STUDENT FEE PROPOSAL : Familiar Turf for Northridge Voters

Here they go again.

Cal State Northridge students today will begin voting on a fee proposal that could bail out the school’s deficit-strapped athletic department and save a handful of programs from the budgetary knife.

This is familiar territory.

The election will decide whether semester fees for each student will be raised $27, with the money earmarked for athletics. Two similar fee measures narrowly failed at the student polls in 1994. The election, conducted via touch-tone phone, ends Thursday.

Passage of the measure means Matador teams would enjoy their highest level of funding since moving to the NCAA Division I level five years ago. Defeat means a major step backward.

If the proposition fails, widespread cuts will be needed to make up for a projected budget deficit in 1995-96. Four programs tentatively have been slated for elimination. No other referendums will be attempted this year. A three-member academic committee recommended last fall that football, soccer, men’s swimming and women’s basketball be eliminated if the referendum fails. Athletic Director Bob Hiegert said the school may be forced to field 14 teams, the minimum required for Division I membership.

Athletics officials have dubbed the $27 proposal the “Plan For Success.” According to Hiegert, passage of the measure would raise the athletic budget from $3.5 million to approximately $4.3 million annually.

If the proposition passes, plans call for all Northridge teams to receive funding increases and for a women’s soccer team to be established in the fall. A second women’s sport might be added in 1996-97, Hiegert said.

Moreover, scholarships in some existing sports will be hiked considerably if the referendum succeeds. Under the committee outline issued last fall, the number of women’s swimming scholarships will increase from 1.6 to seven. The NCAA maximum is 14.

Swimming Coach Barry Schreifels plans to attend the junior national swim meet later this month in Midland, Tex.

“It sure would be nice to go in with a full wallet and guns blazing,” he said. “With (seven) scholarships, I’d expect to send people to the NCAAs and score at the NCAAs.”

Every sport would receive at least a partial increase in scholarship funding, though most would still remain well below NCAA maximum levels. Scholarships for the struggling women’s basketball program, which is 1-25 overall, would increase from 7.4 to 13.2. Women’s tennis would increase from 2.7 to 4.5. NCAA maximums in women’s basketball and tennis are 15 and eight.

Women’s basketball Coach Kim Chandler said the scholarship boost would allow the team to begin redshirting players and recruiting out of state.

“The resources for student-athletes will be much closer to what the NCAA allows and to what others in Southern California have,” Hiegert said. “At least we’d be in the same ballpark.”

Ballparks, stadiums and other Northridge sports venues would receive much-needed makeovers, Hiegert said. The referendum will allow funds currently used for day-to-day subsistence to be directed toward facilities improvement. One national publication two years ago called the school’s baseball field the worst in Division I.

If the measure fails, Hiegert will begin meeting with school administrators to finalize program cuts . The four sports outlined for elimination could change, he said. For instance, dropping women’s basketball could hurt the school’s long-term chances of joining a major conference, he said.

Uncertainty surrounding the future of Northridge athletics has hurt the school in several respects, particularly recruiting. The school’s Division I-AA football team hasn’t signed a single recruit.

Mindful of past referendum failures, coaches and athletes have begun to explore their options. Mark Banker, a Northridge football assistant for the past 14 seasons, took a job at Hawaii last month.

“A big factor in the decision was the uncertainty,” said Banker, who is married and has three children. “It put it in my mind that I needed to do something.”

The department declined to stage a formal campaign for the measure. Last fall, department administrators and athletes openly stumped on campus in favor of a $49 fee. This time, each Matador athlete has been asked to compile a list of 10 students to vote in favor of the referendum. Student names have been cross-referenced.

Athletics received a shot in the arm last week when Northridge President Blenda J. Wilson, silent during the first two referendum attempts, threw her support behind the measure.

“Swimmers are real good at holding their breath,” Schreifels said. “This could be a huge step up for the whole athletic program.

“If it doesn’t happen, then I guess we’ll just overachieve with what we’ve got, like we always have.”