IUSA voices concern about $30 athletic fee

In the shadow of the May 6 and 7 IU trustees meeting in Bloomington, the IU Student Association will hold a pair of meetings tonight to address the alternative proposals to the $30 student athletic fee.\nAt 6 p.m., student leaders representing 15 of the most influential student groups on campus will convene and discuss the findings of the Committee to Review the Alternatives for the Athletic Fee. The meeting will be an informative gathering from IUSA to see where the student organizations should go, IUSA President Tyson Chastain said. \nThe committee was informed Wednesday morning by e-mail that its proposal to increase ticket prices across the board for men's basketball would not be sufficient. The committee set out to take the weight of the majority of the student fee off the student body's shoulders and spread it out among three different potential ticket holders: students, faculty and the public. \nAccording to the IUSA, the e-mail, which was sent from Athletics Director Terry Clapacs to the committee, said any proposal containing money from faculty and the public would not be accepted and that the money must come from the students one way or another.\nIUSA said Clapacs made it very clear it was not his decision and the news was given to him.\nClapacs has not returned repeated attempts to contact him.\nAt 8 p.m. tonight, an open forum will take place in the Dogwood Room at the Indiana Memorial Union and is open to the public to discuss the fee and its possible alternatives. \nIUSA is hoping to have a drafted letter to send to the trustees ready to be discussed at the open forum, Chastain said.\n"This is something that students need to be informed on," Chastain said. "We're just a medium for that."\nIUSA Vice President Jesse Laffen said the forum is open to anyone and everyone who is interested in the proposed fee and its alternatives.\n"We've been talking to students throughout the whole thing," Laffen said. "We want to get a cemented viewpoint. (The forum) is open to anyone who has an interest in having a $30 fee levied against students."\nMost of the student body will have a representative at the meeting. \nThe Black Student Union, College Republicans, College Democrats, Residence Halls Association, the Student Alumni Association, the IU Student Foundation, IUSA, the Women's Student Association, the Graduate and Professional Student Organization as well as the Interfraternity Council have all committed to attend the early evening gathering. \nAlso invited were the Student Athletic Board, the Student Recreational Sports Association, IU Dance Marathon, Union Board and Panhellenic Council, but IUSA has not heard yet if they will be in attendance. \n"I don't think (the fee is) going to be taking care of the problem," RHA President John Palmer said. "I feel like generally athletics doesn't have a good handle on what's going on here. It's not the fact that IU athletics is losing money, it's that they aren't establishing a fan base."\nGraduate student Jesse Nelson, moderator for the Graduate Professional Student Organization, said his group still stands behind the decision to not support the athletic fee.\n"We're definitely against the student fee proposal," Nelson said. "We're looking at ways that the situation can be remedied. I think a way that asks various members of the campus to play a part in the athletic situation is the best way. But to have it based solely on students, I don't think is right."\nNelson is one of three student representatives on the athletic fee review committee.\nAccording to Chastain, another one of the three student members, the committee came up with two proposals: the across-the-board solution for men's basketball tickets and a second proposal to raise student athletic tickets $5 each and public and faculty tickets $2 each. The committee chose the former as its primary proposal. \nThroughout the brainstorming, the committee was given two main constraints, Laffen said. One was that the money had to be on the table, which means the committee could not propose non-moneymaking ideas. The second was that approximately $1.1 million had to be reached through the proposed means of fundraising. \nThe committee, formed at President Adam W. Herbert's request to look for other options to the $30 fee, is headed by School of Public and Environmental Affairs Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Kurt Zorn.\nChastain said the committee was allowed to work with tickets and, if any organization had funding to throw into proposals, the committee could accept that as well.\n"I'd like to see what the administration is going to do," Chastain said. "Are we going to have time to talk about this?" \nPalmer said he feels whatever happens with the athletic fee, at least this time the trustees' decision will be an informed one.\n"I think ultimately it's up to the trustees to make the right decisions," he said. "Students can voice their opinions and make them know how they feel. I've e-mailed each of the trustees and let them know how I feel. It's important for us to make sure our voices are being heard. I think it's one important reason why the student groups are getting involved. \n"However, the students are feeling we are making sure the administration is hearing that. If they go with the fee, they will go ahead knowing the students' opinion."\n-- Contact senior writer Josh Weinfuss at jweinfus@indiana.edu.