Pros say degrees not necessary
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fessional athlete doesn't really need a degree because his position allows him to meet contacts in the business world who open doors to good jobs for athletes.
Curtis McClinton
Integration plan defied
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of Health, Education and Welfare's (HEW) desegregation plan in Forrest County was led by an organization of parents and others called the Citizens for Local Control of Education (CLCE).
The parents maintain they do not oppose integration—only the busing of whites to a black school to bring about a racial balance.
Bundled against 16 degree temperatures, white parents refused to take their children to Travillion and went back to Petal instead. Superintendent Milton Evans called them into the gymnasium and urged them to put their children on buses to Travillon.
"The school board has no other choice," Evans said. "We do, though," came a shout from the parents.
"The assignments have been made and there is nothing else we can do," Evans persisted. The whites then began chanting, "Hell no, we won't go," and one father yelled, "We don't have to go to no U.S. Negro school."
The white parents and their children spent several hours milling around the school, and then finally left.
Laird promises cuts in spending
WASHINGTON (UPI) — Defense Secretary Melvin R. Laird Wednesday promised "very substantial" cuts in military spending next year to help meet domestic needs and fight inflation.
He added, however, that the reductions might have to be forestalled in favor of new U.S. offensive weapons systems if the Soviet-American arms control talks fail or if the Soviet military threat increases.
Laird already has said the administration would seek authority this year to expand deployment of the Safeguard antiballistic missile system beyond its two initial sites in Montana and North Dakota.
He had said the Russians were deploying their giant SS9 intercontinental ballistic missile at a faster rate than expected.
The Pentagon has trimmed its net spending by $3.8 billion, from $78.7 billion in the 1968-69 fiscal year to an estimated $74.9 billion in the current fiscal year ending next June 30, Laird said.
"Just your name can get you a good job. There are certain contacts through athletics that are better than a degree. I don't anticipate needing a degree if I can play ten years," he said.
"I may want to coach later, but now I want a degree because I'm close to it and I promised it to myself," Douglass said.
16 KANSAN
Jan. 8
1970
The course load Douglass carried at KU was what he called "normal for most students." He said that although classwork was more difficult for athletes, he believed an athlete should finish in four years if he worked for his degree.
"But many times a guy is tired and can't do school work after a practice session. In my freshman year, I was particularly exhausted after practices and found studying very difficult," Douglass explained.
Douglass said he thinks he could have graduated in four years at KU, but he admits: "I was just lazy."
John Hadi, another KU All-American quarterback, left here in 1962 to play for the San Diego Chargers. Hadi told the Kansas
Wilt Chamberlain
the opportunity to get a degree, but I chose practical experience," McClinton said.
McClinton said he went to summer school in order to graduate at the end of four years. He said he tried to take the more difficult
he received a degree in physical education two years ago, four years after leaving KU.
"My course load was about 14 or 15 hours a semester," Hadi said. "I tried to hold my schedule down to allow for football. I also failed a course or two, so it took me a while to graduate."
Hadl, a Lawrence native, said he might try coaching when he quits football, but he gave no indication of his future plans concerning a job obtained through his contacts in athletics.
Another All-American played beside Hadl in 1962. Curtis McClinton was "Rookie of the Year" in the American Football League in 1962 with the Dallas Texans, now the Kansas City Chiefs, and he is still with the team.
"I got a degree in physical education, but soon after I left school I entered business and have been taking numerous business courses to augment my practical experience." McClinton said.
McClinton said he did graduate at the end of his senior year at KU, but he got a degree he will never use.
McClinton is now the executive vice-president of a Kansas City bank he helped start and is active in the Black Economic Union in Kansas City, but yet he feels he has no need for a degree in business.
Gayle Sayers
"I don't feel incomplete for not having a business degree. I got my start in business, and with the help of a few courses, got the practical experience needed for the business. I feel KU gave me
NEW YORK (UPI)—Subway riders angry at a breakdown on their train staged a revolt Wednesday, refusing to leave the stalled train for 30-minutes, smashing windows in a dispatcher's office and threatening to "drag him under the train."
Subway riders revolt
subjects in the summer, when he had more time to study.
He said athletic and scholastic endeavors were closely linked.
"If a guy is a jock and tries to learn, he has an above average chance to get a good education. But if he isn't an achiever in the classroom, he won't be one in sports either. If he wants a degree, he can get it," McClinton said.
A former KU basketball star agreed with McClinton that a college degree was often not necessary for a famous professional athlete. Wilt Chamberlain left KU at the end of his junior year in 1958 to play for the Harlem Globetrotters, and later went to the National Basketball Association. He now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Chamberlain said he hadn't found it necessary to get a degree. He said he had taken enough college courses after leaving KU to qualify for a degree, but he felt he didn't need one.
I'm not knocking the status of a degree, but for many of us athletes we can earn more if we get out and start to work. I know some people who got a degree and it never did them any good," Chamberlain said.
He said he had aspirations for a degree when he came to KU on a track and basketball scholarship, and he said KU "suited my needs and rounded them out." "I took all the requirements and have enough hours from KU, the University of Pennsylvania and UCLA for a degree, but a degree is not important to me," Chamberlain added.
Gayle Sayers told the Kansan he didn't think he would need his degree either. Sayers was an All-American halfback for KU in 1965 and now, as a Chicago Bear, he is one of the greatest runners in football.
Sayers said he was about five hours short of a physical education degree and will receive a degree in September, 1970. But he said he didn't need it.
"I'm a licensed stockbroker and I can make three times the money I'd get in teaching. There is no way I'll end up as a teacher," Savers said.
When asked why he would try for a degree even though it would be of no use to him, Sayers simply said, "My wife wants me to get it."
Sayers said he did not graduate at the end of his senior year for several reasons.
"My freshman year I was at KU to play football and nothing else. But by my sophomore year I realized there was more to college than football, but by then I was a little behind in my school work. Then my senior year I appeared in a lot of all-star games and was trying to sign a pro contract, so my studies were hindered and I had to drop some courses," Sayers said.
All five players seemed to take the same attitude toward college degrees. Whether they had one, were working towards one, or not interested in one, they all said a professional athlete can be prosperous because of his position and the opportunities given him by athletics. They all also praised the opportunity KU gave them to be successful, and they are still interested in the school. They were all of the opinion that the scholastic assistance given them by the Athletic Department was helpful and gratefully accepted.
But what happens to the hundreds of athletes that face the hardships these stars encountered but don't get the opportunity to play professional sports. They have to have a degree to be able to earn a good living, and they
must choose a field they are competent and interested in,
The stellar alumni of KU interviewed by the Kansas contradicted Novotny's theory that pro athletes need a degree to fall back on when they end their playing career. But the pros did agree with Novotny that an athlete at KU does have the opportunity to graduate.
If only 31 per cent of the seniors in the last four years graduated in eight semesters, and only 55 per cent of those seniors graduated at all, what has happened to the opportunity? Do the athletes care less about academics than sports? Or does the Atheletic Department care more about the won-lost record of the teams than the athletes' academic achievements?