When John Paul, head coach of the Michigan men’s club lacrosse team, was crunching his budget numbers in preparation for the coming spring, the cost of traveling these days became painfully clear.
He knew the price of fuel, which is up nearly a dollar from the same time last year, would force the cost of his team’s four plane trips to skyrocket, but he hadn’t counted on the indirect impact of gas prices. Flying out of Detroit, the Wolverines travel almost exclusively on Northwest Airlines, and because of Northwest’s recent decision to charge $15 for one checked bag and $25 for a second, the program is about to absorb a budget hit that Paul estimates will be near $25,000 for the team’s four excursions.
