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Imprint, Thursday, April 1, 2010 news@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
warrior drug test results expected this month
Early retirement for VP of administration and finance Chris Neal resigned just over a month before his term was up Gina Racine editor - in - chief
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was, given the gravity of the charges... And there’s nothing to suggest that we have a concern so were really staying focused on the issue. If you look at the history of adverse findings over the years, I believe, since 1990, there have been 56 adverse findings that 45 were football related, so it appears to be an issue that is much more prominently in football than in any other sports.” In fact, the detailed allegations — which are under a publication ban ordered by the court — have prompted the CCES to test several other schools including, Wilfrid Laurier, the University of Guelph, McMaster, and the University of Western Ontario. In light of the recent issue concerning the sport, UW Athletics is looking to use this as an opportunity to educate student athletes. “We follow all the policies and protocols of the CIS, including a mandatory online drug education seminar that the student athletes have to complete, and you know, various other forms of team orientation and policies and things of that nature,” said Copeland. “We fully plan to look at opportunities to educate that will not only benefit our athletes at Waterloo but everybody in the CIS, I think we can be leaders in that area. We’re already working closely with the CIS in terms of looking at any shortcomings that may exist in the current educational program offered to the CIS and other opportunities that we can do to be a leader on our campus.” Marg McGregor, the chief executive officer of the CIS is also hoping to improve programs, “We don’t know the size or scope of the problem [however] we do take it seriously and are looking to evaluate the current education and the current program that we have in place and looking to see what enhancements can be made to them.” Specifically, she said the CIS has requested more testing of athletes and has collected information on the athletes so they can conduct unannounced tests throughout the summer which she said will allow for more intelligent testing. The potential employer of these students is the CFL, who currently has no drug testing program. “We have had conversation with the CFL encouraging them to begin testing their athletes and to respect the CIS sanctions that are in place, and the CFL does not currently do either one of those things,” explained McGregor. CIS sanctions could include a four year suspension from playing in any CIS sport. This has previously been an issue at the University of Waterloo where Shawn Dyson failed an unannounced doping control session in 1997 and was later suspended from the team and any further CIAU (Canadian Intrauniversity Athletic Union).
t was a premature retirement for Federation of Students’ vice-president of administration and finance last month. “Chris has taken on a position working in the Student Life office doing first year experience research,” said Allan Babor, Feds’ president at the time of Neal’s resignation. Although the decision was officially made at the end of March, the Federation of Students held back from releasing the information to the public until the second week of April. “The resignation was put in and we went through a series of communication, which was why a press release wasn’t sent out immediately,” Babor said. According to Babor, some of the current executives, including himself, would be taking on different portion of Neal’s portfolio in the meantime. “Within our organization, we anticipate that there may be unforeseen circumstances that come up and so we default to our board, our bylaws, which really dictates that should an executive leave for whatever reason, their responsibilities should be divvied up between the other executives and potentially nonexecutive board members which we have five of,” he said. According to Babor, one thing that is beneficial is that the current vice-president internal, Sarah Cook, will be the new person in the vice-president administration finance role. “Mr. Neal has been working with Sarah so ensure that a proper transition occurs so that she can be most successful in her new role,” he said. According to Babor, having an executive leave the organization is never something they hope for, but the team is more than prepared. “It certainly took an additional effort to ensure that whatever projects we could continue to maintain integrity of, to best serve students, were handled appropriately,” he said. “It was disappointing because Chris has certainly contributed a great deal to the Federation of Students over his five years, but at the same time, I think the focus had to really turn to how do we continue to service students with this loss? “I think that all of the executives could agree that Chris made significant contributions to the Federation of Students and we want to thank everyone who has given [us] the support to continue to succeed during the remainder of our term.” Neal said he had every intent on transitioning Cook into her new role so that her team can be successful and prosper. “It’s always unfortunate to leave things incomplete like the UPASS negotiations and the health and dental plan renewals, but I have complete faith in Allan’s team in getting the job done to the level of satisfaction that students deserve,” he said.
ptrelinska@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
editor@imprint.uwaterloo.ca
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The entire Waterloo Warriors football team is undergoing drug testing following allegations against a team member, Nathan Zettler, for trafficking anabolic steroids. Paula Trelinska news editor
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he entire Waterloo Warriors football team has been tested for drugs and a football player has been banned following allegations of steroid trafficking. Nathan Zettler, 23, a Waterloo Warriors football player and recreation and leisure student, has been charged with trafficking anabolic steroids. The arrest came after police found several thousand unknown pills, vials, and capsules when searching his Bridgeport Road home in relation to an investigation into a series of break-and-enters between Feb. 1 and March 24, 2010 in Kitchener and Waterloo. Zettler is also charged with five counts of break-and-enter, possession of stolen property, use of a stolen credit card, and breach of probation. Another Warriors football player, Matthew Valeriote, and former teammate Eric Legare are also charged with breaking and entering and possession of stolen property, according to an incident report. Following a bail hearing on April 14, Zettler was released on $30,000 bail and had his movement severely restricted. The court ordered that he is to stay away from the University of Waterloo and any other addresses he is accused of breaking into. He is not to have any contact with current or former members of the football team and is prohibited from accessing any wireless communication devices. He has been placed in the custody of his grandparents and can only leave their custody for work, court and medical appointments, or when in the company of his father, the third surety. When the university was informed of the investigation, Zettler was suspended from the team and banned from university property pending the outcome of the legal proceedings. The Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), was promptly informed. CIS then informed the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES), who manages the Canadian Anti-Doping Drug Program. The entire Waterloo Warriors football team, including over 65 players, was subject to drug testing following allegations against Zettler. Results are not expected until the end of this month, said Bob Copeland, UW athletic director. “Once the results come out, there will be more information provided,” he said. The CCES said they would make the results public once they are available. When asked whether other teams would also be tested, Copeland responded no. “There’s nothing that would lead us to that type of decision,” he said. “The reason that we did the testing that we did