'Turn Down the Volume' on College Sports

The educational and life experiences of young people in the college sports system are impoverished across the board by our year-round focus on athletic performance, says Centre College president John Roush. He says most athletes fail to graduate in four years - if they graduate at all - and even those who do have no time for developmental experiences like student-faculty research, internships or study abroad. But Roush, a former football coach and a lifelong supporter of athletics, says the solution is not to throw the radio out the window, but, in the words of NCAA president Myles Brand, to "turn down the volume."