Ehe lailg (Ear Mwl NCAA Takes Measures to Drain Power From Bats Officials were concerned about the amount of scoring and the potential for injury in college baseball games. By John Zhu Staff Writer Something about aluminum bats has always irked baseball purists, whether it is the loud ping generated when one of these metallic bastardizations catches hold of a baseball or the Today's Game: Elon at UNC 3 p.m. Boshamer Stadium bloated scoring that has accompa nied the resound ing pings. The ping will continue to be a thorn in the side of purists at college games this season. But if anew NCAA bat regulation serves its intended purpose, at least the scoreboard won’t be as much of an aggravation. Taking another step to bring offenses under control, the NCAA approved a standard in September to make metal bats perform more like their wood counterparts. Under the new regulation, the exit velocity of a ball hit by non wood bats cannot exceed 97 mph, the highest average exit speed obtained in tests with Major League Baseball-quali ty, 34-inch, solid wood bats. ! The exit-velocity standard, which went fnto effect Jan. 1, comes on the heels of regulations implemented in 1999 that reduced the bat diameter and the differ ence between the bat’s weight and length. “Basically technology has taken over and made making a bat a completely dif ferent thing,” said Ty Halpin, liaison to the NCAA Baseball Rules Committee. “It was the feeling of our committee that the game was being changed drasti cally by how hard you can hit the ball and how fast it gets off the bat. The 1998 World Series championship game was 21-8. That’s more a football score than a baseball score. Not that we’re trying to take offense out of the game, just curb it” North Carolina baseball coach Mike Fox applauded the changes. Fox, who played at UNC from 1976-78, noted that today’s bats generated much more power than the first aluminum bats, which were introduced while he was in high school. “I think moving the distance of the mound, or something like that, would probably be a little too radical,” Fox said. “I think something had to be done about the bats, and this is the most logical.” Graduate Assistant AWARD \jCA. tactile***. If* JcAcfchf ELIGIBILITY FOR SELECTION Any graduate assistant in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures who is teaching in the academic year in which she/he is nominated and is in good academic standing in the department is eligible. HOW TO NOMINATE Nominations are due no later than February 23, 2000. Nomination forms are available through the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures home page and in the departmental office (Dey 238). Completed forms are to be placed in the box provided in Dey 238 or may be returned through campus mail to the Department of Romance Languages, CB #3170. Department of Romance Languages & Literatures University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Salzburg Summer Program in International Environmental Risk Analysis Where: Salzburg,Austria (one of Europe’s most beautiful cities!) When: June I -July 7,2000 Open to: both undergraduate and graduate students Credit hours: 6to 9 hours in environmental studies Classes conducted in: English Sponsors: Study Abroad, UNC’s Carolina Environmental Program and the University of Salzburg For more information, please contact Professor Douglas Crawford-Brown (919-966-6026; douglas_crawford-brown@unc.edu). % wmsp JUmjjtxfi' mis \ f V DTH/JEFF POULAND Some of the UNC baseball team's new bats rest against a batting cage during practice at Boshamer Stadium. The numbers back up the NCAA’s concerns about the imbalance in the game. Offensive statistics in Division 1 have steadily increased since the NCAA switched to aluminum bats in 1974. In 1998, Division-I teams set records in bat ting average, runs per game and home runs per game. Their collective ERA jumped to a record 6.12 that year, the first time the number had surpassed 6.00. After teams in the 1998 College World Series hit 62 home runs to shatter the pre vious record of 42 (set in ’96), the NCAA limited bat diameter to 2 5/8 inches and reduced the weight-length ratio from five units to three (meaning a 34-inch bat can’t weigh less than 31 ounces). “Two ounces doesn’t sound like much, but day after day it has an impact,” Fox said. “I think the weight of the bat prob ably had more of an impact on the small- er type of players who had to get the bat through the zone against a lively fastball.” Those changes resulted in a slight decrease in the 1999 offensive output but not enough for the NCAA to stop experimenting with the bats. Dr. Bryan Smith, a member of the Baseball Research Panel, which recom mended the exit-velocity standard, said player safety also was a factor. Smith, who is UNC’s head team physician, said balls hit with metal bats before the new regulation often reached 105 mph, creat ing excessive risk to pitchers and fielders. “There’s a certain degree of risk one Spring Break 2000 - Panama Citv Beach. Florida! SANDPIPER BEACOtf BEACH RESORT * Free l#/y River Kkle. Mini Golf. Havyvxmd. ***£ and Wafer Slide • 2 larw‘ Outdoor Swimming, IMs • SaJhoaf. ,M Ski & M Rentals i" A* * Ifcier Beaehlrnnf Hot liH> • Strifes tip fo 10 _>a?/" : * ~ neottle • Tiki Beach Burl nterfaiiHiMnf lv lioogye. Im-./liildiri Conies! ‘ • World's lin'icsf hcgl'at+v ' • \irporf I hnosine Service " t KesemKonsTl-800-iBB-8828 www.sandpiperbeacon.eom GO AWAY! And spend the summer in Paris! /■■Ms “mrßaile/ a-