By Kathleen Weir
“Why should I pay for something I don’t use?”
That was Buffalo State
College junior Darcy Wagner’s response to the
$96 athletic
fee that students are being charged each semester.
“If I was an athlete I wouldn’t mind, but I’m
not. That’s $96 that I don’t have and could
use for something else,” she said.
In the Fall
2004 semester, the number of undergraduate students
enrolled at Buffalo State was 9,008. While not all of those
students were enrolled full-time, even the part-time students
had to pay $8 per credit hour for the fee. The 2004 athletics
budget that was approved was $1,656,400.
Junior Eric Varga said: “It is money that I am required
to spend. But since I don’t play sports or go to sporting
events it does nothing for me.”
The athletics
department Web site states that the fee funds 19 varsity
sports and many intramural and club sports. According to
associate athletics director for external affairs Tom Koller,
there are anywhere from 300 to 350 student-athletes at Buffalo
State.
Dr. Gail Maloney, senior associate athletics director and
budget manager, said that the fee does not just cover the
athletes at Buffalo State. She said that the free
fitness center, recreation programs, the fans and spectators
that come to watch the sporting events, and many others
are considered in the budget and that it would be impossible
to calculate those people into an exact number.
Dr. Maloney said that while the teams get funding for their
transportation, hotels, equipment, and meals, many of the
teams do additional fund-raising for enhanced team experiences.
For example: the women’s lacrosse team is planning
a trip to Florida during Spring Break and had to fund the
trip themselves and the football team recently had a list-a-thon
to raise money for some equipment that they want. Dr. Maloney
also said that even with the budget increase Buffalo State
is only ranked ninth in SUNY athletic fees, and said that
comparatively speaking, “that’s not bad.”
When asked what keeps the budget so high, she said that
using busses as the main transportation for the teams is
the biggest expense, but that it is money well-spent. Vans
are cheaper, but not nearly as safe and she believes that
safety is of utmost importance.
Dr. Maloney said: “As an administrator I want to look
at the parents and say we’re taking care of your sons
and daughters as best we can.”
She mentioned that gas prices are going up and that it’s
hard to estimate how much each trip is going to cost, but
that each trip will cost more each time. In 2004, $134,000
was spent on busses alone.
Although graduate
students are not required to pay the athletic fee, they
have opinions on it as well. Graduate student Vince Puglia
said: “I played undergrad golf at my old college and
I can understand why they need the money. Equipment is expensive,
not to mention what it costs for teams to travel. We pay
the tuition and fees to improve and maintain the school,
not just to cater to our own personal needs. I think that
the fee is acceptable.”
Graduate student Wendy Sander thinks that it’s ok
to have an athletic fee charged to all students, but that
“it might be a little high considering that it costs
more for the athletic fee that very few students actually
use than it does to get an optional
parking pass that many students use on a daily basis.”
Dr. Maloney said that to athletes it’s not about the
money: “At the end of the day, our athletes play for
the love of the game. They just want to wear the orange
and black with pride and to represent us as best they can.”
Kathleen Weir can be contacted at Weirka50@buffalostate.edu.
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