> nber 21,15? y A'ill have it's t 8p.m. ini ill Karen Sev- general meet- ? Hall (room ill MC at mi ld: willhavea m. in Lounge ■is Oles at mi- ill meet with y Dum at 8:3(1 e info call 690- immittee: will in 404 Rudder call Angela at 1293. Council: will in 401 Rudder »fo call Mish nous (A.A.): . in 138 MSC. i inbow Center have a social at 8:30p.m. nave a poetry the Rudder 3ar Club: will t 7p.m. inSSB Chris at 764- es of Texas: eeting in 302 lore info call 107. lal: will have ; at 6p.m. be- of Academic a call at 822- ns: Lt. Col. k in Rudder or more info )6. have a gener- l Rudder. For ■tershagen at ive a general t 10p.m. Fori isseg at 69' I 1 have "Tree- p.m. in Our ch. For more rson at 847- Fellowship: -Ilmen bible cond floor of asexual Ag- rer Chandler : or more info at 847-0321. sophy - Mu- Brown Bag 02 Academic rmation call 5. will meet at •ence Center, 17:30p.m. ave a 'Dress 7 p.m. in 601 mation call 39. ruroscience: in 601 Rud- rrmation call at 845-0733. Care Team: eeting in 103 information )6. ve a general Building at? n call James dent Group: n 203 Zachry rrmation call ion service s and activi- a should be three days :e. Applica- ces are not What's Up. 11 the news- Sports Tuesday, September 21,1993 The BATTALION Page 7 Baseball sells itself out with new divisions a j o r League B a s e - ball took a step toward medioc rity last week when team owners ap proved the re alignment of divisions and an expansion of the league playoffs for the 1994 season. Currently, the American and National Leagues have two divisions. Next year, each league will have three. That means there will be three division champions and a wild card in the playoffs. The fourth team will be the second place club from each league that has the best record. In baseball, there is one philoso phy has stood above the rest: there is no reward for second place. We strive to be the best, and anything less is only a building stone for the next battle. It may sound elitist, but the game was never meant to reward a team that didn't win. When watching the World Series this year, the two teams competing have run a 162 game gauntlet and proven themselves as not only the best in their division, but the best in their league. The teams finished first, not sec ond. It's right to be proud of placing second, but it is nothing to be re warded. It's called competition. The National Basketball Associa tion, National Football League and National Hockey League alf have | See Clay/Page 9 ROY L. CLAY Sportswriter A&M disputes NCAA graduation findings By Roy L. Clay The Battalion An NCAA report released last May showed the Southwest Conference and Texas A&M University fall below the na tional average in student-athlete gradua tion rates. Data compiled by the NCAA indicates that the national average of athletes who entered Division I schools in 1985 and graduated within six years is 52 percent. Texas A&M was tied with Texas at 39 percent. Graduation rates for non-ath letes at A&M is 68 percent. The Southwest Conference averaged 44 percent with Rice leading the league at 77 percent. The University of Houston lagged behind at a 10 percent graduation rate. SWC President Dr. Joseph Helmick said the low graduation rates for SWC athletes is recognized as a problem by the league, but the conference has little influ ence in this area. "It (the study) was a fair representa tion of the information gathered," Helmick said. "We can't tackle this as a group; the responsibility is placed on the individual institutions to increase gradua tion rates." Dr. Tom Adair, SWC Vice-President and physics professor at Texas A&M, said that the schools themselves are solely re sponsible for their athletes' graduation rates and Texas A&M is not filling its commitment. "Our graduation rate is not what we want it to be," he said. "There are many different excuses that could be made, but the bottom line is we have to improve graduation rates." Dr. Karl Mooney, an assistant athletic director in charge of academics at A&M, said he doesn't believe the NCAA report reveals the entire picture. "It doesn't take into account athletes who receive degrees beyond the six year window," he said. "Part of the problem is that the NCAA's studies began before the new program was initiated in 1989, which was when I arrived. "At that point, the Academic Support Staff and the University re-evaluated the academic program and decided we weren't where we wanted to be academi cally." Mooney also said that a clearer picture will develop once the next NCAA report is released. "The students in the NCAA study in cluded only athletes who entered no later than 1986," Mooney said. "The new pro gram doesn't affect those in the study. The first report to reflect the affects of the current program will be in 1995." Texas A&M is one of a 100 members in the National Consortium for Academics and Sports. The NCAS includes both Division I and non-Division I schools across the na tion. A&M has led the NCAS in post-college graduations beyond the six year window for the last three years, Mooney said. In 1989, the school began the practice of reviewing each student-athlete's acade mic records in greater detail before they arrived at A&M. This allows the academic support staff to locate trouble areas in a student's edu cational background before he or she en rolls. Mooney said this chore was made easi er because the staff has been expanded so they could be more capable of helping athletes with their education. "We expanded the tutorial staff and defined appropriate academic standards for tutors," he said. "All tutors have to have at least a 3.0 GPA in their major if they are undergraduates. "The supporting staff also includes graduate students and doctoral candi dates." A&M has also upgraded its academic facilities to be on par with other institu tions around the nation. "In 1989, we added more study carrels, eliminated or moved entertainment areas and built offices for graduate assistants," Mooney said. "We rebuilt the computer lab system in 1991." With this current program, Mooney said A&M's student-athletes can prosper. "If you ask any one around the nation on the NCAA level about programs pro viding the most services to their student- athletes, A&M would be one of the first mentioned," he said. "By 1994-95, you'll start to see student-athlete graduation rates rival non-athlete graduation rates." Kyle Burnett/The Battalion A&M senior linebacker Jason Atkinson (43) reacts to a fumble Saturday against Missouri. Atkinson was last year's Texas A&M student-athlete of the year. Giants drop Astros The Associated Press HOUSTON - San Francisco moved 21/2 games behind Atlanta in the NL West on Monday night as Darren Lewis delivered a three-run double in the sixth inning to help the Giants beat Houston 7-2. Jim Deshaies (2-2) pitched five in nings for the Giants and beat his for mer team. The Giants have won four straight to keep pressure on the idle Braves. :4fi .aie'v v •fciJopeH