What Eric Rickin failed to mention in his comment about the Maine situation
is that the student in question is a GRADUATE STUDENT.  While it is true that
8 hours of credit are required to be eligible to participate in intercollegiate
athletics, only 6 hours are required at Maine (and also here at Michigan State)
to be considered full-time for graduate students.  I do wish that Tardiff's
major had been listed, since different majors have different requirements as
regards to teaching, research, etc.
 
Even though 6 hours may seem like a small amount (and, for many of us that is
6 hours of research), the time involved is much greater.  For the most part,
graduate classes are much more intensive as far as reading assignments, papers,
exams, etc.  In addition, graduate students in most areas have to teach lab
sections, recitation sections, or even some lecture sections whicvh
 
can take
another 10-20 hours a week in preparation as well as actual contact time.  Add
on top of that time spent in the library reading, or in the case of a scientificmajor (that which I am most familiar with) time in the laboratory doing researchand you're looking at anywhere from a minimum of 40 up to in some extreme cases
90 or 100 hours a week (and you could probably find examples where it is even
higher).
 
This isn't meant to be an attack on Eric or a defense of Tardiff.  It is the
job of the Athletic Department at every institution (or it should be) to make
sure that the participating athletes are meeting the eligibility requirements
set forth by the NC$$.  In this case, it appears that Maine screwed up, and
will probably pay quite a sever penalty for it.  It's just that many people
see "only 6 hours" and they think that someone is spending only 6 hours a week
at school.  There are many hours spent behind the scene that no one sees.  As
I said before, I don't know Tardiff's major, so I can't speculate as to how
many hours exactly would be required for him to obtain the degree that he is
shooting for.  But I'll guarantee he spends a lot more than 6 hours a week,
and more time than a undergraduate who would be taking the same number of credithours would be.
 
(Now, if I can just find my way down from this soapbox that seems to have
magically appeared beneath my feet...)
 
G. M. Finniss
Michigan State University
WVU (B.S. Chemistry) '87, UTenn (M.S. Chemistry) '92, MSU (Ph. D. Chemistry
[we hope or my wife's gonna kill me]) who the hell knows when?