THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 13, 1996 TAG: 9609130732
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: 106 lines
Head coach Frank Beamer said he would wait for things to play out in court before doing anything further about Virginia Tech football players involved in a recent brawl.
In the court of public opinion on campus, viewpoints are wide-ranging among students.
Tech track star Hilliard Sumner III and Jonathan Nelson, a former track team member, said a large group of football players attacked them at about 2 a.m. Aug. 31 at an on-campus party at the Squires Student Center. Sumner suffered a broken collarbone when he allegedly was struck with a cane.
As the police investigation continues, several students interviewed this week expressed cynicism about the eventual outcome.
``If they find out who did it, they'll get away with it,'' said Jason Cecil, a senior from Lexington, Ky. ``If there are charges, they'll get dropped or reduced, like all the crap that happened last spring.''
When asked why he believed that, Cecil replied: ``A winning team brings money to the school.
``I love watching our football team, but I wish they were better behaved. The athletes follow different rules than the rest of us do. It's kind of embarrassing, especially when we make ESPN.''
The brawl did draw national attention, including coverage by ESPN. Since November, seven Virginia Tech football players have been arrested in Blacksburg. Several of the charges were reduced or dropped.
Blacksburg Police Chief Bill Brown said this week he expects charges to emanate out of the Aug. 31 incident. The police department said it will either:
Present the facts to a magistrate to obtain arrest warrants, or . . .
Present the case to the Commonwealth's Attorney, who could elect to seek direct indictments from a grand jury. That would eliminate the need for a preliminary hearing.
``We had a story in the student newspaper with the president saying it's an anomaly,'' said Karen Peterson, a graduate student from Fairfax. ``I think it's a pattern. I don't think you can single out athletes, it's just football players. I think it's embarrassing.
``I just don't think anybody around here has the guts to suspend 15 football players - if 15 are found guilty.''
But some students said the scales can sometimes be tipped to the detriment, rather than benefit, of football players.
``Fights break out all the time,'' said Lindsay Fisher, a freshman from Williamsburg. ``Just because this happens to be the Virginia Tech football team, it gets more publicity than if they were normal students.''
A graduate student who would only give her first name, Kim, said she heard the incident stemmed from an individual dispute between two people. She said that dispute eventually was going to come to a head.
Kim said she was at a party that several football players attended recently, and that they behaved impeccably.
``I don't think it's an organizational thing,'' Kim said. ``No one is afraid of them, no one is thinking it's going to continue to happen. Stuff happens to a whole bunch of people on this campus, but you don't hear about it because they're not in the limelight.''
Dean of Students Cathryn Goree said the incident is bad for the university and the football team. But from her perspective, discipline problems with athletes are not out of balance compared to other students.
``It is my considered opinion that athletes are not over-represented in the cases we adjudicate within the university judicial system,'' Goree said.
Police Chief Brown made a similar comment, saying problems per capita involving football players are less than those involving the entire student body population.
Still, the recent incidents are not helping Tech's image.
``It really gives the school a bad image,'' said Shelly Williams, a junior from Lebanon, Pa. ``It seems something needs to be done where it stops happening over and over. Obviously somebody is not getting the point across if instances like this keep coming up.''
Student Government Association president Jay Hulings, a senior from Williamsburg, said his organization is closely monitoring the university's response to this incident.
``This was more than a little fight, it was mean-spirited if it's true - 10 football athletes chasing down a track athlete,'' Hulings said. ``Although most students want to see the football team do well, I haven't met one student who said, `Let them get away with it.'
``If it were any other student, we know the university would respond as they should. If it seems to us they are treating football players any different, that's when we'll get on their backs.''
Lou Guida, a senior from York, Pa., said he could understand how the rash of incidents involving football players could create concern among parents. But he said he has known several football players, and the majority of them are ``good guys.''
And, according to Guida, there is something other than the school's image at stake here.
``I just hope it doesn't screw up the football season,'' he said. MEMO: Beamer: Parker still suspended
Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer announced Thursday that junior
tailback Marcus Parker remains suspended for Saturday's Boston College
game and will not make the trip to Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Parker was suspended at the start of fall practice following his
arrest during the summer for shoplifting. Parker pleaded no contest and
was fined $100 and given a suspended 10-day jail sentence. Beamer
suspended him from competition, but Parker has been allowed to practice
with the scout team.
With Parker still out, the Hokies go to Boston College (12:30 p.m.,
ESPN) without their top two tailbacks. Junior starter Ken Oxendine
separated his shoulder in the opener against Akron.
True freshman Shyrone Stith from Chesapeake - who ran for 119 yards
and two touchdowns against Akron - is expected to get the start. He will
be backed up by redshirt freshman Marcus Gildersleeve, who began fall
drills as a flanker.
- STEVE CARLSON by CNB