Pat
rests
io polkf
n Antonio
le only one
at use TRAS:
t somethin
DWI's."
r eant Gregory le.
'.allege SfflfionPi
id around thect
i attributed to
training needtfi
ho will be worl
ware, and that
easily installed!
ney given to HI
the costs of dra
re could be anot
ire.
ley, TTI's contac
ations, said s«
vere set up for
l federal monei
but he believes
e software occur
ry.
noney making 11
•y said. "Bull
iver their costs.’
r~
crimes
wait, the harder
of the emergen
out make theca:
cal description:
ion of their clof
on of travel tale
is needed. If you
to remain anon:
-TIPS.
crime on campus
Time Preventio:
ad Crime Lineal
vrait
e held her one
lichael. But she
"I want the
d training. He
will comeback.
;oing to leave
r mother,
ie Bruce said she
orward to the
would miss her
j ugh ter, Keoma,
to stay with her
ke leaving my
it's something
)f you if you're a
a the military,"
soldiers did not
it on the political
Bush's decision
s of Bush have
n was a ployta
:ion campaign,
aid, “He's tk
chief. Whatever
re the rules."
e or older with
you have a skin
using a currently
fy and complete
ited for a 3 week
an. If you would
:h. $400 will be
study.
on Generalized
to find out mure
lid to qualified
>f the hip and or
ti-inflammatory
tis or would like
e paid to those
arch, Inc.
The Battalion
Sports
Wednesday, August 5, 1992
Page 3
Michael
Plumer
Sportswriter
Aggies differ
from '88 squad
A s summer melts into fall turn
ing the stifling Texas humidity
into bearable Texas heat, the
1992 Texas A&M football team is pre
pared to burn its opponents.
Most of the upperclassmen stayed
here in College Station to take part in
voluntary workouts. They lifted
weights, ran sprints, and suffered to
gether through the exhaustion and
sweat thanks to the unforgiving Texas
sun.
No A&M football coaches were
present due to NCAA rules forbid
ding contact during the off-season.
These workouts were not mandatory,
but who would want to have to ten
der a reason for not showing up to
A&M offensive lineman John Ellisor?
A bond was hopefully formed that
will serve these Aggies well if times
tend to get rough during the season —
a season in which so much is expect
ed.
Failure will not be tolerated. Noth
ing less than perfection will be accept
ed. No excuses will suffice for a let
down in play.
A word of caution should be ex
tended. Think back to 1988. Texas
A&M was coming off three straight
Southwest Conference champi
onships. All the preseason polls
picked A&M to compete for a national
championship.
Coach Jackie Sherrill accepted a bid
to play in the Kickoff Classic against
Nebraska in East Rutherford, NJ.
Does this sound like a scenario that
has unfolded in Aggieland recently?
One thing that is different, of course,
is Sherrill's title. He is now the former
See Plumer/Page 4
Living in the Red
University athletic departments
try to remain above water as
economies, profits take a dive
"Costs are so much higher in athletics that it's
really hard for anyone to make money now...I
think the only thing the university and our
conference can do is get more television revenue
by setting up the best possible TV rivalries and
promoting them heavily."
—SMU football coach Tom Rossley
By Doug Foster
Tl'ie Battalion
The fashionable term for the epidemic
that hits campuses nationwide during the
fall is "Big-Time" college football. But for
more and more universities, it's starting
to mean big-time financial loss.
As a select few major college football
powers continue to thrive from the rev
enue created by their programs, many
schools whose football team once shared
the wealth are feeling the sting of budget
cuts and decreased revenue.
Some are even being forced to consid
er the inevitable: Possible elimination of
their football programs.
Schools such as Southern Methodist
University and Rice University, both
members of the Southwest Conference,
are now are trying to find ways to elimi
nate deficits in the athletic programs in
excess of $1 million.
Southern Methodist's athletic depart
ment reportedly suffered through a loss
of $4.8 million last year alone. After re
ceiving the financial reports for the year,
SMU president Dr. A. Kenneth Pye said
his school would analyze the budget and
consider every possible solution to the
deficit.
Pye said all options, ranging from
complete elimination of scholarship ath
letics to dropping to a smaller division,
would be considered by the university
administration.
Southern Methodist head football
coach Tom Rossley said he did not, how
ever, see any possible way his school
would ever seriously consider eliminat
ing its football program.
"I don't think that would ever happen
here," Rossley said. "I think football is
too big in Texas and in the Dallas area,
and I don't think the students, alumni or
citizens of Dallas would ever let that hap
pen. They all know that Southern
Methodist would not be the place it is to
day without athletics."
Rossley said the problem concerning
the deficit was directly related to tough
economic times, and that once the
economies of Texas and the United States
rebounded, his school would be back
where it wants to be.
"There are a lot of reasons why uni
versities are having financial troubles
right now," Rossley said. "I think the
biggest reason is the economy is down
and everyone's costs are going up. At the
same time, incoming funds are going
down. We're getting less money donated
from our alumni and from all our other
sources, and that's just the way things are
economically."
Rice athletic director Bobby May said
the administrators at his school had
reached a decision concerning handling
their deficit. He said he didn't feel drop
ping the program or even going to a
smaller division was a solution to the
problem.
"Schools have to take on this issue in
dividually—this is an institutional issue,"
May said. "I don't think dropping the
football program or going to a smaller di
vision is a solution to our problem at all.
