Sunday, April 04, 2010

Protests at UC Davis

While they're not yet sure who's getting the ax, student-athletes at UC Davis are making it known that they won't be going quietly. Read more and watch the video here. Slide show is here.
Will swimming be demoted to club status?

About a dozen factors will be considered, including gender equity and compliance with Title IX regulations, conference affiliation and budgetary considerations, Warzecka said.

The school has 15 protected sports – six men's teams and nine women's teams – that will not be cut because of their Big West Conference affiliation, Warzecka said. Those include men's basketball, baseball, soccer, outdoor track, cross country and golf.

Also safe are women's basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball, outdoor track, cross country, golf, tennis and water polo, he said.

The football team was reviewed "and at this point we feel it's a tradition at UC Davis and one of the cornerstones of the university's athletic program." Warzecka said.


Warzecka doesn't think fundraising will solve the money problems:

The student athletes said they will finance their own teams through donations. "We need a chance to raise our own money," said swimmer and water polo player Heidi Kucera.

But Warzecka said short-term fundraising "just continues the program in a precarious way year after year without any permanent allocation of resources."

If a team's fundraising falls short and it doesn't come up with enough money to pay its own way, "we start getting into a deficit situation once again," he said, and the remaining sports could suffer.

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