CHATTER: CSU LOBBYISTS HELP TO SLOW PROPOSED BILL.

Byline: Chris Branam Staff Writer

It would have been easy - and political - to go for the committee members' hearts.

But Lee Angela Reid didn't think it was the right time or place for that kind of move when the state Assembly Higher Education Committee met three weeks ago to discuss Senate Bill 338 - which would require state-funded universities and community colleges to give a one-year public notice if they intend to drop a participation sport. Now, she regrets that decision every day.

``I could have filled the room with coaches and had a big thing,'' said Reid, the legislative assistant to Sen. Cathie Wright, R-Simi Valley, who is sponsoring the bill. ``To come in and get slammed, it was a surprise.''

The proposed law passed the Senate 26-4 earlier this year and seemed destined to move to the Assembly when the committee met July 16.

Plus, Sen. Wright's office has received more than 100 letters of support for SB 338.

But legislative lobbyists for the California State University system attacked SB 338 as a needless law that gave collegiate athletics preferential treatment.

``A couple of the committee members said we were putting athletics ahead of academics,'' said Reid, the bill's main author. ``(They said) we were micromanaging them and putting a burden on them.''

Particularly galling for Reid was the CSU's opposition to SB 338 after she wrote specific amendments to the bill. The CSU argued there isn't any state law requiring students be notified one year in advance of a class being canceled.

``It was just unbelievable,'' she said. ``We're not going to come to a middle ground with the CSU. . . . When you're a Russian-literature major and your class is canceled, you don't lose your scholarship.''

What's next for SB 338? The higher education committee meets Aug. 17, and Reid is preparing another presentation. The committee can vote to move the bill along to the Assembly or kill it.

``It's really a make-or-break bill for this year,'' Reid said. . . .

Ron Ponciano, who two months ago was preparing for the coming college football season as the head coach at Cal State Northridge, has been offered a job as an assistant at Valley College.

``I would say at this point . . . (Ponciano) is very close to joining us,'' said Valley head coach Carl Ferrill, who said the chances of Ponciano coming on staff are ``75 percent.''

If he takes it, Ponciano will be the assistant head coach. Ponciano, who was fired on July 16 by CSUN, sold his Northridge home earlier this week and said if he coaches at Valley, he'll commute from Rancho Cucamonga, where he moved with his wife, Lisa, and 3-year-old son, Chad. . . .

Most high school and college baseball players don't get a chance to play professional baseball. Traviss Hodge already has been drafted twice - in 1998 when he was a senior at Highland High and this past June after his freshman season at Pierce College.

Hodge didn't sign in '98 and he won't this year. The Dodgers took Hodge in the 25th round and the negotiations were quick.

``Five thousand dollars . . . take it or leave it,'' is how Hodge described the Dodgers' offer.

Hodge, a pitcher who also plays the outfield and is a solid hitter, said he's going back to Pierce, and he's considering transferring to a four-year college after next season. He enrolled at Loyola Marymount out of high school but quit after only a few months on campus. . . .

For now, Liz Nemeth is only going to be kicking a soccer ball as a freshman women's soccer player at St. Peter's College in New Jersey. But the school's football coach is aware Nemeth, an All-City Section selection at Monroe High, also kicked extra points for the Vikings the past two years.

``We already looked at the schedule and there will be only three (soccer) conflicts with Saturday games,'' said Richard Nemeth, Liz's father.