The Lions' Pride

South Park summed this topic up the best. I think that is how it is most places... Gosh I love that show lol

Well then let's get back to what college athletics should be, true student athletes and then you'll fix this problem.

Alas, the problem is that these kids are coddled from such an early age it's disgusting. Told by teachers/friends/family how great they are and more importantly that the rules don't apply to them. Missed a homework assignment? Who cares as long as you guys make it to State! Failed a test? We'll get you some "extra credit" so you can make your way to college. And come college you'll get the bust tutors we can find for some 1-1 sessions. Heck, take 12 credits a semester and some summer session courses and you'll be fine

There is nothing student about the student-athlete. I mentioned it yesterday and I'll continue with these rhodes scholars.

Eric Latimore crime, law and justice
Michael Mauti CRIME, LAW, AND JUSTICE
D'Anton Lynn College of the Liberal Arts
Derrick Thomas DIVISION OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES
Stephon Morris TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Devon Still CRIME, LAW, AND JUSTICE

Maybe if college athletics focused on athletics and not $ this problem would go away. Alas, everyone (myself included) enjoys watching football and knows it would be boring if we held real academic standards to the game.

There are a myriad of majors that are "real" minus engineering; however, the trend over the last decade has been the same 2/3/4 majors being picked by these high-profile athletes. And it's fairly safe to assume it's due to the path of lesser resistance.

Other majors of difficulty (That PSU offers at UPark by the way)
#Accounting
#Actuarial Science
#Business Economics
#Economics
# Information Sciences and Technology
# International Business
# Mathematics
# Marketing
# Supply Chain and Information Systems

The list can be continued at : http://admissions.psu.edu/academics/majors/majors.cfm?displayBy=alpha

But let's not go on some moral high ground here and dictate that our student-athletes are superior because of things like graduation rates, when the difficulty of these courses are minimal. The course load these athletes are taking are the courses people I knew took to boost their GPA after taking a beating in bio/chem/advanced calc/etc.

Let's not forget as well that advisers will even tell students which classes are easy. Case in point, years ago I went to my adviser and mentioned I was having difficulty in Foreign Language 3 (requirement) and that I wanted to boost my GPA. She said, look at these courses.....they are real courses but they sure as you know what were easy. I'm talking pick up the syllabus on day one and show up for a few exams at that.

Heck a class offered at U-Park is "Stress Management" it's a 3 credit course....yea, that's a real tough one man. Wowsa, I bet the Smeal College of Buisness wishes they had those students now. And I bet NYU wants all those kids to go for their masters there.

Yes, this isn't anything to be proud of. Wow, our "student" athletes were able to pass English 15 , Math 40 and a few other classes. Whooo, through the help of one-on-one tutoring they were able to pull a 2.0 WOW!!!!! Raise the flag of academic excellence and raise it on the top of Mount Nittany.

Our athletes take the same majors as athletes at other division one schools. With all the advantages they are given such as the one-on-one tutoring and everything else, this should be common place.

We are borderline awarding them for something they should be doing already. It's like saying, good job you paid your bills. Brotha, you should be paying your bills. You should be passing your classes. You go to college to learn first and play sports second.

When the majority of the team is pulling a 3.0 or higher in a wide variety of majors and not just the easiest majors to graduate we'll talk. But for now, there's no high ground. We're slightly better than other division one schools - but as a whole the system is a total mess.

I guess the kids at UGA are all taking advanced physics. I suppose that's why only 53% of them graduate. Your point is ridiculous.

*Your lists of players and their majors is absolutely meaningless, as it's random sampling*

Actually I just went down the depth chart based off of projected starters for the 2011 season & then looked at the media guide & PSU student directory which lists majors. I could have gone the other way too and went and looked at the back-ups and students that take the tough courses.

And I'll agree with the Auburn/Alabama/LSU thing. But that's the problem, everyone is guilty of it. The whole "student' athlete idea in and of itself is flawed as flawed can be. Students that wouldn't have made it to the campus if not for their ability to run fast or throw a football or dribble a basketball taking classes that are considered easy.

Sure there is a Poz or a Josh Hull or a Jordan Norwood here & there, but then you get the rest. Just don't see why we are praising these athletes for something they should be doing in the first place.

One more attempt to get back on topic (admittedly I'm guilty of going OT with the graduation rate thing in this thread). But in light of JayPa's "most excellent" article on statecollege.com advocating NO additional pay for student-footbal-athletes and Steve Spurrier and his 5 SEC colleagues support a pay-for-play plan starting at $300 per game for each football player! What can we say about that?

Seems to me, that this tangent that this thread has gone on, advocates that the S/A at the FB schools don't even deserve to be there!

Pretty incredible argument when you consider how important CFB is to the major Universites in the U.S.

<---Stepping off the soap box now. Sorry, 'bout that.

Cheers!

Kirk

There was an article in the Pittsburgh Tribune Review this morning, I think from John Harris, stating that Spurrier is right and the players should be paid. To me that is completely ridiculous. Do they have more responsibility than non-S/A - maybe. But don't they already have additional advantages that non-S/A have? Yes. They receive tons of clothing, spikes, special housing, and blah blah blah.
Paying players in college is ludicrous. Isn't that what makes most college sports so special?? The players still have passion for the game. They care about winning. They love THE GAME. It is not a paycheck like many NFL, MLB, and NBA players treat it. Pay college athletes and the game immediately becomes worse. I really have a hard time fathoming that this is actually being considered. I played football in college. The practice time, gym time, etc. is a sacrifice made by choice. We earn a free education due to the sacrifice. So is life. I understand that not all athletes are in college for an education, but I would like to think that PSU is different and has far less of those types than an OSU, Mich, Fla, Aub, Ala, etc. I don't believe it is by accident that most college analysts, coaches, players, etc. continually recognize PSU for the institutuon it is - Success with Honor.
Quite frankly for our fans who would rather play dirty SEC-style: you are a fan of the wrong team. Penn State is what it is and that is why we love them so much. WE ARE.......

I would agree. Paying players will further separate them from the general student population and further ingrain the difference between the athletes and the common student @ a university no less. What could be more of a dichotomy than to say your school is a top flight educational institution and then segregate according to athletic potential. It is totally inverse to the Grand Experiment of integrating the athlete with the general student population.

I understand the argument that football and basketball athletes, at some schools, help the AD earn a profit. What about the researcher who invents something that brings in major money from licensing or patent fees? Grad students and others assisted in that research......we could stretch this out forever but at least the researcher is doing the work in their line of study, not in a sport. Extracurricular activities are always extra, not a main factor at a school. To make them more or special or exceptional is straying away from the reason to have a university in the first place, higher education. You stray too far in the athletic direction and you end up in the mess that exists in Columbus right now.