Athletics department drops the ball

Last Saturday started out like a normal fall Saturday for me. I rolled out of bed, jumped on the couch and turned on College Gameday in anticipation for the upcoming slate of football games later in the day. While opening the morning Indianapolis Star, a headline disgusted me more than watching the IU football team try to defend the triple option: "IU proposal: Students pay more, get less."\nAfter reading the article, I am more convinced than ever that the athletics department does not care about the students who currently attend IU. While many people will be pleased to see the $30 athletics fee waived, the alternatives proposed by IU Athletics Director Rick Greenspan should anger the student body.\nFirst and foremost -- cutting 500 student basketball tickets? They have to be kidding. Monday's Indiana Daily Student said the athletics department cites data that show IU students get more tickets to basketball games than any other school in the Big Ten. \nThis may be true, but look at the quality of the tickets we get compared to other schools in our conference. Michigan State's Izzone, Illinois' Orange Crush and Michigan's Maize Craze student sections are all located right on the court to create an advantage when playing at home. While those student sections are really exciting to be a part of, we are stuck in the balcony, or even worse, in the top 10 or so rows, which I call "The Cave." I mean, you can't even see the scoreboard from those seats. Meanwhile, most of the best seats in the house are occupied by old people who only get off their butts when the cheerleaders wave flags during a TV timeout or to boo Mike Davis. \nThe 500 seats the athletics department takes away from us will not be in "the cave," they will be in the few good seats we have on the sideline or even from behind the basket. To sweeten the deal, Greenspan is going to make us pay $4 more for our worse tickets. Geez, thanks.\nThe second horrible idea Greenspan came up with is to charge $4 for soccer, volleyball and wrestling events. The athletics department claims this will bring in $25,000 of additional revenue per year. I think Greenspan and his colleagues need to sit in on an E201 lecture in Wylie Hall -- as prices rise, demand goes down. \nThe athletics department has no one else to blame for the financial mess it faces but itself. Instead of building new practice facilities for the basketball and football teams, money is being wasted on buying out the contracts of fired coaches Cam Cameron and Gerry DiNardo, the changing of the IU logo and the odd "not getting fired" bonus given to Davis this summer after going .500 over two seasons. \nThese poor decisions have alienated donors because they are not confident of how their money is being used. To get future money from donors, the athletics department needs to show it is a better steward of money and that it can make smart decisions like it showed in hiring Coach Hoeppner.\nHep says fans help win games. Having an excited crowd gives any team a home court advantage. The ultimate goal of the athletics department should be to have championship teams. Once that is established, the money will follow. The most vocal and supporting fans at an IU game are the students. Don't alienate us students, Greenspan -- we are the best support you have.