CUTS
Continued from Page 2
tained a student presence in the
executive staff meetings of the
department. Nor am 1 aware of
the Emerald’s participation in
making tough decisions about
how many tickets to buy.
The office of the ASUO
Finance Coordinator maintained
two staff members assigned to
the athletic department. For
most of the year they attended
executive staff meetings at the
Casanova Center.
These staff members collected
and carefully analyzed informa
tion with regard to student
attendance at games and student
interest in the gome* A* o
result, sincere and productive
dialogue between the athletic
department and the ASUO Exec
utive has been conscientiously
maintained this year
Senior Assw iate Athletic
Director Sandy Walton indicate
ed the minimum the department
could get gross out of section five
is $35,000. Therefore, we have
offered the department a way to
replace at least $.15,000 and
potentially $157,500. It should
be noted here that the student
government has been pro-active
in trying to keep student fees low
and athletic department funding
at necessary levels.
Shortly after approving the
decrease in fee funding, stu
dent* called a meeting in Uni
versity President Mvles Brand’s
office in an effort to be part of
the solution, not a cause of the
problem.
Students have been eminently
responsible in trying to assure
that students are able to attend
games in quality seats. Students
have not requested seating on
the 50-yard line, as students
University of California at
Berkeley tiave The ASUC) has
simply requested to purchase
the tickets that we use. To take
more than Si00.(KM) to $200,000
worth of seals as a result of a
$35,000 cut is unfair and stu
dents should not stand for it
4s for the assertion that the IFC should
not be making decisions affecting large
numbers of students and that such
questions should be put to a vote:
Welcome to the world of representative
democracy. Get used to it.
Kilthor than pressuring stu
dent government to purchase
tickets wo don't need, the Kiiut
old should be pressuring the
athletic department to maintain
quality seating at a good pro e
Students have provided fund
ing. labor and patronage for nth
letics iit the University for many
years. But it is our money that
we are spending We should
insist we get w hat we want for
the dollars we spend.
Situ! Sunnell is the ASUO
finance coordinator
Continued from Page 2
lions. Thu athletic department has been
striving to maintain the spirit of the stu
dent vote of 1 087-HH
Right now. the students at the Univer
sity have some of the best seating for bas
ketball and football in the Pacific-10 Con
ference. Basketball seating is excellent in
location as well as numbers, comprising
35 percent of the total seats available.
Football seating reaches from the 30-yard
line to the goal on the west side and totals
15 percent of the seating.
The athletic department realizes that
student attendance has recently declined,
particularly in men's basketball, but it
will increase again. Fans saw a preview
this year of the excitement Jerry Green's
teams will return to "The Pit." Atten
dance at football games declined sharply
for the first two games last year, which
were held prior to fall registration, then
rose appreciably.
The total student attendance was still
down significantly, as was public atten
dance. The athletic department firmly
believes with fewer home games on the
schedule for next year, football atten
dance will rise again. But even with low
er attendant v. athletics is still the activi
ty most participated in by students as stu
dent-athletes and/or as spectators. The
1FC and ASUO need to think carefully
and consult students before endangering
the liest seating the students have
The profits generated by football and
men’s basketball cannot provide suffi
cient monies to support all the other
sports sponsored. The internationally
prominent Oregon track programs for
both men and women do not even l>egin
to support themselves. Funded at a level
that allows national competition, they
currently spend more than $700,000
between them, but have gate receipts of
less than $40,000,
Women's volleyball and hasketiuill are
also funded for national level competi
tion, but have gate receipts of less than
$20,000 between them All other sports
are funded at slightly lower but competi
tive levels, and have comparably low
income for self-support
Membership in the Fac-10 Conference,
in addition to premier academic affilia
tion and athletic competition, has pro
vided between $1.5 and $2,3 million in
annual revenue sharing. Oregon cannot
drop any more programs and remain in
the Fac-10.
The IFC and ASUO need
to think carefully and
consult students before
endangering the best
seating the students
have.
The athletic department h<is t>ern very
patient. generous and understanding of
the financial problems faced by students
in negotiations with the IFC' and ASUO
for many years However, the II I! and the
ASUO have also been warned for the past
two or three years that athletics cannot
continually face budget cuts without
doing what is necessary to rei oup accu
mulated losses. We only have one prod
uct to sell, tickets
With yet another budget cut, the athlet
ic department would need to take back
those seats from which it i an realize the
most revenue The offer by the IFC' und
ASUO to give back Section T> in Autzen
Stadium was refused. Section 5 is a gen
eral admission section, and with a five
game home schedule, by selling r>0 per
i tml of those seats. whic h is an ovcirly
optimislii estimate of sains, only $.10,500
would Ihi recovered
Athletics suggested taking hai k the
west courtside seats in Mi Arthur Court
(and adding Iwu.k all of sec lions X and Y)
because it can realize the most return in
the shortest amount of time from the least
amount of people. Keen if it sells only 25
percent of these seals to "new" ticket
buyers and fills the rest with donors who
merely transfer their seats, athletic s can
realize an additional $72,252 To do this
would l>e an excellent business det ision.
However, athletics involves more than
just business Without students, there
would not Ihi a university, mut h less an
athletic department. The department
feels a strong commitment to providing
the lies! possible seating at the !>est posse
ble price.
The elhletu department does not want
to relocate student seating, but as it is
required to balance its budget, and is
fac ed with everdecreasing dollars and
rising costs, there may Ihi no choice. And
once seats are sold to donors, they cannot
Ihi given bal k to students
Sandy Walton is snnior associate ath
letic director at the University.
LETTERS
Next time, plan ahead
] must have been off campus when EMU-frequenting
females were asked to conveniently stop menstruating It
stands to reason, then, that uninformed women should
hove to go to the main desk to receive feminine oddities
such as tampons. Being in such low demand, why not
make 'em hard to get?
Actually, it's fun to visit the main desk store for my
tampon needs when I'm in a jam. I like risking unneces
sary accidents by going out of my way. And I love t**ing
looked at like I've just wet myself each time I arrive at
the counter with my supplies in a store full of males
who. God bless 'em, have never menstruated.
I'm an outgoing person, but even so 1 find myself whis
pering to the nearest female cashier, hiding my purchase
and leaving the store red-faced
Strangely, when I first luarned of the HMD tampon sys
tem. 1 was not thrilled. In fact, I was so irritated that
when I finally arrived at the lovely main desk after visit
ing mx restrooms. I hod to keep my hand over my mouth
to keep from yelling. "All I want is a tampon" — if it
wore condoms I needed in thu bathroom. I could really
kntx k myself out.
I've got to control my female irrationality. After all. I'm
prohahly the only person complaining. If toilet paper
was only available at the main desk, we'd all just learn to
deal with it too. right?
Colleen Crabtree
Theater Arts
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