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THE GAMECOCK Sports March 6. 1985 - Pace 13 W ? ____________________ Academics vs. athletics: is it a losing battle? 9 By Tracy Mixson For years there have been humorous comments about the "athletic factory" status of Clemson University. But now, it's no longer a joke. An emergency meeting of Clemson's board of trustees Friday night may have started a new trend among college 'administrations ? that of placing college playing fields " above college classrooms. DURING HIS TENURE as president of Clemson University, Bill Atchlcy accomplished a lot for the academic community, including the construction of a chemistry building and the hiring of Donald Elam to raise nmnpv for acaflcmic numntnt J pu'pv/jva. And last year, the school finally won full-formula funding for its 1984-85 budget. But one thing Atchlcy wouldn't do was surrender control of the university to athletic director Bill McLellan. And for that, a vacant sign will go up on Atchlcy's office door July 1. And McLellan? He'll still be around, working as an ^ assistant to a vice president for physical facilities and operations. Atchlcy called it quits after six years ? and eight hours behind closed doors Friday night. Announcing his resignation as university president, he ended a widely publicized power struggle between his administration and the school's athletic department. CLKMSON'S 13 BOARD MKMBKRS unanimously accepted Atchlcy's resignation, choosing to ignore the president's support from both his faculty and students, and the fact that under McLellan, the university had been on athletic probation twice and was the subject of a recent state drug investigation. '?* Evidently, he who owns the gold makes the rules. In this case, the owners are the people of IPTAY, who pay at least $35 a year to wield incredible influence over anything remotely connected with the university. The mega-bucks booster club backed McLellan, a "good ol* boy" who was once a Clemson football player and became athletic director in 1971. During McLellan's administration, the club became one of the nation's leading booster organizations, raising more than $5 million for the athletic program last year alone. In 1982, Clcmson's trustees decided to place academics above athletics. Atchley's job was on the line then, too, but after much deliberation, the board voted to keep the president. ^ YOU SEE. Atchlev unsuccessfully tried to reoroani^e fhe athletic department, which would have limited McLellan's duties as A.D. McLellan balked, as did IPTAY./The board voted to keep Atchley, but the athletic department was left alone. This whole deal shows that Clcmson's trustees have forgotten a most important point. Colleges exist for a specific reason: to provide education, not pro football careers. As he awaited the outcome of Friday's eight-hour session, Bob Adams, news editor of Clcmson's student newspaper The Tiger, voiced his support for Atchley. ^ IN HIS COLUMN earlier that day, Adams wrote, "The argument is one as old as probation itself, but until something i?L Hnnc ahnnt if lhi> Iiniuartilw mill romoln o? ?!<.? top of the evening news for its athletic tragedies and triumphs, while academic achievement goes unnoticed at the bottom of the people section of your local paper." Bear Bryant would have agreed. The legendary late football coach once said, "People don't rally around the classroom." But they should. Tracy Mixson is the sports editor of The Gamecock. Intramural deadlines set From Staffjtoports USC's Intramural /Recreational Sports Office has announced deadlines fdr several upcoming sports. Mixed doubles tennis entries are open, with deadline for registration /?vtcuHp/I in Morel, 10 Cntm ??? v.ttviiMVM IV i*??i vai I /. jL.ili! J aw I1IVIUV4V3 UIIW unopened can of tennis balls, approved by the United States Tennis Association. Deadlines for Ultimate Frisbee and Putt Putt is March 21. The Putt Putt tournament begins April I, with a $2 entry fee. Competition will held at Putt Putt Golf and Games on Devine Street. ^ Indoor Soccer entries are open until March 22. For more more information or to register, contact the Intramural Office in the Blatt Physical Education Center. Lady Gan From Staff Reports lISC's women's basketball team reached the second round of the Metro Conference Championships before tailing to Southeril Mississinni Mnn. day night, 87-80, in Hattiesburg, Miss. With the loss, the Lady Gamecocks finished 18-10 for the year and probably lost their chance for post-season play. Carolina's four-minute scoring | slump in the second half allowed ! Southern Miss to pull ahead, outscoring USC 13-0 during the stretch. "WE JUST DIDN'T HIT our shots and we weren't getting any second shots for those few minutes," head coach Nancy Wilson said after the game. mmam ~vi El ft Back to the basics Spring may be in the air, but for this The Gamecocks will continue to work In addition to football, USC's basebal Pi-Aiommn viuvwamiy i Sports writ By Joe Sitarz ________ Frank Deford can't save his own princess anymore, but the challenge is there to save the other princesses in the world. Deford, senior sports writer for Sports Illustrated and chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, lost his 8-year-old daughter Alex to cystic fibrosis about five years ago. Deford tells about his family's ordeal with disease in his book, "Alex ? The Life of A Child." NO STRANGKR to the world of CF, he took over as chairman of the foundation last October. Before holdine fhis nnsitinn h?