Nic Meeting Focuses On Athletics Advisory Committee Won’t Report To Trustees Until October

North Idaho College trustees tried to call a timeout Saturday on the hot topic of athletic budget cuts.

But the discussion at a workshop proved too compelling to postpone.

Although board chairman Norm Gissel asked people to save their comments until a committee reported on the athletics situation, he did not stop anyone who spoke up. Even the trustees joined in, so that about half of the two-hour meeting dealt with sports.

Resident David “Rob” Robinson argued that students would not be well-rounded if they participated only in “dead academics.”

“If you were to cut the athletic budget at this school, I think you’d be doing this college and this community a disservice,” he said.

Linda Payne, president of the school’s Human Equality Club, said athletics adds to NIC’s cultural diversity by bringing in students from outside the state and country.

The possibility of athletic program cuts arose at a recent trustees meeting. The proposed 1996 budget of $18.7 million includes $604,535 for sports, which is a 9 percent increase over last year.

Some taxpayers and NIC faculty have complained about the $384,814 in tuition and fee waivers given to athletes. The rest of the students split just $59,500 in waivers.

But non-athletes aren’t going without financial help, NIC President Robert Bennett said Saturday. The number of scholarships available has risen dramatically in recent years, he said.

“I don’t think we’ve turned other students away because we had athletes here,” he said, responding to comments that athletes recruited from outside the Panhandle were filling classrooms at the expense of local people who would like to attend.

Bennett is forming an advisory committee to look extensively into the athletics program. Its 15 members will meet in September and should report to trustees in October, he said.

About 20 people showed up at Saturday’s workshop, more than usually take an interest in trustee meetings. Board members said they were pleased by the community’s interest in the athletics issue.

However, Gissel couldn’t resist pointing out that “there was not a moment’s response from any community group” earlier this year when the board asked for a sweeping re-examination of academic programs.

Also on Saturday, the trustees debated what to do with $768,987 carried over from last year’s budget. In past years, Bennett said, money not spent in each school year has gone into building improvements.

Trustee Bob Ely argued in favor of “giving it back” to Kootenai County taxpayers by asking for less tax money for the college next year.

Bennett cautioned trustees that lowering the school’s tax request could lead to problems if trustees find the school needs more money down the road. That’s because the community college taxing district can’t ask for more than 3 percent of what it requested the year before.

Upcoming federal budget cuts will put more stress on the state treasury, he said, making it harder for the school to get funds from that source.

“Please, when you make these decisions, look beyond next year,” he said. “If funds dry up at both ends of the scale, there’s only one place we can get them: From the students.”

The board has two weeks to decide what to do with the carry-over money.

, DataTimes