Band marching on?

The CSU Marching Band may not be traveling with the CSU football

team when it plays in the Diamond Walnut San Francisco Bowl on Dec.

31, due to a possible lack of funding.

Gary Ozzello, senior associate athletic director, said the

university is doing everything it can to get the band, which has

more than 220 members according to its Web site, to San Francisco

for the 8:30 p.m. (Mountain Time) game against Boston College.

“We are making plans to have a band presence at the bowl game,”

Ozzello said. “The university administration and Mark Driscoll, the

athletic director, are working as hard as they can to make sure

that we have a band presence at the bowl game.”

Steven Moore, director of bands at CSU, said taking the band to

San Francisco would be very expensive. He said Boston College will

bring its band to the game, but not in the band’s entirety.

“The latest word I have from Boston College is they’re only

taking 37 people out of their 180-piece marching band,” Moore said,

adding that the low number of members will make things difficult

for the band. “To do the pre-game and halftime show is nearly

impossible. And 37 people will not be heard in Pac Bell

Stadium.”

Jarrod Schleiger, a drum major in the band, said he understands

the university’s inability to send the band to the game and would

rather not go than only send some band members.

“My feeling on it is we take all the band or we take none of the

band,” he said. “I would rather (the trip) not come out of the

university general budget and have it affect academic

programs.”

CSU receives a $750,000 payout for the San Francisco Bowl.

Ozzello said CSU receives about $270,000 of that cost and tries to

earn up the rest through ticket sales.

“We’re looking into exactly what we might be able to do within

the fiscal realities of this bowl,” said Tom Milligan, spokeman for

CSU. “Obviously the band is important to the institution.”