The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, July 07, 1982, Page 4, Image 4
.editorials
Lofty standards
set for athletes
George Rogers' story seemed like a fairy tale,
or a modern version of the American dream.
He was poor. He came to USC from a small
town in Georgia.
He left USC as the leading rusher in college
football and the recipient of the Heisman
Trophy. The New Orleans Saints made Rogers
the first player chosen in the National Football
League draft.He responded by leading the NFL
in rushing and capturing rookie-of-the-year
honors.
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that, Rogers told investigators he purchased
$10,000 of cocaine during his first season.
When USC students were asked their reaction
to the report, the word "disappointed" was used.
The Columbia Record reported that parents of
some campers at USC's Richard Bell Football
Camp were concerned about 4'a drug dealer
vxwgcia; ruining LU uctxiip.
The man whom Carolina fans had treated like
a god had apparently let them down by being
human.
This is not to excuse Rogers, if the reported
cocaine purchases are accurate. But unfortunately
drug use has become common in our
society. Time's July 6, 1981 cover featured a
picture of a martini glass filled with cocaine and
the words "High On Cocaine, A Drug with StatusAnd
Menace."
In the high-paying environment of professional
sports that Rogers is in, reports of cocaine
purchases should come as little surprise But
they are a surprise.
Our society has a tendency to revere its
athletes and make heroes of them. For the
athlete who can attract the most fans, the
rewards can be staggering,as in Magic Johnson's
25-year, $25?million basketball contract. And
because these huge sums are paid to athletes,
society expects heroic behavior.
This standard is Rogers' problem. If he has
made a mistake, somehow society will feel
cheated. Athletes are no better or worse than
society as a whole ; if athletes are paid more than
the average person, it is because society places a
high value on entertainment.
Today's professional athletes find themselves
in a high-paying and high-pressure environment.
Society displays little tolerance for
substandard performance; cheers become boos
A.
overnigni.
Society also demands access to the heroes it
has created. The athlete who does not talk to the
press is branded arrogant or reclusive.
If Rogers had been a large corporation
executive rather than a professional football
player, reports of cocaine purchases probably
would not have been published and few people
would have cared. But Rogers is in a highly
visible rirofpssion anH ic
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judgment.
Society would do better if it treated its athletes
as humans who are victim to the same failings as
everyone else. Athletes should not be excused for
improper behavior, but society should understand
that simply because athletes have
extraordinary physical ability, they do not
necessarily have extraordinary morals.
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.letters
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dcnoois mus
Editor: r
It was very interesting to read John s
Van Dalen's guest editorial in the v
June 30th issue of the Gamecock. s
Although I do agree with some of Mr. f
Van Dalen's assertions, I find myself c
opposed to many of his contentions.
First, I do agree that liberal arts is c
an important part of a college t
education. I particularly enjoyed a f
poetry course I had last spring, but c
the course will do little to help my s
employability when I graduate. 1
Mr. Van Dalen is right when he says g
that these are less than idealistic c
times for college. Idealism is not t
needed. Realism is, and a realistic r
approach to life will tell a college
student that the job market is not able a
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Mr. Van Dalen states in his editorial o
that "colleges and universities may ti
be tempted to succumb to the social t
forces motivating this attitude and
become increasingly ambivalent n
about their broad educational e
requirements." I would argue that v
this is not so bad. n
To survive, a college or university a
Liberal arts provic
By Peter C. Sederberg
Statistics are unkind to the liberal arts
colleges flock to the professional scho
majoring in the traditional arts and science
are not foolish; business and govei
specialists, and in a hazardous job mar
person pays attention to demand.
Faculties of threatened liberal art disc
supporters in public and private foundatioi
the defense of humanistic education. Justifi
have considerable merit: the intrinsic v
cultivated individual, the flexibility of mint
generalist, the threat of obsolescen
specialization, and the personal value of de\
of interests to save one from the boredom
usually accompanies any profession af
decades. Our "prudent" students would b
all of these before committing themselves t
life at age 18.
Another support may be offered for the be
arts ? their survival preserves an arena <
societv. Authoritarian enuprnmpntc nf 1
the liberal arts with considerable suspici<
time-servers, and careerists can be eas i ly a
a regime with sufficient material resour
writers, theoretical scientists and social p!
much more troublesome group. Their
possesses a degree of unpredictability .the;
Thoreau's apt phrase, to a different drummi
Typically, such behavior is attr
humanistically educated person's quest for
tive not always compatible with regime-sar
Yet, the relation between a liberal educa
may be stated more precisely. "Freedom" i
self-directed action. Freedom, thus, has I
that we choose our own ends and have the
them.
