"I think a lot of what you hear is perceptionand not reality," Henry adds.

But Henry and Cleary concede that women's teamsare at a disadvantage when it comes to externalfunds brought in through alumni efforts.

Friends' groups are alumni organizations thatraise funds to supplement operating costs forteams and provide them with program necessitiesnot in the budget, such as computers, VCRs andcameras.

While many men's teams have extensivefundraising capabilities due to long-establishedFriends' groups, women's teams must spend muchmore time raising money on their own.

"The women's teams do more fundraising than themen's teams," says field hockey's Coach Caples."We do the best with what we have."

Caples says she sells T-shirts and other goodsduring the summertime to raise money for her team.

Toland says alumni funds are only used foractivities "not within the normal operatingbudgets." He maintains that the department seeksto fund teams for all other necessary operatingcosts.

"For budgets for the regular season, all thecoaches are well taken care of," says Cleary.

But Men's Hockey Coach Ronn Tomassoni says histeam's recruiting efforts are supported largely bythe Friends' account. And Men's Swimming CoachMike Chasson says much of his team's funding alsodepends on alumni donations.

In light of these realities, Kleinfeldersuggests that the department should give women'steams more funding to compensate for suchdifferences in alumni support.

"Until women have Friends, someone has to pickup the slack," she says.

Department administrators, however, say theyare making a conscientious effort to build thewomen's Friends base by combining the groups forsome sports.

"We're well aware that women's Friends haveground to make up," Henry says.

The Harvard-Radcliffe Foundation for Women'sAthletics, which helps coordinate Friends' groupsfor women, was formed in 1981 to respond to theseneeds, Henry says.

And Toland says the department has used thebudget to try to even out inequities in theFriends' groups. "We've helped many sports toovercome deficits," he says.