.player { width:250px; overflow:hidden; }
var so = new SWFObject('http://lamp.dailypennsylvanian.com/v3apps/libraries/jw_mediaplayer/mediaplayer.swf','mpl1','300','20','8'); so.addParam('allowscriptaccess','always'); so.addParam('allowfullscreen','false'); so.addVariable('height','20'); so.addVariable('width','250'); so.addVariable('file','http://lamp.dailypennsylvanian.com/storyFeatures/mar-6/030608scurria_finaid_seg1.mp3'); so.write('segment1');
var so2 = new SWFObject('http://lamp.dailypennsylvanian.com/v3apps/libraries/jw_mediaplayer/mediaplayer.swf','mpl2','300','20','8'); so2.addParam('allowscriptaccess','always'); so2.addParam('allowfullscreen','false'); so2.addVariable('height','20'); so2.addVariable('width','250'); so2.addVariable('file','http://lamp.dailypennsylvanian.com/storyFeatures/mar-6/030608scurria_finaid_seg2.mp3'); so2.write('segment2');
var so3 = new SWFObject('http://lamp.dailypennsylvanian.com/v3apps/libraries/jw_mediaplayer/mediaplayer.swf','mpl3','300','20','8'); so3.addParam('allowscriptaccess','always'); so3.addParam('allowfullscreen','false'); so3.addVariable('height','20'); so3.addVariable('width','250'); so3.addVariable('file','http://lamp.dailypennsylvanian.com/storyFeatures/mar-6/030608scurria_finaid_seg3.mp3'); so3.write('segment3');
var so4 = new SWFObject('http://lamp.dailypennsylvanian.com/v3apps/libraries/jw_mediaplayer/mediaplayer.swf','mpl4','300','20','8'); so4.addParam('allowscriptaccess','always'); so4.addParam('allowfullscreen','false'); so4.addVariable('height','20'); so4.addVariable('width','250'); so4.addVariable('file','http://lamp.dailypennsylvanian.com/storyFeatures/mar-6/030608scurria_finaid_seg4.mp3'); so4.write('segment4');
Karin Brower is barely concerned about it. Rudy Fuller is slightly apprehensive. Al Bagnoli says it "scares" him.
All three Penn coaches - Brower of women's lacrosse, Fuller of men's soccer and Bagnoli of football - said that the financial-aid reforms at Harvard, Penn, Yale, Dartmouth and Brown have turned the distribution of aid money into a front-burner issue in the Ivy League.
But they are divided on the programs' effect. While Bagnoli said the Ivies that offer larger aid-packages might stand a better chance of landing a team-changing football recruit and upsetting the competitive balance, Brower said that her program would remain insulated from changes on the playing field.
Lacrosse draws from a wealthier economic pool, she said, and is less reliant on aid money. And Penn, last year's NCAA runner-up, is a marquee women's lacrosse program. Harvard, which sports the most generous aid program in the country, is 22-55 over the past five years.
"They haven't been a top program. We haven't been losing top recruits to Harvard," Brower said. "They've been choosing us."
Brower thinks they will continue to make that choice, regardless of how cheap attending Harvard becomes.
Not all sports will have that luxury. There is no consensus among league coaches on who will be affected - and by how much - by these new initiatives. But some are clearly more nervous than others.
Cornell and Columbia are the only conference members who have not recently announced an ambitious plan. Coaches there have already spoken out. Cornell football coach Jim Knowles told his school's paper that his university's financial-aid offerings were not competitive with those of its peers, and Columbia women's basketball coach Paul Nixon told his school's paper that he "move[s] on" if he finds out that a recruit is interested in Harvard, Yale or Princeton first and Columbia "as a backup."
All three Penn coaches said they will continue to recruit against all of the other Ivies.
"Inevitably, you're going to get a fair amount of overlap at any given [Ivy] school," Bagnoli said of the pool of recruits. Brower said that the majority of her recruits were deciding between Penn and another Ivy.
Like Brower, Fuller said that he wasn't worried about Harvard attracting more and more athletes. But he hedged, saying that "the dust needs to settle" before judging the full effect. At that point, he said, the university presidents should consider the solutions they have been presented and move forward.
Complicating things, it's not just about the money. It's about how families are getting it, too.
Under the old programs, some students were kept away from the financial-aid process by the process itself. The need to submit sensitive household finances - asset, tax and loan information - makes families leery, Bagnoli said. The programs at Harvard, Yale and Princeton, with their new commitment to simplicity, can give families an estimate without an invasive paperwork process.
On the other hand, Brower said that disclosing sensitive financial data has never been a concern for her recruits because of their comfortable economic status.
But that new lack of disclosure can be enough to persuade those students who might never have thought of going Ivy League to reconsider. And even in a sport like football, with its triple-digit rosters, one player can make or break a team.
"In sports, access to one player, two players or three players can change the total dynamic," Bagnoli said.
The three Penn coaches said that they were pleased with the University's new aid program, which was the first one announced by another Ivy after Harvard's.
It eliminates loans for all undergraduates beginning in 2009-10, matching Harvard's commitment. But it will not commit to an income floor under which households will pay no tuition, as other Ivies, including Harvard, have done.
"We are focused on getting the word out broadly to prospective students, so no student is deterred from applying because of the cost," said Penn Director of Financial Aid Bill Schilling.
"Penn came out with an initiative as well, which I certainly think is going to soften a [few] of the things that Harvard presented," Bagnoli said.
Right now, Penn isn't falling behind. The future? Depends on who you ask.
