Page 10-Tuesday, May 18, 1982-The Michigan Daily
MORE STRINGENT NCAA REQUIREMENTS?
Academic standards face revision
40
By BILL SPINDLE
A group of college administrators and
athletic officials, including University
Athletic Director Don Canham, agreed
last week on a set of proposals to raise
the academic requirements for the ac-
ceptance of athletes to the nation's
biggest schools.
The group, which met at the Univer-
sity of Georgia campus, will present
their two-point proposal to the National
CollegiateAthletic Association (NCAA )
for consideration at its January con-
vention.
THE NEW guidelines for acceptance
to the nation's approximately 100
Division I (or largest) schools would in-
clude:
" A requirement that the student com-
plete at least three years of high school
English and two years of high school
math with a minimum grade point
average of 2.0 (on a 4.0 scale). Presen-
tly, the NCAA has no course
requirements - only the athlete's
overall grade-point average is
examined.
" A requirement that the student must
achieve a score of 700 or greater on the
SAT or a 15 on an ACT.
" The proposal also reaffirms the
current NCAA requirement of an
overall high school grade point of 2.0 or
better.
Canham conceded that some current
University athletes "could be" below
the academic standars proposed by
the group, but said that the proposed
standards would not hurt athletic
recruiting .since the guidelines would
cover all division I schools.
Canham called the seminar a "star-
ting point" to "get people conscious of
the problems we have."
"I AM absolutely certain," he said,
"that unless those of us in inter-
collegiate athletics do something to im-
prove the way it is conducted, we will
have someone else dictating to us exac-
tly what we must do."
The group also addressed the
problem of recruiting violations which
have attracted considerable national
attention this year as many schools
have been sanctioned for violations. berge, president of the University of
Canham said that the group recom- Southern California; James Wharton,
mended that penalties for violations Chancellor of Louisiana State Univer-
should be more stringent and should be sity; Bob S.d Knight, head basketball
imposed on coaches and athletes as coach at University of Indiana; Vince
well as the institution responsible for Dooley, athletic director and head foot-
the violations. ball coach at the University of Georgia;
HE SAID that the group would be Fred Davison, President of the Univer-
meeting in the future to further discuss sity of Georgia; Henry Lowe, professor
the recruiting problem. of law, at the University of Missouri;
Some of the other officials who atten- and Joe Patoro, head football coach at
ded the seminar were: James Zdum- Pennsylvania State University.
TV causitng 'crisis,'
athletic official ~says
By BILL SPINDLE would ' robabl center on "raising the
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U, officials say admissions
rules the same for athletes
(Continued from Page 1)
players can even make a ripple in the.
University's affirmative action goals ...
it's smoke," said Bruce Friedman,
professor of pathology and a former
member of the faculty Senate Advisory
-Committee on University Affairs
(SACUA). SACUA has discussed the
athletic department issue extensively
in closed sessions with University
President Harold Shapiro and Vice
President for Academic Affairs Billy
Frye.
Ronald Bishop, a professor of inter-
nal medicine and SACUA chairman,
praised the athletic department's
commitment to minorities if the
athletes "are being brought in to get an
education. We want to be sure that the
student is not used by the system," he
said.
"I DON'T find that the athletic depar-
tment is sincere," said Michigan
Student Assembly President Amy
Moore. "I think affirmative action
should be taken through the University,
not the athletic department," she said.
Sjogren said the most important con-
sideration used in the admissions
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process is a prospective student's
chance of academic success at the
University. Because the athletic depar-
tment provides its own counseling and
tutorial services, and the department
insists on their use by athletes who need
it, 'an athlete often stands a better
chance of success on campus 'than
another student, Sjogren said.
"The athlete has an extra motivation-
he wants to be a student and an athlete
... the coaches say you'be here (at a
study session) or you don't dress on
Saturday," Sjogren said.
WILTON BARHAM, the associate
director of the Coalition for Un-
dergraduate Learning Skills (CULS), a
University minority counseling service,
agreed that participation was one of the
problems that his office faces.
"Our problem is really getting
students to consistently use the ser-
vice," said Barham, "(The athletic
department) can set up systems where
they can consistently guarantee par-
ticipation.. . they seem to have more
leverage on their players."
