Prominent people from sports organization, media, educational institution, and professional athletes were invited by New York University to talk on the effects of steroid use among athletes. The students were invited to attend this seminar specially the NYU’S undergraduate sports management program. The purpose of this event is to get more insight into continous use of steroids. This event coincides with the 9th Annual Cal Ramsey Lecture Series in Sports Management. This was held at the New York Marriott Hotel last Thursday.

The guests were given and asked with hypothetical situations related to performance enhancing drugs and steroids. The panel consists of 13 prominent people in sports which include the NYU President John Sexton who is also a sports fan. Included in the panel were Craig Esherick,former basketball coach of Georgetown University; Ato Boldin,four-time Olympic track and field medalist and Michael Cramer, the president of the Texas Rangers. He was the president of the team when Alex Rodriguez was using performance-enhancing drugs. Arthur R. Miller who is a law professor in NYU acted as the facilitator.

One of the situations asked from the panel is about “Pete” who wanted to turn to steroids because of his dream to be in the pro. Pete is a high school athlete and a top prospect for professional sporting organizations. Esherik responded that he would tell Pete to get a great academic career as well as a chance to make it at the pros.

Lawyer for CNN, J. Ryan Smith said the parents should also take part in the blame why student athletes turns to steroids. “The typical parent does not tell their son when they go to college that they will be at their graduation,” Smith said. “Nowadays, parents just want Pete to play on ABC every Sunday.” The pressure from parents is a great factor on their childs involvement in the use of any performance enhancing drugs. Athletes sometimes take steroids in college because they see no downside according to Smith. Making it to the pros and getting a big contract is all that matters to many athletes.

One of the problems identified by Cramer is the diffulty to determine if a player is using steroids or just taking ordinary supplements. This was seconded by NYU’s clinical associate Dr. Gary Wadler. “Steroids are not as clear-cut as one might think. For example, dietary supplements do absolutely nothing for most people and overall they are very hard to distinguish,” Wadler said.

The Sam Houston State University Alcohol and Drug Abuse Initiative (ADAI) also conducted an activity in connection with the start of baseball season and at the same time educate the students about smoking, drugs, and alcohol. Also included in the activities is the education about anabolic steroids and ergogenic aids.

According to Dr. Rosanne Keathley, coordinator of ADAI and associate professor of health, Ergogenic aids are supplements that promise to build lean muscle tissue but then cause heart, liver, and lung problems. She said that a lot of college students use ergogenic aids. Although ergogenic aids are not classified as steroids but still they the same promises and can be just as harmful.

The risk of drafting MLB players who may have taken performance-enhancing drugs was also discussed in the event. “It was to show the harmful effects steroids can have on one’s physical well-being in a professional career,” Dr. Keathley said.

Another author and scientist visited the Cerritos Library in Bloomfield Avenue California to discuss her book “The Night Olympic Team: Fighting to Keep Drugs out of the Games.” Author Caroline Hatton talks about the problems and issues of using performance enhancing drugs in sports.

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