Guest editorial -- In choosing charters, think first of safety
Dianne Matten, International Motor Carrier Audit Commission
Every year, millions of university and college students are transported to and from athletics events by charter bus services under the false assumption that federal and state governments ensure that the carrier and its vehicles have complied with strict safety standards.
The reality is that fewer than 1 percent of bus companies have been inspected by federal or state inspectors, and fewer than 8 percent of vehicles are inspected annually. The Federal Highway Administration has fewer than 400 inspectors, assisted by a limited number of state inspectors, who are charged with inspecting more than two million vehicles annually. Because motorcoach inspections are likely to inconvenience an entire bus load of clients, they are not conducted as frequently as roadside truck inspections.
There is good news, though. Unlike portrayals in recent media coverage, the bus industry is quite safe, with more than 90 percent of carriers having no recordable accidents in the last three years. But before hiring any charter company, consider a number of issues.
First and foremost, check the carrier's safety record. Do not rely strictly on price. Safety ratings are available, at no cost, through the International Motor Carrier Audit Commission (IMCAC) on the Internet at www.imcac.com. IMCAC ratings range from 1 (no recordable accidents in three years) to 5 and are based on publically available accident data. Look for ratings designated "audited" and "data verified," meaning the carrier's facility has passed an audit in the last three years and the data used to determine the rating have been verified by IMCAC. The IMCAC database also is a search engine to help you locate a carrier anywhere in the U.S.
In addition to the obvious information, you should discuss with the carrier any excess weight your group may be carrying. A motorcoach is designed with specific weight limitations, above which the mechanics (brakes, steering, etc.) cannot function at full capacity.
If your group is carrying more than the average amount of luggage (that is, heavy sports equipment), let the carrier know. The carrier can organize an even weight distribution or may even need to include an additional vehicle to handle the excess load.
Be realistic about your destination goals. Too often a group wants to leave late at night and arrive in the morning at its destination, ignoring that the driver must be awake and alert during the overnight drive. If you are set on an overnight drive, encourage your driver to make numerous stops en route and/or request a driver who routinely drives at night. It may be worth the cost of a second driver so that one can be prepositioned as a relief driver, or perhaps they can alternate shifts.
Also, don't over-extend your driver. Don't ask him or her to make a side trip or to stay on an extra hour. Your driver is subject to federal rules regarding his or her hours of service, which dictate how long he or she can be on duty (not just driving) and how long he or she must rest in between.
When you hired the company, it developed the driver's itinerary based on your needs and in accordance with federal regulations, and that itinerary should not be altered. Hours-of-service violations are one of the leading causes of accidents.
Ask about emergency and breakdown procedures and about any roadside assistance programs or professional affiliations that will be available to assist in an emergency. Visit the carrier, particularly if you are considering a long-term contract. Often you will be able to identify a quality carrier simply by the condition of its operation and its willingness to entertain your visit.
Ask about subcontracting agreements. Make sure the carrier tells you the name of companies to which they may subcontract, and check their safety ratings on the IMCAC Web site. Don't hesitate to refuse a subcontractor that you didn't preapprove. Verify insurance, ask a carrier for proof of current insurance and make sure its limits of liability are at least $5 million.
Finally, check with the two motorcoach trade associations -- the United Motorcoach Association (www.uma.org) and the American Bus Association (www.aba.org) -- for detailed information on motorcoach travel. Your primary goal should be to arrive at your destination safely and without incident, and a top-quality motorcoach carrier can provide exactly what you need.
Dianne Matten is the vice-president of communications at the International Motor Carrier Audit Commission.
Comment -- Ten reasons not to bet away the future
BY MIKE KORCEK
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
The top 10 quotes from a recent Gambling Awareness Seminar hosted by the Northern Illinois University athletics department, the Chicago Crime Commission and the Illinois Attorney General's Office:
No. 1 -- Special agent Tom Moriarty of the Internal Revenue Service after showing eight slides of gamblers who were killed -- one shot through the eye, another through his brain and a third who had his throat slit 13 times before being left in a car trunk -- because they could not pay their gambling debts: "This is not a victimless crime."
No. 2 -- Chicagoan Art Hicks, the former Seton Hall University star convicted of sports gambling in 1961: "When you are young and get messing around with older people, you are going to lose. And if you keep gambling, your parents are not going to go to a court room to see their children. They are going to be going to a cemetery. You are never, ever going to be able to forget it. I'm 60 years old, and every day I think about how scared I was and the problems it caused for my parents and friends. It stays with you."
No. 3 -- Northern Illinois athletics director Cary Groth about creating awareness of the problem in the university community: "I think it's important for us to educate our student-athletes for the temptations that might be out there. No, we don't think we have a gambling issue on this campus, but we will have one if we don't educate our student-athletes."
No. 4 -- Northern Illinois associate athletics director Robert Collins, who organized the gambling seminar along with academic coordinator Karen Schiferl, on enlightening the Huskies student-athletes: "I wanted to be proactive because we don't have a problem here in gambling. I could preach to them until I'm blue in the face. But until I could bring forward to them live and in living color a young man who's going to prison, a young man who's been involved (in gambling), people from the mob -- that's who they're going to believe. They are not going to believe me. They are going to believe those people."
