University Business - April 2007 - (Page 18)

BEHIND the NEWS Charges Against Student Loan Lenders NEW YORK STATE’S ATTORNEY GENERAL Andrew Cuomo stole a page from Eliot Spitzer’s book when he took on the student loan industry in March. Spitzer, Cuomo’s predecessor and now governor of New York state, made a political name for himself by questioning practices in the insurance and financial services industries. Now Cuomo is taking on colleges, universities, and the banks and lenders who are on their “preferred lender” lists. Cuomo has launched an investigation and says he will be filing a lawsuit to stop what he calls “deceptive practices” in the student loan industry. “An unholy alliance” is his description of the relationship between IHE and lender, noting that some financial firms give lucrative kickbacks to schools who steer students and their parents to them in order to take out loans. His March 22 statement charges Education Finance Partners with awarding basis points on loans written to students at Duquesne University (Pa.), Boston University, Drexel University (Pa.) and nine other IHEs. These points translate into payments made back to the universities. Cuomo charges that EFP paid Drexel $100,000 in a single year. In all, the money EFP and other lenders pay to colleges and universities adds up to millions. Students, meanwhile, rely on these preferred lender lists, with 90 percent of borrowers going with the banks and organizations that an IHE recommends. Cuomo’s charges made national news in March. CBS specifically questioned some of Sallie Mae’s practices and alleged travel perks provided to an executive at The University of Texas System. The lender immediately issued a retort. A press release issued in mid-March denies that the lender paid for any travel for this exec, and further defends guaranteed student loans. Sallie Mae’s statement says that these loans save students more money in the long run than those provided by the Direct Lending program. —J.M.A. U SENSE OF PLACE TD Banknorth Sports Center at Quinnipiac University (Conn.) A whole new ballgame: Quinnipiac has built a sports arena to match its Division I status. The facility will be part of a campus used for living, learning, exercising, and eating. THE NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S AND women’s basketball and ice hockey teams at Quinnipiac University got a boost with the TD Banknorth Sports Center, the first building constructed on the grounds of the institution’s new York Hill campus, which will eventually evolve into an area for living, learning, exercising, and eating. • FUNCTION: Athletic facility with arenas for basketball and hockey, training rooms, club room, administrative and team offices, and meeting space. • CHALLENGES: The campus gym that basketball players and fans had called home since 1969 had been adequate for a Division II program. But as Quinnipiac athletics made the leap to Division I, it become clear that the gym was no longer suitable, says Jack McDonald, director of Athletics and Recreation. A local ice pavilion, which hockey players had been using, had adequate space; when the university got accepted into the Eastern College Athletic Conference, however, building its own campus facility became a requirement. • SOLUTIONS: With the new 180,000-square-foot sports center, basketball and hockey games have become much more dynamic, with the stands filled by not just those connected to the university but the public as well. While the institution could have built a singlearena facility with a basketball court atop an ice rink, that didn’t make sense, McDonald explains. “You’d have to take the basketball court down to prepare for ice hockey games,” leaving one team without a practice space. So two arenas were designed, the basketball one seating 3,570 and the hockey one seating 3,286. The design made possible a triple-header on opening day—men’s and women’s basketball games in the afternoon, followed by women’s ice hockey that night. The arenas are connected by a three-story structure with the common lobby and box office, a club room, and offices. From inside, visitors can gaze out over both downtown New Haven and the waters of Long Island Sound. Joseph Rubertone, associate vice presi- SOUND BITE ‘ I’ve always thought we should give the best professors to the freshmen, because by the time they’re seniors they ought to be able to teach themselves. —Shirley Strum Kenny, President, Stony Brook University (N.Y.) ‘ 18 | April 2007 www.universitybusiness.com http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - April 2007

Contents
College Index
Company Index
Advisory Board
Editor's Note
Stats Watch
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Admissions
Independent Outlook
On The Hill
Future Shock
Spellings Lessons
Identity Mangaement
Getting A Bigger Picture
Facility Directors Speak Out
Internet Technology
Working the Web
What's New
Calendar of Events
Direct Connect
End Note

University Business - April 2007