ee ee | ee ed ed ee ee \ ' ee | “FUND DRIVE “LAUNCHED As a final phase of the original drive a reminder mailing is presently being mailed again to those initially contacted who did not respond. Although the mechanics of the program may vary, the Weber State Alumni Association is committed now to a campaign each year in order to assist the college in its many programs. We sometimes feel that we are set upon by every institution or group with which we ever had any relationship to assist with funds, but we must take a good long look at the necessity of educational fund raising. The American attitude toward education has not been to exclude, by birthright, class or economic status, the majority from a good basic education. At present however, the high cost of education may itself begin to restrict the number who may attend and change our whole attitude toward the training of young people. American colleges and Universities, both public and private are facing a grave situation with regards to financing of present programs and future expansion. The situation at Weber State is much the same as at other institutions. The major difference is that we are a very young institution as a four year school and find ourselves with the enrollment of many an older school without the facilities or the staff to accomodate them. Since its beginnings some eighty-one years ago, there have been somewhere between eighty and one hundred thousand students attend Weber State college in its various stages. Of those an estimated sixty thousand are living. When we discuss figures like this the potential of the Alumni Giving program begins to take shape. If you think only in terms of one dollar or two dollars a year for each of those alumni, the figure becomes significant. Add to this the thousands of parents whose sons and daughters attended, and still figuring only one or two dollars each the total becomes staggering. BASKETBALL 1971 = ’ — PUTTING : z IT ALL TOGETHER 71 looks like it could be another vintage year for Weber tists basketball. Coach Phil Johnson has likened this years squad to the 1968-69 team that went into the NCAA playoffs and defeated nationally ranked New Mexico State. The ‘71 Wildcats at the time of this writing boast an 8 and 1 record having lost only to a strong University of California team in the Cable Car Classic where they took second place. After the Cable Car, the Weber State Team travelled to the Evansville Invitational _ Austad speaks, Macfarlane. . . ~*~ TATE i On October 12th, Mark Evans Austad, 1970 Chairman of the Alumni Annual Giving Campaign launched the years fund drive by urging all alums and supporters as well as those in attendance to “put more back into the college than you took out of it.” Addressing a gathering of approximately one hundred close friends, alumni and college and community leaders, Austad declared, “We should all work to help Weber reach its potential.” In conjunction with the opening banquet, a mailer explaining the purpose of the campaign, the need for additional funds at the college and the area of giving was mailed to approximately 25,000 alumni, parents and friends of the college. The brochure under the title of “Project 70, a Program for Progress” explained the campaign as “ . a vehicle by which we can help to insure continued excellence at Weber State.” It further appealed to the individual donor to make this project a personal commitment. Several areas were suggested for donations and the present problems of space were displayed in graphic form. As a second phase of the campaign, a telephone test market was run in the Ogden area the latter part of November. Approximately 500 telephone calls were made by student volunteers to persons who had been mailed the initial material explaining the campaign. The telephone campaign was conducted from a downtown Ogden facility equipped to handle a number of outside calls at one time. The three day project commenced at 6 o’clock each evening and was completed by nine with each volunteer given a list of names to call within the three hour calling period. At the end of the test market project, results were tallied and the procedure was evaluated for possible use in future campaigns. A similar project will likely be entered into in the Spring of 1971. Be p's I le at Evansville Indiana and brought home the whole sack of marbles. What appeared early to be a disaster may have been the best break the Weber State squad has had this year in the light of gaining much needed experience for the majority of Coach Johnson’s team. Big Willie Sojourner, the Wildcat’s number one scorer, rebounder and defensive player was hospitalized with a throat infection and had to miss the two conference openers against Montana and Montana State. Both games saw outstanding performances by several individual players but more important, a balanced team effort on both offense and defense that proved too much for the Montana schools as they were blown out of Webers Mini-gym and lost by twenty or more points on both occasions. € personnel picture begins to look very bright for the cats at this time, in a year when it is very important that We get it together. Not only do we have the hope of another NCAA playoff but for the first time in years, Weber State will meet one of the other major Utah Schools in regular season play. The red letter day is the twenty-third of February, when Weber State takes on the Nationally ranked Utah State Aggies in Logan. Already a sellout, this game should be the high point of the season. € 1971 Wildcats are a mixture of experience and fresh hew talent, a combination that can sometimes be very difficult to blend week in and week out over 25 plus fames. New faces this year include sophomores Brady Small and Teg Soter at guard, 67” Sophomore Richard Cooper at - ‘Orward and 6’6” J.C. transfer Bob Davis, also at forward. Small, Cooper and Davis have been regulars this year with fach giving stand-out performances in Weber State’s eight - Victories. Greg Soter is seeing more action each game and displays a lot of hustle and a good shooting eye from Sutside. Returning lettermen run all the way up the tape five h fom shly-touted > tal er. Jim eight guard foot center Willie Sojourner Sivulich to the at an even foot Kent Ross has added both weight and confidence since last season and now gives opposing defenses fits with his long jumpers and goes to the boards with the added authority that this team needs for balanced rebounding. Bill Orr and Jim Sivulich have come up with some new moves that we didn’t see last year and have both been featured in big play situations that have helped win ball games. The great thing about the seventy one Wildcats is that there is more. To those already mentioned we must add Jonnie Knoble who is at his best when the pressure is on and will fight with the biggest man in the conference for every rebound; Curt Nations, who can break a game wide open with his outside shooting and ball hawking; Herman Pluim, whose performance against Montana got him mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in “72 and the steady and ever reliable old cab driver, Dave Sackolwitz. “Sack” is a great clutch rebounder and has been the “hole card” on many occasions over the past three years coming up with the big two points to get the fat out of the fire. ' All the material is there for a great ball team in 1971, but the question that plagues all coaches is how to mould it into the best combination to win ball games. Phil Johnson and his band of barn burners seem to be on the verge of putting it all together for one of the most successful seasons Weber State fans have seen and with the additional talent to take some of the pressure off Big Willie this could be a banner year.