Trustees to vote on new charge

The stage is set for a tense meeting between University officials Thursday and Friday. The IU board of trustees will meet for the first time since President Adam Herbert asked to delay the athletic fee vote April 2.\nTrustees President Fred Eichhorn said he will be opposed to a mandatory athletic fee, which he said would wrongly place the financial burden on students.\n"I can't speak for all of the trustees because we haven't met, and we haven't talked about it," Eichhorn said. "But I kind of feel the revenue shortfall should be allotted to tickets as opposed to the students at large."\nThe athletic fee has been the topic of debate for more than a month. During the last trustees meeting, Herbert successfully requested the vote for the fee be postponed until Thursday's meeting in Bloomington, in order to "have as much discussion as the time will allow."\nTrustee Patrick Shoulders said discussions during the meeting will play a pivotal role in the final outcome of the athletics finance problem. \n"I had an open mind a month ago, and I will have an open mind this time," Shoulders said. "We were presented two meetings ago with only one alternative, and it was the only thing we were given to think about. Hopefully there will be other alternatives to this topic from student and faculty input and from other interest groups and constituencies that have interest in this topic. My mind is not made up yet."\nOther mandatory fees could be discussed Thursday and Friday, including the bus fee and the collegiate readership fee.\nAlso on the agenda for the meeting is the approval of the University's budget for the next academic year, which includes money from a 4 percent tuition increase passed April 2. \nDuring the appointments section of the conference, Julia Heiman will be officially named the new director of the Kinsey Institute. Heiman was previously a psychology professor at the University of Washington and has authored several sex books including her most recent entitled, "Becoming Orgasmic: A Sexual and Personal Growth Program for Women."\nVice Chancellor for Auxiliary Services and Programs Bruce Jacobs will present before the trustees a report on how the University manages parking. Jacobs said one issue in which the trustees are interested is the outsourcing of auxiliary operations such as parking.\nBut the issue of the week will be how the trustees decide to deal with the University's athletics deficit. Shoulders said the trustees may be forced to make an unpopular decision.\n"I think it's important to continue to make available tickets to those that enjoy the athletic experience," Shoulders said. "I hope we can continue to provide seating, but it may be they'll have to pay more."\n-- Contact senior writer Rick Newkirk at renewkir@indiana.edu.