Abstract
Piran, Levine and Adair (1998) state that there is a specific body image that women are expected to maintain or be ostracized from the social order (p. 1-25). To attempt to achieve this perfect body image many female athletes will elect to control their intake of food excessively, leading to eating disorders (Levitt, Sansone & Cohn, 2004, p. 211). Levitt, Sansone and Cohn (2004) state that knowledge about eating disorders has existed since the 1600s, although not taken seriously until after 1874 (p. 211). Despite this knowledge, however, the impact of eating disorders on athletes did not come to the fore of public concern until the death of Christy Henrich (Rhea, Jambor & Wiginton, 1996, p. 66). Christy Henrich was a female athlete who was in the Olympic trials and was told that she did not make the team because she was too heavy at 97 pounds. By 1994 Henrich weighed 47 pounds and her frail body finally gave out, with the autopsy indicating that she suffered from both anorexia and bulimia. Levitt, Sansone and Cohn (2004) indicate that while eating disorders impact both males and females there is by far a greater number of female athletes that suffer from eating disorders because of the added pressure within society for females in general to conform to social expectations related to body image (p. 211). The research, therefore, will focus on eating disorders and female athletes, the issue and potential resolutions to the issue for the individual.

From the Paper
Eating Disorders and Athletes Introduction Piran, Levine and Adair (1998) state that there is a specific body image that women are expected to maintain or be ostracized from the social order (p. 1-25). To attempt to achieve this perfect body image many female athletes will elect to control their intake of food excessively, leading to eating disorders (Levitt, Sansone & Cohn, 2004, p. 211). Levitt, Sansone and Cohn (2004) state that knowledge about eating disorders has existed since the 1600s, although not taken seriously until after 1874 (p. 211). Despite this knowledge, however, the impact of eating disorders on

Tags:eating, disorders, athletes

Abstract
The paper examines a phenomena that it says is an epidemic amongst athletes - the use of performance enhancing drugs in order to improve their overall performance and results. The paper examines the issues surrounding drug usage and relates previous incidents to support the claim that this is an epidemic. The paper then looks at measures taken to combat this epidemic before concluding by presenting possible effects upon future athletes arising from attempts to eradicate the problem.

Table of Contents:
Professional Athletes Using Performance Enhancing Drugs
The Past Issues Surrounding Performance Enhancing Drugs
What Actions were Taken to Address the Issue
How this Could Have an Impact upon Athletes in the Future?
Conclusion.

From the Paper
"Over the last several years, the issue of performance enhancing drugs has been increasingly brought to the forefront. Part of the reason for this is because of revelations from a host of current former and professional athletes who admitted that they were using various performance enhancing drugs (during some of the most critical points of their career). A good example of this can be seen by looking no further, than Mark McGwire admitting that he used performance enhancing drugs during the 1998 season. This is when he would break Roger Maris's record of 61 single home runs in a regular season. Commenting about what took place McGwire would say, "I never knew when, but I always knew this day would come. It's time for me to talk about the past and to confirm what people have suspected. I wish I had never touched steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake. I truly apologize. Looking back, I wish I had never played during the steroid era." ("McGwire Admits Steroid Use," 2010) This is significant, because it shows how throughout professional sport, a host of different athletes have begun using performance enhancing drugs on a regular basis. To fully understand the overall scope of the problem facing professional sports requires: examining the past issues surrounding performance enhancing drugs, what actions were taken to address the issue and how this could have an impact upon athletes in the future. Together, these different elements will provide the greatest insights as to the frequency of usage and how it impacting professional sports."

Tags:athletes, professional, research, testing, steroid, abuse, health, anabolic

Abstract
This paper reviews eating disorders among female athletes. In particular, the paper looks at the seriousness of the problem and some possible explanations for why intelligent young women who should know better succumb to eating disorders that end their athletic careers or even their lives. With regards to the last sentence, the paper is especially interested in the societal pressures which act on these young women as well as the athletic pressures facing them as well - pressures which an irresponsible coach can exacerbate. In the end, the paper concludes that female athletes in North American society will only begin to insulate themselves from eating disorders when they begin asking tough questions en masse - and when they listen to their bodies, themselves, and physicians instead of anyone else.

Tags:eating, disorders, athletes

Abstract
The paper discusses how for many years now, since at least the 1970s when the salaries of professional athletes began to skyrocket, there has been the common refrain that they make too much money and that they are motivated by "the green" and not by the love of the sport. This paper argues that, while athletes are no different than anyone else when it comes to wanting to be well-compensated for their services, they are often driven by a desire to be the best they can be and by a desire to master their chosen vocation because that vocation gives them great pleasure, a healthy self-respect, and allows them to fully optimize the fortunate talents they have been granted.

From the Paper
"For many years now, since at least the 1970s when the salaries of professional athletes began to skyrocket, there has been the common refrain that they make too much money and that they are motivated by "the green" and not by the love of the sport. This paper will argue that, while athletes are no different than anyone else when it comes to wanting to be well-compensated for their services, they are often driven by a desire to be the best they can be (this does not begin and end simply with achieving athletically but also entails growing as a person) and (likewise) by a desire to master their chosen vocation because that vocation gives them..."

Tags:athletes, money, achievement

Abstract
This paper takes a closer look at steroid use in professional baseball and at the Olympics. The paper shows specific examples of recent cheating among athletes worldwide. The paper also provides explanations of drug-screening procedures used today and ways that athletes are successfully able to cheat the screenings, as well as their competitors and the fans.

