Referendum Fails on Fee Increase : Cal State Northridge: Athletic program might drop from Division I after students again vote down proposal.

NORTHRIDGE —  Now what?

Having failed Wednesday in its second attempt this year to pass a referendum increasing student fees allocated to Cal State Northridge sports programs, the school’s athletic department was left to mull its future.

Included on the list of worst-case options is a major retooling of the athletic program, including a drop from NCAA Division I to Division II.

Northridge students, participating in a two-day election by touch-tone telephone, voted 2,315 to 2,116 against the referendum. The proposal would have raised money allocated to athletics from $4 to $49 a semester per student.

The referendum, which generated the largest election turnout in school history, would have generated $2.25 million annually for athletics based on current enrollment levels.

“I think we did pretty much everything we could do,” said Bob Hiegert, Northridge’s athletic director. “I don’t think I’d do anything differently.

“It’s a difficult time (economically) to ask people for fee increases. But I don’t think this is a good thing for the university.”

When the vote was announced Wednesday night at 10:10 p.m. at Northridge athletic department headquarters, the timbre changed from nervous anticipation to unqualified gloom.

A group of approximately 75 student-athletes gathered for the verdict and groaned when Hiegert quietly read the final tally. Several swore and at least one broke out in tears.

The interpretation of the final tally was clear: Northridge students, who voted down a similar proposal last spring, don’t place a high priority on athletics.

“That’s what 4,000 of them think,” Hiegert said. “I’d like to know where the other 16,000 or so were.”

An athletics referendum was narrowly defeated last spring, 993-906.

Northridge administrators, attempting to raise awareness to the issue, this fall mounted a month-long campaign to sway student opinion in athletics’ favor.

The referendum was necessary to keep the program afloat at the current level, Hiegert said. Northridge athletics, with a budget of $3.6 million for 1994-95, stands to lose approximately $700,000 the following year, he said.

The recession and declining enrollment--the fall student population of 24,378 is down approximately 7,000 from the school’s high-water mark of the late 1980s--trimmed enrollment-based accounts.

“Most of the feedback the athletes received was that (voting against) the increase was a fee issue, not an athletics issue,” Hiegert said.

The school faces a series of tough decisions regarding its long-term course. Northridge, which has competed at the Division I level for five seasons, may be forced to trim selected men’s sports to satisfy gender-equity requirements of the California State University system.

Football, which plays at the Division I-AA level, could face elimination. To remain at the Division I level, Northridge must field seven sports each for men and women. It currently fields the NCAA-recognized equivalent of 16, Hiegert said.

Hiegert wouldn’t speculate on what restrictions would apply to athletes seeking to transfer to another school if Northridge eventually moves to Division II.

For the remainder of the student body, the referendum’s defeat could come with a price tag--at least for those who frequent athletic events. Northridge is considering charging admission to students to make up for the budget losses.

Previously, students with a valid Associated Students activities card were admitted free to all athletic events.

Athletics dangled several carrots before the student body, to no avail.

If the referendum passed, two women’s teams were scheduled to be added. Scholarship limits were to be raised to the Division I maximum for every team but football, allowing Northridge to compete more realistically against fully funded opponents. Donations and corporate funds previously used to augment the day-to-day budget instead would be dedicated to facilities improvement.

After failing in its referendum attempt last spring, the athletics department campaigned for the past month as Matador athletes gave informational speeches to their classmates and distributed promotional literature on campus.

Twice beaten, thrice shy?

Perhaps not. Hiegert wouldn’t count out another referendum attempt in the future.

“I’m not ruling anything out at this point,” he said, fingering the paper on which the final tally was handwritten.

Hiegert said he has a meeting tentatively scheduled Tuesday with Ron Kopita, the dean of students. The pair, along with President Blenda Wilson, will then begin plotting out the program’s future and begin addressing predicted funding shortfalls.

Hiegert, who seemed somewhat stunned by the tally, was at a loss to explain the department’s next move.

“I don’t really know what we’ll do,” Hiegert said.