Facilities: Construction to install more than 4,000 permanent seats in the north end zone of Colorado State University's Sonny Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium has begun and should be completed during the 2004 season. The construction is another step in the renovation and expansion of the stadium made possible through a $15.2 million gift presented to the school a year ago by Pat Stryker and the Bohemian Foundation. Last December, crews completed a full-length artificial practice field, and earlier this spring, crews dismantled two existing scoreboards that are being replaced in time for the 2004 season, including a state-of-the-art videoboard on the south end of the stadium. By the 2005 season, the school will have available 12 luxury suites, an expanded and renovated Rams Horn premium club level seating area, additional fan amenities and a renovated press box.

Sports sponsorship: The University of Detroit Mercy has decided to eliminate its baseball program. The discontinuation was the result of cost reductions that affect the entire university. The move will leave Detroit with 16 varsity sports, seven men's and nine women's. The 22 baseball student-athletes who had eligibility remaining, plus the two who have already signed letters of intent to enter the university in the fall, will be given an immediate release if they seek to play elsewhere. If they choose to remain as students at Detroit, their scholarships will be honored for the 2004-05 academic year. "Financial pressures on the athletics department have increased, and many institutions across the country have taken similar action. No athletics director wants to see a program cut," said Detroit Athletics Director Brad Kinsman. "But we had to address a number of issues, without delay. One option was to consider a dramatic downsizing within our administrative staff, which would have affected the quality of our entire program. The other involved dropping more than one sport. We have chosen a combination of the two alternatives to meet the required cost reductions and made the decision to drop this particular sport. This is a difficult action, but hopefully it will help secure our long-term future as a Division I athletics department. We think we will be able to concentrate on our remaining 16 sports to bring them to the level of excellence one would expect of a quality program."

Miscellaneous: The Santa Clara University athletics department has developed a new family of logos and word marks for its intercollegiate athletics. "This new identity system is intended to capture the rich tradition of Santa Clara athletics as well as appeal to a variety of demographics," said Santa Clara Athletics Director Cheryl L. Levick. "The introduction of these new marks should help us extend our brand into new retail outlets and positively position athletics merchandise as we achieve success on the field or the court." The new identity program, created by Phoenix Design Works of New York City, includes a primary mark that features both a logo (the new-look Bronco) and word mark (Santa Clara); a design update of the traditional block SC logo; and sport and department-specific logos that incorporate both the Bronco and "Santa Clara." The marks continue to use the cardinal red and white as official colors, while using gray and black as accent colors.

-- Compiled by Gary T. Brown