Earlham president links with students by making the call

Nelson Bingham, a psychology professor at Earlham College, likes to think of himself as the dean of the press box.

It is a well-earned title -- he has served as the public ad< dress announcer for the Quakers' home football games for 22 years. It also is a title he chose to hold onto even when he recently added another.

Bingham was elevated to acting president of the college this past summer and is believed to be the only college president in the nation who calls the action during his or her school's home football contests.

In 1982, as associate dean of student development, Bingham was concerned about the gap between student-athletes and nonathletes and was looking for ways to close the divide. He discussed the issue with a now-former football coach.

"He said the first thing I needed was to find a position that would give me some legitimacy, particularly within the athletics program. Then he said, 'I do need an announcer...'," said Bingham.

Although he had no previous experience for the post, Bingham agreed to take on the challenge.

"I have to say I used to get very nervous, a condition I tried to correct for at the time with lots of planning ahead," he said. "Now, though, I like to think of myself as the dean of the press box. I really enjoy it."

While he believes significant progress has been made toward his original goal of drawing student-athletes and students closer together, Bingham has no plans to give up the microphone any time soon.

Bingham has called more than 100 games in his career and was inducted into the school's athletics hall of fame in 2003.

Stay in Bounds program establishes new Horizon

Student-athletes from the Horizon League have spent the past year partnering with the NCAA to successfully expand the Association's character-building program, Stay in Bounds, outside the boundaries of Indianapolis, where the program began four years ago.

Stay in Bounds stresses fair play and sportsmanship through guest presentations, role-playing exercises and mentoring.

The NCAA provided training materials and learning guides to Butler University, Cleveland State University, the University of Detroit Mercy, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Wright State University.

Participating schools adopted an elementary or middle school in their communities and shared Stay in Bounds' positive messages through presentations and mentoring opportunities.

Nearly 55,000 children have participated in Stay in Bounds since the program began in 2000.

Messiah student-athlete sets Division III record

Messiah College field hockey student-athlete Danae Chambers scored two goals and contributed two assists in a 5-1 victory over Lebanon Valley College October 23 to break the NCAA Division III career points record.

Chambers has scored more than 100 times and collected 67 assists in her career for 267 points. The senior eclipsed the old mark of 262 points set by Eastern Mennonite University's Sherri Alleback between 1996 and 1999.

A three-time all-American and three-time Commonwealth Conference player of the year, Chambers currently leads the nation in points, points per game and assists and ranks second in goals in Division III.

-- Compiled by Leilana McKindra

Number crunching

Looking back

15 years ago

Here's what was making NCAA news in November 1989:

• Former U.S. Naval Academy quarterback Roger Staubach and former University of Illinois, Champaign, linebacker Dick Butkus are among six NCAA Silver Anniversary Award recipients. The other winners are Don Baxter, basketball, Mercer University; Brigman Owens, football, University of Cincinnati; Paul Bucha, swimming, U.S. Military Academy; and Archie Roberts, baseball, basketball, football, Columbia University.

• A total of 130 legislative proposals make up the agenda for the 1990 Convention. That total is down 17 from the 1989 Official Notice, and it is the fewest number of proposals submitted since 1986. Of the 130 proposals, 57 require action from separate divisions, reflecting a trend toward greater federation. Forty-nine of the 147 proposals submitted the previous year also went to division and subdivision sessions.

• Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Delaware, introduces legislation that would make anabolic steroids a schedule II controlled substance, placing them in the same category as cocaine. "Athletes who use steroids teach all the wrong values -- that it's OK to cheat, that it's OK to take shortcuts to achieve success," Biden says.

• The Knight Foundation names eight university presidents to serve on a blue-ribbon commission seeking reforms in intercollegiate athletics. The eight CEOs are Lamar Alexander, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; John A. DiBiaggio, Michigan State University; Thomas K. Hearn, Wake Forest University; Martin A. Massengale, University of Nebraska, Lincoln; Chase N. Peterson, University of Utah; A. Kenneth Pye, Southern Methodist University; Charles E. Young, University of California, Los Angeles; and Bryce Jordan, Pennsylvania State University.