Ball State Update: The Battle Is Far From Over

By Phil Kraus

OXFORD, Ohio, June 24. AT the present moment Men’s Swimming and Diving at Ball State University has had some small meaningful victories, however the war is far from over!

Over the last two weeks several things have happened:
* The Athletic Committee voted down the recommendation to eliminate sports by Athletic Director "Bubba" Cunningham with a 5-1-1 vote.

* Then the Faculty Senate (agenda committee, consisting of 10 of the full body's 55 members) rejected the notion saying that the full senate should get a vote on such an important issue and that the student government association should get a vote since $6.6 million of last year's $10.5 million dollar athletic budget came from student fees.

* The Faculty Senate also asked for a recommendation from the Athletic Committee on how they would like to proceed. The Athletic Committee held a special meeting in which they recommended, in an 8-2 vote, to delay any action until there can be a concerted effort to cut back on the current budget spending and/or to fundraise.

While both of these actions appear to indicate that AD CUnningham's recommendations were, they really mean little.

Within the next week Mr. Cunningham is to give the President of the University, Blaine Brownell, his recommendation to help cut spending in the athletic department. Even though the two Faculty Senate committees believe there is a better way to handle any budget problems, Mr. Cunningham can go to the president with the recommendation to eliminate all six sports. The president could then take that recommendation to the Board of Trustees on July 18th and if they vote "yes," the sports of Women’s Gymnastics, Women’s Field Hockey, Men’s Volleyball, Men’s Track & Field (indoor and outdoor), and Men’s Swimming & Diving will be but a memory at Ball State University.

As of now, it is an all-or-none proposition and very little has been discussed about finding ways to cut back or about finding alternative ways to fund these teams.

Please visit the Swimming and Diving website at www.savebsu.com today.

Please take a few minutes to write to the Board of Trustees, Governor Frank O’Bannon; Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham; and President Brownell asking them to consider all options rather than eliminating opportunities for the swimmers and divers of tomorrow.

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Phil Kraus, an assistant coach at Miami (Ohio) University, was a Ball State swimmer from 1992-96. He will provide periodic updates on the movement to save Ball State swimming.

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