Another academic scandal; UNC is f-cked

I don't know if the colleges don't care about the writing part. The NCAA doesn't care about the writing part.

 

Isn't the accepted wisdom that Notre Dame football started going downhill in a big way when the admissions office started requiring incoming players to, like any other student, be able to pass freshman calculus?

 

That reminds me of a situation when I was first teaching/advising. I had a young man bitching about his having to take a P.E. course because he'd transferred in. I mentioned that I'd never had to take a P.E. course as an undergraduate (hard sciences before a shift into the softer Liberal Arts). His response was on the order of, "See, doesn't that suck?" Then I casually mentioned having to take four calculus courses (through ordered differential equations). There ended the bitching.

 

That was part of it. Tyrone Willingham's uppityness was a bigger part.

 

I thought Northwestern athlete was an oxymoron

 

He would not even bother to show up to class. It would be an option not a requirement.

 

Then cap the salary at $50K.

Player can opt out at any time but they have the option to stay for four just like a scholarship.

And they are treated in class like every other student as far as grading goes because the player will still suit up if he flunks out of Econ 101.

 

If you're going down the road of paying them, why cap the salary at $50K? Surely Julius Peppers' fair market value was well into six figures and probably into seven.

 

A scholarship is actually worth more than $50,000 at many schools. A lot more at some.

But the real point is, if you do that, why have them associated with the university at all? Shouldn't the football team be a separate for-profit entity if you're going to base the players' worth on the revenue they bring in? If they are employees rather than students, what possible reason would there be for the team's affiliation with the school?

 

I'm probably going to get shredded for this, but here goes:

Why does any university, much less a flagship state school, need a major in African-American studies? Having classes on it makes perfect sense. Hell they probably should be required for history majors. But an entire department? I guarantee you that was considered a joke on campus before the first athlete wandered through. What practical purpose could that degree serve?

 

Vanderbilt gets no love?
Every conference has to have one bookworm in the frat house to make the rest look good.

 

Vanderbilt has eased off the choke in recent years for athlete admissions. Not bringing in illiterates by any means, but kids that certainly don't fit the template on West End.