Financial Aid Viewed as Insufficient for Basic Needs : CSUN: Inadequate funds, stringent NCAA rules blamed for causing athletes to miss meals and fall behind on dormitory bills.

The Cal State Northridge Black Student Union painted a shocking image: Northridge football players devouring pizza scraps destined for the trash.

The BSU publicized the sobering story at a March protest rally to draw attention to the plight of the university’s black student-athletes. They are expected to perform at full speed, but the BSU claimed they head for practice hungry.

Those and other concerns prompted BSU President Karen Brannon to accuse the Northridge athletic program of racism and call for the resignation of Athletic Director Bob Hiegert.

In the wake of those charges, a task force, commanded to investigate racism allegations, found ample evidence suggesting that Northridge athletes--regardless of race--face financial hardships.

Although the debate over racism continues, most Northridge athletes, coaches and administrators agree that making ends meet is an uphill battle for most athletes. Finding agreement on solutions is another matter.

In many ways, the athletic program is hamstrung, according to Hiegert. NCAA rules, for example, prohibit coaches from even telling players about the availability of free food unless the food is available to all students. Similarly, if a player tells a coach that he is broke and hungry, the coach cannot buy him a meal or lend him money, even $1, without violating NCAA rules.

“That’s the dilemma the staff is in,” Hiegert said. “Then you complicate that with what the NCAA allows and the resources we have. I don’t think there’s a kid in the program who doesn’t realize going in the potential financial problems. We’re not happy about it, but we can’t change it.”

Tyrone Dorsey, a senior linebacker from Inglewood, is among several Northridge athletes who believe financial difficulties are widespread.

“I’m not the only one to tell you about it,” he said. “The coaches will tell you. It’s not a black thing. The European-American players have trouble too.”

Dorsey ran out of money last season when he said his financial aid proved less than officials projected.

“At times, everybody goes to practice hungry,” Dorsey said. “There’s nothing you can do about it. You do the best you can.

“You eat, you eat. You don’t, you don’t. There are times I eat one meal a day and times I eat two meals a day. And lots of times, to be honest, I haven’t eaten in a day.”

The BSU publicized the plight of black athletes to protest a proposed 40% tuition increase the state Legislature could impose at all state universities. In addition, the school faces a state budget crisis that could eliminate more than 675 faculty and staff positions.

The proposed tuition hike would exacerbate an already tight financial situation because athletes are funded in flat sums that are not tied to tuition.

Of the approximately 400 student-athletes at Northridge, 85% receive funds in two forms: partial athletic scholarships and need-based federal financial aid. The federal aid includes loans and work study, which is an on-campus job program.

No Northridge students receive full athletic scholarships. For example, football players on average have 25% of their expenses funded by the athletic program. Athletes in other sports receive on average one-third funding.

Typically, a student-athlete who receives a $1,000-$1,500 athletic scholarship must pay $564 tuition per semester (in 1991-92) and also is responsible for books (cost varies from $200-$400), and room and board ($2,735 per semester in 1991-92). If the student-athlete does not receive nearly $6,000 in financial aid, there will be a shortfall.

Athletes, whose commitment to sports often precludes holding down a part-time job, must provide the balance. If they receive no help from relatives or can’t land off-campus jobs, athletes can go hungry.

About 55 of the 71 players on the 1991 football team received on average of $1,200-$1,500 in athletic scholarship money for the school year, according to Coach Bob Burt. The other 16 players were walk-ons.

The task force, formed after the BSU protest, devoted nine pages of its 68-page report to financial problems and determined that shortages are common.

“Prospective students are (promised) financial aid packages (a combination of athletic scholarship money and federal financial aid) that will allow them to matriculate at CSUN with no difficulty,” the report stated. “At this time, there is no guarantee that the Financial Aid office can provide such a package.”

While the task force states in its report that some student-athletes mismanage their finances, the report also blames the deficit on the timing of the distribution of funds.

Payments for tuition, books, and on-campus room and board are due at the beginning of the semester, but because of bureaucratic delays, financial aid is often not disbursed at that time.

There also is a conflict, according to the task force, for football players seeking assistance through the work-study program. Campus jobs are not available for football players in the spring semester unless they are in the work-study program in the fall semester. Because of their fall practice schedule, which also includes film study and weight training, players usually cannot fulfill work-study obligations during the fall semester.

“Consequently, although work study is often mentioned as one of the ways of financing an athlete’s education, football players do not have this source of funding available to them,” the task force stated.