> ?/: * fnim. dation's executive vice president. He recently told the South Carolina chapter about how Alex wanted to be a princess when she grew up. One day he asked her the question, and got a different reply. Alex, with her head tilted to one side, told her father she couldn't be a princess because prjncesses don't have cystic fibrosis. She finished by saying she couldn't be one because with her head tilted, the crown would fall off. THAT'S THE kind of thing a family with a person suffering from CF goes through. lecocks fa "We had been out-rebounding them up to that point. But we missed some good shots and they were able to run off an offensive spurt on us." Brantley Southers led the Lady Gamecocks with 18 points, while Rcnec Naiarian added 17 Mimiv Ballon, Monica Williams and Marci McAlister contributed 14, 12 and II points, respectively. southern Miss's Portland McCaskill led all scorers with 29 points. NVilhelmina Smith added 13 points, while Diane Blackstrom scored 11. THK LADY GAMECOCKS advanced to the second round by defeating Tulane Sunday, 76-66. While USC's chances at post-season play arc slim, Carolina still has an out Ir Kjf ^ T7 ^i,''lT?-~ "* :,. ir^?V - - ,' ~ /-"V" HBL&' player, it's football season, as USC returned out until the annual Spring Game March 30. I team is in action today, facing Pfeiffor at 3 achievemen fer fighis cysii CF is an inherited disease of children and young adults. In the United States, it's the No. 1 killer among that group. The disease attacks three different functions of the body ? breathing, eating and reproduction. Deford said with the research being uone in me area ot genetics, there is more hope of finding a cure today then ever before. More doctors are willing to work with the disease because of that hope. He said doctors don't want to spend their lives working against a disease without any hope of beating it. DKFORI) SAII), "We're right at the corner from finding the answer, and that last corner can be a bitch." "But in the real sense, we're no further than we were when Alex died five years ago. Kids are still dying." Rut he said he has a vision. "I see myself standing up there with a hnnrh r\f ? VM?.v?? v/1 IVIVTUIUII n^iiirv VJII lltAl IU some doctor and saying, 'This is Doctor Jones. He just beat cystic fibrosis.' "I THINK some guy is going to win a Noble Prize for this thing." "That's what drives me," he said. Deford said he knew that when Alex was alive, there "was no hope, barring a miracle" of finding a cure. That miracle would come from tome ii. R7-Rn side chance to receive an invitation to the National Women's Invitational Tournament in Texas. USC's men's basketball squad takes on Louisville tomorrow night at 9 p.m. when the Gamecocks travel to the Cardinals' Freedom Mall for the Metro Championship Tournament. The Gamecocks, who extended their year-long losing streak 011 the road Saturday with a loss to Florida State, go into the tournament with a three game losing streak, finishing 15-12 overall record, 6-8 in the Metro. USC tied for fourth place in the conference with Louisville and Tulane, and earned the fourth seed in the tournament because the Gamecocks were the only team to beat top-seeded Memphis State during the regular season. Km ^.Jg JOE RICKER I The Gsmtcock to practice last week for spring drills. I p.m. at Sarge Frye Field. t c fibrosis scientist mixing things together and have the mixture smoke and it would be the answer to the disease, like in some fairy tale, he said. For the foundation, Alex has become symbolic of the other children, Deford added, something for people to gather around. "Alex is a focus point," he said. Since writing the book, funding support for the foundation has increased about 25 percent, according to Deford. He said the increase isn't because of the book alone, but the book has gotten the name out. Writing the book wasn't as hard as people expect is was. Deford said he uiv it vYini paptri on one siue of him and a slack of Kleenex on lhe other. He said it's a straightforward book. It was written for people who don't know about the disease. With the book written and his daughter's death, he said people wonder why he's still around. It's because, if he were to cut out and run, he said he feels it would be a * denegration to her memory. He said it's come close to that point several times. "This is it. I've done my part," he said. "Let someone else do it." But he always comes back. Sm "Dafonl," pafp 14.