dailvremerald
Vol. 82, No. 150
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Friday, May 8, 1981
University cuts
four team sports
By TAMARA SWENSON
01 the Emerald
Four fewer intercollegiate sports will
be played on the University campus next
year, the University adminstration an
nounced Thursday.
The four sports — men's gymnastics
and baseball, women’s golf and soccer
— were cut after an extensive review of
the athletic department budget that in
cluded each of the University’s 20 sports
and the athletic administration.
The athletic department’s proposed
1981-82 budget of $4,431,273 was
slashed by $945,803. Cutting the four
sports accounts for about one-fourth of
the reduction.
"These are the cuts that needed to be
made to cut the budget and to keep the
men’s and women’s programs on a parity
level,” said Ray Hawk, University vice
president for administration and finance.
Money was not the biggest issue in the
decision to drop men’s gymnastics, he
said.
"The biggest issue was that there is no
competition in the Northwest. Even more
devastating to the program is that the
Oregon Scholastic Athletic Association
(the governing body of high school ath
letics in the state) dropped the program
(gymnastics) three years ago," he said.
The remaining cuts in the athletic
budget will come from the athletic
department administration. They include
eliminating the deputy and associate
athletic director positions, changing
many full-time coaching postions to
half-time, eliminating three classified
positions and overtime wages, and sig
nificantly reducing promotion.
But the decision to drop the sports is
causing the greatest furor.
“I will not accept the decision that’s
been announced without an appeal,"
said gymnastics coach Bill Ballester. "I
can’t believe they'd set a precedent for
cutting sports by eliminating their most
successful program ”
The men's gymnastics team has
ranked consistently among the top five
teams nationally for the past five years.
“We were asked to excell. We did what
they asked, and now they tell us we’re
through,” Ballester said.
The appeals process will go through
University Pres. Paul Olum, Hawk said.
"Unless any significant new informa
tion is introduced, I doubt the decision
will change,” Hawk added.
Little will be saved by cutting the two
women's sports, but it was the most
equitable decision. Hawk said
“Those two sports were just added this
year, while the other sports under con
sideration had stronger alumni and team
ties with the University.
"It really boils down to a proportional
issue. Nearly $5 million was involved in
the men’s budget, while the women's
portion of the budget is considerably less
than $1 million.
“We tried to keep the cuts proportion
al," Hawk said.
Cuts in men's sports will absorb 25.1
percent of the reductions in the
preliminary budget, and women's sports
will absorb 10.2 percent.
However, because the original
women’s budget already was scaled
down, the cuts will mean a 16-percent
reduction from the current budget —
from $610,345 to $511,559.
The men s budget actually will in
crease 5 percent — from $1,989,348 to
$2,096,431.
There will be no cuts in scholarships
for football or basketball, the sports that
produce most of the athletic department
revenue. But $40,000 has been cut from
the football recruiting budget.
“Whether we can get through this year
is still being evaluated,’’ said football
coach Rich Brooks.
Brooks, like the coaches of the other
sports being retained, says he is disap
pointed that sports have to be eliminat
ed. “It’s a shame” that any sport has to
go, Brooks said.
Even more devastating to the remain
ing sports may be the cut in full-time
equivalency status of coaches. While the
budget cuts won’t reduce pay, the drop
in FTE will cause many coaches to take a
drop in salary.
"They cut my position to half-time,”
said wrestling coach Ron Finley. "Ob
viously, I can’t live on half a salary.
The coaches originally proposed no
pay increases as part of an effort to save
all sports.
“We fought as hard as we could to
keep them (the sports eliminated), but
now we’re all still wondering where the
rest of the cuts will come from,” Finley
says.
The administration originally ordered
the athletic department to cut $1 million
and to begin payments on a $375,000
loan from the University.
Olum gives coaches time
Athletic department administrators will
be given time to respond to the admini
stration’s cuts in the athletic budget,
University Pres. Paul Olum said at a
press conference Thursday.
"It’s a principal with us that when the
administration makes a decision there is
a little time for the coaches to respond,”
Olum said.
The decision to drop four University
intercollegiate athletic teams next year
came after a four-hour executive staff
meeting Wednesday, Olum said
The cuts in the athletic budget were
based on recommendations from Ray
Hawk, vice president for administration
and finance, and budget and man
agement director Ralph Sunderland.
“We're not waffling about this deci
sion,” Olum said “But if anyone knows
of a magic way to fund the sports, why
we’re willing to listen."
The University still will field enough
teams to qualify for competition in the
National Collegiate Athletic Association
Scholarships of athletes participating
in the sports slated for elimination next
year will be honored, Olum said.
“We’re not legally obligated when we
cut a sport, but as far as I’m concerned
we’re morally obligated That’s not the
way we do things.”
Photo by Erich Boekelheide
The Hulk, he ain’t
Dennis Renton of McAlister dorm basks in the glory of being "Mr. Walton"
while Schaefer resident assistant Katy Welch looks on. Renton won $50 by
defeating three fellow McAlister residents and a Sweetser resident The
would-be matinee idols were judged in a suit and shorts by the Schaefer
administrative board. Cries of "rigged" echoed through Carson dining hall
when the decision was announced.