2008 Woodie Awards
Professional athletes and performance enhancing drugs
Recent poll shows how Americans feel about drug use in sports
Kaitlin O'Reilly
Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: News
Should professional athletes who are found guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs be stripped of awards and statistics that they accumulated while using them?
According to a poll conducted by the Sacred Heart University Polling Institute, 60.1 percent of Americans surveyed felt they should.
Sacred Heart students seemed to have a similar view regarding the topic.
"They don't deserve those titles and the athletes out there that work so hard, and train the correct legal way deserve them. Athletes that use illegal drugs or substances to get stronger or faster aren't naturally able to really achieve those awards and goals, so why should they be honored with them," said sophomore Colleen Nassauer, member of the women's track team.
Senior Jason Payne, member of the Sacred Heart football team, expressed the same viewpoint.
"If you love the sport that much you would stay true to it and not use drugs to set yourself apart from the pack. People think they are getting the upper hand by taking things to enhance their play, but in the end it's hurting the game. Their punishment, at least, is that they should be stripped of their awards," said Payne.
The poll, which was designed by the students in the current polling and research class at the university, was conducted through telephone surveys from March 3 through March 15.
According to the Sacred Heart press release, "Interviews were conducted among 800 residents nationwide, approximately proportional to the population contribution of all 50 states."
"The students have performed very well without exception. They are very insightful," said Jerry Lindsley, director of the Sacred Heart University Polling Institute.
"I learned from them. They were very enthusiastic as these were their questions. They took ownership and did, indeed, want to see the results. I hope they are proud that their work is now being discussed nationwide," said Lindsley.
He stated that he was surprised by the percentage of professional athletes Americans guessed were on performance enhancing drugs.
According to a poll conducted by the Sacred Heart University Polling Institute, 60.1 percent of Americans surveyed felt they should.
Sacred Heart students seemed to have a similar view regarding the topic.
"They don't deserve those titles and the athletes out there that work so hard, and train the correct legal way deserve them. Athletes that use illegal drugs or substances to get stronger or faster aren't naturally able to really achieve those awards and goals, so why should they be honored with them," said sophomore Colleen Nassauer, member of the women's track team.
Senior Jason Payne, member of the Sacred Heart football team, expressed the same viewpoint.
"If you love the sport that much you would stay true to it and not use drugs to set yourself apart from the pack. People think they are getting the upper hand by taking things to enhance their play, but in the end it's hurting the game. Their punishment, at least, is that they should be stripped of their awards," said Payne.
The poll, which was designed by the students in the current polling and research class at the university, was conducted through telephone surveys from March 3 through March 15.
According to the Sacred Heart press release, "Interviews were conducted among 800 residents nationwide, approximately proportional to the population contribution of all 50 states."
"The students have performed very well without exception. They are very insightful," said Jerry Lindsley, director of the Sacred Heart University Polling Institute.
"I learned from them. They were very enthusiastic as these were their questions. They took ownership and did, indeed, want to see the results. I hope they are proud that their work is now being discussed nationwide," said Lindsley.
He stated that he was surprised by the percentage of professional athletes Americans guessed were on performance enhancing drugs.
Be the first to comment on this story