting at the seams, and the new practice facility would be a great reward for our hard-working athletes, but let’s face it, are we here for athletics or education?

Sure, athletic competitions draw people into Ames for a day or two, but where does the money they generate go to? Is it in scholarships? Research? New buildings? It goes back into athletics, a self-supporting, self-perpetuating system.

Where is education in this mix? Education takes a back seat to athletics all the time. It is second only to research at Iowa State. Wouldn’t the money be more useful elsewhere on campus? There are buildings not related to athletics that are in bad shape and could use remodeling, such as Morrill Hall. Scholarships are a wiser way to invest in a student’s education rather than a sports team’s reputation.

Honestly, who remembers the football team’s last winning season?

Take the (rumored) millions and use it for something more productive, something that will give back to the students.

And leave our hill alone.

Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Kate Kompas,Greg Jerrett, Heidi Jolivette, Justin Kendall and Tara Payne.