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EDITOR
Paula Lavigne
OPINION
EDITOR
Joshua Gillin
EDITORIAL
BOARD
Brad Davis
Erin Gibson
Shannon Heffelfinger
Chad Lorenz
Jeff Randall
i
Guest
VIEW
False record
Sales
Allowing record harms
integrity of athletics
The California Aggie
University of California-Davis
Davis, Calif. (U-Wire) - When University
of Connecticut senior Nykesha Sales stepped
onto the court and into the record books Feb.
24, there was an unexpected din of controversy
surrounding the big event.
tnere were me usual cneers ana sounas
heard in celebration of a record broken, a mile
stone reached. But there was also the sound of
grumbling - complaints about the legitimacy
of her accomplishment and the means by
which she achieved it.
The incident raised questions about the
integrity of sports, an ideal which seems to
have been trampled amid the quest for person
al glory.
With professional and collegiate athletes
scrambling to land a shoe contract or have their
name spit out on “ESPN SportsCenter,” the joy
of playing sports and the beauty in watching a
game unfold has disappeared.
Athletes now wait for their 15 seconds of
fame, their fleeting moment of immortality.
In a desperate lunge to grasp that immortal
ity, Sales fell to earth with a crash and a rup
tured Achilles tendon in a game Feb. 21 and
faced the prospect of ending her career just one
point short of the school’s all-time career scor
ing record.
Instead of finishing her college basketball
career satisfied with all ol’her accomplish
ments, Sales accepted an intriguing plan con
cocted by UConn Head Coach Geno
Auriemma and agreed upon by the Big East
commissioner and coaches. She would camp
under the Wildcats’ basket at the tipoff, guaran
teed an uncontested layup. To even the score,
Villanova also was awarded a free layup as well.
This display of selfishness not only sparks
concern over the attitude athletes take to the
game, but also cheapens the efforts of those
who have played hurt, through the pain, with
out the coddling of their coaches.
Injuries are a part of sports. Games cannot
be postponed or replayed because the star play
er called in sick.
More importantly, the impact an injury can
make on a game - whether it cripples a team or
inspires it to soar higher - is crucial to what is
at the heart of organized athletics.
It was nice to acknowledge and pay tribute
to Sales’ four-year All-America career. But
nobody “deserves” to break a record, no matter
how long she has played or how much she has
contributed to a program. And the thrill of such
an accomplishment should have been saved for
someone who holds more respect for records
and the integrity of the game.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of
the Spring 1998 Daily Nebraskan. They
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Acoiumn is solely the opinion of its author.
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Haney’s
VIEW
A.
DN
LETTERS
Drink it up
I was very disheartened to read
the responses ASUN candidates
provided when questioned about
binge drinking on campus.
Unfortunately, I was unable to
attend the Abel Hall debate, but
both COMMIT and VISION can
didates seemed to sidestep the
issue as reported in Friday’s DN.
They agreed that there are dif
ferent definitions for binge drink
ing; however, every piece of infor
mation I have seen defines binge
drinking as five or more drinks in
one sitting (in some instances four
or more for women).
li :>ccms a un cuuiuer-enecuve
for the university to be applying
for a $700,000 grant to combat
binge drinking when our student
leaders cannot define the term.
According to a recent national
study, nearly 50 percent of all men
and 37 percent of all women on
college campuses are binge
drinkers, and nearly 70 percent of
all violent behavior on campuses
can be attributed to alcohol abuse.
Binge drinking is a problem at
UNL, and ASUN candidates
should be looking for solutions to
these problems, not blankets from
which to hide behind.
Andrew Kafka
senior
finance major
Tangled Web
I have been reading the
exchanges in the DN about the
Matt Haney/DN
importance of ASUN in a student’s
life, etc., and how essential it is to
communicate effectively with the
general student populace. I looked
into the ASUN Web site and sur
prise, surprise the president is Eric
Marintzer, and Curt (spelt Kurt in
the Web site!) Ruwe is still the
speaker! The Web site was last
updated in November 1996!!
Maybe we can have a debate
for all outgoing office bearers to
find out how important they really
think communication is, or if they
are only paying it lip service. It
will be an interesting change from
having to listen to candidates who
want to get elected!
Giri Chenji
graduate student
chemical engineering
Greek leak
With ASUN elections nearing,
we are hearing the same things
that we hear every year about
them. They are just a way for
greeks to “pad their resume” or to
run the university. The sad thing
is, no matter how long we contin
ue to say such things, nothing will
change until someone OTHER
THAN a greek enters the election.
So, until that happens, we should
concentrate on what the candi
dates have to say, not where they
happen to live.
inougn i am a nongreeis. stu
dent, I will still have my say in the
election by voting. Sara Russell,
presidential candidate for COM
MIT, was right in her statement
printed Friday. Not only do I know
her as a great person, I respect the
idea that she can take the time out
of her busy college life to care for
the university as a whole.
That says more to me than her
“need” to pad her resume. It’s too
bad there aren’t more people like
her on this campus (or in the
world) to do whatever they can to
help their fellow people be heard.
Leigh Ramert
junior
mechanical engineering
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