This Time, CSUN Loan Looks Like a Sound Idea

On its face, the decision by Cal State Northridge last week to accept a loan from a campus auxiliary to revive four sports axed earlier this year might seem like more of the same questionable management that got the athletic department into such a financial pickle in the first place. But the move actually makes a fair amount of sense by giving administrators time to get programs restarted as they wait for an infusion of cash from Sacramento. State Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley) allocated $586,000 in the Cal State system’s budget to restore the four sports for an additional year, but the protracted budget fight has delayed delivery of the money.

CSUN administrators blamed federal gender-equity laws and tight budgets when they unceremoniously dumped the school’s popular and successful baseball program as well as men’s soccer, swimming and volleyball. Although those factors certainly played a role in the cuts, the athletic department’s failure to plan realistic budgets and carefully manage resources when the school jumped into Division I is what really killed the sports. By accepting a $586,000 stopgap loan from the University Corp.--a campus auxiliary that oversees concessions such as the bookstore--it might appear that CSUN administrators learned nothing from the experience and chose to mortgage the future of other sports to quiet the storm of public criticism that followed the cuts.

But accepting the loan gives CSUN coaches time to start making plans, scheduling games and recruiting players for the coming season. Waiting for the Sacramento money would have meant waiting for the budget to pass--and with less than two weeks before classes begin, CSUN has no time to spare. Even now, most of the baseball team’s top players have left CSUN and committed to play elsewhere. And new players are not allowed to sign letters of intent after Aug. 1 so exact lineups won’t be known until classes start later this month. Players need to know that a program exists before they commit to CSUN--however informally.

Athletic Director Paul Bubb figures the extra season buys his department time enough to find new revenue streams to keep the sports alive and to allow community groups outraged by the cuts to step up to the plate and help out. Such efforts have had mixed results in the past, so it’s a real gamble whether they’ll pay off this time around--particularly since the athletic department may need to raise as much as $1 million extra per year to keep the four sports going permanently and, of course, to add women’s sports to comply with gender-equity laws. But The Times believes it’s worth a concerted effort. Swimming and soccer were saved after coaches and supporters raised enough money to keep them going. There’s no reason baseball and volleyball supporters can’t do the same.