Alarming illiteracy of college athletes

[Roma_Victrix]

"Early in her career as a learning specialist, Mary Willingham was in her office when a basketball player at the University of North Carolina walked in looking for help with his classwork.

He couldn't read or write.

"And I kind of panicked. What do you do with that?" she said, recalling the meeting.

Willingham's job was to help athletes who weren't quite ready academically for the work required at UNC at Chapel Hill, one of the country's top public universities.

But she was shocked that one couldn't read. And then she found he was not an anomaly."* The Young Turks hosts Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian break it down.

*Read more here from Sara Ganim / CNN:
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/01/07/us...eading-scores/

Good God, man! Out of 183 athletes at the University of North Carolina, only 60% could read between an 8th and 4th grade level, while 10% read below a third-grade level. Unbelievable. That means at least 17 or 18 of them are so illiterate that they probably couldn't read about themselves or their sport team's updates in a college newspaper.

This raises all sorts of thorny ethical issues for professors who are pressured to pass these students. The bottom line is that sport is their life, not academia, since these college athletes figure the former will be their 'bread and butter' later on in life. I'd venture to say the majority of them have high hopes to make it into the big leagues of their respective sport, despite the small numbers of athletes who actually make the cut. I'd also venture to say that the majority of them don't realize that they're pissing their lives away on a false hope, and that life is going to be very hard for them once they try to enter the real workforce.

Plus, it's just ing sad to read those facts. U.S. colleges rake in so much money from college football and basketball that it's no wonder they couldn't be bothered to give a damn whether or not their students are treated equally and given a proper education. That should be the sole goal of every university; in reality, it is not.

Thoughts?

[I WUB PUGS]

Plus, it's just ing sad to read those facts. U.S. colleges rake in so much money from college football and basketball that it's no wonder they couldn't be bothered to give a damn whether or not their students are treated equally and given a proper education. That should be the sole goal of every university; in reality, it is not.

That's a bit of a ridiculous statement. The money schools spend on athletics normally results in a deficit. Its why many schools have been cutting programs for years now.............and why Title IX is still a hot topic. The money that is raised from SUCCESSFUL football and SUCCESSFUL basketball is almost always immediately gobbled up by the rest of the athletic department to support non-revenue sports.

Outside of the Top 10 revenue gainers, like University of Texas at Austin, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and Ohio State University, you don't see a whole lot of "wealth" that's being generated...................and even those big 3 that are 3 of the biggest athletic departments operate at about zero profit. Those monies are rolled into any number of things.

Indeed, if you want to look at just how ed up college football is, you need to look at what it costs some of the little guys to go to bowl games. I remember when FSU went to like the Champs bowl. Now FSU is not normally considered a "little guy" but in reality, it was a down time, and even though the Champs Bowl is in the the same state, it still ended up being a net loss for the university to send the team to the Bowl Game. Yeah, so even with the payout from the bowl, they still lost money.

The only people that REALLY make a ton of money off of college sports are the sponsors and the bowl committees. Seriously, IIRC the guys that run the Fiesta Bowl were all making nearly 7 figures for all of a month of "work". Its like 5 old white guys gaming the system. ing joke.

I say shame on the University of North Carolina for even admitting these students. And no, it doesn't happen everywhere. You can have successful programs without compromising academics. Although how much some schools are letting that standard slide is always going to be up for debate.

[TheDarkKnight]

It's not just college athletes, sadly. There are a lot of college students in general that seriously cannot read or write very well at all. How they managed to get into college is a cause of concern for both the quality of education they received and also for the standards of college acceptance.

[Phier]

Do people think this is new?

When I was in college, two members of the basketball team scored a 8 and 9 on the ACT. I believe a 9 was guessing at the time.

[Eugene of Savoy]

What's the point of going to college with such a low reading level?

[Ciciro]

What's the point of going to college with such a low reading level?

To get a diploma.

[Roma_Victrix]

The only people that REALLY make a ton of money off of college sports are the sponsors and the bowl committees. Seriously, IIRC the guys that run the Fiesta Bowl were all making nearly 7 figures for all of a month of "work". Its like 5 old white guys gaming the system. ing joke.

Would one of those sponsors happen to be the head of EA Sports? I'm thinking South Park here.

If everything you said was true (i.e. that colleges are actually not reaping profits from this but incurring massive debt and deficits), then why have athletic programs at all if the only beneficiaries are the unaffiliated sponsors? Certainly somebody at the university level is making money from this, or at the very least, attracting greater attendance (hence more tuition payments) and prestige by having a massive football or basketball stadium built on campus for the school's sports team.

[Phier]

What's the point of going to college with such a low reading level?

Minor leagues for the pros.

[Gaidin]

Minor leagues for the pros.

