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Show locks, wins, 'sbortliohf steal scholars' spotlight Boxer Mike Tyson had scarcely been convicted of rape by a jury of his peers when the ESPN cameras cut away to some of his beer-swilling, beer-swilling, apologist fans at a local bar to get their verdict on the jury's verdict. Not surprisingly, their best judgment rendered in various states of inebriationwas the jury had made an error. The racial makeup of the jury did not mirror that of society, they said; the charges were a farce, and the young lady was just trying to make a name for herself and a few bucks at Tyson's expense. His fans, it seems, laid the blame squarely on society's doorstep. Everyone had done Mr. Tyson wrong.. .everyone, that is, except for Tyson himself. As ludicrous as this may seem to some, it is symptomatic of much of what is wrong in American society in general and our educational system in particular. We tend to place athletes on a pedestal, all too willing to overlook their deficiencies deficien-cies as students, citizens or human beings because of their prowess on the athletic field. There are many who feel special allowances must be made for the basketball player r f On The 4: Mark by Mark Eddlngton who can hit the 20 foot jumper or the running back who can juke and jive his way to a 100 yard game. And if they can also juke and jive their way through loopholes in the law or our educational system, it's perfectly all right. They are, after all, special Sports reign supreme in American society, often at the expense ex-pense of education and more substantive issues. Sadly, this is not only true of professional sports but also athletics at the local high school level. If you don't believe me, just ask a sportswriter. Any sportswriter will tell you hell hath no fury like the parent of an athlete scorned. I vividly recall a past sports editor at the Clipper fielding a call from an enraged parent who unequivocally stated the fact that his son was left off the paper's all- star team was the greatest travesty in the history of the world. Yes, he was really serious! Our current sports editor, Dirk Facer, regularly receives letters from irate parents, students and even a few school teachers who lodge vigorous protests when one more line is devoted to coverage of one team than is given to another. Woods Cross High School complains com-plains about the amount of coverage Bountiful High receives and vice versa. Viewmont High complains about Davis, who in turn complains about another school. It is a never-ending never-ending cycle of constant carping comment and complaint Where are these critics when it comes to our students sagging SAT scores? Where are they as American youth fall further behind their Japanese and European counterparts in math and sciences, two fields upon which hinges our nation's future in the competitive world marketplace? Where is the outrage and concern over crimes committed by local teens or over the increasing gang influence in our schools? The likely answer is these should-be critics are too preoccupied preoc-cupied with the box scores on the sports page, or in counting the number of paragraphs and lines devoted by sportswriters to their favorite teamas opposed to the amount given to an arch rival-to take notice. But it isn't just sports that is the culprit behind the decline of education. edu-cation. It's also the amount of time and attention devoted to frivolous issues, cheerleading, the drill team or on extracurricular activities such as the school prom. While the disparity between the caliber of American education and that of other nations continues to widen, too many local parents worry about the length of the skirts worn by the drill team or the "trauma" their son or daughter will purportedly face having to take a shower with other students in the school locker room Other parents become obsessed with their children's popularity, ensuring they have all the most fashionable and expensive clothes and can afford to drop several hundred dollars at a tune to rent a tuxedo and limousine for the school dance. Our schools need to return to its glamour and excitement, is but a game. Extracurricular Extracur-ricular activities are exactly what the term implies-X77M. Parents and school administrators need to remember that and get out of the entertainment business and into the education business. Let's give athletes their due. But let's also start giving students who, through talent or hard work, show prowess in academic pursuits their due. f! Arguably it is our academic champions cham-pions rather than our athletic champions cham-pions that will determine how well this country fares in the competitive world marketplace of the future. Five, 10 or 20 years down t road, the significance of one hij x school's triumph over another in football or basketball will probably be limited to only those who actually actu-ally coached or played the game. How well parents and teachers have educated our youth will, in the long view, be infinitely more important. A young man who is the captain of the football team or a young woman who is a homecoming queen deserves de-serves to be recognized. But students who are on the honor roll or have overcome obstacles to achieve academic success should be g recognized too, even if they never k played the game. T |