"There's a standing committee on admissions andfinancial aid, but the committee does not reviewthe budget," Lewis says.
Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57, whoalso sits on the committee, says he is "veryactive" in keeping the athletic departmentaccountable.
But the committee meets just once a month for alittle more than an hour, and its power is onlyadvisory. In addition, members of the committeesay athletics department officials generallypropose the topic of conversation for eachmeeting. And committee members say they do not seethe department's budget.
Committee members say that while they havestudied issues like the first-year footballprogram in detail, they have not talked about anypossible discrepancies in funding or support fromsport to sport.
"We haven't had much discussion with regards tothis, which suggests it's being handled within thedepartment," Jewett says.
Faculty officials say the athletic departmenthas been as hurt as much as any department bycost-cutting measures.
In the wake of multi-million dollar FASdeficits, the athletic department has cut theequivalent of two full-time jobs and will have tocut two more next year, according to Toland.
Cleary says that any further cuts will impactall sports equally.
"If we're going to have to make cuts, we'regoing to make cuts across the board," Cleary says.
Kathy Delaney-Smith, coach of the varsitywomen's basketball team, says that cuts have beenmade in areas like recruiting and traveling, whichhave less of an impact on students.
"I think it has affected the coaches more thanthe athletes," Delaney Smith says.
Athletic administrators say that while theirdepartment is not perfect, it is ultimately verysuccessful.
"Take a look at the success overall of Harvardathletic teams," says Henry. "You're not going tofind many Division I programs with our kind ofrecord of winning and losing. That's not what lifeis all about, but it helps."
Steve Engle contributed to the reporting ofthis story.