Mune ib ae eh eae ea)

 

Inside

  

 

 

Bither Press

November 4 1998

Volume 23 ¢ Issue 8

Will you pay or will they go?

The fate of
DC’s athletic
department
hangs in the
balance as
students

vote on fee

   
    

increase

AMISH KNOX

 

ne of the best athletic
departments in the province
could vanish if students don't
tify a fee increase for next semester.
As reported in the October [4 issue of
be Other Press, the Douglas College Student
ciety (DCSS) has proposed a nine dollar
crease in student fees, which will pump
fe back into the Athletic Department and
elp out Fine Arts. “Because of the last
ition freeze, the college cannot increase
pes, so the fee increase must be student
irected,” said DCSS Vice President
xternal Amanda Wheeler. “If it [the fee]
asses, $5.50 would go to’ Athletics and
.50 would go to Fine Arts.”

at Happened?

Inder the old contract between the DCSS
d the Athletic Department, which

pired in April, 18% of DCSS fees
bllected was to go to the Centre for Sport,
ecreation and Wellness, or in other words,
e Athletic Department. However, because
e contract was not resigned, Athletics is
bw balancing its chequebook with red ink.

e got our money for the summer, but

pt the fall,” said Athletic Rep Kelli

 

 

Semple. “We're operating in the red, but
under the assumption that we-will get the
money.”

While many students may be complain-
ing that the $5.50 that goes to Athletics
will only line the pockets of the varsity
teams, few realize that when they pay their
student fees they are paying into Athletics
and Activities and that the varsity teams
receive little of the collected money. Take
for instance, the women’s basketball team.
Over Christmas they will be travelling to
Phoenix, Arizona to take part in a tourna-
ment. Despite serious fundraising efforts,
each member of the team will have to pay
about $300 dollars out of their own pock-
ets so they can represent their school. “The
varsity teams don't get a lot of money,’
commented Kelli Semple. “Most of it [the
money] goes to buy things like new bags
for the boxing club and running the

Continued

“| want my athletics back.”

 

weightroom.”

Although the varsity teams don’t get
much money, they have managed to bring a
lot of success and recognition to Douglas
College. In the past two years DC has won
the BCCAA Aggregate trophy, given annu-
ally to the best athletic program in the
province. If Douglas loses its varsity pro-
grams, it would be like the Montreal
Canadiens folding because they didn’t have
the money to stay in business. “This will
be the last year that we operate unless we
can re-negotiate that activities fee,” said
Centre for Sport Recreation and Wellness
Director Lou Rene Legge. “I mean that
quite seriously. There is no way to do it
[stay in operation] otherwise.’

This will effect students who, while not
in the athletics program, like to use the
athletic facilities. They will face being shut

out of the weightroom or being asked to

Page I5...

 

pay a user fee every time they want to use
the gym. “We will become a health club,”
explained Kelli Semple when asked to
describe the effects the failure of the refer-
endum could have on the Athletic
Department.

“T think that to be able to attend a col-
lege that has an active Activity,
Recreational, Athletics program is a feature
[of the college] that people don’t realize
until they get away,” said Director Legge.
“These are things that make an institution
better.”

Where’s the Cash?

So where is this money that athletics is
missing, and why must we increase our fees
to replace it? The 18% of the student fees
that Athletics was supposed to get this
semester is sitting in the college coffers,
waiting for transfer to the Centre for
Sport, Recreation and Wellness. Douglas
College's VP of Educational Services, Al
Atkinson, couldn't tell the Other Press where
the money was being held, but he did say
that, “The money has not been transferred
from the college to the Athletic
Department at this point in time.” When
asked why the Athletic Department hadn't
received its portion of the student fees, he
replied, “It is my understanding that the
contract [between the DCSS and Athletics]
has not been resigned and it has not been
re-negotiated.” If the proposed fee passes,
distribution of the money would not be in
the hands of administration, but. in the
hands of the students. Each semester two
committees, one for Athletics and one for
Fine Arts, will be formed and the students
sitting on these committees will have the
opportunity to decide where the money
goes. “Students will be able to decide
where their money goes,” said Athletic Rep
Kelli Semple. “If they want to spend more
money a certain activity, that’s where it will

go.”
Yet another reason
Another reason for the fee increase is

under-budgeting on the DCSS building. “It