0 Page 4 OPINION Tuesday, March 8, 1983 The Michigan Daily. ;{ Walker tackles the NFL farm system By Mike Bradley p Herschel Walker accepted millions of dollars from the evil new United States Football League and everyone in the establishment is crying foul. The junior running back from Wrightsville, Georgia and the University of Georgia decided to ditch his final year of his quest for a college diploma by walking off with an estimated $4 million. The subsequent uproar created by the National Football League and the National Collegiate Athletic Association was as deafening as it was ridiculous. The NCAA maintained that the fledgling football league had broken a promise by signing the 1982 e Heisman Trophy winner. They were correct. The league's commissioner, Chet Simmons, had said that the USFL would not make any ef- forts to sign collegiate ballplayers who had not completed their four year stint at the various M institutions of higher learning. BUT SIMMONS replied to the charges by saying the Walker signing was to be the excep- tion to the rule, and that his league would never try to sign another underclassman. The NFL, of course, also cried dirty pool. They have remained a respectable American w institution by toeing the line when it comes to drafting athletes before their classes have graduated-usually without them. The NFL's wrath, however, was motivated by two other reasons. First, NFL teams will not have the oppor- tunity to draft, sign, and promote the Great y Both the NFL and the NCAA have good reason to be concerned. The right of an organization to force an athlete to stay in school-or rather on campus-for four years is going to be closely evaluated in the coming months. There should be no question as to the result of any ruling on the issue. IT IS PREPOSTEROUS for anyone to force an individual to remain in college for four years before he plays professional football. There is no rule that stops a sophomore com- puter engineering student from accepting an offer from IBM to forego his next two years to go to work for that organization. There is no such rule for college basketball players, either. Likewise, there should be no such rule preventing a superb quarterback from testing his talents in the professional ranks after his second year of college. These athletes are legal adults who should be allowed to make their own decisions about their own futures. The government has deemed them mature enough to vote, go to war, and (in some states) be executed for murder. Up against these important responsibilities, the decision to give up their education to play foot- ball does not seem like such a life and death choice. Why, then, is the American public so concer- ned over the decision of a 20-year-old to drop out of school and get a job? The answer is sim- ple: Every sports fan in the country knows of Herschel Walker. They don't know of the computer whiz. WALKER WILL spend the rest of his carer known as "the man who left early." His every move will be scrutinized based on that-from his decision to leave the USFL (if that ever happens) to his choice to run over a linebacker: instead of around him. That's the way it goes in sports. Everyone; wants to hear about the superstar. Herschel has been in the limelight since he exploded onto the college footbal scene by shredding Ten- nessee's secondary for the winning touchdown in his first collegiate game. He has been generating millions of dollars for: the University of Georgia for three years while' receiving the equivalent of $10,000 a year (thle cost of his education) in return. It seems only fair that he should say he is tired of risking his neck every Saturday for peanuts while Georgia's athletic department reaps great: piles of money. : Let the athletes leave the school when they want. The computer engineer doesn't stand to: have his career ruined by a late hit in the fourth . quarter of a game against Podunck U. The: football player could lose everything he hopes : for by turning his knee the wrong way on some synthetic grass. The decision to leave college and play. professional football should be made by thie: athlete, not by some committee of frustratd, ex-jocks. Herschel Walker should be commeh- ded for his challenge to the monster that isE professional football. In the future, there should be nothing to stand in the way of a young man who wants to interrupt his education forfa career. B Bradley is a Daily sports writer. Herschel, arguably the best player ever to wear a college football uniform. This is reason enough to be angry. But there is something a little bit bigger than even Walker that has the established league steaming. WALKER'S EARLY departure from college could signal the breakdown of the cost-free farm system that has fed the NFL since its in- ception. If players leave school when they want to, be it after their junior or freshman years, many athletes may see no reason to go to college to prepare themselves for the big time. Thus, the football leagues may have to set up a farm system, much like major league baseball, to accommodate the swelling ranks of potentially able players. The enormous cost and the loss of a great (free) system make it obvious why the leagues would not like to do this. W i3t htiganu atii Edited and managed by students at The University of Michigan Sinclair I Vol. XCIII, No. 122 420 Maynard St. Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Editorials represent a majority opinion of the Daily's Editorial Board West German winners ATO AND PRESIDENT Reagan received a big boost in the West German elections Sundayr.but despite- the conservative victory, it is clear West Germans are expecting a more moderate arms control position from the United States. One American of- ficial was right on the mark when he warned, "The biggest danger for us is too much optimism" regarding smooth sailing for U.S.