Results tagged “fraud” from Capitol Valley

The Ann Arbor News continues its fantastic reporting today on the disgusting state of the University of Michigan's treatment of "student-athletes"  with a report on a major that only 3% of the thousands of undergraduates at UM take, but 49% of those taking are athletes.

Yes, I'm talking about "General Studies."

You may ask yourself, what the heck does that mean, anyway? You tell me. I have no idea. Someone who does know, is former UM president James Duderstadt, who wrote a book called "Intercollegiate Athletetics and the American University."

Duderstadt asks the question,

"Where else can athletes with weak academic skills be accommodated in a university with competitive academic admissions and rigorous academic programs? This, of course, is a question many leading universities face, from Michigan to Berkeley, and Duke to Stanford...

Since these soon become well known to coaches and academic advisors, student-athletes with weaker academic skills are steered toward these safe harbors. Since one can rarely find enough cupcake courses to comprise a true major, some universities have actually created degrees such as a Bachelor of General Studies to facilitate such a strategy."

He calls it like he sees it.

Something else the News has picked up on is Shari Acho, an "academic counselor" whose job seems to consist of keeping football players eligible without regard to their lives after Michigan football.

Acho remains in a Michigan football player's academic life from the time he officially visits campus as a recruit until he leaves the school. She discusses possible academic tracks with him, keeps on top of course enrollment, monitors class attendance, verifies progress toward a degree and serves as a counselor about school and, sometimes, personal matters.

But the precise part Acho plays in an athlete's decision to enroll in general studies seems to be subject to interpretation.

Acho said if a visiting football recruit is interested in LS&A - the largest of Michigan's schools and colleges - then she'll ask someone from LS&A to come and talk about general studies. In interviews, players said Acho encouraged them to pursue the degree.

"I don't think encouraged is the right word," Acho countered. "I think every student decides on whatever degree program they want to go into. And just as I said before, we'll ask the questions - what might you be interested in?"

"I wanted to do all of the film and video classes, but it was just that the times conflicted with football, and you know football's paying the bills." - Pierre Woods, former Michigan linebacker.

Branch told The News he wanted to be a history teacher. Former Michigan wide receiver Steve Breaston - Branch's teammate with the Arizona Cardinals - said he wanted to major in English. New England Patriots linebacker Pierre Woods, another player on Michigan's 2004 team, said he wanted to be a film and video major.

All three ended up in the general studies program.

Acho said she can't explain why so many athletes congregate in general studies, other than to say that "the flexibility in the program has allowed them to create programs of study that really interest them."

She's either lying or just plain stupid.

Can anyone explain why the NCAA is tax exempt?

Just shouting-out to the second day of The Ann Arbor News' expose of UM's "student-athletes" and the hoops the University jumps through to keep them eligible. Today the topic is easy majors. When the NCAA toughened its' requirements,  the "Kinesiology" major, which is sports management and exercise science, and actually rather difficult if you're not given a free pass, became too hard for many UM football players. Now they take "General Studies," which means...what? You tell me.

I think I had one teammate at Wisconsin who was a Kinesiology major. He ended up going to Medical School. I don't know anyone who got a BA in General Studies. Then again, many of Michigan's athletes don't even graduate, so does their major even matter except for them to announce it on TV?

Money excerpt:

With the fall term drawing to a close, Jay Basten monitored students taking his final exam in Sport Management 111, a course at the University of Michigan.

During the essay test last December, one undergraduate - an athlete - caught Basten's attention.

"I could tell by the look on his face, and also based on the work he had done previously in class, that he had no clue what to write," Basten said. "It was a 50-minute exam, and he probably wrote three sentences."

Basten said the experience almost brought tears to his eyes. But the full-time kinesiology lecturer added that watching a Michigan student-athlete struggle is not an isolated occurrence.

"As far as the university's history, it's not all good," he said. "There have been people who have worked to do the right thing, but more often than not, athletic talent has won out over academic ability."

Basten worked in Michigan's admissions office before becoming a faculty member, and he said he knows about the compromises made when admitting some athletes. He said he's seen a previous school president get involved in the process.

Basten also helped spawn recent changes to toughen kinesiology's sport management major.

That, in turn, caused many athletes to shift their educational track into a relatively unstructured degree program called general studies.

Asked if Michigan could offer its student-athletes an academic experience similar to that of a typical student and still compete at the highest levels athletically, Basten didn't hesitate.

"No," he said.

 

So, anyone want to explain that whole tax-exempt thing again?