Trustees approve $30 student fee for IU athletics

Each student will be charged $30 next year to bailout a $5 million athletic department deficit that is growing by $2 million a year, IU trustees decided Friday.\nThe fee was approved for the 2004-05 school year only. By this time next year, IU President Adam Herbert said he hopes the athletic department will have developed a long term budget strategy so the fee can be dropped.\nBut deficits have existed since 1998, according to internal audits of the athletic department, and many students question why they now have to provide the solution to a department that has been out of control for years.\nTrustees approved the fee in the face of strong opposition from nearly all student sectors. \nIf the University decides the fee is needed for more than one year, Herbert promised it would not increase for at least four years. \nTrustees decided not to up student ticket prices for men's basketball games or curtail the student section at Assembly Hall.\nThe president said he would implement new controls to enhance departmental operations. \nFor more coverage, see next week's Indiana Daily Student.