Page 6S/The Battalion/Monday, August 27, 1984
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Academy
ATHLETICS
(Continued from page 1)
letic programs has always been em
phasized by major universities,
O’Neal says. Lately it has become a
controversial issue, he says, because
people have become more aware of
the money that is spent on the pro
grams. To have good programs,
O’Neal says, a school has to be will
ing to pay for them.
O’Neal says he went to college
with the objective of going to dental
school, but sports were an important
f »art of his life. It was somewnat dif-
icult finding the time to study and
practice football, O’Neal says.
“Athletes have to take advantage
of time they have by maximizing it,”
O’Neil says. To do this the athlete
has to practice at the given time and
study in their free time, as opposed
to other students who play sports in
their free time.
“A lot of football players are la
beled dummies, but they really are
not,” O’Neal says. “I can think of a
lot of football players that played on
my team, who are very successful in
what they are doing today.”
“The purpose of institutions of
higher education such As Texas
A&rM is to educate young men and
woman,” says Don Hunt, Texas
A&M’s athletic academic counselor.
“However, I feel there is not a con
flict between athletics and academ
ics, but there is some constraints on
times and tensions.”
For example, Hunt says, between
50,000 to 70,000 will congregate in
Kyle Field on eight Saturdays this
fall, to scream and hollar at 22
young men participating in a grid
iron battle.
But the former students want a
good football team, Hunt says.
“It’s true not all our students are
well prepared to attend college, but
we have services to bring them to a
the level to compete in the class
room,” Hunt says.
The athletic department offers
special academic support services for
all athletes. The services include
mandatory study hall, a free tutorial
service, a counseling system and ex
tended scholarship benefits. The ex
tended benefit. Hunt says, allows
scholarship athletes who do not
graduate on time to keep their schol
arship as long as they are progres
sing toward a degree.
Former Texas A&M scholarship
tennis player, Laura Hanna major
ing in exercise technology says, “It’s
not a bad deal to graduate late since
I’m able to stay at A&M on a schol
arship. It gives you an incentive to
do well in academics because you can
keep your class load down and do
well in both school and athletics.”
“A&M stresses academics ahead
of athletics,” Hanna says. But the de
cision whether to concentrate on
academics is left up to the individual
to do what they want to do, she says.
The National Collegiate Athletic As-
socaition and the South West Con
ference requires athletes to maintain
a 2.0 grade point average and pass a
minimum of 24 hours in a calendar
year.
Hunt says the over-all average
grade point of Aggie athletes is a 2.5.
Less then 16 percent of all athletes,
he says, are on academic probation.
It’s commonly assumed that most
athlete’s majors are physical educa
tion; therefore one might criticij
the 2.5 ratio for being low.
But according John Heldenfelti
senior civil engineering major, on
the Aggie swim team, 14 of the IS
male swim team members are
neering majors. “Over-all the gnde
are pretty good,” he says.
Heldenfels who came to Tea
A&M for its engineering prograr.
says, “an athlete has to keepaheadd
scnedule and not take thingsasthe,
come or the athlete will get
away.”
In comparison to the footlni
team, Heldenfels feels the nil
team is treated equally. He says,Tit
g otten a super fair shake sinceI'lt
een a freshman.”
Incoming freshman, the life bbl
of the student body have just com
out of high school where A’sandBi
are usually easily earned grade
Freshman are usually shockedwhe,
they have to actually study foratet
Freshman athletes have it eta
tougher. They must adjust to
ing their favorite sport undera
of pressure they have neverexper
enced before.
Mark Motley, a freshman tjuai
ter back says,“I really don’t knot
what to expect from A&M academ
cally.”
Motley from Ore City, Texas
plans to major in mechanical engr
neering. He says he considerd
going to Southern Methodist I'm
versity and The University Texas
but to major in engineering AH
was the school to go to. Heatsosaw
his mother had a lot to do with to
decision. She is a school teacher bad
in Ore, Motley says. My mothertold
me “your going to A&M foracadem
ics first and athletics second."
Motley says Hunt told him
g onna be hard to find time to study
ut you have to find it, or your not
gonna make it.”
Motley says, “I hope I’m prepa
red.”
Once through their freshmaa
year athletes nave hopefully ad
justed to coping with athletics and
academics.
Aggie starting quarterback, Kevia
Murray a sophmore physical educa
tion major says "in order to plat
football I have to be academicallyeli
gible-you know what I mean?"
Murray says, “I really wouldol
liked to major in something lilt
communications, but time wise I
really couldn’t do it.” Besides regu
lar practice, he says, he spends mt
to six hours a day watching practice
films.
Although Murray’s life is centered
around football, he says, he taket
pride in what he does and that in
cludes academics he says. During fall
semesters he says he maintains good
enough grades to get by. “1 trynotto
get any D’s or F’s,” Murray says.
The ignorant stereotype of foot
ball players does not bother Murrat
“I take pride in myself,” he says.
“I don’t care what people think
but I just wonder how can youstt-
reotype a person when you doni
know them?”
Sherrill is a strict disciplinarian
when it comes to academics, Mum?
says. But it’s good, he says, because
most people in the world have to be
alined in some way oranother.
discipl
Theismann well armed for '84
United Press International
New York City — While the
creaky Washington Redskins seek a
third straight Super Bowl berth,
some young turks nope to shake up
the National Football Conference
standings.
Even a 38-9 beating administered
by the Los Angeles Raiders seven
months ago in the Super Bowl
shouldn’t diminish the accomplish
ments of the Redskins,
With veteran quarterback Jot
Theismann armed with asweetne?
contract and John Riggins showinj
few signs of slowing down, the most
prolific offense in NFL history rt
turns intact — powered by the pou'
erful Hogs up front. Just four point!
away from a perfect regular seasof
last year, the Redskins will take!
nine-game conference winninf
str eak into the season opener
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