Group opposes $30 athletics fee

Twelve student leaders from the Bloomington campus signed a letter Friday afternoon and sent it to IU President Adam Herbert asking for more time to research the $30 student athletics fee proposed last week by IU Athletics Director Terry Clapacs. \nThe letter was signed by members of the Dean's Advisory Board, including Student Body President Casey Cox and President-elect Tyson Chastain, Student Athletic Board President Brian Craig, Residence Halls Association President Eric Hafner and RHA President-elect John Palmer.\nThe proposed fee will help alleviate the $2 million structural deficit in the athletic department. \nThe athletic department is currently paying former football coach Cam Cameron, in a contract buy-out. This payment, along with lagging football ticket sales, has left the athletic department in the red. In a correction to previous reports, the department has completed payments to the contract buy-out for former Director Michael McNeeley. \nThe letter expresses the leaders' concerns about the proposed fee and opposes the upcoming vote. The IU trustees are scheduled to vote on the fee Friday at their monthly meeting. The meeting will be held on the IU-Southeast campus in New Albany, Ind. Final recommendations regarding the fee and the proposed tuition increase of 4 percent will be submitted during the meeting. \nOne of the main concerns expressed in the letter is that the fee poses no benefit to students. Palmer believes this is of great concern, especially to those who have little or no interest in IU athletics.\n"I'm not generally supportive of a mandatory fee unless it is a good deal for all of the students, and this isn't," Palmer said. "I don't think it will benefit students that do go to games, either. It's not going to lower the costs of tickets, give us better student seats or encourage the athletic department to hand out more T-shirts. There is nothing we're getting out of this."\nThe letter asks for a delay on the vote for one year. The student leaders believe voting only one week after the initial proposal does not give enough time to research the consequences and possible alternatives to the fee and does not allow for students to know exactly what is going on, which hinders them from expressing their views regarding the fee.\n"We really want the administration to know what the students are thinking, but we also want to translate the message to the students," Palmer said. "If the students don't know what's going on with the administration, and the administration doesn't know what is going on with the students, we have a problem."\nCraig explains the fee itself is not the issue the leaders are in opposition to but the time frame in which the issue is being handled.\n"I support some sort of fee, but I just want them to take more time," Craig said. "If it means cutting sports or taking away tickets for men's basketball, I am not against a student fee. I feel all students will benefit in some way. I would like to see students receive better tickets, but it would hurt us more to take tickets away."\nStudent groups and organizations around campus have already begun sending mass e-mails and petitions to students alerting them of the proposal and asking for their support in opposition to the fee. Cox hopes the letter sent to Herbert will help show the student body they do have a voice in the way things are run and also allow them to become more involved in the future of IU.\n"I think (the letter) is a great step to reversing student apathy by letting the rest of the campus get involved," Cox said. "It's basically taxation without representation. Students and student leaders have a right to be angry about it, and it's very optimistic to see students take it upon themselves to have their voice heard."\nAdvisory Board members who also signed the letter include Student Recreational Sports Association President Erin Sparks, Graduate Professional Student Organization moderator Jesse Nelson, Interfraternity Council President Ryan Goldschmidt, IU Dance Marathon President Ryan Bulan, Union Board President Rachel Tate, Student Alumni Association President Maggie Brozio and IU Student Foundation President Vincent DeFazio.\nBoth Herbert and Clapacs were unavailable for comment at press time.\n-- Contact staff writer David Paulen at dpaulen@indiana.edu.