Freedom cannot be unlimited, for not
tolerated in even an open society, and
resources implies that some acceptabl
unrealized. Which goals are acceptable ar
ought to be distributed are essentially quest
Apart from these thorny issues of justice
problem exists: How ran we know the f*n<
S?LIE]/? RE/ii
.?fe
t serve stud
nust adequately serve the needs of its
tudents. If a technical education is
vhat the students want, then colleges
md universities are only serving their
unction by adjusting their
:urriculums.
Mr. Van Dalen's arguments run
:ounter to eacn otner. it, as ne argues,
he changing society will have a need
or "jobs which rely on interpersonal
:ommunication, creative solutions to
ocial problems, beneficial use of
eisure time, and matters dealing in
[eneral with inmproving the quality
if life . . people who have the
>ackground and education to fill these
oles will be hired.
When graduates with these skills
ire in demand (as Mr. Van Dalen
redicts they will be), the importance
if a liberal arts education will rise to
he level of importance Mr. Van Dalen
hinks it deserves.
Whether Mr. Van Dalen likes it or
lot, we live in a supply-and-demand
conomy. To survive, any institution,
/hether it is business or educational,
nust be able to meet demands. The
uto industry found this out. The
loQ flovihilitw nr<
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8l
. Students at our
ols rather than truly our own, that
s. These students existence?
-nment demand Certainly, from the
ket, the prudent to manipulate us to s
order depends upon
iplines and their kindly labeled by soc
is have rallied to I suggest that our
cations they offer extent they reflect o
ralue of being a emerge from unstru
I exhibited by the experiment through
ce from over- through which poter
^eloping a variety are tried, and a few
with routine that children from the coi
ter two or tree to encounter interest
! wise to consider ignorant,
o a "locked-step" Arenas of play
available, even to ?
ileaguered liberal liberal education j
)f freedom in our programs, in contra
eft and right view along predetermine
an. Technocrats, education does not s
iccommodated by By undertaking t
ces. But artists, unrelated areas, one
hilosophers are a liberal education all
behavior always terest.
\f often march, in Although only a fe\
er. be immediate! ysele<
ibuted to the the others provides f
truth, an objec- upon as the need arii
ictioned reality. be a resource for self
tion and freedom Through unstructu
nay be defined as develop interests th
two components: absolutely determin
means to pursue sonal characteristic:
portunities for "pla
all ends can be citizens willing to exj
the scarcity of ~-J
WUI anu ur
e ends will go freedom.
id how resources
ions of justice. ~ ~ " 7
another serious * a"thor ,s a Prof<
Is we pursue are and '^ernatumal Stv
<sinz(*i^c^A/eu?-yMy
ants' needs
public no longer wants or can afford
huge gas guzzlers.
Because the American auto industry
did not meet the demands of
the American public, it has recently
found itself in financial trouble.
Likewise, how long can an institution
of higher learning last if it continues
to churn out graduates who cannot
compete in the job market?
Any institution must adapt to
survive. That may not be idealism,
but it is realism. And I somehow doubt
the situation is as dire as Mr. Van
Dalen says it is, for, as stated earlier,
there will be a need for liberallyeducated
persons.
Finally, I think it is an insult to
imply that liberal arts majors hold a
monopoly on thinking, and that people
with a technical major are capable of
making only superficial decisions. I
would not have expected such a
generalization from someone
defending liberal arts, because it
helps one make more enlightened
decisions.
Tom Schmult
Interdisciplinary studies senior
jserves freedom
lest editorial
they have not been manipulated into
; moment we leave the womb, others try
uit their purposes. Indeed, any civilized
some successful manipulation, more
ial scientists as socialization.
purposes are more truly our own to the
ur genuine interests. Genuine interests
ctured experimentation. Children often
playing. Play provides them a means
itial interests can be rehearsed; many
arP ITncfrn^tnroH nlniinrt fpnac
ntrols of adults' games and allows them
s of which they might otherwise remain
-unstructured experimentation-are
adults, and an appropriately designed
jrovides one. Professional education
st, channel students and their interests
ed paths. A well-exploited liberal
tructure a person in the same manner.
o study an assortment of essentially
s that may even undercut one another, a
ows for the rehearsal of an array of in
v oi me alternatives so encountered may
:ted for further exploration, exposure to
or an "interest pool" that can be drawn
>es. A liberal education at one time may
-innovation at some later time,
red experimentation we may be able to
at are neither externally imposed not
ed by our previously established per5.
A liberal education is one of the opy"
a free society provides for those
;)loit it. The demise of these programs in
uversiues, men, shrinks the arena of
?sfior in the Department of Government
(die.';