Their numbers are untainted

Despite the news reports surrounding steroid use in sports, you will not find unnaturally tall, muscle-bound athletes at Pierce College.

The Journal of Sports Science and Medicine defines anabolic-androgenic steroids as being “the man-made derivatives of the male sex hormone, testosterone.”

It is also stated that through the use of anabolic-androgenic steroids, a variety of factors are enhanced within the male human body such as an increase in body mass, increased muscle strength and power, enhanced recovery from injury, reduced muscle damage, increase in pain tolerance and behavior modification (or enhanced aggression).

Since the 1950s, athletes have used anabolic steroids to better their performance in sporting events and competitions.

According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, “Androgen use has spread to different groups of athletes who use these drugs for various reasons.

“The common thread among all these groups, however, is the goal of enhancing muscular capabilities and athletic performance and being successful.”

One of the most recognized cases of steroid use in sports was in 2003, when Major League Baseball outfielder Barry Bonds was involved in a steroid scandal after his trainer, Greg Anderson, was accused of and charged with supplying anabolic steroids to a variety of athletes.

Many coaches in the Pierce Athletic Department feel strongly about the use of steroids in professional sports negatively influencing younger students.

“I think it’s a bad thing,” said John Bushart, assistant coach of the Pierce baseball team. “Obviously, a lot of Major League players have done it and I don’t think it sets a good example for young kids.”

The National Collegiate Athletic Association’s banned-substance policy and drug-testing program have been used to survey and manage steroid usage in the athletic programs of the colleges and universities in the United States.

The drug-testing program utilizes many procedures that test athletic students of steroid use, such as testing a student’s urine for any traces of drugs.

Many colleges, including UCLA, Guilford College and Wilson College, use NCAA’s banned-substance policy.

“We’re a community college deep in the (Commission of Athletics),” said Steve Ruys, fitness center coordinator and head strength-conditioning coach at Pierce. “Pierce doesn’t manage it but our governing body above us recognizes the NCAA’s ban-substance policy.”

Although Pierce recognizes NCAA’s banned-substance policy, there are very rare times when testing for steroid use is taken into effect.

“If there was a policy, then we would have to test for it, so now you’re getting into the economics of it, “ said Bob Lofrano, athletic director at Pierce. “We do not think it is a problem in the community college level or the Commission of Athletics would put in some rules against that.

“We follow the NCAA rules but we don’t test for it,” he said.

With steroids being such a controversial issue in the world of sports, there are many athletes who believe that steroid use is not the way to have a good sporting career.

“I don’t see the point of using steroids,” said Harout Markariam, a Pierce student and basketball player. “It’s unnatural and artificial (and) if you get caught using it, your career will be over."