Class with “Dawson”:
Interns leam about the film business
first hand/See page 7
)the
September 19, 2002
Jordan, Wizards Return:
Washington Wizards make a deal for
Stackhouse/See piage 15
Volume LIV, Number 4
Student
runs for
NC House
Taya Owens
Staff writer
If you choose to step into the voting
booth November 5, you will see the
name of a fellow student as a candidate
for the NC House seat for the 19lh
District
Ty Jacobus, UNCW senior, has
decided to run for a chance to represent
his community. ’
Jacobus is majoring in philosophy
and minoring in economics. His reascn
for running is to “make a contribution.”
Jacobus represents the Libertarian
party, and most of his goals and objec
tives adhere closely to the party’s plat-
fomi.
Jacobus said that he is a “strong
advocate of objectivism.” His focus is
addressing the state budget and
improving the education system. He
fimily believes in the voucher system,
claiming that the public school system
See Jacobus, page 2
Serving UNC Wilmington since 1948
Sport supplements:more harm than good?
Sarah Broders
Staff Writer
Athletes go to great lengths in the
weight room to be the best at their indi
vidual sport But many go to the same
lengths in their medicine cabinets by
taking perframance-enhancing sup
plements, with most users not know
ing specifics about the products they
UNCW associate professor Mike
Perko has been researching this topk;
for the past 15 years. He recently fin
ished a book on the subjea called
'Taking One for the Team: The New
Thinking on Young Athletes and
Dietaiy Supplements.” He hopes it
will infomi the general pubik, espe
cially young athletes, on the miscon
ceptions and dangers of athletk per
formance-enhancing supplements.
“I was very interested in the behav
ior and what decisions athletes were
making to buy these things,” Dr. Pedco
said.
Perico began looking at the topic
scientifically while in college. His idea
f» the book, along with most of the
data, came fiom his doctaal disserta
tion. Sport supplements are now a $12
billion per year industry, with the num
bers taking a steady climb year after
year.
“Since 1991, they’ve grown about
300 percent I like to say it started as a
cottage industry, and now it’s the man
sion on the hill,” Peiko said.
UNCW, like the majority of
schools, has a widespread use of ath
letic supplements.
‘1 think that if you look across the
boani, they are very widely used,” said
Kevin Ankrom, head coach for men
and women’s track and field.
Since UNCW follows NCAA
mies, athletic coaches are not allowed
Experts say sport supplements may cause significant health risks.
to comment or suggest anything about
supplements to any of their khletes.
“I won’t say that they’re good, but
I don’t think they’re bad. Do they
woric? Sure they do. Do I ase supple
ments myself? Sure. To me, I don’t
think they’re that big of a deal, I think
they do improve athletk perform
ance,” Ankron said.
With supplements flooding the
mari^et Perko wanted to educate
young people about the drugs they
use. A problem with the .supplements
is that the general public is under the
impression that they are regulated to
ensure the user’s safety. ‘The simple
tmth is, there’s no agency that tests
these products,” Perko said.
“Every year, hundreds of kids
have some sort of episode where they
have to go to the hospital because they
took a product that they know very lit-
de about” Perko said. “So we have
a situation where they are seen as
harmless by the general public
because we can buy them at a grocery
store, but there’s also the misconcep
tion that they’re thoroughly tested by
someone in a lab coat with a Bunsen
burner.”
The Dietary Supplement Health
and Education Act passed by
Congress in 1994, essentially takes
power away from the FDA to pull
these products ofl" the shelves. Until
enough people have died or have had
a serious episode of stroke or another
debilitating experience, the FDA can
not begin investigation on the supple
ment The only regulation set upon
dietary supplement companies is that
they include an ingredients list on the
package, and that they do not claim to
cure, treat or mitigate any disease.
Perko developed a survey to find
out why so many young athletes take
sports supplements. The survey was
given to 6,000 student athletes around
the worid to determine the external
norms that were responsible for influ
encing these young athletes’ decisions
to take the supplements.
The survey indkated that parents,
coaches, the media and professional
athletes were the leading influences in
deciding to use supplements.
He believes that the solution to this
problem is to intervene with a good
educational program before athletes
begin supplement use.
Petko’s survey has been used in two
other doctoral dissertations, and sever
al masters’ theses, including one from
Australia. In 1990, he testified at a sen
ate hearing on the dangers of steroids
and other health products for young
kids. He also coached for 8 years,
including an Olympic and World Cup
soccer player.
“What we haven’t done well
enough is educating them on their deci
sions,” Bsrko said.
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