The Wake

For nearly every college in the United States, football and basketball are the highest revenue-producing sports. So it isn’t surprising that football and basketball athletes are drug tested more often than others. After all, they are the college superstars of the athletic world. With recent efforts to stop all student athletes from using drugs, the University of Minnesota has come up with a new plan to combat the never-ending battle.

Not only will U of M athletes be randomly selected from every sport for drug testing, the U’s Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is honing in on another deterrent for drug use—education.

Under the new plan, athletes will be required to attend a drug and alcohol education program twice each year. The programs will review NCAA policies on drug use and talk about dietary supplements that may place athletes at risk for a positive drug test. The athletic department hopes that if athletes are educated about drug use they will be less likely to use drugs.

Surely the intent of the program is to stop athletes from doing drugs, but some students have mixed views on the new plan.

“I think it’s good in some ways,” junior wrestler Matthew Everson said. “But I think that we are spending too much money on drug-testing students who don’t need to be tested.”

Athletes and coaches alike are a little skeptical of the new plan.

“I think some coaches were a little worried at first because they didn’t know if the testing would take up practice time,” Crystal Dudley, swimming and diving athletic trainer, said,.

But people are always hesitant of change. After all, this is the first time in years that the U’s drug testing program has been revised.

“We haven’t officially reviewed or made any revisions on the program for many years,” Moira Novak, the Director of Athletic Medicine, said. “It was due to be reviewed and revised.”

Maybe the U is choosing to test too many people, but some agree with the decision to test all sports equally.

“I think it is fair to test everyone,” Caitlin Roemhildt, high jumper on the women’s track and field team, said. “It isn’t fair to single out big name sports like football or basketball.”

With the new plan, both low and high revenue-producing sports will be monitored closely. And whether you are a Big Ten champion, or warming the benches at games, the chances of getting a drug test are all the same.

Matt Engel, a junior on the men’s swimming and diving team, was already randomly selected for a drug test this year. He said that for once, football players weren’t the only ones being tested. In his three years of being on the team, Engel has never heard of a swimmer being drug tested. Now, times have changed. “There was someone being tested from almost every sport,” says Engel. “I think this program is a positive improvement.”

Not only will the program focus on drug testing and drug education, but with recent and growing trends of alcohol use on campus, the program plans to target underage drinking and disorderly conduct as well. Dudley says the increase in testing will help find new trends in drug use and aid in finding athletes who might have chemical dependency problems.

“We are worried because some people don’t consider alcohol to be a banned substance,” Dudley said. “But even if you’re over 21, the NCAA considers it to be one. It inhibits your performance level.”

Hopefully with a little more education on the subject, athletes will steer clear of underage drinking scandals and get help if they need it.

“We are hoping to help people with addictions,” Dudley said. “The only way we can find out if someone is addicted is if we do a drug test.”

On top of increased testing and plans to help athletes with drug or alcohol problems, the U has schemed up a plan to encourage athletes to make the right decisions.

Under a new “three strikes rule” the University will keep close watch on offenses like DWI, DUI, assault or battery, public intoxication, underage drinking and minor in possession. If an athlete is caught committing one or more of these acts, the athlete will have to report to a review board. The review board is comprised of the Director of Athletic Medicine, the Associate Director of Athletics, the Director of Life Skills, the Assistant Director of Compliance and the Drug Testing Site Coordinator. These head honchos will decide if the athlete’s offense constitutes as a “strike.” If an athlete reaches three strikes, they are in for a variety of consequences including counseling, loss of eligibility, reduction of financial aid or even a call to the parents.

The three strikes rule may seem juvenile, kind of like sending someone to the principles office, but some athletes think it is a step in the right direction.

Elizabeth Yetzer, a freshman on the women’s cross-country team, sees the plan as a positive thing. “I think it will help hold student-athletes more accountable,” Yetzer said. “Since the ‘three strikes rule’ isn’t an NCAA rule, it will catch people before they get into more serious trouble when it counts.”

Yetzer thinks that it gives athletes a chance to mess up. After all, athletes aren’t super-human, they can make mistakes too.

The U may be cracking down on athletes, but the underlying reason for the new plan is to help, not hurt, athletes. With the NCAA increasing their drug testing levels and including pre-season summer testing, it is time for the universities to do the same.

“The NCAA is very serious about drug and alcohol abuse,” Dudley said. “The penalties at that level are more severe than at the institutional level.” So athletes should have no fear, the athletics department isn’t out to punish people.

“We aren’t trying to get people in trouble,” explains Dudley. “We are just trying to catch the problems before they get any worse.”