Subject: West Virginia cuts Rifle Team
As you might already know, West Virginia University has eliminated the WVU
Rifle Team from the University as a result of budget cuts. The WVU Rifle
Team has highest winning record of any team
at WVU and also has won the most NCAA Championships of any team at WVU. To
my understanding, the University tried to eliminate the Rifle Team in 1979
(also due to budget cuts), but decided not to cut the team as a result of a
community uproar.
Please go to this web site and sign the petition to keep the team.
ALSO send this to as many shooters as you can.
http://www.petitiononline.com/wvurifle/petition-sign.html
<http://www.petitiononline.com/wvurifle/petition-sign.html>
Lee Sleger
*********************
BY BOB HERTZEL
The Dominion Post
The West Virginia rifle team was asked to assemble in the Coliseum at
about 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Good thing no one brought a rifle, because these guys are pretty good
shots and they had a lot of reason to
be mad.
The word came out that rifle, West Virginia's most successful sport with
13 national championships, six
in a row at one time, was being axed.
No one could believe it, least of all Nicole Allaire, whose life -- not
just her shooting career -- was
thrown into total disarray.
You may remember having read of Nicole Allaire earlier this year. When
WVU shot against Xavier of Ohio, the
5-foot tall sharpshooter was going against Scott Kerr, her fiance.
Everything seemed to be working out perfectly. Kerr was to graduate this
May, then come to WVU for
graduate work.
"He was going to be a graduate assistant [with the rifle team] and that
was going to pay for graduate school," Allaire said.
All of a sudden, the entire scheme was erased.
There is no more rifle team for her to shoot on, no more rifle team for
him to work for as a graduate
assistant.
Allaire was angry, along with her disbelieving teammates and her coach,
Marsha Beasley.
At that 3 p.m. meeting Allaire took dead aim on the administration that
said the death penalty was a result of budgetary restraints.
"Our budget is less than $100,000. That is nothing," she said in a phone
call to The Dominion Post. "They
spent 40 grand to fly the gymnastics team to Hawaii for a week. You can
run our whole budget off one of
those trips."
Not only the gymnastics team but also the women's tennis team had a trip
to Hawaii. "They came up with
almost $30 million for renovations," Allaire added. "But they can't keep
the rifle team going."
Think of Allaire's situation for a moment.
She was a two-time All-American but transferred to WVU to finish out her
career.
Now, she's caught in the Twilight Zone of finances.
"I have no idea what I'm going to do. No other school that has rifle has
my major," said the sports
psychology major.
What's more, she's about to be a senior and will find that working
against her when it comes to
transferring. Add that to her situation with Kerr and you have a
complete mess, one that WVU can't really
rectify simply by honoring her scholarship for another year.
The day was a mess from the beginning. Beasley didn't learn of her
team's fate until a 12:30 p.m. meeting.
She was told to gather her team at 3 p.m. but not to tell them the
reason.
"I was amazed they were all there," she said. "I didn't get hold of
anyone. I just left messages."
Not that they couldn't tell something was up from the sound of her
voice.
"I'm still in a state of shock," she admitted Wednesday evening. "I knew
the university was raising
tuitions and the state was facing a budget crisis, but there had been no
hints. With the athletic department
self sustaining, I hoped it would not be affected by all that."
The tone of the meeting between the athletes and management was quiet,
she said.
"It was horrible to watch their faces," she said. "These guys have
given so much and they love West
Virginia and WVU."
_
As you might already know, West Virginia University has eliminated the WVU
Rifle Team from the University as a result of budget cuts. The WVU Rifle
Team has highest winning record of any team
at WVU and also has won the most NCAA Championships of any team at WVU. To
my understanding, the University tried to eliminate the Rifle Team in 1979
(also due to budget cuts), but decided not to cut the team as a result of a
community uproar.
Please go to this web site and sign the petition to keep the team.
ALSO send this to as many shooters as you can.
http://www.petitiononline.com/wvurifle/petition-sign.html
<http://www.petitiononline.com/wvurifle/petition-sign.html>
Lee Sleger
*********************
BY BOB HERTZEL
The Dominion Post
The West Virginia rifle team was asked to assemble in the Coliseum at
about 3 p.m. Wednesday.
Good thing no one brought a rifle, because these guys are pretty good
shots and they had a lot of reason to
be mad.
The word came out that rifle, West Virginia's most successful sport with
13 national championships, six
in a row at one time, was being axed.
No one could believe it, least of all Nicole Allaire, whose life -- not
just her shooting career -- was
thrown into total disarray.
You may remember having read of Nicole Allaire earlier this year. When
WVU shot against Xavier of Ohio, the
5-foot tall sharpshooter was going against Scott Kerr, her fiance.
Everything seemed to be working out perfectly. Kerr was to graduate this
May, then come to WVU for
graduate work.
"He was going to be a graduate assistant [with the rifle team] and that
was going to pay for graduate school," Allaire said.
All of a sudden, the entire scheme was erased.
There is no more rifle team for her to shoot on, no more rifle team for
him to work for as a graduate
assistant.
Allaire was angry, along with her disbelieving teammates and her coach,
Marsha Beasley.
At that 3 p.m. meeting Allaire took dead aim on the administration that
said the death penalty was a result of budgetary restraints.
"Our budget is less than $100,000. That is nothing," she said in a phone
call to The Dominion Post. "They
spent 40 grand to fly the gymnastics team to Hawaii for a week. You can
run our whole budget off one of
those trips."
Not only the gymnastics team but also the women's tennis team had a trip
to Hawaii. "They came up with
almost $30 million for renovations," Allaire added. "But they can't keep
the rifle team going."
Think of Allaire's situation for a moment.
She was a two-time All-American but transferred to WVU to finish out her
career.
Now, she's caught in the Twilight Zone of finances.
"I have no idea what I'm going to do. No other school that has rifle has
my major," said the sports
psychology major.
What's more, she's about to be a senior and will find that working
against her when it comes to
transferring. Add that to her situation with Kerr and you have a
complete mess, one that WVU can't really
rectify simply by honoring her scholarship for another year.
The day was a mess from the beginning. Beasley didn't learn of her
team's fate until a 12:30 p.m. meeting.
She was told to gather her team at 3 p.m. but not to tell them the
reason.
"I was amazed they were all there," she said. "I didn't get hold of
anyone. I just left messages."
Not that they couldn't tell something was up from the sound of her
voice.
"I'm still in a state of shock," she admitted Wednesday evening. "I knew
the university was raising
tuitions and the state was facing a budget crisis, but there had been no
hints. With the athletic department
self sustaining, I hoped it would not be affected by all that."
The tone of the meeting between the athletes and management was quiet,
she said.
"It was horrible to watch their faces," she said. "These guys have
given so much and they love West
Virginia and WVU."
_