Actually, there's really only three sports you can say that for statistically. Baseball, Football, and Basketball. There's a reason most college coaches are just a legitimate six figure salary instead of the upwards of 300,000$ minimum that those three are when you don't count the ad deals that football and basketball coaches can get. Though, I find it hilarious Rick Pitino gets paid 3 million by the Kentucky government as part of UofL's public funding.

[Phier]

Actually, there's really only three sports you can say that for statistically. Baseball, Football, and Basketball. There's a reason most college coaches are just a legitimate six figure salary instead of the upwards of 300,000$ minimum that those three are when you don't count the ad deals that football and basketball coaches can get. Though, I find it hilarious Rick Pitino gets paid 3 million by the Kentucky government as part of UofL's public funding.

I remember seeing studies done that showed they were in fact worth the money to the state as a whole. More goes on than just the ticket sales etc when it comes to over all money generation. While you are correct about the minor leagues, I think it will find the majority of the truly stupid in those same three sports, especially basketball. I knew many scholarship athletes in the non-money sports while I was in school and some today, and they were usually the actual "student athlete" colleges like to talk about instead of the Forest Gump.

[Prince Regent George]

What you describe is another negative aspect of professional sports.

Althletes, being considered as profit-making machines, are obliged to spend all their time trying to ameliorate their physical standars and prevail over their competitos. Consequently, education is just another luxury, which should be ignored, for the benefit of working out.

The funny thing is that the state pretends that it attempts to stop this phenomenon, by forcing all the super-athletes wannabess to continue their studies in college, which creates the contradiction described in the OP. Illiterate students in colleges.

[Condottiere 40K]

Why are baseball players so dumb? It's the football players getting concussions.

[Veliky Kaiser Theos]

It's not just college athletes, sadly. There are a lot of college students in general that seriously cannot read or write very well at all. How they managed to get into college is a cause of concern for both the quality of education they received and also for the standards of college acceptance.

I agree. When I got into uni, i was shocked by how stupid most of the students were. Felt somewhat lied to, as my parents told me I'd be living with "smart people".

[Earl Dibbles Jr]

Why are baseball players so dumb? It's the football players getting concussions.

Every athlete has it easy academically, I've seen it first hand. My AP U.S. History class has the Football star quarterback in it and the teacher gives him A's on every homework/essay even if he doesn't do them so he somehow has a B in the class.

He thought 9/11 was caused by Gandhi and that World War 3 happened in 1824. He is somehow getting a better grade in the class than me. Seems a bit odd.

[Roma_Victrix]

Every athlete has it easy academically, I've seen it first hand. My AP U.S. History class has the Football star quarterback in it and the teacher gives him A's on every homework/essay even if he doesn't do them so he somehow has a B in the class.

He thought 9/11 was caused by Gandhi and that World War 3 happened in 1824. He is somehow getting a better grade in the class than me. Seems a bit odd.

Wait...you're not joking? I might just be gullible, but I didn't detect any sarcasm here.

[Earl Dibbles Jr]

Wait...you're not joking? I might just be gullible, but I didn't detect any sarcasm here.

Sadly I'm not.

Welcome to the U S of A!

[Roma_Victrix]

...Where the hell did he get the idea in his head that World War III has already transpired? And almost 200 years ago? Why would anyone associate 9/11 with Gandhi? If he's really that dumb, how does he even know who Gandhi is?

That's like saying Julius Caesar was the key political figure of the French Revolution, or Confucius was bunk mates with Socrates when fighting alongside him in the siege of Jerusalem in the First Crusade.

It's so beyond the realm of what makes sense that no one could possibly be that dumb. Hence my incredulity.

[Earl Dibbles Jr]

...Where the hell did he get the idea in his head that World War III has already transpired? And almost 200 years ago? Why would anyone associate 9/11 with Gandhi? If he's really that dumb, how does he even know who Gandhi is?

That's like saying Julius Caesar was the key figure in the French Revolution, or Confucius was bunk mates with Socrates when fighting alongside him in the siege of Jerusalem in the First Crusade.

It's so beyond the realm of what makes sense that no one could possibly be that dumb.

Years of being tackled by 300 pound men catches up to you eventually.

[TheDarkKnight]

I agree. When I got into uni, i was shocked by how stupid most of the students were. Felt somewhat lied to, as my parents told me I'd be living with "smart people".

The same was told to me. Of course, I'm at a relatively lower level university not because of my intelligence but because of financial reasons, but I still expect people at a four year university to know basic stuff...Working as a tutor on campus, you will not believe the stuff I have to tell people about because they simply did not learn anything in middle or high school. It's really depressing...

[Roma_Victrix]

The same was told to me. Of course, I'm at a relatively lower level university not because of my intelligence but because of financial reasons, but I still expect people at a four year university to know basic stuff...Working as a tutor on campus, you will not believe the stuff I have to tell people about because they simply did not learn anything in middle or high school. It's really depressing...

Please, indulge us with your tales.