Our administration has made their deci
sion and has reaffirmed their commit
ment to Division I athletics at Rice Uni
versity.
"We want to compete at the highest
possible level in all athletics we are in
volved in, and our job as administrators
aiad coaches is to make sure we stay com
petitive in this division."
May said the main key to reducing the
deficit, which was reported to be $3.7
million last year, was building a competi
tive program and gaining more fans and
television time.
"Athletic deficits have been a problen\
for years, and I think the main reason
athletic departments are having budget
problems is because expenses are rising
faster than income is," May said. "We
have a job to do of selling tickets and pro
moting our product, and we all have to
start doing a better job of that.
"We have to start putting a better
product out by scheduling games that ac
tually mean something, and by schedul
ing games that are not decided before the
two teams even take the field."
Rossley echoed May's thoughts, say
ing he felt his program would be back to
the competitive, money-making level in a
short amount of time.
"Costs are so much higher in athletics
that it's really hard for anyone to make
money now," Rossley said. "Scholarship
costs have gone up so much that each ad
ditional scholarship adds a major burden
to your department. I think the only
thing the university and our conference
could do is get more television revenue
by setting up the best possible TV rival
ries and promoting them heavily.
"The important thing is that we stay
optimistic. These are tough times in our
economy and we're just going to have to
weather the storm and keep our program
and our conference intact," Rossley
added.
One of the biggest factors concerning
SMU's financial woes was the "death
penalty" handed down by the NCAA in
1987, which kept the Mustangs out of
football for the '87 and '88 seasons. Ross
ley said that hiatus definitely made pro
ducing a money-making program
tougher, but felt it was something that
could be overcome.
"I think during our death penalty
everyone predicted we would swing to
the other end when we returned to foot
ball — and we have been, but we've got
to get out of this period and get into the
thick of the Southwest Conference race.
We've got to find our momentum."
NCAA sanctions concerning Division
I-A competition have been another factor
contributing to some schools considering
dropping their programs. At the conclu
sion of the 1991 football season. Long
Beach State University in California elim
inated its football program, becoming the
only Division I-A school to do so in the
past few years.
Athletic Director David O'Brien said
budget cuts were a big part of the deci
sion, but also blamed the sanctions for
the downfall.
"The NCAA requirements went up to
the point where to compete in Division I-
A, you had to have a 30,000 seat stadium
and average 17,000 in attendance,"
O'Brien said. "The fact that we didn't
have an on-campus stadium and that we
were only averaging 3200 fans per game
would not allow us to do that."
Once Long Beach State realized they
could not stay in Division I-A, the possi
bility of moving down came up, but
O'Brien said they didn't feel that would
be fair to the players or the university. •
"We looked seriously at going to Divi
sion I-AA but turned it down quickly,"
he said. "From my perspective, I don't
think it would have been ethical for us to
have players we recruited to play I-A
football and make them either play I-AA
here or force them to transfer if they want
to play I-A football. We just felt like we
would be better off dropping the sport,
and hopefully when things get better we
can bring it back."
According to O'Brien, building a win
ning team with a high-profile coach does
not, however, guarantee success to the
program. Long Beach State hired former
NFL coaching-great George Allen, who
did increase attendance with a winning
team, but the program still had to be cut.
"We brought in Allen and he did a
See Athletics/Page 4
Don’t miss out on the best
way to reach Students,
Faculty and Staff
Our
8a&£-To-£ckooi Edition
is Monday, August 31st
Deadlines are approaching fast.
To advertise call your Battalion
Sales Representative or call
the battalion
845-2696
^ ywv
( PICNIC! PICNIC!)
2 MEDIUM . OCRAZY . QUARTS
PIZZAS X BREADS Atzgmi,
WITH ANY TOPPING OF YOUR CHOICE TWO 4 PIECE ORDERS
UCIUDBEXTMOIEBl
little Caesars Qg) Rzza! Pizza!
TWo'great pizzas! One low price.* Always! Always!
Delivery available on campus!
mm Mr !■« am mm mm mm ■■. mm aar mm aa* am aam aan aai mm a
* — __ ^ I MMMf MMMk WHMi MMMI * A jPV 1 1“**
- Crazy Eights* COg AGGIE
CRAZYBREAD*! |
BUY ONE
■ pepperonl, mushrooms. >1 H£r } I
& a 32 oz. * E^SSriS ! W SANDWICH
soft drink I I GET ONE FREE I
_ . _ ^ | 8 toppings for | I
$2.39*
plus tax I
CHOICE
One for you ...
One for a buddy
1 with everything
1 with one topping
$8.88; $3.25!
plus tax I plus tax ■
Small *9.49
Medium *11.49
Large *13.49
Not valid with any other | Not va!jd wjth any other | Not wttn any 0{)w | No { va jj d with any other
offer. One coupon per Dffer 0ne ^pon per offer 0ne coupon per 0 ff er , Qne coupon per
customer, oany out only. | customer. Carry out only. | customer. Carry out only. | Customer. Carry out only
BT*Oa-05-92
Expires 09.05*92
BT-08-05-92
Expires 09*05*92
BT-08-05-92
Expiree 09-05-92
BT-08-05-92
Expires 09-05-92
NORTHGATE
268-0220
University & Stasney
COLLEGE STATION
696-0191
SW Parkway & Texas
BRYAN
776-7171
1775 Briarcrest
0