Proposal presents problems

Students and administrators question the effects of sophomore Daniel Miles’ budget proposal.

Published: Sunday, November 7, 2010

Updated: Monday, November 8, 2010 23:11

Christopher Bostick

Sophomore running back Desmond Johnson runs for a first down as Tulane host Southern Miss in New Orleans Saturday.

Sophomore Daniel Miles has received much attention, both positive and negative, over his recent budget proposal to save some of the academic departments that were cut in the school's budget cuts.

In short, Miles' proposal would reallocate $192 of the $384 that each student's tuition currently pays toward the athletic department. This money would be put into the academic budget instead to possibly save some of the programs that have been cut or consolidated.

To refund the athletic department's $3 million loss, Miles' proposal would have students pay for their tickets to athletic events.

Miles believes this plan could ultimately help the athletic department to pull in more revenue than it already receives once it catches on with students.

"I think that it could see a loss in the very beginning stages because of attendance," Miles said. "It could meet the $3 million or possibly even generate more revenue if they really sold it to future students."

Athletic director Richard Giannini believes that meeting that goal of $3 million could be more difficult than Miles takes into consideration.

"A season ticket for football costs $220," Giannini said. "In order to make up a $3 million reduction, 13,636 students would have to purchase a football season ticket."

Concerning this aspect of Miles' proposal, USM President Martha Saunders said, "I think we would have to weigh the impact. I think students would have to speak up on that as well."

Miles' proposal also suggests that the athletic department seek more external donors to fund athletics. Giannini believes that this proposal would actually make it more difficult to receive any external donations.

"A major reduction in operating expenses would affect the quality of the athletics program," Giannini said. "In return this would lower the number of donors who support the university and its athletics program."

Saunders said the athletic program already seeks external funding aggressively. She mentioned USM's tennis courts, which were a private gift worth over $1 million, she said.

"Richard Giannini has done incredible work in developing private gifts," she said. Saunders also mentioned the Eagle Club Circle of Champions, which is a title given to donors who give $100,000. "[Giannini] grew that from zero to well over 100 Circle of Champion members," Saunders said.

Although Miles believes that his proposal would not hurt the athletics in the long run, he said he will not pursue his proposal unless it allows that athletic department to function at the same level it is accustomed to.

"With my proposition, I will not allow athletics to be compromised in that way," Miles said. "If the attendance drops and the athletics will not get enough money, then the proposition will go away peacefully."

Miles presented his proposal to the SGA earlier this month. SGA President Kasey Mitchell foresees many of the same challenges as Miles and Giannini.

"The proposition has a lot of challenges to overcome, like getting students used to the idea of buying their tickets," Mitchell said.

Aside from the uncertainty of how many students would be willing to buy tickets, the proposal brings other risks for the athletic department.

Sophomore Seth Barron said, "It bothers me because I don't want to risk not competing at Division I and this proposal makes that seem like a possibility." If Southern Miss loses too much athletic funding, many believe it could cause the school to lose its Division I status, if the school must cut any athletic programs. USM is already at the 16-sport minimum required for Division I.

If they could work around this hurdle, they would still have trouble competing at a high level with a reduced budget.

"Currently Southern Miss has the lowest athletic budget in C-USA," Giannini said. "A $3 million reduction would substantially put Southern Miss at a disadvantage in one of the missions of the university of having a quality and competitive NCAA Division I athletics program."

Miles' proposal has obstacles that would have to be overcome, but it is his goal to provide the best situation for the university's athletics and academics.

"If it is not going to support the university and benefit the athletics, then we are not going to do it," Miles said.