He added that private donations make up about 20 to 25 percent of total incoming funds to the athletic department.

Powell said the numbers have recently remained constant, but often fluctuate from year to year depending on the size of the gifts.

The Nittany Lion Club provides financial support to about 500 student athletes and 29 sports, including 15 men's and 14 women's teams.

Powell said a minimal decrease in overall private athletic donations was due to the end of the Grand Destiny Campaign, a seven-year, university-wide effort to raise $1.3 billion that ended in 2003.

Corporate support of the athletic program has seen a slight improvement during the last three years, Powell said.

Peter Weiler, associate vice president for development and alumni relations, said he does not expect to see any immediate or long-term effects on corporate donations to athletics resulting from the losing record because games have still been fairly well-attended.

"If there was a situation where the stadium wasn't filling up, that might be a different story," he said.

MBNA Corporation has had a 15-year relationship with Penn State and it has made a point to donate to both the university's athletic and academic programs, said Jim Donohue, spokesman for MBNA.

Donohue said the company gives money to the athletic department because of its close relationship with Penn State graduates.

"Alumni of the university are a great audience for the credit cards that we issue," he said.

He added that football games are a great way to not only market to alumni, but to students, parents, administration and staff, as well.

Donohue said the corporation works closely with the administration to determine where funds are most needed.

A series of less-than-desirable football seasons would have no effect on how much or to where the donations will be directed, he said.

"We have an agreement with the university and we live by those agreements whether the football team wins or loses," he said. "The athletic record is a trivial matter."

Donohue added that the corporation has had a reciprocal relationship with the academic side. The company gives money to academia and in return has found it beneficial to hire more than 500 Penn State graduates, he said.

The fourth-largest donor to sports programs last year was the Penn State Alumni Association, Weiler said.

The sponsorship is more evidence of the important financial link between Penn State graduates and support of sports programs.

"It's quite clear that athletics is the doorway that a lot of friends and alumni use to re-enter the university," he said.

But the continued support still does not mean that athletic coffers are stellar.

Officials in the athletic department are finding ways to enhance this close connection as financial burdens in the department persist.

In October, the athletic department embarked on a $100 million fund-raising campaign with hopes of sustaining private and corporate donors and keeping the athletic department self-supported.

The campaign will primarily raise money for athletic scholarships. Financial support for athletes has been an increasing burden on the budget as tuition continues to rise, Powell said.

Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley said increased travel, personnel and medical coverage expenses coupled with the costs of rising tuition continue to be burdens on the budget of Penn State's athletic department.

However, the problems aren't bad enough that the department will have to make any grave changes, he said.

"Financial burdens in the athletic department at Penn State are an ongoing issue, just as they are at other schools across the country," he said. "I don't think they [the financial burdens] are any bigger now than they were a year ago."

Curley said he was unsure of where funding cuts would be made in a situation where belt-tightening initiatives would need to be made.

"We haven't had to cross that bridge yet, so I don't know which way we would go," he said.

He cited cutting back athletic programming, support staff, or dipping into general funds as possible choices for regaining revenue.

However, now that the fund-raising campaign has begun, hopefully these changes won't be necessary, Curley said.

The fund raising will allocate money for sports facilities, such as a new baseball stadium, wrestling complex, softball stadium, golf clubhouse and indoor tennis complex.

Powell said that while some are quick to criticize the department for making lavish improvements in a time of financial hardships, the criticism is unjustified.

"These are facilities that are currently trailing behind those in the Big Ten," he said.

Curley said it is essential to keep Penn State facilities comparable to those in the Big Ten because of recruitment.

"If someone goes to another school and they have a nice facility, we don't want them to feel like that university is more committed to that sport than we are," he said.

However, the proposed improvements need to be completed because the facilities are obsolete, Curley said.

Rec Hall, which currently houses the training and practice facilities for the wrestling team, is currently under renovation. It was built in 1965 and lacks the proper equipment needed for training, Powell said.

Constructed in 1970, the indoor tennis building is also in need of renovation, Curley said.

The current structure only has four tennis courts, and six are needed to compete in a Big Ten match, he said.

"These are improvements that are in dire need," Powell said. "These are not a part of the athletic arms race."

Some in the movement say there is no denying that a financial arms race exists in athletics.

They say that spending on major sports at universities is skyrocketing and that the competition between schools is taking place in an increasingly commercialized way.

Curley said there is a certain competition to spending money on athletic programs, but that this is the same competition that takes place with the update of academic buildings.

Penn State's membership in COIA is evidence that the university is attempting to counteract such pressures.

Currently, the COIA is concerned with creating a draft policy on academic integrity, Nichols said.

Officials will meet in January to discuss issues related to keeping universities academically oriented.

Nichols said Penn State's system is one of the best out of all schools represented in the COIA.

The fact that the university's athletic department is self-supporting helps keep academic issues separate from athletic ones. Additionally, academic advising is not part of the athletic department as it is as other schools, he said.

Keeping commercialism out of college sports has been a longtime goal of the COIA.

It has also remained important at Penn State, Powell said, and the goal remains increasingly imperative as corporate sponsorships of athletic programs multiply.

"This is not pro sports," he said. "We don't want to turn this to a commercial atmosphere."

Corporate sponsors have a choice of donating $75,000, $195,000 or $395,000 per year as part of an advertising package that gives them signs in Beaver Stadium and the Bryce Jordan Center.

However, care is taken to make sure the advertising is not pervasive and does not turn the venues into commercial conglomerates.

Curley said he is fairly confident that the fund-raising campaign will do its job so cuts won't have to be made.

"Hopefully the campaign will offset us having to take any drastic measures," he said.

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