Gas

THE gasoline situation has DCAC officials nervous. "Quite frankly, we're scared to death of it," says Peters. "I fear some people won't come to football games because they'll be afraid they won't have gas to get home." Peters has urged alumni clubs to charter buses for games and has contacted a number of gas stations in Hanover about staying open on Saturdays after the games or on Sundays for those persons staying in Hanover for the weekend. Peters reports that several gas dealers have expressed willingness to do this.

Whitey Burnham, assistant director of athletics, says the gasoline situation could worsen a growing problem: dwindling attendance at Ivy League games, expecially at Yale and Princeton, over the last three or four years. "You can't put a finger on the reason," Burnham says. "It certainly doesn't seem to be dwindling interest."

Early in August, Burnham hadn't tallied the number of ticket applications for the opening game against Princeton. "Our overall income is up so far; on the other hand ticket prices [$8] are also up. The College is not interested in commercialization of athletics, but we are interested in that athletic buck. We'll sure be hurt across the board if we don't get it. You can only guess what the attendance will be, but there's no question that' the availability of gasoline will affect spectator turnout."

The increase in the cost of gasoline has already had an impact on the DCAC budget. The fee for chartering buses has gone up some seven to nine per cent over last year's cost. That's no small amount when the College has been spending a little more than $50,000 annually to transport its athletes to other campuses.