-West German relations. Conservative Christian Democrat Helmut Kohl won a convincing victory, gathering nearly 49 percent of the vote. Together with the Free Democrats, who received almost seven percent of the votes, Kohl intends to steer a moderate path - supporting negotiations with the Soviets toward arms reductions. Kohl also had the for- tune not to win an outright majority, thus preventing right-wing Franz Josef Strauss from getting the foreign af- fairs portfolio in the new cabinet. But Reagan cannot take the vote as an indication that his zero option - whereby the United States would not deploy its Pershing II and cruise missiles in West Germany if the Soviets would dismantle its equivalent weapons - is now overwhelmingly supported by the West Germans. Public opinion polls conducted during voting indicate that, as in most elections anywhere, internal factors were decisive in the outcome. The big push to the Christian Democrats over the past few weeks apparently grew out of the belief that the conservative coalition could best stimulate the West German economy. And while the pro-American and pro- NATO parties are firmly in control as a result of the elections, the ad- ministration needs to remember that Kohl has promoted thorough negotiations on arms reductions before deploying the new missiles. His tone has been much more flexible than Reagan's-toward the Soviets. In addition, for the first time ever the anti-NATO Greens got enough votes to earn some seats in Parliament. Most of the Greens votes came from the anti- nuclear young people in the West Ger- man metropolitan areas, indicating the strength and resolve of that movement. President Reagan has an excellent opportunity to use the West German elections to negotiate an equitable nuclear arms reduction treaty with the Soviet Union. But he needs to realize that, though the pro-U.S. parties won big, a move toward compromise works best in victory. PERSONALLY, I PONTi THINK TL'\ OSTENMTATIOUS pISPLAY AND AR KTOCRA TIC TRAPP'INGS NAVJE A C C W qA puJVMaAcy. oREAGiAN SOppIN c - /1 / ~.i #2c I-i .: r :p ------------- '71 LETTERS TO THE DAILY: Military research is a big deal u t' t r r --1 n, f ! 1:: 1. i 1 [ , To the Daily: From reading Kevin O'Con- nor's "Protest on military research overblown" (Daily, March 3), one would think that the University is not involved in research which contributes to the deadly, if not murderous business the Pentagon is in. He would also have us believe that only a small number of students are somehow offended by research. There are many research projects done by the University which are military related. Many professors, faculty, staff, studen- ts, community groups, and ever- day people are more than just of- fended by this research. A group of 75 professors wrote a letter to Harold Shapiro and sent a copy to the Daily, which expressed their concern about military research on campus. They made a reference to the existing research policy at the University, which states, "The University will not enter into or renew any agreement or con- tract. or ace'Pnt anv grant. the it, however, and could be entirely too flexible if the Board of Regen- ts votes yes on a new wording proposal for the policy. Already, the University does such research as topographic map matching by computer which is the technology used in the cruise missile guidance systems. Just completed in December was contract to research stealth technology which makes U.S. aircraft less visible to radar and used to in- crease the destructive power of such marvels as the B-1 bomber. If they can't see it, you can get it closer to increase bombing ac- curacy and destruction potential. Also being sponsored by the Pen- tagon in a long term contract to study BCES, which is a mustard gas like those used by Germany in World War I. With these and other projects like them going on now, what could we possibly ex- pect if the wording of the Regen- ts' policy was changed (diluted) to ". . . the primary purpose of whic~h is to destrov huiman life or freedom. With all the money my position, I'd rather se available to do military research emotions for humanity rath6 at "one of the greatest research than reasoning for dollars decide institues in the country," what types of research gets done professors will not likely take less on the campus of what we all money to do something they hope will remain one of the might otherwise consider useful greatest liberal arts and sciencd and others of us would likely con- institutions in the country. sider peaceful. -Kevin Leach Although I feel reasonable in MarchG Hart campaign on campuse: To the Daily: sunny Friday afternoon, a year" I was surprised that the Daily and-a-half before the electio- did not cover the meeting an- shows that Hart's organization' nouncing the formation of myidedbthbsatea Students for Hart. The event was may indeed be the best, at leas, important not only in that it locally. marked the birth of an active In 1972, Gary Hart ran Georg campus group, but also because McGovern's primary compaigl; of the event's relation to the and helped McGovern to victory presidential race, over a dozen better-known cady Senator Gary Hart's (D-Colo.) didates. I hope the Daily will keep .gorits readers aware . of the: strategy is to capture the blossoming Hart candidacy, and Democratic nomination by out- its progress at Michigan. organizing the other candidates. -Dave KopeC The gathering of 45 students on a March? 1 k1 C I lfI. "hrA U!.