Finding director no. 1 priority

But that's not the real issue. The issue is that IU should never have allowed the student athletic fee, the deal with Adidas or even the idea of the new addition to surface without a new, permanent athletics director.\n It isn't just that IU is putting the cart before the horse -- they're worrying about where to put the cart before they've even found a horse. \n It wasn't surprising to IU President Adam Herbert or Athletics Director Terry Clapacs that Clapacs' term was supposed to expire July 30. That was the original plan when Clapacs accepted the permanent AD post two Aprils ago. \nWhat administrator would want to walk into a department that is in such disarray is looked at negatively by the students for forcing them to pay for something that wasn't their fault?\nHerbert should have left everything on the table and let the new athletics director do exactly what his title says -- direct athletics. Who knows what the new AD knows? He or she could have ties to an apparel company that could have brought in a healthier deal than the one IU signed with Adidas. Or he or she could have other ideas about how to bring in money to the department without tacking on another fee to students' always-rising tuition. \nAnd then with the surfacing of the new $65 million addition to the athletic facilities, we understand that it will be privately funded. But what if the new AD has other ways to spend that money?\nNothing should have been done without the hiring of a new person in charge. \nThe last time IU gave the department to a man with a vision, he was fired 16 months later because he was supposedly spending too much. But what he did, we still have. Namely the new logo and the crimson and cream. It's ironic that his former "Masterplan" is now being reincarnated. \nWhat IU needs is a strong-willed, strong-minded, goal-oriented athletics director with a vision that will bring fans into the seats and money into the bank, all with keeping the Hoosier tradition alive and well.\nThere is no doubt that what is being done is needed. The department needs money more than anything else. But it also needs to provide us with an entertaining game, a reason beyond school loyalty to fill the stands and keep those who do come in the stands. That's where the real money is.\nThe IDS Editorial Board voted 9-1 on this issue, with one abstention.