Decision Set for Next Week

Cal State Northridge is close to revealing the scenario of cuts that will help the school reach gender-equity and budgetary goals, with an announcement due Tuesday or Wednesday, Athletic Director Paul Bubb said Thursday.

Bubb said he has an idea of which sports will be cut--though he would not reveal them--but other factors still need to be worked out to balance Northridge’s bottom line. And nothing will be official until Bubb meets with Ron Kopita, Northridge’s vice president in charge of student affairs, on Monday.

The sports on the potential chopping block are baseball, golf, soccer, swimming and volleyball. They are the only men’s programs Northridge offers that are not Big Sky Conference core sports.

According to estimated 1997-98 budget figures Bubb released last week, cutting all five of the susceptible programs would leave Northridge needing a $2.2 million contribution from the state general fund. The highest the general fund contribution has been is $2 million. It was about $1.4 million for 1996-97.

But there may still be wiggle room that would lower the general fund contribution to a more reasonable amount, Bubb said.

Bubb suggested that he will try to further trim the operating budgets of the remaining sports, even though coaches told him the budgets they submitted were as low as they could go and remain competitive. A 10% reduction in all sports’ operating costs would save about another $100,000.

The university also may take over about $400,000 in debt that is to be repaid out of the athletic budget, Bubb said.