ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 18, 1997 TAG: 9701200087
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: LETTER
Qualifications should be the same for all
Someone please explain to me the logic behind contradicting admission standards between universities and the NCAA for potential scholarship athletes.
A story in the College Notebook (Thursday) told of a high school athlete who was being urged by his coach to only sign with a school that would accept him as a non-qualifier, a student that does not fully meet the requirements set by the NCAA to play college sports. This prompted me to recall many instances when athletes were admitted to a university only because they met NCAA admission standards, not the school's.
Why do athletes get special treatment in regards to getting into a university? Many students apply to (Virginia) Tech every year to come as freshmen, and many are turned away because they don't have the minimum SAT score of 1000 or the minimum high school GPA that the university has set as its standard for admission. Yet, many of these students were high school athletes and had higher GPAs and/or SAT scores than the potential scholarship athlete. Why is it that they were denied the opportunity to attend the university of their choice when they were better qualified and a better student than the scholar-athlete?
Is this fair to the future leaders of our country who want to make more of theirs and others' lives than to be career athletes? Is it in the best interests of the universities to admit people who do not fit the standards for admission that they have set for their students? I think not.
HEATHER CARTER
Blacksburg
More coverage of women's sports
I'm writing because I'm concerned about your lack of coverage of women's sports. We live in a society where we're all "supposed" to be equal. Even The Citadel and VMI have had to acknowledge the importance of creating environments open to both men and women alike. Yet, your newspaper seems to be caught somewhere back in the 1930s when it comes to adequate coverage of female athletes.
Have you ever noticed what little time and effort you put into publicizing women's athletic events? Recently, as I was thumbing through your newspaper, like I do every day, I couldn't believe that you failed to report more on women's sports. Do you think your readers just aren't interested? On the contrary, I believe that you'd have more readers if you'd publish more articles. Maybe you'd even help create new fans of new sports by stepping to the forefront and writing more about the female athletes around the world.
This past Sunday your Sports section was 10 pages. Yet your coverage of women's sports added up to a grand total of two columns, approximately six inches in length, located on the eighth page. Only three basketball games were highlighted. Is this the best that your writers can do? You gave more space than that to show a detailed photo of the appropriate "Cold-weather gear for Green Bay"!!! That is simply ridiculous.
I am issuing a challenge. Please, cover more women's sports. In a world that is forever changing, how are our young girls supposed to grow up wanting to be like their role models, when they don't know who those role models are because you fail to do your job ...which is cover sports. Not men's sports
HEIDI LEITER
Radford
Orange Bowl borders on overkill
I'm so thrilled and happy that Nebraska beat Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Eve. Although my sons attended the school, I dislike their football team with a passion.
Your staff and newspaper has glorified them and used up enough paper writing about them for a lifetime. It's overkill like the O.J. Simpson case. Enough already. I, along with hundreds of others, are sick of it.
MARY CRUZ
Roanoke
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Roanoke, Va. 24010
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LENGTH: Medium: 85 linesby CNB