What kind of role model is Mark McGwire? Many people are familiar with his seventy homeruns in one season, but do they know that he has been using androstenedione, a type of steroid that boosts testosterone levels? While it is perfectly legal in the United States and in the major leagues, it sends the wrong health message to athletes of every age. If young adults take androstenedione, or any other steroid, they may regret it for the rest of their lives. Artificially high levels of testosterone have been shown to permanently damage the heart, trigger liver failure, and stunt a teenager's growth (Gorman 21-22). All are too great of a price for any sport. What it all comes down to is that we need to educate both ourselves and all intercollegiate athletes about the risks involved with steroid use. Anabolic-androgenic steroids are chemical derivatives of the male sex hormones. Anabolic refers to the constructive or building-up process of the body's metabolism. Androgen refers to male-life or masculinizing characteristics. There are also two other types of steroids: estrogenic or corticosteroids. Estrogenic steroids produce female or feminizing characteristics, and corticosteroids originate in the cortex of the adrenal glands and have a shrinking effect. The latter is used to treat tissue stress, reduce inflammation, and to ease pain (Ringhofer 174). Users take steroids in cycles lasting six to twelve weeks or more. Stacking, or the use of more than one type of steroid, helps to maximize strength gains, minimize side effects, and avoid detection. To build size, strength, and speed, athletes often use 10 to 100 times the medical dosage (Yesalis xxv). Anabolic-androgens can be taken either by mouth, by injection, or, more recently, by skin creams or patches (Cowart 25). The two main reasons that athletes use steroids are to improve athletic performance and to improve their appearance. In 1985, Anderson and McKeag...