As a divison 3 college, no athletic scholarships are given at
Macalaster. Their sports teams have long been known for their futility
and at one time the football program had the longest losing streak in
the country. They even considered dropping football. Mac attracts the
Kofi Anan (sp) types. In fact, Kofi did attend...

Jay Tegeder
"Keep training, lycra never lies!" JT

"Pieter Litchfield" wrote in message . ..
I am associated with a college that dropped a hockey program when hockey is
on the upswing. Why? It's expensive and it didn't draw recruits,
especially in that college's league.

I don't know about the Reader's Digest Foundation, but I do know the
Reader's Digest magazine can't compete against the internet, and that
financial returns have been dismal for all endowments, college and
otherwise, for three years. So I'm guessing that maybe there is pressure
to limit the endowment support of the college.
So here's my best guess at what the "facts" might be:

(1) The X-C ski program is small and isn't drawing a lot of new freshman to
the college.

(2) The contribution from the endowment of the college is being reduced.
After a few lousy years in the stock market, the better endowed colleges are
suffering the worst because they are more dependent on the market for their
budget needs than just making tuition projections. I would guess the same
comment applies equally well to any other endowment making grants to the
college.

(3) Even though the X-C program is relatively cheap, other more expensive
programs (hockey?) draw more "full pay" students due to the conference they
compete in. It makes sense to immediately divert the limited funds
available into those activities that will generate revenues by attracting
"warm bodies" to the campus.

(4) College officers will always give students what they want if the
administration can just figure out how to break even at it.

(5) The quality of snow has nothing to do with it. "Liberal" has nothing to
do with it.

I have been looking at the numbers that New York State Office of Parks and
Historic Preservation uses to forecast the demand for facilities. The
latest survey they did was performed in 2002. While the growth rate for X-C
skiing was good statewide, it comes after a "recession" between 1998 - 2002
where there was a shrinkage in the number of X-C skiers. In addition, the
absolute number of skiers is very very small in comparison to other sports.
This is information for New York, not MN, and I would guess its very weather
dependent. You might want to look at the numbers for your area. I mention
this just to point out that if the college is looking to attract applicants
from a target pool, it may be cheaper and easier to pick a more popular
sport. Volleyball, basketball, hockey, and swimming are all more popular.
Hockey is an interesting comparison, because "ice time" is very expensive.
If you don't build and maintain a rink, you still have to rent time at one.
It would seem that X-C is very cheap by comparison. But I will assure you
that the college's administration made a rational decision based on the
payback that continued participation in that sport would generate.

I hope this is helpful in getting an "insiders" perspective on it.

"Jay Tegeder" wrote in message
om...
Unfortunately, Macalaster College, a small and wealthy liberal and I
mean "liberal" arts college in Saint Paul is dropping their Cross
Country Ski Team. This puts the MIAC Conference in a bind as they are
now one team short of qualifying as a conference. The Athletic
Director at Macalaster is Irv Cross. Yeah, the former CBS, NFL
broadcaster back in the 70s along with Brent Musberger and Phylis
George. Irv was a great football player but probably doesn't
understand cross country skiing and the rich nordic skiing tradition
of Minnesota. This comes at a time when the snow in the area is
fantastic. Macalaster is one of the wealthiest small colleges in the
country thanks to an endowment from the Reader's Digest Foundation. I
guess they'll waste the money on something else. The program was only
a five years old or so and was headed in the right direction.

Jay Tegeder
"On the podium if the right people don't show up!" JT