No. 5 -- Patrick Collins, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted the recent Northwestern University case, on college students: "If I had to design a place to groom gamblers, I would design a college. College students have access to credit cards, access to athletes and access to computers. It just takes one bet, one stupid bet against your team that you think is going to lose anyway when you are mad at your coach that is going to change your life forever. Don't make that first bet."
No. 6 -- William Jahoda, former mob gambler, on gambling in general: "Gambling is the only vice where you can ruin your entire life in three hours. It's not like buying a loaf of bread. All that's there are smoke and promises."
No. 7 -- Kevin Pendergast, former student-athlete convicted in the Northwestern case: "There is no gambling game I know of that if you continue to bet you will win. It's not designed that way. Casinos don't close down. They open up. It's the bettors who go out of business. You never hear about the seedy side of gambling because no one tells you when they lose. You feel foolish. It becomes part of your life you don't want to let people in on."
No. 8 -- Hicks on involvement in gambling: "The people who bet big money on you will kill you."
No. 9 -- Pendergast on gambling debts: "I had a lot of sleepless nights. I had a lot of nights I would sit up and roll around in my bed wondering where I was going to come up with the money."
No. 10 -- Jahoda on the reality of gambling: "If you're dumb enough to gamble, be smart enough to know that the odds are against you."
Mike Korcek is the sports information director at Northern Illinois University.
Letter -- 'Mercantile' decisions cost nonrevenue sports
I am writing on behalf of the College Gymnastics Association regarding the recent decisions by the University of New Mexico, which announced the termination of its men's gymnastics, wrestling and swimming programs as of June 1999, and Brigham Young University, which plans to eliminate its men's gymnastics and wrestling teams in June 2000.
Like our colleagues in wrestling and swimming, we are deeply saddened by what we believe to be a very shortsighted, mercantile decision.
With these actions, the number of varsity collegiate men's gymnastics teams will be reduced to 26 (all divisions).
We are all aware of the impact of Title IX on nonrevenue-generating sports. Nevertheless, we still cannot agree with these resolutions, which represent another blow to endangered Olympic sports.
More importantly, the continued indifference to those student-athletes who participate in gymnastics and similar sports borders on unconscionable. Perhaps if these students focused less on the joy of sport participation and more on its commercialization, we would not find ourselves in this unfortunate situation.
In the meantime, we will continue to use every means at our disposal to rectify the problem of sport erosion in our colleges and universities.
Richard Aronson
Executive Director
College Gymnastics Association
Opinions -- Coaches finding career fulfillment at the assistant level
Discussing why they prefer to be assistant coaches:
Norm Chow, offensive coordinator
Brigham Young University
American Football Quarterly
"I'm more concerned with teaching the young men I deal with every day, and as assistants we get to do that. That's the real reward. Kurt Gouveia is one of our guys who went to the NFL and came back and said, 'Hey, thanks for giving me a chance.'
"That's what it's about. It's not about money or the other stuff. Nobody remembers who won the BYU-Utah game 10 years ago. You have to look that up. The wins and losses come and go, but when you're dealing with young people you have influence on, to me that's a lot more important."
Charlie McBride, defensive coordinator
University of Nebraska, Lincoln
American Football Quarterly
"I've had plenty of guys call me and say 'If you ever get a head coaching job, don't forget me.' I just tell them, 'Don't wait too long. It's never going to happen.'
"And I'm happy with that. I've never looked back or asked, 'Why have I never been a head coach?' It never entered my mind because it's never been a goal in my life."
Fran Ganter, offensive coordinator
Pennsylvania State University
American Football Quarterly
"There are guys who are 22, 23 years old who've already made up their minds that they're going to be head coaches, and I don't see anything wrong with that. But really, until I was 30, 35 years old, I never felt like I was ready and I still had so much to learn. Some kids feel different and they feel like they're ready right now and more power to them.
"But I've thought about this a lot, and I know that I'm in this because I love coaching, and that's the only reason."
Basketball
Mike Krzyzewski, men's basketball coach
Duke University
NABC Courtside
Discussing whether there are fewer complaints nowadays from teams not selected to compete in the Division I Men's Basketball Championship:
"I think people don't want to say too much because they feel it hurts them the next year. The (Division I Men's Basketball Committee) has done a great job over the last decade. It's a tough job, a real tough job. I saw a comment that (committee chair) C.M. Newton made that they don't even look at the conferences. That's a healthy way of looking at it.
"I would never question the integrity of the people on that committee. You take off whatever hat you have. You're dealing with the hopes and dreams of a lot of youngsters when you go into that room. The people that I know that have been on that committee understand that 100 percent."
Gender equity
Diane Medved, psychologist
The Associated Press
Reacting to a Public Broadcasting System "National Desk" series on gender differences:
"We have to be taught that the distinction between the genders is not prejudice. It's not negative. It's not bad for them. It's just recognizing reality."
