As part of their proposal to implement a new athletics fee, officials from the University of Hawai'i athletics department are offering free tickets to students.
Under a plan presented to the Associated Students of the University of Hawai'i and Graduate Student Organization, students would be eligible to receive free tickets to home games played at all sporting facilities affiliated with the university, including Aloha Stadium, after paying a mandatory $50 fee during registration.
"We want to build something for students that will deliver that value they're giving to the athletics department, but provide even more value to them," said Carl Clapp, associate athletics director for administrative services.
Available student accommodations would also be increased, according to the proposal, by 1,500 seats at Aloha Stadium, 124 seats at the Stan Sheriff Center and 201 seats at Les Murakami Stadium, bringing the size of the student sections at each venue to 5,000, 500 and 225 seats, respectively.
"If tickets are free, more seats are offered, free bus transportation is promoted and money can be carved out for a student committee to partner for pre-game events. We're hoping to get more students at games," said John McNamara, associate athletics director for external affairs. "Our goal is, and always has been, to provide an athletics program that the university and the state can be proud of."
Already facing a $5.4 million net deficit accumulated over five years, athletics department administrators expect a further shortfall of $3 million for the 2009 fiscal year, said Clapp, who added that imposing a fee is necessary to prevent further financial problems.
"We project the new fee would take in approximately $2 million, but it will all be spent to serve students in the athletics program and there won't be anything leftover," he said. "Our travel costs alone amount to $4.5 million each year, while equipment, supplies and uniforms cost an additional $3 million."
Currently, UH Mānoa is the only school in the Western Athletic Conference without a student athletics fee. Similarly, the UH Warriors are the conference's only football team that pays for use of a stadium, but does not share in proceeds from parking or concessions.
"The median difference between revenue and expenses for NCCA division I schools was $7.1 million in 2006, so we're doing a better job with revenue generation and management than your average school," Clapp said. "But we still need to raise revenue and cut expenses, so we're looking at locating additional revenue sources, including corporate sponsorships and revising concession contracts, on top of the fee increase."
Members of ASUH passed a resolution, in February, opposing attempts by the athletics department to implement the fee without producing a formal proposal or polling students. Athletics department officials, however, claimed that the resolution was premature and the result of miscommunication with student senators, who had canceled two previous hearings on the issue.
After receiving a draft proposal at their March 31 general meeting that included a 30-to-45-day deadline for submission to the Chancellor's Office, some senators felt an immediate response was necessary.
"I think we owe it to ourselves, our guests and the students to have a resolution ready for the next general ASUH meeting," said Matthew Prelberg, chairman of external affairs for the student Senate.
Despite the condensed time frame, ASUH plans to obtain student feedback before making a final decision on whether or not to support the measure.
"We're planning to survey students to gauge their feelings about the fee," said ASUH President Jaime Sohn. "We won't support any fees that the students don't want or feel they can't afford."
Only one student spoke at ASUH's hearing, testifying in opposition to the fee.
"I spend well over $50 on athletics events each year, but I don't think this is something that should be forced upon students," said Nick Yee, music director for KTUH, the Mānoa campus' student-run radio station. "What if students don't want to participate in athletics?"
Yee suggested that the athletics department investigate alternative ways of encouraging students to attend events.
"If there's low student turnout, try looking at other reasons students don't go to games, like high ticket prices and transportation problems," Yee said. "I would pay more to go to games, but leave it up to students to decide if they want to pay an additional expense."
Questioning the logic of instituting a new charge at a time of economic turmoil, Yee called on athletics officials to recognize the plight of other departments on campus.
"Everyone's hurting," Yee said. "Even KTUH is hurting. Should we be looking to increase fees, too?"
Fee increases will be discussed further at ASUH's next general meeting, scheduled for April 14 at 6 p.m. in Campus Center 220.
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