Basketball ticket prices raised, student seats lowered

RICHMOND, Ind. - Despite concerns by the IU Student Association, the board of trustees passed the athletics department's budget unanimously Friday. \nThe budget plan will eliminate the athletic department budget deficit and allows the department to operate without the $30 student athletics fee. The plan also cuts 500 student basketball seats in Assembly Hall, which will be given to donors, and raises the price of student basketball tickets by $4 per game. \nAthletics Director Rick Greenspan said he believes faculty, staff and students had ample opportunity for input into the proposal, which was released in September. He also said he was never aware or informed of an IUSA survey released last week that found little support for the plan. \nThe IUSA survey found most students would favor keeping the athletics fee instead of losing the student seats, increasing ticket prices and having to pay for currently free events, such as soccer and Olympic sports.\nAfter the trustee vote, IUSA President Alex Shortle said he was more optimistic on the proposal, noting the language used at the meeting allowed more room for student input. \n"The notion leaves a lot of flexibility, which is what we really wanted," Shortle said. "Hopefully with the language we can work with (the athletics department) on the plan." \nStudent trustee Casey Cox declared the passed proposal a "student victory." Cox said there was much student involvement put into the plan that will eliminate a mandatory student fee that was unpopular on the Bloomington campus. \n"I think this is an issue that seems like its been dragging on for the past three years," Cox said. "And I think for the University's sake, I'm glad to see that we have a plan and can put it into implementation now."\nThe proposal was originally presented at the previous September trustee meeting, after IU President Adam Herbert asked the athletics department to propose a 5-year budget plan to pull the department out of its budget deficit while removing the athletics fee.