Disgusting NCAA

[pawildcat]

Just came on ESPN that North Cheatolina will basically get off scot-free for their academic cheating. I'm becoming less and less inclined to care about major college sports, which are more and more about the money and not much else.

 

[Alan Smithee]

I actually disagree. What NC did was a despicable academic joke, but the sham classes were open to all students (even as athletes were steered to them). Accordingly, the sham classes were not a "special benefit" for athletes, unfortunately removing it from the NCAA's purview.

That said, what SHOULD happen is that NC's accrediting agency should go after them with a huge, well-sharpened axe. It turned out to be academic fraud. Academic fraud from which athletes "benefited" along with other students. That kind of fraud is well within the purview of their accreditation agency, SAC (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges).

 

[pawildcat]

I actually disagree. What NC did was a despicable academic joke, but the sham classes were open to all students (even as athletes were steered to them). Accordingly, the sham classes were not a "special benefit" for athletes, unfortunately removing it from the NCAA's purview.

That said, what SHOULD happen is that NC's accrediting agency should go after them with a huge, well-sharpened axe. It turned out to be academic fraud. Academic fraud from which athletes "benefited" along with other students. That kind of fraud is well within the purview of their accreditation agency, SAC (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges).

Sorry, I don't buy it. Pure semantics. They directly benefitted from sham classes, which is cheating any way you look at it. If that's not within NCAA purview, they need to change their purview or disband the damn organization. The school cheated, and anyone outside of North Carolina knows it.

 

[Alan Smithee]

Problem is, you can't write by-laws on the fly to suit the situation. Despite a lengthy investigation, they couldn't find sufficient evidence of violations of NCAA bylaws. It would be an impossible task for the NCAA to assume for itself the evaluation of the academic merit of every class every athlete (and others) take. Do you think they can fairly make those determinations? I don't.

Other organizations, on the other hand, have that precise responsibility, and the expertise to do it.

 

[NJCat]

Problem is, you can't write by-laws on the fly to suit the situation. Despite a lengthy investigation, they couldn't find sufficient evidence of violations of NCAA bylaws. It would be an impossible task for the NCAA to assume for itself the evaluation of the academic merit of every class every athlete (and others) take. Do you think they can fairly make those determinations? I don't.

Other organizations, on the other hand, have that precise responsibility, and the expertise to do it.

There were a number of jocks in Intro to Astronomy when I took it with J. Allen......mick course if every there was one!

 

[ubercat]

Don't forget 'Rocks for Jocks.'

 

[pawildcat]

Problem is, you can't write by-laws on the fly to suit the situation. Despite a lengthy investigation, they couldn't find sufficient evidence of violations of NCAA bylaws. It would be an impossible task for the NCAA to assume for itself the evaluation of the academic merit of every class every athlete (and others) take. Do you think they can fairly make those determinations? I don't.

Other organizations, on the other hand, have that precise responsibility, and the expertise to do it.

You can't evaluate the merits of a class that by all accounts did not even exist? I don't think it requires a rocket scientist or an accreditation agency to do that. A "mick" course is not the same as one that is made up out of thin air. Nah, this is weasel reasoning at its finest. But whatever. We'll just have to continue to take on the cheaters as they come.

 

[Gladeskat]

I took both Rocks for Jocks (petroleum geology) and Stellar Astronomy, even though the extra courses were useless for a science major. I had little understanding of requirements when I was at NU. I was so fricking ignorant of college back then that I almost chose Texas Tech over NU. I shake my head and laugh now at how stupid I was then...and how I've built upon that foundation since. Fortunately, I took the same courses my friends took who were biology - premed majors. When I transferred, my genetics course and cell biology course wouldn't transfer (no labs) but Rocks of Jocks and Stellar Astronomy did. Also, WC wouldn't accept my Ancient Egyptian Religions class as meeting their Christian theology class requirements for some reason. Sounds bleak for me but WC accepted Intro studies (Modern sculpture) as both a writing class and an art class in separate meetings with my advisor.

 

[ubercat]

Hmm. When I took Genetics at NU, it was a lecture / lab course taught by R. C. King who wrote the text book. We chloroformed and counted fruit flies. And allowed a few swarms to escape. Maybe that's why they discontinued the lab part.

 

[Deeringfish]

I actually disagree. What NC did was a despicable academic joke, but the sham classes were open to all students (even as athletes were steered to them). Accordingly, the sham classes were not a "special benefit" for athletes, unfortunately removing it from the NCAA's purview.

That said, what SHOULD happen is that NC's accrediting agency should go after them with a huge, well-sharpened axe. It turned out to be academic fraud. Academic fraud from which athletes "benefited" along with other students. That kind of fraud is well within the purview of their accreditation agency, SAC (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges).

Is the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges a real organization or simply a sham set up to rubber stamp Southern schools in the face of poor educational standards in the south?

 

[Gladeskat]

Hmm. When I took Genetics at NU, it was a lecture / lab course taught by R. C. King who wrote the text book. We chloroformed and counted fruit flies. And allowed a few swarms to escape. Maybe that's why they discontinued the lab part.

I took Genetics from King as well, but the course did not have an associated lab concurrent with the lecture. Labs for genetics and cell biology were combined into a separate 2-credit lab course. I transferred before taking the 2-credit lab course.

 

[Alan Smithee]

Is the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges a real organization or simply a sham set up to rubber stamp Southern schools in the face of poor educational standards in the south?

It's a legit, recognized regional accreditation agency, one of the six regional accrediting agencies (the regional counterpart to the North Central Association --> Higher Learning Commission in the Midwest/West). They have plenty of teeth available for use.