Athletic deficit still a concern

In an attempt to explain the lingering financial woes the IU athletic department faces, athletic director Terry Clapacs said Thursday that the deficit is a $2 million structural problem. \nIn addition to the deficit, IU President Adam Herbert called the athletic facilities "unacceptable."\n"We don't come close to being comparable to (other) Big Ten institutions," he said. \nThe budget admission comes in the wake of two years of reports that the deficit is a year-to-year problem, which would have occurred regardless of who ran the department.\n"I don't think we should look at athletics at a year-by-year basis," Clapacs said. "If we look at it over a five-year period, I think we have structural problems that need to be addressed."\nAs possible solutions to the deficit, Clapacs suggested Thursday the addition of a student athletic fee and tapping former Hoosier athletes for donations.\nClapacs succeeded former athletic director Michael McNeely 10 months ago after revelations of the department's $3.2 million deficit emerged in November 2002. \nDuring his term, the deficit has decreased to approximately $1.79 million according to the 2002-2003 Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act report.\nThis year, Clapacs declined to fill four permanent positions and eliminated eight hourly positions of event staff and grounds crew. The department also began outsourcing medical care, food service and ushering and has begun investigating the outsourcing of the Varsity Shop, all in an attempt to cut down on expenses. \nIn a presentation to the Trustees, Clapacs discussed the lack of revenue coming into the department. He said it's mainly because of the Hoosiers' struggling football program. \n"Football drives the success of the athletic department," Clapacs said.\nIU finished the 2003 season at 2-10, one place above cellar-dwellar Illinois. It was the ninth consecutive losing season for the Hoosiers. \nThe department's $34,109,460 budget is the tenth largest in the Big Ten out of 11 schools, followed only by Northwestern at $30,655,496. The budget covers 24 varsity sports -- 10 less than conference leading Ohio State, which has 34. \nThe Hoosiers sit at the bottom of the Big Ten in football ticket revenue, a major concern for Clapacs.\nWith head football Coach Gerry DiNardo having nearly a full roster of scholarships, the tide is hoping to be turned with Hoosier football. In the meantime, Clapacs has had to divulge other possibilities to make up the deficit. \nOne remedy he suggested was a student athletic fee, which would be tacked on to tuition.\nTrustee Cora Breckinridge refuted the idea via teleconference.\nShe said students should not be given another raise of tuition, regardless of who it will benefit. \nClapacs cited the $1,000 tuition raise as one of the problems for the athletic department's deficit. The Varsity Club, he said, supplies the athletic department with the money for athletic scholarships, and with the tuition increase, it is becoming harder for the Varsity Club to support the scholarships.\nWhen tuition increases, the Varsity Club can no longer cover scholarship costs, Clapacs said. \nAnother way to increase revenue to the athletic department, Clapacs suggested, is to tap former Hoosier athletes for donations. \nFormer Hoosier and current Kansas City quarterback Trent Green donated money to renovate the football locker room last summer. \nPresident Adam Herbert commented on his alma mater, University of Southern California, and how former football players come back to support the Trojans on a regular basis. \nHe said IU needs to reach back and stay in contact with former athletes, not only on a general, department-wide level, but within the specific sports. He said former players could help greatly in the recruiting process, which could lead to better teams and more victories, meaning more fans in the seats and more money to the department. \nThe process is a domino effect.\nHerbert went on to say that there are Division-II schools better than IU in terms of athletic facilities. "That's unacceptable," he said.\nHerbert noted that the IU weightroom in Assembly Hall was sub-par compared to the competition. \nClapacs commented that another way to bring money into the department was an Internet possibility. He went on to hint that by making the department's Web site, www.iuhoosiers.com , a pay site, more money could be brought into the department. \n-- Contact sports editor Josh Weinfuss at jweinfus@indiana.edu.