Facilities: The University of Connecticut formally dedicated the Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum February 5 before the school's men's ice hockey team beat Sacred Heart University, 5-1. The Freitas Forum was opened for the 1998-99 season and is now being dedicated in honor of Freitas, a 1981 Connecticut graduate and former men's ice hockey letter-winner. Freitas graduated from Connecticut with a degree in business and is a member of the University of Connecticut School of Business Hall of Fame. He currently is the president and CEO of Frank Crystal and Company, Inc., an insurance brokerage firm headquartered in New York City. Freitas also has endowed a scholarship at Connecticut for students who are pursuing a career in business. The Freitas Forum is a year-round facility that is the home of both the Connecticut men's and women's varsity ice hockey programs. The facility also is used for recreational purposes by the entire university and local communities ... The University of Maryland, Baltimore County, began a stadium field turf replacement project January 24 that is expected to be completed this spring at a cost of more than $800,000. The current Deso-Turf surface at the stadium is being replaced by Sportexe's Momentum 51 synthetic turf, which is an infill system consisting of 70 percent ground rubber and 30 percent kiln-dried sand. The M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Roberts Stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi and Memorial Stadium at the University of California, Berkeley, are among other facilities at which the synthetic surface is used. UMBC Stadium was built in 1976 with a seating capacity of 4,500. The stadium has hosted the 1998 NCAA women's lacrosse championships and first rounds of the Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship in 2001 and 2002. UMBC's opening home men's lacrosse game vs. Ohio State University will be moved to Johns Hopkins University's Homewood Field. It has not been determined where the other men's and women's lacrosse home games will be played during the project ... The University of Nevada, Reno, broke ground February 11 on the second phase of a project called "Pack Village," which is a $3.2 million construction project to expand athletic treatment and rehabilitation facilities, strength and conditioning, an equipment storage room for all intercollegiate sports and expanded football coaches offices and meeting rooms. "This is something we've needed for a long time and it's finally coming to fruition after a lot of effort by our facilities department on campus, our architects, the development and facilities/
operations staffs in athletics and several others," said Nevada Athletics Director Cary Groth. The expansion comes on the heels of Phase I, completed in September 2004, which expanded the football, coaches and< men's Olympic sports locker rooms, and added a laundry area and a media interview/work room to accommodate pre- or postgame news conferences. That project cost slightly more than $1 million. Phase II will more than double the existing space in Cashell Fieldhouse, which houses offices for football staff, video, equipment, strength and conditioning, and athletic treatment. Funding is being provided through private donations secured by the athletics development staff. Naming opportunities still exist for the entire project as well as for specific areas in Pack Village Phase II.

Miscellaneous: Presidents, chancellors and provosts from the 12 Southeastern Conference institutions have created an organization called the Southeastern Conference Academic Consortium (SECAC) to coordinate efforts to bolster teaching, research, public service and other educational activities at the schools. University of Georgia President Michael F. Adams, chair of the SEC presidents and chancellors, said the creation of SECAC puts the SEC in the forefront of a national trend in collegiate athletics toward greater emphasis on academic achievement. "This new organization is an important component of the SEC's commitment to excellence in both athletics and academics," Adams said. "I am pleased to see the energy and effort demonstrated by the academic leadership of the universities in our conference." Participation in SECAC is voluntary, and all 12 member schools are supporting the consortium with financial contributions and by sharing information and working cooperatively to improve academics throughout the conference, said SEC Commissioner Mike Slive. "This academic consortium will provide an opportunity for our schools to work together to enhance and share academic resources," said Slive. "Students will benefit by shared courses, library resources, research and facilities. In this way the conference will work together, not only to enhance athletics programs, but also to enhance academic resources in a cooperative environment involving not just athletics, but all aspects of the university." The SEC schools have adopted a memorandum of understanding that creates SECAC and sets out possible initiatives in several academic areas in which the schools may participate. The initiatives include study-abroad programs and joint purchasing agreements for library holdings. The SECAC chair will be the provost at the university whose president or chancellor is the current SEC president. Thus, Arnett C. Mace Jr., senior vice-president for academic affairs and provost at Georgia, is the first SECAC chair. "The first initiatives undertaken by SECAC cover areas that are central to the academic mission of each member school," said Mace. "Not every school will participate in every initiative, but they have all agreed to be involved in one or more of these efforts. By working cooperatively, they will mutually enhance the academic strength of all the schools" ... ESPNU, a multimedia college sports initiative including a 24-hour television network launching March 4, has reached a seven-year agreement (through 2011-12) with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) for coverage of multiple sports, including cable exclusives for football and men's basketball. As part of the agreement, ESPN Classic will provide a live telecast of at least one football and one men's basketball game a year from each conference. As part of the agreement, ESPNU will acquire exclusive cable rights for MEAC and SWAC regular-season football and men's basketball. ESPNU will televise a minimum of seven football contests, primarily on Thursday nights, and eight men's basketball games a year from each conference. ESPNU also will provide extensive action from numerous MEAC and SWAC sports, including women's basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, and track and field. ESPNU or ESPN Classic will offer coverage of the SWAC football championship. Also, ESPNU will televise matchups from each conference's men's and women's basketball tournaments. ESPN2 will continue to cover the MEAC and SWAC men's basketball conference championships, while ESPNU will televise the women's. "This is truly a groundbreaking moment for the MEAC," MEAC Commissioner Dennis Thomas said. "To have a partnership with a world-known brand like ESPN is significant. I must commend ESPN's leadership for not only seeing a value in our product but having the financial courage to make a commitment to our conference. I would not be surprised if some of our coaches would move on to other opportunities in collegiate or professional sports by virtue of people seeing their product." SWAC Commissioner Robert Vowels said, "The partnership will enable millions of viewers to learn about the history of the 10 historically black institutions that are members of our conference. More importantly, the partnership provides national and international platforms to build the SWAC brand, heighten the awareness, showcase each campus and provide pertinent information about the academic and athletics programs at each institution" ... Northern Illinois University and Gatorade have entered into a four-year partnership that will benefit the 426 student-athletes in the Huskies' 17 varsity sports. The partnership includes substantial units of product, dispensing equipment, an annual supply allocation of cups, coolers, and towels, plus a special Huskies summer camp participant package.

-- Compiled by Gary T. Brown