In recent years, when a university may earn well over $10 million per year from fees for sports-broadcast rights, half of the teams still lose. Collegiate athletic competition is a zero sum game: The number of winners equals the number of losers. So why do universities spend growing sums of scarce resources on an activity when the odds of winning…

Various aspects of the collegiate sports scene are examined with special emphasis on recruitment practices. It is suggested that college football and basketball satisfy two public demands: the desire for high level sports entertainment and (particularly in more remote areas) the need for national recognition of local accomplishment. In their…

Principals are ultimately responsible and accountable for all scheduled activities that are part of the school's program, including interscholastic athletics. Among their responsibilities are supervising athletic directors, treating coaches as teachers first and as glory-winners for the school second, maintaining responsible conduct among…

The events that produced the U.S. intercollegiate sports system are summarized, the role of recruiting within the system is examined, and some alternatives are suggested. Alternatives include either professionalizing those programs whose major purpose is public entertainment or returning to an amateur mode. (MLW)

A discussion of the devastating decline of Southern Methodist University's athletics program looks at what has happened in the past year, constructive responses to it, the university's prospects for the immediate future, and what can be learned by faculty concerned for academic integrity in todays' society. (MSE)

This article concentrates on the world of the student-athlete and those forces which, for better or worse, influence it. It analyzes the student athlete as a benefactor of those influences. Discusses the responsibility of teachers, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, the academic advisor, college admissions policies, recruiters, coaches,…

Testimony concerning the role of intercollegiate athletics in contemporary college life is recorded in this hearings report. Big-time athletics have become an increasingly important element within American colleges and universities, and at times they appear to overshadow academics in higher education. Student athletes are confronted with…

After noting recent discoveries of falsified transcripts and other collegiate athletics scandals, this paper discusses the need to maintain academic integrity in athletic programs and defends rules established by the California Commission on Athletics (COA) against charges that they are unfair to community college students. The paper first warns…

Two major factors plaguing the sanity of collegiate athletic programs are identified as (1) the excessive economic needs of the athletic programs and (2) the gross abuses associated with recruitment of athletes. There is general agreement that abuses will not be stemmed until university presidents take more responsibility for college sports. (MLW)

College athletic programs are too professionally organized to retain their amateur status, the essence of which is participant oriented. Because intercollegiate athletics is at least partly a commercial entertainment and of financial benefit to the sponsoring institution, athletes should be considered "workers." Physical and emotional…

The provisions of the December 1979 statement interpreting Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, concerning sex discrimination in intercollegiate athletics programs, are outlined. A commentary is provided on some portions, including a new jurisdictional statement, scholarship and recruiting rules, and attempts to regulate employment…

College athlete recruiting, admissions, athletes' student life and education, health and financial aid policies, athletic conferences, budgets and revenues, review and control--key questions that trustees should be asking themselves about the state of athletics at their institutions--are discussed. (Author/MLW)

The college president of a Division I university must have accurate and timely information on intercollegiate athletics to be able to represent it to the institution's constituencies. Information needed includes the admissions process for recruits, classroom performance of student athletes, and personal conduct of team members and coaches.…

Excerpts from the National Collegiate Athletic Association Presidents' Commission policy paper on intercollegiate athletics reform address such issues as the college experience of athletes, awarding of student financial aid, eligibility, the effects of competition, recruitment policies, program effects on institutions as well as athletes, and…

This essay on the necessity of colleges and universities to become truly inclusive institutions focuses on particular issues affecting black students. These include the concept and policy of affirmative action, the dangerous implications of "hate speech," and the exploitation of black athletes by universities. The essay urges the use of…