Ag College Destruction

mr_bots · April 20, 2009

I'm not an ag major, but NMSU is one of the top agricultural schools in the country, being one of only two in the nation with on campus farms. I know many people in the ag college and they're all pissed as well as almost everyone I know that isn't majoring in ag. Two summers ago (when no one was around to bash the plan) the then president passed a new master plan, giving the city of Las Cruces permission to build a Convention Center, Motel, and necessary parking lots on the University campus due to it's location in town. The problem with this plan is that it showed these buildings and parking lots taking up most of what is now the ag college. The on campus farms, some of the buildings where ag classes are taught, as well as the barns where animals (sheep, pigs, goats, cows, horses, etc.) are kept. Petitions were circulated gathering over 1000 signatures, but all of them were removed around campus and thrown away within a week of being posted. Well, as of this morning destruction of the some of the farm land has begun so they can start building the convention center. This University is known as an ag school, how can it be a good idea to all but demolish the largest college on campus. Can we still be the Aggies without an ag college?

Sorry for the long, pointless post, just had to vent.

VR021302 · April 20, 2009

THAT MAKES NO SENSE AT ALL, BUT NEITHER DOUES THE GOV OF NM EITHER

BuckFeverZ · April 20, 2009

That's too bad. At least around here farmers are dying breed and it seems more and more farm land is being turned into housing developments

txab · April 20, 2009

Follow the money. It's all about making $$$$ for the University. I've seen it before at many other campuses. The agricultural part of the campus doesn't fit in with what the city wants near downtown. Hopefully they've planned to have land at another location for the Ag stuff.

97SierraGMC · April 20, 2009

That's too bad. At least around here farmers are dying breed and it seems more and more farm land is being turned into housing developments

luckily i live out in the country but every year houses are being built closer and closer.. the big farms are getting bigger and the smaller farms are dying off.

i actually liked working on a farm when i was 14, but there wasnt enough for me to do there so i stopped working there.

Nick The Great · April 20, 2009

I went to Iowa State University which has a very strong Ag program. I find it sad that NMSU is doing this.

People may not like agriculture and farming, but everyone seems ok with eating food.

Hopefully they can build a bigger and better Ag complex somewhere else, maybe even off campus.

txab · April 20, 2009

That's too bad. At least around here farmers are dying breed and it seems more and more farm land is being turned into housing developments

Yeah, food is highly overrated anyway! Soylent Green FTMFW!

mkelly · April 20, 2009

I went to Iowa State University which has a very strong Ag program. I find it sad that NMSU is doing this. <img src="style_emoticons/default/sad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="sad.gif" /> People may not like agriculture and farming, but everyone seems ok with eating food. <img src="style_emoticons/default/lol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="lol.gif" /> Hopefully they can build a bigger and better Ag complex somewhere else, maybe even off campus. <img src="style_emoticons/default/cheers.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="cheers.gif" />

Everyone knows that food comes from the grocery store... duh.

rvsahs · April 20, 2009

That's too bad. At least around here farmers are dying breed and it seems more and more farm land is being turned into housing developments

Yeah, food is highly overrated anyway! Soylent Green FTMFW!

NO!!!

Especially in regards to the great food mentioned in the What are you eating thread...

To the OP, the destruction/relocation of the ag facilities is a bite in the shorts...and don't get me started on the politics of the issue as I work in the College of Ag here at OSU...

Yes, hopefully they can relocate the facilities somewhere close to campus, but you can bet that unless major commodity groups/ag alum/others rattle the legislature's/board of regent's cage and come up with some donation $$, progress may be slow at best..

Nick The Great · April 20, 2009

I went to Iowa State University which has a very strong Ag program. I find it sad that NMSU is doing this. <img src="style_emoticons/default/sad.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="sad.gif" /> People may not like agriculture and farming, but everyone seems ok with eating food. <img src="style_emoticons/default/lol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="lol.gif" /> Hopefully they can build a bigger and better Ag complex somewhere else, maybe even off campus. <img src="style_emoticons/default/cheers.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="cheers.gif" />

Everyone knows that food comes from the grocery store... duh.

I know you're joking but that's how a lot of people actually think . . .

mr_bots · April 20, 2009

The alum has already pulled tons of funding and scholarships (last I heard was upwards of $1 million/yr) and are complaining. I'd assume the farms are gone forever. The barns will probably be rebuilt, it's just a shame that they won't be as integral as they are now. They're pretty central to campus, if they're demolished and rebuilt they'll be a ways away. There's plenty of room on campus for them, its just a ways down the road away from any of the academic buildings. It is for money, when it passed, he wanted to move priority to programs with more potential for money. The motel will be ran by the HRTM department, the focus will shift towards more engineering with ME doing a lot of research for the Space Port they're building north of town, and CE branching out and doing a lot of research for the DOT and local farmers. Most people just wander why they don't just let the city lease the arena and use it for conventions or build the convention center on the other side of campus by the arena and stadium where it's already set up for tons of parking. It's just a shame to see the program that started the school be flushed down the drain.

Schmids5.3l · April 20, 2009

Whoever said it's all about the $$$ hit the nail on the head.

Also, whining about less and less farm land and more and more housing is a void point. Not only is it bound to happen with population growth, but whose selling the land in the first place? We have a few hundred acres outside of town, it's a small town but it's been growing decently for the past 15-20 years, and have had many offers from construction companies. Instead it's rented to a local farmer.

I'm just as upset as any other guy that Anheuser-Busch was bought out by that Belgian brewing company Inbev, but that's the course America has been taking for a long time, a bunch of sellouts.

BuckFeverZ · April 20, 2009

Whoever said it's all about the $$ hit the nail on the head.

Also, whining about less and less farm land and more and more housing is a void point. Not only is it bound to happen with population growth, but whose selling the land in the first place? We have a few hundred acres outside of town, it's a small town but it's been growing decently for the past 15-20 years, and have had many offers from construction companies. Instead it's rented to a local farmer.

I'm just as upset as any other guy that Anheuser-Busch was bought out by that Belgian brewing company Inbev, but that's the course America has been taking for a long time, a bunch of sellouts.

Who the hell said I was whining. I was stating a FACT. But, I do think it's sad. Nobody wants to farm anymore because it's too much work. People are turning into a bunch of pencil-pushing pussies.

Schmids5.3l · April 20, 2009

Whoever said it's all about the $$ hit the nail on the head.

Also, whining about less and less farm land and more and more housing is a void point. Not only is it bound to happen with population growth, but whose selling the land in the first place? We have a few hundred acres outside of town, it's a small town but it's been growing decently for the past 15-20 years, and have had many offers from construction companies. Instead it's rented to a local farmer.

I'm just as upset as any other guy that Anheuser-Busch was bought out by that Belgian brewing company Inbev, but that's the course America has been taking for a long time, a bunch of sellouts.

Who the hell said I was whining. I was stating a FACT. But, I do think it's sad. Nobody wants to farm anymore because it's too much work. People are turning into a bunch of pencil-pushing pussies.

I re-read it and it did come off wrong. What I should have said is it goes both ways. There are hundreds of acres around here that have been developed over the past decade or so, but I can't blame it fully on the people who zoned it and built houses for money. The land owners wanted to retire early, so they sold the farm that has been handed down for generations.

Trust me, my town had 1 stop light when I was a kid! Now it has 2! It's still a small town but not as small as it once was, which bothers me sometimes.