From the Paper
"Cheating is everywhere. It has become a widespread epidemic in the sense that it has almost completely incorporated itself into the American society of today. Not gradually; the change has been dramatic and has covered all angles and perspectives. Anything and everything that has a corner with the possibility of being cut will ultimately be cut. Moreover, based on this extremely wide variety, it would take days to cover each individual type of cheating. Therefore, choosing one single and important aspect, in this case, athletes who cheat drug screenings, allows the reader to obtain a much more specific and individualized sense of the much broader dilemma that is occurring everywhere all over the world. Athletes have found ways to cheat drastically in both the minor and major leagues of baseball as well as in the Olympics."

Tags:cheating, sports, athletes, steroids, Olympics, MLB, baseball, Canseco, drug, screening, test, Selig, UCLA, EPO, BALCO, scandal, role, death, juiced, SI

Abstract
Using Jeff Benedict's "Public Heroes,Private Felons", this paper discusses the issue of athletes and rape and sexual violence against women. The paper explains Benedict's thesis that the glorification of sports heroes sends a message to them that their behavior will be tolerated.

From the Paper
"Jeff Benedict's text "Public Heroes, Private Felons: Athletes and Crimes Against Women" is an expose of the sordid underworld in which an unfortunately significant number of amateur and professional athletes engage in sexual assaults, rape and other forms of violence against women. Benedict makes the point that the celebrity of these athletes and, in the case of professionals, their wealth, makes possible a lifestyle that is at best rampantly permissive and at worst criminal, at least with respect to the maltreatment of..."

Tags:athletes, rape, sexual violence, women

Abstract
This paper argues that the NCAA has to change the way it operates if it is to maximize the possibility of its student-athletes to achieve their career goals as professional athletes. The paper further argues that trying to combine athletics and academics at this level does not work and serves to lower the standards for both sides of the equation.

From the Paper
"The argument to be made in this paper is that the possibilities of achieving a professional sports career and the benefits once that professional career is achieved on the part of college athletes are not worth the odds of giving up on a college education. At the present time, it seems that the major university sports programs especially in football and basketball are geared to producing professional athletes without much emphasis being placed on the academic side of..."

Tags:athletics, professional sport, academics, NCAA

Abstract
This paper discusses how to bio-mechanically improve running performance and the important role of strength training in this endeavor. The author also references relevant research studies, which indicate that endurance athletes can benefit from strength training programs.

From the Paper
"When one thinks of endurance athletes, they typically think of a Kenyan marathon runner or an Ironman Triathlete. While these images are undoubtedly "low-fat," they certainly not considered heavily muscled power athletes. Similarly, one doesn't think of an endurance athlete's training consisting of "hitting the weights" three to four times a week. Recent research has confirmed that an endurance athlete who is optimally strength-trained has a distinct competitive advantage compared to the athlete who trains only for endurance."

Tags:athletics, runner, running, weight, lifting, endure, competition, power

Abstract
This paper provides a review and discussion of the scholarly and peer-reviewed literature concerning steroid use among amateur and professional athletes and the legal implications thereof, followed by an analysis of the salient issues.

Contents:
Introduction
Review and Discussion
Background and Overview
Effects of Steroids
Incidence of Use
Analysis of Legal Issues and Controversies and Reactions
Conclusion

From the Paper
"In 1976, amateur athletes were tested for prohibited substances at the Olympic Games in Montreal and again at the 1983 Pan American Games in Caracas, Venezuela; the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) banned anabolic steroids in 1973 and began random testing of student- athletes for performance-enhancing substances and recreational drugs in 1986. (Allison et al., 2003). Drug testing originally took place only at Division I football bowl games, and at some NCAA championships; however, since 1990, football players in Divisions I-A, I-AA, and II, as well as Division I indoor and outdoor track and field athletes, have been subject to drug testing all year long. Furthermore, Allison and his colleagues report that all NCAA student- athletes are subject to drug testing at NCAA championship events and at post-season bowl games (NCAA, 1998). Not surprisingly, the use of such drugs has attracted attention from those who would seek to gain a competitive edge over their peers as well as those who would attempt to discourage such usage. To better understand the rationale behind such efforts, the general effects of steroids are discussed further below."

Tags:performance-enhancing, drugs, competition, anabolic, Amateur, Athletic, Federation, International, Olympic, Committee

Abstract
This paper explains that, before World War II, Black athletes were restricted from all professional competition because white athletes' fears of losing to Black athletes was masked by fabrications such as African-Americans were subhuman with their strength coming from their jungle ancestry rather than intelligent and hard work: This myth continues today. The author points out that Black athletes face enormous obstacles when opting for managing, coaching or executive positions in sports. The paper relates that, although some may claim that lower class African-Americans now are more interested in crime than athletics, the exceptional Black athletes, such as Tiger Woods and Vanessa Williams, are examples for young Black Americans that there can be much more in their futures than jail cells or graves.
Table of Contents
History
History Makers
Althea Gibson
Jackie Robinson
Jesse Owens
Willie O'Ree
Prominent Contemporary Sports People
Media Portrayal
Current Perceptions and Issues

From the Paper
"Denise Meridith (2001) touches upon the same issue in her article featuring Venus Williams. Her behavior, appearance and style of play are seen as threatening by some. Assertiveness and confidence are viewed as "arrogance" in a black woman. And similarly reference is made to her physical strength rather than skill or intelligence resulting in her success. This is media-promoted as somehow not being "feminine" enough. Meridith makes a derogatory remark comparing the skeletal Ally MacBeal to the muscular Williams, saying that it is healthier to strive for muscles than for bones in one's appearance. However, the media promotes thin as beautiful. Also, the sexy Anna Kornikova is not as powerful or successful in her play as the Williams sisters, but the media focusses on her achievements, because she is the epitomy of feminine beauty."

Tags:woods, williams, media, prejudice, repressed-racism