Your latest college football scandal - brought to you by Auburn

[Queasy]

Link - click through...4 pages worth of pretty funny stuff.

A graphic popped up on James Gundlach?s television during an Auburn football game in the fall of 2004, and he could not believe his eyes.

One of the university?s prominent football players was being honored as a scholar athlete for his work as a sociology major. Professor Gundlach, the director of the Auburn sociology department, had never had the player in class. He asked the two other full-time sociology professors about the player, and they could not recall having had him either.

So Professor Gundlach looked at the player?s academic files, which led him to the discovery that many Auburn athletes were receiving high grades from the same professor for sociology and criminology courses that required no attendance and little work.

Eighteen members of the 2004 Auburn football team, which went undefeated and finished No. 2 in the nation, took a combined 97 hours of the courses during their careers. The offerings resemble independent study and include core subjects like statistics, theory and methods, which normally require class instruction.

The professor for those players and many other athletes was Thomas Petee, the sociology department?s highest-ranking member. The star running back Carnell (Cadillac) Williams, now playing in the National Football League, said the only two classes he took during the spring semester of his senior year were one-on-one courses with Professor Petee.

At one point, Professor Petee was carrying the workload of more than three and a half professors, an academic schedule that his colleagues said no one could legitimately handle.

?It was a lot of work,? Professor Petee said. ?And I basically wore myself out.?

Colleges have long offered easy courses, and athletes are by no means the only ones to sign up. Under new National Collegiate Athletic Association rules, however, colleges whose athletes do not meet academic standards can be penalized, sometimes by having their number of athletic scholarships reduced. That change is intended to help ensure that student athletes receive a legitimate education. But it can also increase the pressure on colleges to find ways to keep athletes from failing.

In Auburn?s case, the sociology department and one of its leaders became just the ticket.

Auburn, a public university in eastern Alabama with more than 23,000 students, has a storied football tradition. The team won a national championship in 1957 and has a track record of producing professional players, most notably the football and baseball star Bo Jackson.

Professor Petee?s directed-reading classes, which nonathletes took as well, helped athletes in several sports improve their grade-point averages and preserve their athletic eligibility. A number of athletes took more than one class with Professor Petee over their careers: one athlete took seven such courses, three athletes took six, five took five and eight took four, according to records compiled by Professor Gundlach. He also found that more than a quarter of the students in Professor Petee?s directed-reading courses were athletes. (Professor Gundlach could not provide specific names because of student privacy laws.)

The Auburn football team?s performance in the N.C.A.A.?s new rankings of student athletes? academic progress surprised many educators on and off campus. The team had the highest ranking of any Division I-A public university among college football?s six major conferences. Over all among Division I-A football programs, Auburn trailed only Stanford, Navy and Boston College and finished just ahead of Duke.

Among those caught off guard by Auburn?s performance was Gordon Gee, the chancellor of Vanderbilt, a fellow university in the Southeastern Conference and the only private institution. Vanderbilt had an 88 percent graduation rate in 2004, compared with Auburn?s 48 percent, yet finished well behind Auburn in the new N.C.A.A. rankings.

?It was a little surprising because our graduation rates are so much higher,? Mr. Gee said. ?I?m not quite certain I understood that.?

The N.C.A.A. cannot comment on specific academic cases. But when asked how much 18 players taking 97 credit hours could affect a football team?s academic standing, Thomas S. Paskus, the N.C.A.A.?s principal research scientist, said it would be likely to lift the number. He added that it would be difficult to gauge how much the classes helped the academic ranking.

In the spring of 2005, Professor Gundlach confronted Professor Petee, to whom he reports, about the proliferation of directed-reading courses. That spring, the university?s administration told Professor Petee he was carrying too many of the classes. Far fewer have been offered since.

 

[dbk]

OMG take away their Sugar Bowl win, give it to the Hokies!

 

[Queasy]

morning bump

 

[Red Dawn]

"Auburn, a public university in eastern Alabama"

WTF did you expect?

