NCAA's Brand to be keynote speaker at NACDA event

The 38th National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) convention will be at the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World in Florida June 13-16.

NCAA President Myles Brand will be the convention's keynote speaker. His address to attendees is scheduled for June 14.

Early bird registration for the annual NACDA convention ends May 13. Individuals who register after May 13 will pay the regular registration fee.

For more information about the NACDA convention, including registration information and speakers, see http://nacda.ocsn.com/.

Wesleyan women unbeaten on gridiron

Student-athletes at the all-female Wesleyan College (Georgia), a Division III institution, are using football -- and humor -- to raise funds for their campus Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

The SAAC members are selling T-shirts for $10 each that read, "Wesleyan College Football: Undefeated since 1836."

Wesleyan was founded in 1836 as an all-women's institution, and it has never had a football team, so the shirts were made in jest. The school actually bills itself as the "oldest college chartered to grant degrees to women in the world," and there's no plan to recruit a football team from the student body any time in the future.

The SAAC hopes to use the funds raised through the shirt sales to help start a sports day camp for youth in the Macon, Georgia, area.

Ivy athletic trainers team up to save a life

The athletic trainers at Brown University and Princeton University usually work with student-athletes treating and rehabilitating a variety of injuries. Recently, however, the trainers combined their efforts, along with some cutting-edge technology, to save a man's life at a Brown-Princeton women's basketball game.

While watching the game at Brown's Pizzitola Sports Center, certified athletic trainers Gail Connolly and Kathleen Quinn, both of whom work for Brown, noticed a commotion behind the Princeton bench. The two went over and joined Kerry Antunes, the Brown women's basketball athletic trainer, and Princeton athletic trainer Cheri Drysdale, who were already on the scene attending to the grandfather of Princeton player Allison Cahill. He was unconscious, was having difficulty breathing and had a faint pulse.

Connolly recognized the potential for cardiac arrest and sprinted for the automated external defibrillator (AED) that recently had been installed at the facility.

The AED can analyze a patient's heart rhythm, advise whether a shock is indicated and then deliver a shock in an attempt to restore a regular heartbeat.

Quinn connected the AED's electrodes just as the man's pulse stopped. The AED advised a shock and then gave one. The man's pulse returned, but he still wasn't breathing.

Drysdale administered two rescue breaths, and the man began to breathe and regain consciousness. At that point, emergency medical technicians arrived and took over, transporting the man to a hospital, where he is recovering.

"It is a euphoric feeling, bringing someone back to life," Connolly said. "We couldn't have done it without the proper tool -- the AED machine -- to get the job done. We used our instincts and our training."

Brown athletics director David Roach had had AED kits installed in all of the athletics facilities at the university at the urging of Frank George, Brown's director of sports medicine, and Russ Fiore, the head athletic trainer. The entire Brown athletics staff has been trained to use the equipment in an emergency.

Number crunching

Looking back

The first full meeting of the expanded and partially federated NCAA Council is held April 18-20 in Kansas City, Missouri. NCAA membership President John L. Toner tells the Council during his closing remarks that he believes the expanded group "reflects a great opportunity for involvement by a much larger number of its constituents."

Most comments by Council members indicate their satisfaction with the new structure and procedures -- some say in fact that the meeting exceeded their expectations.

Delegates at the 1983 Convention approved the expansion of the Council from 22 to 46 members, assuring more representation for each division, more equitable geographical balance in representation, and specific positions on the Council for each Division I-A conference, each Division I-AA football region and those institutions that are no classified in either Division I-A or I-AA (subsequently known as I-AAA).

For the first time, division steering committees may take final action (subject to a two-thirds vote of the full Council) on matters pertaining exclusively to their divisions.

Among the actions at the April 1983 meeting are:

Division I -- Approved a proposed research study relating to the new Division I academic requirements for initial eligibility that become effective August 1, 1986. The Council directed a special committee to oversee the study. The Division I steering committee also asked the Council to sponsor legislation at the 1984 Convention to eliminate part-time assistant coaches in basketball.

Division II -- Discussed the desirability of proposing academic standards for initial eligibility as a result of Division I adopting Prop 48 at the 1983 Convention. The steering committee wants more stringent academic standards and will consider legislation of that nature when a study of Prop 48's impact in Division I is completed.

Division III -- Noted that the establishment of a Division III Men's Ice Hockey Championship at the 1983 Convention was ruled null and void because the division did not meet the necessary sponsorship requirements. The proposal will be resubmitted at the 1984 Convention.