$30 athletics fee to be reviewed by IU trustees

The IU board of trustees will review a proposal from athletics director Terry Clapacs that would charge students on the Bloomington campus an annual $30 athletics fee to help alleviate a deficit in the athletic department.\nThe athletics fee was proposed to the trustees at a statewide forum to discuss tuition and fees in Indianapolis Tuesday afternoon. The fee is in addition to a proposed tuition increase of 4 percent for in-state students, and 6 percent for out-of-state students. \nThe athletic department currently has a $2 million structural deficit in its $34 million annual budget. Poor football ticket sales in recent years have hurt the University. IU is also still paying former athletic director Michael McNeely and former football coach Cam Cameron, among others, in contract buy-outs.\nThe $30 athletics fee would raise $1.15 million for the athletic department next year, helping to cut their deficit in half -- a deficit Clapacs said will help maintain the tradition of IU.\n"There is a structural problem in funding Indiana University athletics," Clapacs said. "This fee would help to address the $2 million structural deficit and allow us to keep the tradition and history of IU athletics."\nThe money raised through the fee would go straight to alleviating the deficit, and not to making room for more provisions in it. At the same time, the money will not allow for any price reductions of student tickets or for better student seating sections.\n"It would not (help lower football ticket prices), because it would cut into existing revenue," Clapacs said. "One thing we have in mind is to increase interest in IU football, and once we can do that, we can look into lowering prices."\nJunior Brian Meierhoff believes students should not have to foot the bill for the athletic department's deficit.\n"For out-of-state students, another tax or fee just seems unneeded," Meierhoff said. "I don't see any backing for it just because they dug themselves into their own hole."\nClapacs explained the alternatives to imposing a student athletics fee include cutting athletics scholarships, eliminating teams or reducing the number of men's basketball tickets allotted to students and selling them at full price to the public. \n"That's not what we want to do at Indiana University," he said.\nSophomore Stacy Dinehart says even though it is not the student body's fault the athletic department is over budget, she would pay to make sure IU athletic teams continue to thrive.\n"I don't think it is fair to us, especially out-of-state students, to have to pay for something that the athletic department screwed up, but I don't want to see our athletes have to suffer either," she said. "If it is going to help them out, then I would not mind as much to pay the $30."\nThe proposed fee was introduced in part to help compensate for a 2004 football schedule that is going to leave the athletic department hurting even more. The schedule only has five home games instead of the usual six, and lacks big name opponents and the fans they bring to Memorial Stadium.\n"We project next year's income to be down almost $2 million from last year. This year, we had three premiere games in Kentucky, Ohio State and Purdue. Those games help increase our revenues because they increase our attendance," Clapacs said. "Having one less home game than normal will cost us nearly $800,000 in revenue."\nThe proposed fee will help to cut the budget in half next year, but it is likely the fee will be instituted for years to come in order to help the athletic department get out of their deficit, and ensure that IU complies with the NCAA's Title IX agreement, which mandates equal opportunity in athletics for women. \n"I don't know how long we will have the fee, because we never know what the future will hold. It is our goal for the athletic department to be self-sufficient, but that's getting harder and harder to do," Clapacs said. "We've added four womens' sports in the last eight years to keep up with Title IX. If football takes off like it should, then our revenues will increase like they should, and we can look into getting rid of the fee"