Thursday, April 16, 1998 | 6:10 a.m.
WHEN IT COMES to paying lip service to academics, every athletic department talks the talk.
They trot out the manipulated numbers and tell you how great things are. Every school has a showcase student-athlete or two.
But to really walk the walk, you should have been at the Richard Tam Alumni Center on Wednesday. There, for everyone to see, were the real stars of UNLV's athletic program.
Thirty-one scholar-athletes. Male and female. Black and white. Brawny football players and willowy swimmers. All with grade-point averages of 3.67 or higher, all linked by a common bond -- a commitment to excellence, both in the classroom and on the field of play.
We in the media are guilty of overlooking the accomplishments of these bright lights. We get blinded by the flash and dash of basketball and football players who are "taking their games to the next level," and we're quick to chronicle their every move on their way to the NBA or the NFL.
Yet when it's all said and done, Jonathan Fiene and Donna Wu probably will contribute more to society than say, Tyrone Nesby or Rodrick Johnson. Which is not to demean Nesby and Johnson. They're chasing their dream and that's fine.
But Wu and Fiene, who display their excellence in the pool as members of Jim Reitz's fine Rebel swimming program, are superstars in the classroom as well. And that's where they will leave their legacy.
Wu, a junior distance specialist, has a 3.979 GPA in hotel administration. Fiene, a sophomore freestyler, is carrying a 3.83 GPA majoring in mechanical engineering. The guess here is neither will be hurting for a job when they're through swimming.
But that's not the real message. What counts is how seriously an education is taken by UNLV's student-athletes. Of the 350 men and women who compete, over 30 percent (111) have GPAs of 3.0 or better while 38 made the dean's list. It takes a 3.50 GPA with a minimum of 12 credits to qualify.
And it takes a special person to reach that plateau. Which is why someone like Karen Webster, the gritty junior point guard on the UNLV women's basketball team, deserves to be admired.
She's about to play for her third different coach in four years and has endured her share of disappointment on the court with the Lady Rebels. Yet, she is one of the top students in the athletic department. She's a member of the honors program as well as Phi Kappa Phi, and was a WAC Academic All-Conference selection as well.
She would not let the team's struggles on the court bring her down off it. That makes her a champ in anyone's book.
She has plenty of company. Whether it's the exploits of golfer Daron Dorsey or runner Nadine Nembhard, who has a 3.972 GPA, or the eight football players who were honored Wednesday, UNLV has an exceptional group of young men and women who are committed to being their best in all arenas.
We should remember that every day, not just once a year.
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