New Mexico State student spreads culture with unique call

 The hype surrounding football games at New Mexico State University took on a different sound when Aggie student Cuyler Frank recently broadcast a game in Navajo.

Frank provided play by play in his native language during the Aggies' September 23 clash against the University of California, Berkeley. Though several stations transmit high-school games and one station has broadcast the Super Bowl in Navajo, it was the first time New Mexico State had carried a game in that language.

"I want to do games in Navajo because I want to share the experiences of New Mexico State students with the Navajo Nation," said Frank. "It gives us a chance to share with our people what we are accomplishing as Navajos. We can communicate to them that you can succeed at New Mexico State."

The Navajo Nation, with a population of more than 250,000 and headquartered in Window Rock, Arizona, spreads across parts of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico.

Conveying the action on the football field did present Frank, who hails from Newcomb, New Mexico, with a couple of challenges. The language has no word for "first down," and he noted that it takes nearly twice as long to communicate something in Navajo as it does in English. However, he tackled those obstacles to register the highest number of log-ins for an audio Web cast the school has seen.

Frank and two other New Mexico State students of Navajo decent, Jamie Joe and Darryl Multine, will broadcast the rest of the Aggies' home contests in Navajo at www.nmsu.edu.

Winthrop soccer players brave flames for save

Two current Winthrop University men's soccer student-athletes and one former player recently orchestrated an off-the -field save when they helped rescue five people sleeping inside a burning house.

Steve Winton, a former four-year starter in goal for the Eagles, was arriving home in the early morning hours of September 3 when he saw the entire rear of the home next door in flames. Concerned that there were individuals inside, he began banging on the front door of the house, but received no response. Winton ran to his own residence to awaken his housemates, senior David Garry and sophomore Dave Carton, for help. The trio returned and saw someone asleep on the couch. They continued to bang on the door until rousing Kevin Snow, a junior theater major, who was on the couch.

The trio helped two more residents on the lower level to exit the house and attempted to assist two other occupants upstairs, but the heat and flames were too intense. Emergency personnel arrived quickly to rescue those two individuals. No one was injured.

NCAA schools deploy air caravan to deliver goods

The Tufts University women's swimming and diving team knows firsthand that there is strength in numbers. Earlier this year, the squad joined forces with five other schools to deliver supplies and donations to people in need in the Dominican Republic.

The Jumbos traveled there in January as part of an annual winter training trip. Under the direction of Tufts alumni Ben andJudy Sands, who are volunteers with Airline Ambassadors, a nonprofit organization, team members packed one bag for personal belongings and another for donated goods.

Bowdoin College; Brandeis University; Northeastern University; Boston College; and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, also were planning travels to the Dominican. The schools heard of Tufts' efforts through a travel agent and as a result, nearly 5,000 pounds of goods were transported to the country.

Student-athletes delivered stuffed animals and coloring books to a hospital ward and an orphanage; they donated equipment to a baseball team; and they helped distribute toys to 200 children in a village of Haitian immigrants on King's Day, the Dominican "Day of Gifts." They also brought craft supplies and toys to a school for children who had lost one or both parents, and they gave a wheelchair to an 8-year-old boy.

Ben Sands said he would like to return to the Dominican for a repeat performance, but he said there currently are no teams scheduled to travel there. However, he said the effort can be duplicated by any team traveling anywhere there is need. For more information, contact Sands at bfsjr@verizon.net.

-- Compiled by Leilana McKindra

Number crunching

Looking back

5 years ago

Here's what was making NCAA news in October 2000:

* NCAA President Cedric W. Dempsey calls for leaders in intercollegiate athletics to refocus on the educational mission and control what Dempsey says is an ever-growing "arms race" of spending and building to reach impractical financial goals. "As sports have become more visible -- and as society has responded affirmatively to sports -- they have been more successful financially," Dempsey says. "And as we've gone through an era of prosperity, we've seen that prosperity in high-level programs in the growth of budgets, salaries and facilities. We're also seeing a different type of person coming into leadership roles in intercollegiate sports. A large number of coaches and administrators come in without an understanding of the educational mission. I'm not saying that they're not capable people, but the educational mission has not received an appropriate amount of emphasis in recent years."

* Kristy Kowal, a senior swimmer from the University of Georgia and a silver medalist in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, is named the NCAA Woman of the Year at the 10th annual awards dinner in Indianapolis. Noticeably surprised by her selection, Kowal tells the crowd, "Swimming in front of 18,000 people in a Speedo is much easier than speaking in front of all of you." Kowal accepts the honor on behalf of her former teammate, Lisa Ann Coole, who was the NCAA Woman of the Year in 1997. Coole died in a car accident in 1998. Coole's parents, Bill and Nancy Coole, represented their daughter at the dinner. "Lisa was the captain my freshman year -- the hardest year," Kowal says. "She taught me the meaning of hard work and dedication. What I learned from her is what I like to pass on when I talk to kids. Lisa was one of those leaders who led by example. You would strive to be like her. She was just always there for us. She was a strong person with a good heart. She was killed (in a car accident) on her way to adopt a greyhound. Now, what does that tell you about her?"