ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 25, 1997 TAG: 9702250087
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: Associated Press
Getting good seats for University of Virginia football games has become a matter of giving.
The university, citing a growing need for athletic scholarship money, wants season ticket holders with seats between the 20-yard lines to give at least $100 to the Virginia Student Aid Foundation.
Those who refuse might be bumped by more generous fans.
``Right now we have people who are carrying more of their share of the (fund-raising) burden who are not sitting in as good a seat as people who aren't giving anything,'' said Athletic Director Terry Holland. ``There should be some advantage to those who are supporting the total program.''
In May 1995, university President John T. Casteen III challenged the school to bring its two dozen athletic programs into the nation's top 10. The foundation, a private group that raises money for athletic scholarships, has said it will have the money this year for only 257 of the 306 scholarships allowed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Five of 24 university sports teams - men's football, basketball, soccer and lacrosse, and women's basketball - had full funding of scholarships this year, with women's soccer and lacrosse to follow suit next year.
Other top sports schools, such as the University of North Carolina and Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference, are awarding all their allotted scholarships, said Dirk Katstra, VSAF's executive director.
``That's hard to compete against,'' Katstra said. ``The bottom line is there are about 40 scholarships out there we don't have enough money to give to coaches to award.''
There are about 11,000 seats between the 20-yard lines in Scott Stadium, which seats more than 40,000. Some 465 season-ticket holders, who account for about 1,200 of those seats, have never contributed to the VSAF, according to foundation figures.
The university notified ticket holders of the new requirement in a letter earlier this month, although Holland said the Athletic Department for several years has warned fans that seats closest to the gridiron soon would be contingent on giving.
A single season ticket for 1997 costs about $150. A single ticket holder is required to make the same minimum $100 contribution as someone owning a block of 10 seats.
Some Cavaliers supporters don't like the new demand.
``It kills you to have to contribute to this,'' said a man who has held a pair of season tickets for eight years. He declined to give his name.
``We feel that they ought to raise the price of the tickets if that's their intent,'' the man said.
Others fans said the university is doing the right thing.
``Sports was one of my joys when I was at UVa,'' said Chuck Starkey, a 1981 commerce graduate who lives in Baltimore. ``You certainly don't expect people's tuition dollars to go to sports, so it's up to alumni and people who go to the games.''
LENGTH: Medium: 61 linesby CNB