Hollis justified that the football team’s recent success comes at a cost — or a donation.

The donations, which will be going to the Spartan Fund, will be used to meet the expectations of alumni and fans, such as improvements to the stadium. Although the plan will ensure more money for the Spartan Fund to use, the athletics department might be morally incorrect for taking advantage of loyal fans.

Most fans will not choose to cancel their season tickets, and the athletics department likely knows that. People who have had season tickets for years are unlikely to give them up because the athletics department is asking for more donations. The increased mandatory donation price will not be enough for a significant amount of fans to stop attending MSU football games, but it is dishonest of the athletics department to exploit that fact.

There probably will be only a handful of Spartan fans who are upset with the increased donations, and there are seats available in the upper east deck of Spartan Stadium if ticket holders decide not to donate.

Although the department should not be using loyal fans’ dedication to its advantage, the $4 increase for student season tickets could make sure that only quality fans are attending games.

The price for last season’s student season tickets was $136 — a relatively low price, seeing that MSU-UM student section tickets were selling for upward of $200 last season. Students who genuinely are interested in MSU football will pay the increased price, as will those with regular season tickets.

Increased donations will make sure only loyal students and fans are attending the games, not those coming for social events. People probably can expect to see less people straggling in during the second quarter, not really caring about the game.

It also is obvious the stadium needs work done; it is outdated and could use upgrading on many fronts — the last upgrade to the current scoreboard was in 1998. Hollis said he expects the annual revenue of the athletics department to increase by $1.5 million to $3.5 million.

The money definitely will be a substantial amount to help make changes at Spartan Stadium — like the recently announced new scoreboard — but the athletics department shouldn’t be looking in fans’ pockets for funding.

Fans already help the team financially by purchasing jerseys, hats, shirts and other licensed materials as well as concessions. Of course fans want the football team to be more successful, but that shouldn’t have to come at even further expenses.

Although the department has every right to raise donations and prices, students and season ticket holders might not be happy if they’re stuck paying for renovations and changes at the stadium and within the football program.