USD drops Baseball.

[89rabbit]

In a move to become title IX compliant the University of South Dakota will be dropping Baseball.

http://www.usdcoyotes.com/sports/news/release.asp?RELEASE_ID=1831

It is a sad day for the USD baseball players.

[Bisonguy]

Sad day, indeed.

Even with the addition of UMD, the NCC will only have six teams next year. There should be some interesting schedules.

[D]

That now means that Mankato and USD are both dropping sports effective 04-05 for reasons Title IX related. It has to be reformed, it is now clearly doing more harm then good. The NCC member sport cuts are not over either.

[Bisonguy]

A lot of DI fans think that football should be taken out of the Title IX numbers. I agree.

[BisonMav]

They are saving $100,000 by cutting baseball?

[JBB]

There was a discussion about titleIX on NPR. Yes you guessed it, they only talked to woman athletic directors, the focus was how to slim down other sports, read mens sports in particular football, so there would be more money to finance title IX programs. The solution? Only allow 75 players in any DI-A football program.

[NDSU_grad]

That's why I don't listen to NPR.
I was driving back from Michigan a few years ago and listening to a 60 minutes piece on Title IX. It was actually fair, and they pointed out that 70% of high school athletes that register with the NCAA to play collegiate sports are men. Therefore, I don't understand why Title IX can't be restructured to have 70% of atletic scholarships at a given institution for men's sports and 30% for women. It seems fair to me.

[89rabbit]

Here is the Argus story on the USD baseball team.

http://www.argusleader.com/sports/Wednesdayarticle1.shtml

USD cutting baseball after the 2004 season
Mick Garry
mgarry@argusleader.com

published: 4/7/2004

Budget, Title IX compliance cited as chief reasons for move

The University of South Dakota announced Tuesday that this will be the last season for baseball at the school, citing budget and Title IX compliance considerations.

USD is in the process of enacting a three-year plan that will direct $1.26 million toward toward improvements in women's locker room facilities at the DakotaDome, as well as the funding of 19 additional scholarships for women's sports. Expanding staff, recruiting budgets and rosters in women's sports are also part of the plan.

Of the $1.26 million, $100,000 is coming from cutting baseball. In addition, new funds will be raised via other internal reallocations, student fees and increased fundraising efforts.

"We were forced to look at options and alternatives," USD athletic director Joel Nielsen said. "We felt that this was the only plan that would put us in position to insure we have future success in our programs in relation to funding, compliance and competitiveness." . . .

Freshman pitcher Josh Lundin has a 4-1 record with a 2.90 ERA for the 18-13 Coyote baseball team, but those were not the numbers the squad was hearing about Tuesday when coach Brian Atchison told players this was going to be the last year of the program.

"Things got pretty tense during the meeting," said Lundin, a Rapid City native. "Even though we knew it might be coming, it really hit home today. There are a lot of guys on this team who were looking forward to building things up and have something to shoot for. They got a little frustrated today. I feel bad for the juniors, especially. It's going to be tough for them to get chances to play elsewhere."

The baseball program was discontinued once before, from 1986 to 1991. Atchison, the coach for the last six years, said he's a strong supporter of Title IX initiatives but felt the pinch like everyone else after the announcement.

"The kids took it tough," Atchison said. "Eyes don't lie. There were some tough eyes today, including mine. We have 14 kids who can't finish their senior year at this school if they want to keep playing baseball. . . .

[89rabbit]

Here is a little more to chew on.

http://www.sdsucollegian.com/news/2004/03/23/FrontPageNews/Board.Of.Rege nts.Raises.S.d.Tuition.5.5.Percent-642043.shtml

Board of Regents raises S.D. tuition 5.5 percent
Additional increases mean average undergrad to pay $250 more yearly
By Toby Uecker
Published: Tuesday, March 23, 2004 *


. . . In addition to the tuition hike, Regents agreed to a student activity fee raise. A combination of multiple initiatives, the overall hike is estimated to put an additional $16 on students' bills over the next three years.

The general activity fee increase, like part of the tuition hike, will help augment teacher salaries. Additionally the fee increase is designed to bring the state system in full compliance with Title IX requirements for funding balance between men's and women's sports. *. . .


All the FES people in SD were worried that SDSU's move to D-I was going to cost the students extra money and look it is our friends at the USD and their inability to play by the rules that is forcing a fee hike. * ::) * *


Go State!