Critics' of big-time college sports have been working for decades to control the rampant rise in commercialization on campus--and to hold the line on academic integrity. But the balancing act is a difficult one--as 2003, a year that saw academic scandals at St. Bonaventure University, University of Georgia, and Fresno State University, to name just a few, amply attested. Black Issues interviewed one of the great champions in this area: Dr. Ruth Darling, president of the board of the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) and member of the NCAA academic, eligibility and compliance cabinet that advised a sweeping new set of reforms put in place in fall 2003. Darling is also associate provost at University of Tennessee-Knoxville and director of the school's Thornton Athletic Student Life Center. The university has produced standout scholar athletes like Peyton Manning, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback who graduated with a No. 1 ranking in his speech communications major, and Kara Lawson, named last year's female Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholar by "Black Issues In Higher Education." When asked what she thought the challenges are in the current academic advising environment for the student athlete, Dr. Darling replied, "Academic advisers must consistently integrate the student's athletic passion with the goals of learning in a higher education culture." On the subject of motivating young people to see themselves as student-athletes rather than just athletes, Darling said, "I'll suggest, that we think about this a minute, about what this major will teach about being that pro football player. I tell them they're going to learn about motivation, about persuasion, figuring out how people think. All of these skills and the knowledge will help them out on the field. And whether they end up on the field or coaching or in the corporate world, they you will take this knowledge, this degree with them." Darling often uses the metaphor of a three-legged stool or a pyramid, one of the strongest structures ever built, to illustrate a model for student-athlete academic learning and support. She describes the three elements, as the coach; the academic adviser/faculty, and the student-athlete, and believes that if any one person fails to fulfill his/her responsibility and fails to be academically accountable, that stool is going to tip over, and the pyramid will collapse.