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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 <OEr?
A&M Sports Briefs
From Staff and Wire Reports
Kickoff time changed
Texas A&M has an open date this
Saturday but when the Aggies return
to action it will be at an earlier time.
ABC-TV announced that A&M's
game against Texas Tech in Lubbock
on October 2 will be televised.
Kickoff was originally scheduled
for 7 p.m. but has been moved up to
11 a.m.,
Glenn wins award
Texas A&M senior defensive back
Aaron Glenn won the AT&T Long
Distance "punt return" award for his
efforts last Saturday against Mis
souri.
Glenn juked and jived his way to a
76 yard return early in the third quar
ter to give the Aggies a 45 point lead
in A&M's 73-0 lopsided victory.
AT&T donated $400 to the
NCAA's Degree Completion Scholar
ship Fund and Glenn will receive an
engraved plaque for his efforts.
Lady Aggie Soccer moves
into regional rankings
The Texas A&M women's soccer
team (5-2) moved into the number 10
spot in this week's South Region
Rankings afte r capturing the Texas
Christian University Invitational in
Fort Worth.
The Lady Aggies took the tourna
ment with a 6-0 victory over TCU in
the championship match. A&M post
ed its third shutout of the season.
After taking a two week break, the
Aggies will host Oral Roberts on Oc
tober 2 in College Station. The game
will be the Aggies' home opener.
A&M golf opens season
Sixteenth-ranked Texas A&M fin
ished in ninth place overall at the
Jack Nicklaus Collegiate Invitational
at Muirfield Village Golf Club in
Dublin, Ohio this past weekend.
A&M junior Anthony Rodriguez
was a runner-up for individual
medalist by registering scores of 71,
74 and 79 for a total of 224.
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Don’t miss the Microcomputer Fair (23-24 September),
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CompiJter Sales and Service
Located in the lower level of the Memorial Snidem Center below the Main Desk
Open 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, Monday - Friday; Phone: (409) 845-4081
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