UNO students reject fee hike to support athletics

NEW ORLEANS – University of New Orleans basketball coach Joe Pasternack tried to sound upbeat as he talked about channeling the lessons of sports into a desperate lobbying effort aimed at saving all of the school’s Division I teams.

Students voted down a proposed increase in fees meant to compensate for $1.4 million in proposed cuts to the athletic department.

“This is a big loss we had today and we have to go with a next-game mentality,” Pasternack said Friday after the vote results were announced.

The Legislature is weighing $219 million in budget cuts across all of Louisiana’s public universities. UNO, still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina less than four years ago, is now expected to cut spending by $15.4 million.