Facilities: Florida International University President Modesto Maidique has announced that Jorge and Carlos de Cespedes, owners of the Miami-based Pharmed Group, the largest independent distributor of medical, surgical and rehabilitative supplies in the U.S., have donated $1 million to the university athletics department. The de Cespedes brothers' donation is the largest donation in the history of the school's athletics department. "The entrepreneurial spirit that Jorge developed and nurtured in this country is the ideal we try to instill in our students," Maidique said. "This donation is a testament to that." In honor of the de Cespedes brothers' gift, the school's Golden Panther Arena will be renamed Pharmed Arena. The gift will be matched by the state for a total of $2 million. "We are honored to be able to give back to such a wonderful institution and to become a member of the Golden Panther team," said Jorge de Cespedes. "This is the first major gift that the newly formed Pharmed de Cespedes Foundation will bestow. The Foundation's mission is to assist South Florida students with their educational endeavors." Florida International Athletics Director Rick Mello said the university has a responsibility to nurture the minds of student-athletes in addition to their athletics ability. "This gift speaks to our commitment in the academic area," he said. The Golden Panther Arena opened in February 1986 and has a seating capacity of 5,000.

Sports sponsorship: The University of Southern Illinois at Carbondale has announced it is combining the men's and women's swimming and diving programs. The combined program will be under the guidance of Rick Walker, formerly the men's swimming and diving head coach from 1992 to 2004. "There are always benefits when you have a consolidation of staff as well as financially when you merge programs," said Paul Kowalczyk, Southern Illinois athletics director. "In the end, I think it will really benefit our program and you'll see continued success with this program. We have a tradition of an outstanding program and Rick's been a real key to maintaining and growing that tradition. We're excited for the future and have a lot to look forward to under his leadership." The programs were first combined in 1987, when Walker arrived as an assistant, and then separated for the 1992-93 season, his first year as the men's head coach.

Miscellaneous: The University of Hawaii, Manoa, will use a package of musical tracks for the upcoming football season designed specifically for the school by five-time Grammy-winning composer Mike Post. The tracks will be incorporated into various aspects of the game presentation, including players' entrance, starting line-ups, touchdown and field-goal celebrations, kickoffs, etc. Post, who also won an Emmy Award, has produced a number of famous television themes, including: "NYPD Blue," "Law & Order," "Magnum PI," "Hill Street Blues" and "L.A. Law." "We wanted to create a sound that the program and the players could be proud of," Post said. "At the same time, we wanted to be correct and respectful of the cultures and the traditions involved. Polynesia already has a great musical tradition and what we did was pull sounds from a thousand years ago and blended them with sounds of today. I have been a lifelong football fan and this was one way I could contribute to the Hawaii program." Warriors head coach June Jones, who is responsible for initiating the concept, said the musical themes should have a lasting impact. "Mike is the top producer in the industry and his contribution was a gift to us. For a person of his stature to give of his time and money in such a way, all I can say is, 'Mahalo' to him, from all of us." In addition to the musical tracks, a general slogan will also be introduced: "Eo Na Toa E," meaning, "We are the Warriors," in literal terms. The phrase was used before battle in ancient Hawaii. The team will use the slogan to call opponents out to battle and, according to Young, offer the challenge, "This is battle...you must respond." ... College Sports Television (CSTV) and the Mountain West Conference have announced a partnership that includes the first Division I-A football and men's basketball conference-wide deal for CSTV. The agreement, which begins in fall 2006, incorporates all conference-related media and marketing rights, including all television, national over-the-air and satellite radio, video-on-demand, online and broadband, and exclusive corporate sponsorship rights. "This is an ideal college sports match," said Mountain West Commissioner Craig Thompson. "This partnership will provide the Mountain West more exposure over a variety of mediums than any other conference." The two entities will partner in programming, marketing and scheduling that will include a significant increase of coverage for football, men's basketball and women's sports ... The University of North Carolina, Asheville, unveiled new athletics logos recently. The new logos were designed by Line Design Graphics of Greensboro with input from a campus committee that met over the last year. The logo was finalized earlier this summer. It replaces the previous logo used since 1990. "We believe these logos will do a great job branding UNC Asheville, its beautiful mountains, and us being part of the prestigious North Carolina University system," said North Carolina-Asheville Athletics Director Janet Cone. "We're hoping the new logos will appeal to our loyal and new fans alike as we look to maintain ties with our past and future. We want to be Asheville's hometown team. We're hoping to take a step toward achieving that with these new logos." ... The Northeast Conference will mark the start of the 2004-05 athletic year by launching Sportsmanship Counts!, a program designed to reinforce and promote the ideals and fundamentals of good sportsmanship. The impetus of the NEC initiative came during conference-wide meetings in May. Lengthy discussions among athletics directors, faculty representatives and conference office personnel echoed the sentiments of league presidents, who made it a point of emphasis to address means by which sportsmanship and civility can be restored to a greater degree in intercollegiate athletics. At the heart of Sportsmanship Counts! are two 10-point directives in the areas of sportsmanship and game management. Developed by the conference office, the guidelines encourage educating student-athletes, coaches, spectators and parents on the values of fairness, mutual respect and sportsmanship, while also addressing means to curb inappropriate behavior at NEC sporting events. "Our presidents have clearly made restoring sportsmanship and civility to athletics events a high priority," said NEC Commissioner John Iamarino. "The NEC's goal is to become a leader in this area and help effect an upward trend of improvement throughout intercollegiate athletics." The NEC will seek to communicate its message through public service announcements set to air on televised football and basketball games, public address announcements at all events and by embarking upon a campaign -- NEC Good Sports -- to recognize student-athletes who lead by example, exhibit model behavior on and off the field and display noteworthy acts of sportsmanship. The conference also will institute sportsmanship awards for individuals, coaches and teams that exemplify outstanding sporting conduct throughout the year.

-- Compiled by Gary T. Brown