2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Athletes provided with safety advice
State provides many opportunities for athletes to protect themselves on and off campus
Fidelis Lusompa
Issue date: 1/18/08 Section: Sports
From the shooting death of Washington Redskins' safety Sean Taylor to the alleged assault of three North Carolina football players, athletes have made headlines after becoming victims of crimes.
At N.C. State, the Athletics department provides its athletes with opportunities to learn about safety.
According to Tonya Washington, assistant athletics director for student-athlete development/community relations, said she was concerned when social Web sites, including Facebook, began to gain popularity.
"Student-athletes being a little more high profile, I just try to educate them [saying] let's not try to put our personal information on there," Washington said. "We've created a policy that our coaches hand out to our students and now we do a formal education session on Facebook and social networking sites for freshmen."
Washington said they also have programs that deal with all kinds of things that happen on a college campus. There are also other types of programs, including sexual assault, domestic violence and gambling.
Athletics also provides its students with other resources. Classes are available for incoming freshmen athletes. Philip Moses, director of the academic support program for student-athletes, said the class is helpful for the student-athletes.
"Mainly it's about making the transition from high school to college with this gigantic piece of athletics hanging out there," Moses said. "And through that, we talk a lot about understanding who they are -- that they carry some responsibility, some ambassadorship with this."
Moses said people can often tell the difference between who plays what sport, even though it doesn't necessarily make them more of a target, just more noticeable.
"Especially when we look at our high-profile sports -- it's easy to see who's a football guy, who's a basketball guy -- when they're 6-foot-9 and all these other things," Moses said.
"The gymnasts, who walk across the campus all day long, we don't know who they are. And that a lot of times, you have to keep your guard up. You have to keep your guard especially if someone wants to give you something. There's usually a reason."
At N.C. State, the Athletics department provides its athletes with opportunities to learn about safety.
According to Tonya Washington, assistant athletics director for student-athlete development/community relations, said she was concerned when social Web sites, including Facebook, began to gain popularity.
"Student-athletes being a little more high profile, I just try to educate them [saying] let's not try to put our personal information on there," Washington said. "We've created a policy that our coaches hand out to our students and now we do a formal education session on Facebook and social networking sites for freshmen."
Washington said they also have programs that deal with all kinds of things that happen on a college campus. There are also other types of programs, including sexual assault, domestic violence and gambling.
Athletics also provides its students with other resources. Classes are available for incoming freshmen athletes. Philip Moses, director of the academic support program for student-athletes, said the class is helpful for the student-athletes.
"Mainly it's about making the transition from high school to college with this gigantic piece of athletics hanging out there," Moses said. "And through that, we talk a lot about understanding who they are -- that they carry some responsibility, some ambassadorship with this."
Moses said people can often tell the difference between who plays what sport, even though it doesn't necessarily make them more of a target, just more noticeable.
"Especially when we look at our high-profile sports -- it's easy to see who's a football guy, who's a basketball guy -- when they're 6-foot-9 and all these other things," Moses said.
"The gymnasts, who walk across the campus all day long, we don't know who they are. And that a lot of times, you have to keep your guard up. You have to keep your guard especially if someone wants to give you something. There's usually a reason."
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