Batter Up! at UC Irvine

For too many seasons in this decade, the bats have been quiet at UC Irvine’s fine baseball field high on a hill above University Drive. The recession and budget crunch in 1992 resulted in devastating cuts to the athletic department. Baseball went out of business when the athletic budget was cut by $518,477. That wasn’t all. Men’s cross-country and track also were cut out before being reinstated later as nonscholarship sports.

Credit the farsighted grandstand crowd, those campus students who earlier this month voted themselves a $33 fee increase per quarter beginning in the fall of 2000. The decision will bring back baseball, add two women’s sports and provide a financial boost for existing programs.

Members of the student athletic advisory council ran a six-week campaign to convince their colleagues to vote for the referendum. In the process, students even went along with the highest increase in a range of proposed choices. The result will be the reinstatement of baseball in the 2001-2002 school year. Women’s water polo will begin in 2000-2001, and another women’s sport, yet to be determined, will begin in 2001-2002.

The campaign was considered to be a tough sell. The 32% turnout in voting held over several days was the second highest in university history. This followed other votes by students at other UC campuses. In 1998, UC Santa Barbara students voted for a fee increase for scholarships. UC Davis students voted earlier this year to increase fees, partly to finance improved athletic facilities. Fresno State passed a student fee increase for athletics last month.

At a time when low turnout and apathy plague general elections in the larger community, it is heartening to see the young people get interested in a campaign and be willing to take a stand. Those who led the campaign are to be commended for their leadership.

The campus has ambitious plans for growth in the future, and it will play a key role in the future of the UC system. The increased enrollment will bring in more fee revenue for the sports.

Through this decision, the students have looked ahead and secured for their school a broader range of collegiate athletics.