Seeking a Positive From a Negative

Cal State Northridge athletics faces a crossroads Oct. 12 and 13, when Northridge students will vote on a referendum that would enlist their support in financing new athletic facilities and a recreation center.

For Dick Dull, Northridge athletic director, the referendum represents a crucial point in plotting the course of the school’s athletic future, particularly the football program.

It should provide Dull with a barometer of the campus’ attitude toward athletics--something he already seems to have accurately assessed after three months on the job.

“It is an apathetic campus, there is no doubt about that,” said Dull, former athletic director at Maryland, Nebraska Kearney and Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pa.

“With what has happened here in the last couple of years, people have become negative toward CSUN athletics, or apathetic. Either way, it’s not positive.”

If approved, the referendum will require students to pay an additional $27 in fees in 2000 and 2001, increasing to $90 by 2002, with the money going toward the construction of an 8,000-seat multipurpose stadium, primarily intended for football and soccer, and a 3,000-seat baseball stadium.

The fees would pay the interest on bonds used to finance the construction of the facilities. The cost of the multipurpose arena, approved by the university in April, is estimated at $8 million to $10 million.

The baseball stadium is expected to cost $3 million, the recreation center $20 million.

The student senate voted 14-0 to place the referendum on the ballot. Whether it will pass is anyone’s guess.

“We’re hoping the school will really support us this time,” said Gil Rodriguez, a junior receiver.

“We put in a lot of time representing this school and it’s the least the school can do.”

One thing is for certain: If the referendum fails, Dull and Northridge face an uphill battle that might result in the Matadors’ departure from the Big Sky Conference.

Northridge (1-2, 0-1 in conference play) plays host to Idaho State in a Big Sky football game Saturday at North Campus Stadium, an antiquated, unimpressive 6,500-seat facility the Matadors have called home since 1971.

“Obviously, our facility is not acceptable,” Dull said, “Even to us.”

Northridge’s agreement with the Division I-AA Big Sky, which Northridge joined in 1996, requires the Matadors build a stadium and the school’s plan is to construct one adjacent to the existing field.

Conference officials have been patient with Northridge during the planning stage, twice extending a one-year memorandum of understanding that provides for the Matadors’ inclusion based on a number of criteria.

Doug Fullerton, Big Sky commissioner, stopped short of issuing an ultimatum for Northridge during the Big Sky meetings in July but said the school must demonstrate significant progress by June toward construction of a stadium.

Funding has been the biggest stumbling block. Without the financial aid of the referendum, the project might fail.

“If it doesn’t pass, that certainly will put us behind the eight ball in terms of complying with the directive the Big Sky has given us,” Dull said. “Then, obviously, we would have to realize some other way to come up with money for the new stadiums. It’s not going to be easy.”

Dull said he has met privately with potential fund-raisers, local business leaders first approached by Sam Jankovich, who served one year as interim athletic director before Dull was hired.

Public donations are a must for Northridge, regardless of the outcome of the referendum, if it intends to elevate its athletic stature.

But Dull said the school’s fund-raising committees will wait for the result of the student vote before making serious overtures to the community.

“We will ultimately go to these people in the community and put together some funding package, but we’re not primed yet,” Dull said. “They’ve indicated they are interested in talking to us to see if they can help whenever we’re ready to go ahead and ask them. We intentionally delayed getting the group together until the student referendum [has been put to a vote].

“Hopefully, if it passes, we’ll use that as a mechanism to challenge the community--maybe not to match it dollar for dollar, but to contribute to other facility needs that we have.”

Rodriguez has spoken on behalf of the team at senate meetings and has been one of the referendum’s biggest supporters among players.

As a player-host for incoming recruits, Rodriguez said North Campus Stadium has been anything but a drawing card for high school players.

“We’ve lost a lot of good athletes because someone has a 35,000-seat stadium compared to our 7,000-seat stadium,” Rodriguez said. “It makes a huge difference in recruiting. They don’t think of this as a big-time program. A nice stadium would help keep a lot of great athletes in the Valley.”

Julio Alcala, a senior center, won’t be around to play in a new stadium. But he said he will vote in favor of the referendum and is urging others to do the same.

“None of the guys are going to get to play in it,” Alcala said. “We all understand that. But it’s something that needs to get done for the future. USC has the Coliseum. UCLA has the Rose Bowl. We need something like that here for recruits.

“For me, it will be a place to come back and be proud of.”