Asked in an interview last week if
pure athletic ability ever plays a role in
admissions decisions, Sjogren said,
"No," only the fact that athletes can
receive special counseling assistance is
a factor.
Thomas Anton, the University's
faculty representative to the Big 10
athletic conference, however, said
yesterday, "We have, because of their
special ability as athletes, taken them
into the, program." Anton made his
remark in an address to the Senate
Assembly on the broad subject of inter-
collegiate athletics.
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The huge influx of money into college
athletics from television contracts is
causing a "major crisis today in inter-
collegiate athletics," said Thomas An-
ton, the University's representative to
the Big Ten athletic conference, in a
report to the faculty Senate Assembly
yesterday.
In a wide-ranging report on collegiate
athletics, Anton cited a $200 million
college football television contract
which the NCAA recently negotiated
with ABC and CBS, and a $12 million
college basketball contract which the
Big Ten conference recently signed
with an independent network.
THESE HUGE sums of money, said
Anton, are the cause of much of the
cheating in college athletics.
Anton pointed out that there are 17
NCAA schools currently on probation,
and he cited an NCAA report on the
sanctions imposed on the University of
Southern California for violations that
stretched back nearly a decade.
He commented that colleges are fin-
ding it "hard to reconcile athletics with
big money."
BECAUSE OF the problems that
,college athletics now face, Anton
theorized that the NCAA would even-
tually raise the academic standards
required for scholarship eligibility in
NCAA schools.:'
He said the improved standards
Official plug S
(ContinuedfromPage3),
keep the task force informed of the in-
creases in research and development
funding available to the state, Bogdan
said. The National Science Foundation
makes available $250 million annually
and the defense department allocates to
the states twice that amount, he said.
"We want someone there who can tap
those resources," Bogdan said.
DESPITE THE recent bad news that
a New York investment service has
lowered thestate's bond rating, "We
are hoping these state initiatives are
strong enough signals to attract hi-tech
firms and new capital investment,"
Bogdan said.
One of the best things Michigan has
going for it, he said, is that the state has
an existing base of industry and in-
vestment on which to build. "It is on the
foundation of the maturing auto in-
dustry that we are going to build the
state's new industries," said Bogdan.
The state's education system has got
to remain top notch, said Bogdan. It is
not an accident that the greater concen-
tration of hi-tech firms are located in
states "with competitive and com-
required entrance level grade point
average" for entering freshman,
"moving back to some form of testing,"
and "using high school rank" in deter-
mining eligibility.
With the huge sums of money coming
into college athletics, some Senate-
Assembly members asked how the
money would be allocated at the
University.
Richard Bailey, a professor of
English, asked if the money would be
reinvested into revenue raising sports,
such as football and basketball, or if it
would be used to help the minor sports.
ANTON REPLIED that while there
will be large amounts of money coming
in, most of it may have to be used to pay
the department's rising costs, such as
those for transportation and energy.
"It may be money that will just help
us from falling farther behind," he
said.
In other Senate Assembly business,
School of Education Prof. Loren Barritt
asked that the Assembly be included in
discussions on how to deal with tenured
faculty in schools that may soon see
substantial reductions or elimination.
Thus far, the matter has been handled
in confidentiality between the Univer-
sity's executive officers and the Senate
Advisory Committee on University af-
fairs (SACUA), the Senate's executive
board.
state hi-tech
prehensive school systems," he said.
THE EMPLOYEES want for their
children and for themselves to be
challenged and taught the skills
necessary to compete in a society
where success may depend on "how
fast and how accurate one can type on a
computer keyboard," Bogdan said.
Bogdan feels the state has been less
than effective in meeting the
educational demands of its citizens. He
sighted Washtenaw Community College
as an example where they must turn
away students interested in learning
computer technology because the
school does not have enough funds to
open more classes.
"I have no sense that (the state) or
the nation is preparing for the future"-
a world-wide economy, a shift from
blue collar to gray collar jobs (those
related to producing and manufac-
turing of hi-tech components), and an
increase in white collar jobs, Bogdan
said.
Before, the unskilled could get menial
jobs, but not anymore, said Bogdan.
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