The Cardinal and Gold ropes that divide the ISU swimming lanes are pulled to the dry land of Beyer Hall.

No more will male Cyclones backstroke in this area.

Four yellow water polo balls bob in the water next to the freshly pulled lanes. On either side are two diving boards.

No more will male Cyclones nail a perfect two-and-a-half in this area.

Water polo players toss aside three yellow balls and use the fourth for a game.

It’s 6:15 on Monday night, and ISU men’s swimming and diving coach Trip Hedrick has his back turned to the game.

He talks about what has happened this day – the day his program and baseball were axed.

“Our goal is to do everything in such a great manner people will wonder `how could they drop this program?'” Hedrick said.

Questions are a funny thing. Many people have asked many questions this week.

The more questions they ask, the fewer people they blame.

But there is no one answer.

Just answers.

Is a male swimmer any more of an athlete than a male basketball player?

No.

Is a male swimmer any more of a student-athlete than a male basketball player?

Yes.

The senior class on the swimming and diving team carried an averaged 3.9 GPA last semester. ISU senior Jamaal Tinsley carried a basketball.

And little more.

Tinsley left school without graduating, and was left off the Wooden Award finalist list. He met every requirement except the academic one.

But Hedrick and ISU baseball coach Lyle Smith realize how important Tinsley and his coach are to their sports.

And how very important football is.

ISU Athletics Director Bruce Van de Velde realizes this too.

A great chunk of revenues for baseball and swimming come from football and men’s basketball, Van de Velde said.

And all of baseball’s revenue comes from basketball and football programs, Van de Velde said.

So if ALL of baseball’s revenue comes from big-time college athletics, why does baseball not charge admission at the gate? Try and make money on the side?

After all, “It’s hard to make a profit when you don’t charge admission,” Smith said.

Elaine Heiberger, senior associate athletics director, said no gate was charged because the baseball and softball fields first need to be fenced off.

That keeps the free-loaders away, Heiberger said.

And after you pay the staff that would be needed by the hour, the profit of charging say, $3 for admission for about 100 people would be minimal, Van de Velde said.

Minimal enough not to attempt it?

“You’re not going to make a lot of money,” Van de Velde said.

“Plus, it’s really tough to play baseball in this climate,” he added.

But it isn’t too difficult for softball to play in mid-March?

“We have a commitment to equity here,” Van de Velde said. “We can’t compromise that commitment.”

OK.

Seven years ago, baseball was in similar waters. The public was informed. Student body stepped up, saved it.

Fourteen years ago, same scenario, same result.

So why were students not informed this time?

“We asked the students to help us with fees but they turned us down,” Van de Velde said. “They told us to raise ticket prices and cut sports.”

Not true, said Government of Student Body President Ben Golding.

“It was out of our hands,” Golding said.

We said don’t cut our teams. We’re willing to work with you, Golding added.

“We wanted to know if we raised student fees,” GSB Vice President Lisa Dlouhy said, “would we only be keeping these programs on life support?”

Yes, Van de Velde told Dlouhy and others Thursday.

“He said `you’re only sustaining these problems,'” Dlouhy added.

But the budget is not the lone issue, Golding and Dlouhy said. Competitive issues in both sports were also deciding factors.

“And ultimately, Golding said, “it’s [Van de Velde’s] decision.”

Van de Velde has known about these budget issues since January, according to the Ames Tribune.

This season, the budget for baseball is about $500,000. And men’s swimming was $250,000.

Knowing this, why give Larry Eustachy, ISU men’s basketball coach, a $200,000 raise a little more than a month ago?

“If we don’t pay them what the market can pay them, then they’re going to leave,” Van de Velde said.

But, according to the Des Moines Register, you pursued him?

So, in essence, Eustachy hadn’t come begging for money.

“We have to remain proactive,” Van de Velde said.

“I’m not blaming Larry,” Lyle Smith said.

It’s Monday night. Smith was informed that morning. His eyelids look like sinks.

His graying head of black hair is unkempt. It looks like a hand has passed through it many times today.

A Heineken rests in his left hand. “I need it,” he says.

I ask him about his future.

“It’s like your wife just got killed and someone at the funeral asks `Are you going to get remarried.'”

A very telling answer, indeed.

Paul Kix is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Hubbard.