"It was enlightening and so I think that it needs an explanation," Costin Scalise said. "It is wonderful that they have opened up for discussion [with] both male and female coaches."

Costin Scalise commended the report for allowing coaches to see what goes on in other departments--which rarely otherwise happens--because it will show coaches how much they are entitled to.

"It was great, because with this published report the coaches can now say, 'Hey I need more money to make my program better," Costin Scalise said. "It enlightened women's coaches in that now they can ask for more to make their programs successful."

Above all, though, the women's coaches just want to get the reasons behind the numbers.

"It's hard to compare apples and oranges, and when you look at bottom line it is a little shocking," Costin Scalise said.

Cleary and Henry said that they are afraid that people will compare the dollar amounts without looking at the reasons behind them, and said that was their motivation for holding a press conference.

It was the first time in several years that Cleary allowed himself to be quoted on the record in a student publication.

Cleary attributed the high cost of recruiting for men's teams to the fact that some of the teams require a high level of recruiting to stay competitive in the Ivy League.

He noted that much of the recruiting dollar is consumed by men's hockey, which goes after many Canadian players.

Cleary also stressed that the department is in the process of merging the alumni donation funds for each sport, commonly known as the "Friends of" groups.

For instance, the Friends of Harvard Basketball alumni groups have merged into one fund and, by the end of the year, all similar sports will be joined.

He said this will mean that teams will no longer have funds of different sizes.

The only sports that will not be joined are those that are only played by one sex, namely field hockey, football and wrestling. However, Cleary said these funding pools would be bolstered if they started to lag behind the combined groups.

On the potentially contentious $8,000-gap between the salaries of coaches of men's teams and women's teams, Cleary said that many factors go into how much a coach is paid, including experience, performance and a coach's market value. Every position and salary is approved by the Human Resources department of the faculty.

All in all, Cleary said he is confident that any difficulties this report has created with the women's coaches will be ironed out.

"I feel absolutely comfortable," Cleary said. "Perfect, no; but comfortable. There was only one guy that could walk on water, and it wasn't me.