The expansion of computer use on college campuses has created a limitless informational climate at many universities. Most on-campus students have computers in their living quarters, and computers are readily available in most academic and social areas as well. Eighty-seven percent of college students currently are online.

In 1999, seniors will account for 19 percent or $3.5 billion of the total consumer online spending in the United States. This figure will reach $16.7 billion by 2002. When you combine these growing college-supplied Internet hookups with college students who possess at least one credit card, you have the ingredients for potential problems with Internet gambling. This unabated growth has created an unexpected subculture affecting student-athlete involvement in Internet gambling.

NCAA legislation prohibits all types of sports wagering by student-athletes. But Internet gambling is a particular concern for athletics departments since the student-athlete can now engage in gambling activity in relative privacy.

Student-athletes now have computers available to them any time of the day in their rooms, and on laptops when they travel. Further, athletics departments have made significant financial investments to put computers in or near locker rooms and other athletics facilities used by student-athletes. The membership must pay attention to how the Internet growth is affecting the student-athlete. The Internet has forced athletics departments to scrutinize the gambling issue from other then an academic point of view.

As chair of the Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct Committee, I believe it is important that the membership be aware of Internet gambling and its potential harm to the student-athlete. Over the past several years, point-shaving scandals at several of our prominent universities have received wide spread media coverage. The impact of these cases cannot be minimized. Several of the student-athletes involved were indicted and sentenced to serve time in federal prisons. Coaches and teammates were

betrayed -- their reputations tarnished. It is clear that sports gambling is not a victimless crime.

Despite federal and state laws that prohibit all types of gambling in nearly every state, sports gambling remains a growing problem on college campuses. Unfortunately, gambling presents a multitude of potential dangers for young people. Today, the possibility exists for student-athletes to place wagers over the Internet and then attempt to influence the outcome of the contest while participating on the court or the playing field.

However, the impact of Internet gambling on campuses is not a problem that is limited to athletics. If left unchecked, the growth of the Internet could be fueled by college students. Offshore Internet gambling operators are aware that students represent a huge potential market. In many cases, students have been introduced to Internet sports gambling through advertisements in their school newspaper. Also, aggressive marketing tactics employed by Internet gambling operators have even included in-person solicitation of students at on-campus fraternity houses.

So, you see why there is a desperate need for more specific federal legislation. For students, the question of whether Internet gambling is legal has caused great confusion. There are advertisements for Internet gambling Web sites in newspapers, on the radio and even in in-flight magazines. Furthermore, with 650 gambling sites on the Web, many students conclude that "if it is on the Internet, it must be legal."

A recent article indicated that two companies are aggressively pursuing online gambling ventures in Nevada in hopes of eventually expanding into other states. The article highlighted the current lack of clarity in U. S. law during a time when experts anticipated an online gambling explosion. In addition, the Hilton Group announced a series of moves aimed at delivering Internet gambling to wireless platforms. This is part of a $160 million investment. Imagine students wagering on their cell phones. The technology is in place and ready to be used.

What is abundantly clear is that the membership must be vigilant in attacking the Internet gambling issue given the present and future growth of the Internet on campus. Any comprehensive plan to combat Internet gambling must include education, monitoring and enforcement guidelines. More importantly, the plan must include federal legislation regarding Internet gambling for the purpose of bringing clarity to what presently is very clouded picture regarding Internet gambling.

The NCAA and the Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct Committee, alarmed by the growth of Internet gambling on campus, support a bill sponsored by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, that would ban online gambling and punish its operators. The bill allows both federal and state enforcement officials to seek temporary restraining orders or injunctions against illegal Internet gambling activity. The bill enables authorities to terminate service to a subscriber or block access to an online site upon receipt of official notice from law enforcement that a subscriber's site is being used for prohibited Internet gambling activity.

Internet gambling is a stealth addiction on campuses and is as dangerous as alcohol to young people. The Kyl bill is good legislation, which coupled with other NCAA-sponsored sport-wagering bills, should be strongly supported by the membership. The Kyl bill should be a priority among the NCAA's entire membership. Its passage is crucial in keeping unscrupulous Internet operators at bay. The health and future of our student-athletes are at stake.

Robert Minnix is the associate athletics director for compliance and legal affairs at Florida State University.