oh good gravy. penn state related. (ETA also rpotd)
coverage has been all day. i think it's good that people are still talking about this because it's clearing up a lot of misconceptions. at least, that is what i hope.
but for crying out loud, i can't really believe that people can't get it through their heads that the reputation of penn state was built on the ability of the heads of the football department covering up kids being molested. if the team didn't have the power they had, no one would have been afraid to investigate and do something about it way back in the day. it would probably be a different department than what has been for the past, oh, 3 decades.
and really, penn state is not the only college nor is it the only football team around. the people supporting the university and the FB team and sandusky and paterno gave them the power they had to get away with what they got away with.
ETA - this is an example of white privilege at it's best.
::off soap box::
Re: oh good gravy. penn state related. (ETA also rpotd)
The hosts were all "WTELMF are you talking about?!?!"
WHY ARE PEOPLE SO EFFING STUPID?
so -- not punished at all.
basically, it's the catholic church child abuse scandal being played out at a university.
Posted by 6fsn[/QUOTE]
i don't understand. what teams?
[QUOTE]btw -- this had nothing to do with them being white. it had everything to do with the culture of football being elevated above the welfare of children. <strong>basically, it's the catholic church child abuse scandal being played out at a university.</strong>
Posted by hmonkey[/QUOTE]
Agreed.
[QUOTE]In most schools the funds from football are also used as part of the athletic fund. The money gets dispersed to say field hockey or track and field that don't actually make money. It's used for equipment, travel, scholarships, and whatnot. The football team will not make any money without going to a bowl game so there will be a lot of people that lose scholarships that won't be able to transfer. They are most likely to be women and people that are using athletics as a means of funding their education.
Posted by 6fsn[/QUOTE]
This should serve as a wake-up call for the overabundance of athletic scholarships and the simultaneous drought of academic scholarships, no?
On the flip side my SIL could kick a ball and was offered a full ride to Harvard to do so. She knew she wasn't a Mia Hamm and she wasn't getting in on academics. She turned them down.
1) bowl games can actually cost the university money, depending on how revenue is generated
http://www.mndaily.com/2011/10/04/bcs-bill-how-bowl-games-cost-football-programs
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-23/college-football-winners-still-lose-as-bowl-game-expenses-exceed-payout.html
2) football generates less than 2 percent of the university's revenue.
3) the $60m penalty will be paid out over 4 years.
4) let's not kid ourselves and say that people who are on an athletic scholarship are getting an education. at schools where athletics are paramount, like penn sttate, they are there to play a game, and that's it. they are housed separately, fed separately, taught separately (if at all) and answer to a completely different code of conduct and ethics than regular students who are there for an education.
I'll take a major issue with #4. There are different levels of athletic scholarship. I know many, many student athletes that used what they are good at to get a good education. They lived with and studied with and ate with every other student. No I wasn't at a Big Ten school, but there were several at OSU that were on both academic and athletic scholarship.
I'll not deny that there are those athletes that get special treatment, but I personally know many that were not getting that.
To be clear, I did not say football funded academics. I said it funded other sports and other sports scholarships.
There is a lot of fluff in college that I took advantage of. Maybe it wasn't sports, but there were certainly some music and environmental activities that were not at all related to my education. It wasn't funded by a football team, but it was funded by something.
There are a lot of thoughts that aren't coming out clearly. I'm just saying there are some student athletes that do it for enjoyment or so they don't have to take out a few more thousand in student loans. The football program does support these groups and I do feel bad that they are getting a bit of the shaft because of these sanctions.
IN NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM DO I THINK THAT THE PSU FINES OR SANCTIONS ARE OUT OF LINE OR UNDESERVED. The people that allowed this to happen are monsters. The children have been through hell and back and will bear this for their whole lives.
People feel sorry for the football players. I don't. The major plays will be mildly inconvenienced at best. The small bit sports will be more hurt though.
I also take issue with painting every student athlete with a big brush. Essentially saying everyone is there to play a sport and get special treatment is rubbish. There were quite a few sitting next to me in class and being inducted into the same honor society as my brother.
Out of the thread!
I'll agree with 6 on the scholarship thing. I went to a Big Ten school. I took classes with some of the football players, and some were truly dumb. They needed hand holding. Others were very smart, engaged, and took their studies seriously. My cousin's husband got a football scholarship and ended up playing professional football. But when his career ended he had to make a living and he was damn glad he studied in college. The same can be said of a lot of scholarships- let's not kid ourselves that there are any number of scholarship recipients d!cking around and doing jack sh!t.
The more and more I think about it, the more I wonder about the trickle down effects. How many scholarships, grant monies, etc. are going to go away because people are concerned that if the football program has no oversight, what else doesn't? But then again, I guess that increases funding opportunities for other institutions.
[QUOTE] I also take issue with painting every student athlete with a big brush. Essentially saying everyone is there to play a sport and get special treatment is rubbish. There were quite a few sitting next to me in class and being inducted into the same honor society as my brother.
Posted by 6fsn[/QUOTE]
Agreed. Both my DH and I were student-athletes on scholarship and we appreciated the opportunity to get a college education without taking out several thousands of dollars in loans. We were in class and housed with the general population. We received no special treatment.
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: oh good gravy. penn state related. (ETA also rpotd) : This should serve as a wake-up call for the overabundance of athletic scholarships and the simultaneous drought of academic scholarships, no?
Posted by ReturnOfKuus[/QUOTE]
<div>Eh, I've seen schools that "only" give academic scholarships...never atheletic.</div><div>Convieiently, their academic scolarships are based on social/giving/weird criteria and only given to "well rounded" students who happened to play sports. <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-undecided.gif" border="0" alt="Undecided" title="Undecided" /></div>