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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 3, 1976)
Athletic Department shuffles student seats By STEVE FREDERICK Of the Emerald Declaring "we have to recapture those dollars," Athletic Director John Caine out lined changes in the Athletic Department (AD) seating policy — changes that call for a reshuffling of student sections in Autzen Stadium and a reduction in the number of the student seats at basketball contests next year. Caine explained that the changes were prompted by the Incidental Fee Committee's (IFC) decision to cut the 1976-77 student subsidy from $151,225 to $136,010.50 and by a commitment to meet “contractual arrangements" with the Pacific-8 conference. "We have to budget on knowns instead of unknowns,” he said, in response to an IFC proposal to charge general admission at two pre-season football games rather than offer a reduced-rate student section. Caine first warned of the charges in an ‘early alert'' memo to the IFC last week. He further explained that the AD cannot count on the seats usually allocated to stu dents to be filled at general admission rates. AD Business Manager Odell Wood said the changes call for the student section at football games to be moved one section toward the goal line — sections S through 9 being reserved for students rather than the present 6 through 10. Seats in section 10 will be sold at the higher general admission price, according to Wood. The second of the proposed changes in volves reducing the present allocation to students at basketball games by 164 seats to meet a stipulation in the Pac-8 basketball contract that calls for a reserved section for visiting cheerleaders and pep bands when a request is made by the visiting school two weeks prior to the contest. Present IFC funding policy is based on a "ticket formula" that pays half the cost of student tickets for a pre-arranged block of seats. That percentage is paid whether the student seats are filled or not, according to IFC chairer Jamie Bums, and the student section is generally not filled during football contests. He feels there are not enough students in town before fall registration to justify an IFC subsidy for the two games. "We would be subsidizing seats that wouldn’t be filled,” said Burns. "If the seats are filled at the general admission rate, they (the AD) will get the money anyway.” “The time for appeals is past,” Burns said, adding that only University Pres. Wil liam Boyd can push for a reconsideration of the AD budget. Burns feels the AD doesn’t understand the IFC rationale for funding a student sec tion. "We negotiate for students as spec tators,” he explained. “We're buying tick ets, not supporting the athletic depart ment." IFC member Glenn Watters, who met with AD officials to discuss the changes, echoed Bums’ sentiments. “Our philosophy is to share the ticket costs with the students,” Watters said, “not to get into the AD business. If we have them a lump sum we’d have to hold them accountable.” He feels the AD is using the issue as an excuse to transfer seats now reserved for students into the more profitbale general admission category. “Why don’t they just raise the prices of student tickets for those two games?” he asked. “Their position is that this may be only temporary, that the department could be making more money in a few years. “If they take away those seats, we won’t get them back,” he warned. "Once they’re gone, they’re gone.” Vo). 77, No. 166 Eugene, Oregon 97403 Thursday, June 3, 1976 Up, up and Away Photo by Kerrue Slenbauet Ken Kesey and comrades send balloons to the awaiting public. The balloons are of a special value to those who want to attend his poetry recital. They contain free passes to the first Poetic Hoohaw and Spring Trip to be held this Sunday. See story in Surface and Symbol for more information. - - --.-- — - ' .— Boyd agrees to investigate cooperative management By JULIE MORTON Of the Emerald University Pres. William Boyd has ag reed to set up a working task force to ex amine cooperative management plans for Amazon married student housing. "I am confident that we wili be able to establish such a group and that this group will be mutually agreeable to representa tives of tenants and this office,” Boyd wrote in a letter to Amazon tenants. The examina tion is to be completed by Oct. 1 of this year. "If the results of the study are favorable and the University and tenants can come to a mutually agreed upon contract, we would expect that transfer of responsibility could occur by Jan. 1,” said Boyd Amazon Cooperating Tenants (ACT) began studying the idea of a cooperative when the University housing office pro posed to increase rents in the complex by approximately $10. Tenants have faced similar increases in 1973 and 1975. Although the rent increase will go into effect July 1, money from the increase will be kept in a separate account. If the cooperative becomes a reality, the unex pended income would be available to the cooperative, according to Boyd. ‘‘ACT is very happy that the University has responded and that we will be able to work together. That’s what we've sort of been asking all along — that we work with the University to come up with a more effi cient and humane management,” said Dave Zupan, ACT representative. Boyd said he is interested in the idea of a change in Amazon management. “I'm open to the idea, not only because it provides tenants an opportunity to influence their immediate environment," he said, "but also because my personal experiences sug gest that, if properly organized, coopera tives can result in savings." Boyd said the University Housing De partment and the Married Student Housing Council also will be consulted about the management plan. Gerald Bogen, vice-president for student affairs, is also interested in the cooperative. “I think the co-op as a notion is very attrac tive, but before we can agree to turn over management of housing we have to study it intensively. That's what we will be doing this summer," he said. Zupan said ACT representatives will be meeting with Bogen this week to work out details of the task force. "We feel the task force should be a small, impartial group, mutually agreed upon,” said Zupan. "In the future ACT will be helping with input on research of co-ops," Zupan said. "Our goal is to resolve problems and obsta cles that have to do with the implementation of the co-op. We are very concerned with making the proposal specific, realistic and trying to move as quickly as possible. We don't want to get bogged down in commit tees.