Not only are funds scarce, players, like many college-aged students, often have little experience managing money.

Some players who live off-campus--they contend it is cheaper--unwittingly spend money in October that is earmarked for December’s grocery bills.

Burt believes those budgetary problems are not limited to players in his Division II football program. He contends that players on full-ride scholarships at Division I schools can run into similar problems.

“If a kid doesn’t budget correctly, maybe he doesn’t eat and maybe no one knows about it,” Burt said.

Regardless of those claims by Burt, some players who have run into financial hardship feel that they were misled by the athletic program. Running back Oscar Pittman, who finished his CSUN career in 1990, said the coaching staff led him to believe during the recruiting process that he would have sufficient funds.

Pittman said that not only did he go hungry, he fell behind on his dormitory bill, a bill that took him two years to pay.

Burt believes the recruits are made aware of possible financial difficulties when they tour the campus with current players.

“We’re pretty up front about it,” Burt said. “I mean, they (recruits) talk to other players when they visit.”

Hiegert said that athletic scholarship and financial aid sums are spelled out for prospective student-athletes before they sign their national letters of intent.

“Some kids get themselves into shortfalls,” he said. “A parent or an aunt was going to help them out and for some reason, illness or loss of a job, they can’t help and the money doesn’t come through.

“It’s a tough situation, but it happens and it happens to regular students too.”

The task force report claims, however, that the aid is not spelled out during the recruiting process because of various regulations that the financial aid office must follow.

Applications are received on a first-come, first-served basis and no funding is set aside specifically for athletes.

Therefore, because most recruits do not sign their national letters of intent until the spring, their applications lag months behind those of high school freshmen and junior college transfers who decide to attend Northridge in the fall or winter months.

In addition, because of the wide variety of financial aid packages available, the athletic program has trouble predicting the amount of financial aid each athlete will receive.

The report surmised that recruits are under the impression that expenses will be covered.

“Thinking more about the glory of being recruited, they place their confidence in the ability and promises of the coaches to deliver,” the report stated. “. . . The amount to be produced by the athlete and/or his family is not made clear.”

The task force recommends a voucher system. The system, originally proposed by the Black Student Athlete Assn. and the BSU, would include a meal plan for all athletes, including those who live off-campus.

All or a portion of an athlete’s financial aid check would go directly to the cafeteria.

“Inasmuch as our athletes are requesting such a system, can CSUN do otherwise?” the report asked.

Ed Burns, the soccer team’s representative on the CSUN Athletic Council, believes each struggling athlete should be paired with a financial adviser.

“Maybe an adviser can help them deal with their money,” Burns said.

Not all athletes are seeking changes in the school’s financial offerings. Quarterback Marty Fisher has little sympathy for those who complain about their financial situation while refusing to get a job.

Fisher has been employed since his freshman year in high school and has supported himself the past three years at Northridge. He works four days a week in telemarketing to supplement his athletic scholarship.

“My parents make basically too much for me to get financial aid but not enough to support me, and I don’t ask them to,” Fisher said.

“Some guys receive an exceptional amount of financial aid. To me, that’s a lot of money. And these are the same guys who complain about money.

“And they’re not just black guys, they are white guys. They are all races.”

At least one CSUN athlete has found that desperate times can call for desperate measures.

Middle distance runner Rich Gitahi, a member of the Athletic Council and the Athletic Oversight Committee, is enrolled at Northridge only because he beat the system.

Gitahi could not afford to attend the university as a freshman. His athletic scholarship was minimal and he was ineligible for financial aid.

Assured by veteran students that the university housing billing system was lax, Gitahi enrolled anyway and put off paying his dormitory bill until he had enough money to pay it--one year later.

If Gitahi had been living off-campus, he would have been evicted.

“I don’t think they (university housing) want to be known for kicking people out,” Gitahi said.

Ken Vaughn, a 1991 senior linebacker, also has been playing catch-up. He recently paid a dorm bill that was almost two years old.

Vaughn is a veteran of the game: He attended classes, team meetings, practice, weight-lifting sessions and a held down a job, scrounging for meals all the while.

“On paper, it (expenses versus athletic scholarship money and financial aid) looks like it’s going to balance out,” Vaughn said. “But it doesn’t at all.”

Now that his eligibility is exhausted, Vaughn’s responsibilities are limited to school and work.

But he is still scrounging and he is concerned for those who are still going hungry.