Posted on 01/08/2014 6:41:06 AM PST by RightGeek
(CNN) -- 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.
Soon, she'd meet a student-athlete who couldn't read multisyllabic words. She had to teach him to sound out Wis-con-sin, as kids do in elementary school.
And then another came with this request: "If I could teach him to read well enough so he could read about himself in the news, because that was something really important to him," Willingham said.
Student-athletes who can't read well, but play in the money-making collegiate sports of football and basketball, are not a new phenomenon, and they certainly aren't found only at UNC-Chapel Hill.
A CNN investigation found public universities across the country where many students in the basketball and football programs could read only up to an eighth-grade level. The data obtained through open records requests also showed a staggering achievement gap between college athletes and their peers at the same institution.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
Sorry for that ORAG. Not myself right now. Had shoulder surgery yesterday afternoon. I agree with you.
I knew Troy Davis at Iowa State. Great guy, but not smart. He was engaged to a friend of mine for a while, but it fell through.
Troy had trouble reading, anything. He was in a history class with me, and struggled the whole time to read the books.
(Don't ax me how or why either of those guys got high draft numbers.)
Seems like all the really good QBs are pretty sharp guys...
As I noted, I haven't heard young Mr. Winston speak but certain commentators I respect aren't necessarily optimistic about his future in the NFL... maybe they just cite more acceptable reasons than what we're talking about here...
Many have complained about the quality of FReeping down through the years, and I'm one of them.
I have noticed FreeRepublic has been infected by the "functional illiterates," (those who believe their opinion has value because it belongs to them, not because it is insightful) as much as the surrounding culture.
Denver and the NY Jets come to mind.
There's always the broadcasting booth...
What on earth are you talking about?
I’m strong, if you strong. So we strong then.
Fitting words for FReepers to live by.
Just the other day, A.J. McCarron’s mother was called a “racist” for pointing out Jameis Winston’s poor grammar following the BCS title game. Actually, Winston wasn’t as bad as many athletes I’ve heard interviewed. But the article points to a real problem, and you do wonder what classes some of these guys are taking to get through college. It just doesn’t add up.
most news is written at an 8th grade level. That is reasonable literacy and enough for most jobs.
“You do know that there are still some colleges out there that place academics above sports and do not have sports scholarships?”
I know that in the forties, about 5% of Americans got four year degrees. Now, about 35% get those degrees. Instead of being surrounded by the top 5% of intelligent people, college students today are surrounded by the top 35%. Even if you are in the top 5%, you are treated like the top 35%.
Not only are dumber and dumber people going to college, but they are getting better and better grades. This of course is because they don’t teach hard stuff now.
Look up “Academic inflation” and “Grade inflation”.
I was talking to an old guy, maybe 90; he said that he was sent home from the sixth grade with a letter to his parents saying he was too dumb for school, and he should be found a manual occupation. He wound up being a president of a small bank, which isn’t nearly as impressive as it sounds, but still, it is a good illustration of how far down we’ve gone.
There is a war on the elite. Not those with money, but those with intelligence, knowledge, and class. It’s pretty much over now, as the old wise ones are dying, being replaced with the dumbest immigrants the world can provide.
Probably because there aren’t any, unless you want to count honorary degrees
Most of the really good athletes opt for the NFL draft before completing college
Leaving college early to get a job isn’t unique to college athletes. What is unique to them is getting a high paying job. Good for them. Since the NFL doesn’t allow teams to sign players right out of high school, they use colleges as their farm system. Nothing new here. Granted, there may be some players that have no business being there but for the most part, not all athletes are dumb asses.
I guarantee you, if someone proposed requiring that athletes, coming out of high school, have a GPA within 10% of the average of their incoming freshman class in college, there would be a huge uproar, and charges of “racism” would be flying out of the mouths of the Jesse Jacksons of the world.
Them and the various Edukashun groups that have demanded "social promotions" lest you lower a student's "self-esteem!"
The "self esteem" lobby need a good thrashing and the NEA and their union thugs need to be sued into eternity!
The ability to "read" the news does not equate to "understanding" the news. Performance of ones job is not the goal of education, but rather responsible citizenship. That's why the government has a role in it....
I know of a similar story at my alma mater involving a contemporary of my son. He tried to buck the system and did play football while in engineering but eventually the system and the coach broke him of the thought. He left football and got the engineering degree, likely is now working in his family’s concrete business.
Another Reason to Homeschool
Unfortunately, all too often nowadays, they're riding the gravy train, too. A lot of these young men are expected to support so many family members it's pathetic. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against an athlete doing well and taking care of his parents. But when aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and various other extended family members become hangers-on, that I take issue with. It's not like he's going to have that kind of income forever, he needs to save for life after his playing career, not blow through it supporting those who should be supporting themselves.
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