Icer Coach Joe Battista used to be a Penn State ice hockey player. During that time, he heard of a plan that would elevate the club team to varsity status along with the women's soccer team.

It did not turn out that way.

The women's soccer team played its first varisty game last fall. The Icers remain a club team. But the Icers are not concerned with what is written on paper.

"We operate ourselves as though we were a varsity program," Battista said. "We go under the modus operandi that if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck."

But the chance that the Icers will become a varsity team is slim. The implementation of Title IX in 1972, a law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in educational institutions receiving federal funds, could delay the elevation of some men's programs.

"Right now," Athletic Director Tim Curley said, "our primary focus is to continue to increase participation rates in women's sports."

Curley said the department evaluated the University's long-range athletic budget in order to increase scholarship allotments. It also devised a tier system to allocate scholarships according to the number of athletes on a team.

Curley said the athletic department is not currently planning to add sports -- for women or men.

"We really pretty much offer every sport that the NCAA has a championship in," he said.

However, the NCAA sponsors championships for ice hockey, riflery, skiing and water polo --sports the University does not sponsor but does have as club teams.

In order for the University to sponsor additional sports, the interest level at Penn State has to be examined, along with participation statistics in high schools and colleges, Curley said.

Until that happens, he said the athletic department will not consider elevating the Icers to varsity status.

But Battista does not want the University to give ice hockey the same benefits that every other varsity sport at Penn State receives. For starters, he would like the Icers to become a Division I independent team with no scholarships.

The varsity status would allow the team to play against tougher teams and attract more athletes, he said.

Curley said he would like as many teams as possible to have the opportunity to become varsity. But because the University already has such a broad sports program with a limited budget, it is not always viable, he added.

Although the Icer program raises 60 to 65 percent of its own money -- with some support from the athletic department -- financial questions remain. The cost of maintaining a hockey team is high, Battista said.

"It's just really frustrating, and is gender equity to blame? Not entirely. Certainly, it's part of the equation for why we haven't been elevated to varsity status."

The women's soccer team successfully made the transition from club to varsity status. In its first season of play, the team recorded a 14-4-1 record and a second-place regular season finish in the Big Ten.

But success does not necessarily lead to varsity status. To date, the American Collegiate Hockey Association's No. 1 Icers have racked up 188 wins in Battista's eight seasons.

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Citing low attendance and poor student support, Illinois dropped men's fencing and swimming, as well as men's and women's diving, in 1993. Illinois Sports Information Director Mike Pearson said the swimming team was dropped primarily for bugetary reasons, adding that the team's lack of success was also important.

Pearson said that gender equity "probably played a part."

In the summer of 1993, Lisa Stimpfle, a former member of the Illinois women's swimming team, expressed her anger at the dropping of the men's program, founded in 1911, and countered the reasons now cited by Pearson.

"I can't believe (the cutting of the men's team) was for the budget because their budget (was) so small, it's insane," she said. "And if it's because of gender equity, that's discrimination."

Spearheading an attack against the dropping of men's programs is the National Wrestling Coaches Association. The NWCA formed a coalition and circulated a survey to members of Congress as a number of wrestling programs have been dropped.

"Our goal is to maintain or increase opportunities for male athletes to compete, while increasing opportunities for female athletes to compete under Title IX gender equity rules," wrote NWCA president T.J. Kerr in his letter.

But there has not been much response to the survey, according to Leslie Dunlap, legislative assistant to Illinois Rep. J. Dennis Hastert, because a lot of congresspeople do not respond to surveys.

But Sen. Arlen Specter and seven other senators sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education, outlining their beliefs about Title IX. In the letter, the senators supported the intent of the provision, but not the implementation:

"We believe that such an emphasis on the proportionality test is inconsistent with the intent of Congress, creates economic hardships to certain universities, and would actually serve to undermine the goal of gender equity."

Rich Lorenzo, co-executive director for the NWCA and a former Penn State wrestling coach, said the group just wants to have opportunities for both genders without anyone losing chances.

"We took up the fight mainly because we're approaching 100 collegiate wrestling programs (with programs)," he said.

The move towards proportionality creates fewer spots for walk-ons because roster sizes had to be cut, said Dale Anderson, a legal consultant for the NWCA.

Anderson joined Michigan State's wrestling team as a walk-on and went on to be a two-time national champion. Anderson said walk-ons can become great athletes without scholarships.

"Getting rid of walk-ons doesn't do anything," Anderson said. "There are Rudys out there."