 

[Mucho]

They don't call Auburn a football college for nothing

 

[Queasy]

ROFL

 

[slsmnaz]

Queasy, it's amazing how you act like this is an isolated event. Are you naive enough to think that it only happens at AU? How many university admins saw this story and rushed to close down similar departments?

And to bump your own slanted thread, come on. You must cheer for bama.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
Queasy, it's amazing how you act like this is an isolated event. Are you naive enough to think that it only happens at AU? How many university admins saw this story and rushed to close down similar departments?

And to bump your own slanted thread, come on. You must cheer for bama.

I post an investigative piece by the NY Times and my thread is slanted? OK.

Actually, I am a Bama grad. But I would have posted and bumped this if it had happened at Texas, USC, Kansas State or even <shock> Alabama. Why? Because it made the front page of today's NY Times, is pretty egregious and pretty damned funny at the same time.

 

[Red Dawn]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
Queasy, it's amazing how you act like this is an isolated event. Are you naive enough to think that it only happens at AU? How many university admins saw this story and rushed to close down similar departments?

And to bump your own slanted thread, come on. You must cheer for bama.

I post an investigative piece by the NY Times and my thread is slanted? OK.

Actually, I am a Bama grad. But I would have posted and bumped this if it had happened at Texas, USC, Kansas State or even <shock> Alabama. Why? Because it made the front page of today's NY Times, is pretty egregious and pretty damned funny at the same time.

Hey most of us figure this is a common occurence at "Bama".

 

[slsmnaz]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
Queasy, it's amazing how you act like this is an isolated event. Are you naive enough to think that it only happens at AU? How many university admins saw this story and rushed to close down similar departments?

And to bump your own slanted thread, come on. You must cheer for bama.

I post an investigative piece by the NY Times and my thread is slanted? OK.

Actually, I am a Bama grad.

Damn I'm good! Only a bammer...

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: slsmnaz

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
Queasy, it's amazing how you act like this is an isolated event. Are you naive enough to think that it only happens at AU? How many university admins saw this story and rushed to close down similar departments?

And to bump your own slanted thread, come on. You must cheer for bama.

I post an investigative piece by the NY Times and my thread is slanted? OK.

Actually, I am a Bama grad.

Damn I'm good! Only a bammer...

Let be guess. You're a barner?

 

[Codewiz]

I am a Clemson fan. A lot of universities have some shady stuff go on. I was in classes with football players so I definately saw some shady stuff but honestly nothing this bad.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: Red Dawn

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
Queasy, it's amazing how you act like this is an isolated event. Are you naive enough to think that it only happens at AU? How many university admins saw this story and rushed to close down similar departments?

And to bump your own slanted thread, come on. You must cheer for bama.

I post an investigative piece by the NY Times and my thread is slanted? OK.

Actually, I am a Bama grad. But I would have posted and bumped this if it had happened at Texas, USC, Kansas State or even <shock> Alabama. Why? Because it made the front page of today's NY Times, is pretty egregious and pretty damned funny at the same time.

Hey most of us figure this is a common occurence at "Bama".

Actually, Alabama is still on probation from when the NCAA brought down the hammer back in 2001 or 2002. They'd be insanely stupid to even try something like this because it would likely mean the death penalty.

 

[slsmnaz]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
Queasy, it's amazing how you act like this is an isolated event. Are you naive enough to think that it only happens at AU? How many university admins saw this story and rushed to close down similar departments?

And to bump your own slanted thread, come on. You must cheer for bama.

I post an investigative piece by the NY Times and my thread is slanted? OK.

Actually, I am a Bama grad.

Damn I'm good! Only a bammer...

Let be guess. You're a barner?

I'm insulted by that. Actually I'm a Vol.

EDIT: Bama should have gotten the death penalty for paying Means but that's a different topic.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: slsmnaz

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
Queasy, it's amazing how you act like this is an isolated event. Are you naive enough to think that it only happens at AU? How many university admins saw this story and rushed to close down similar departments?

And to bump your own slanted thread, come on. You must cheer for bama.

I post an investigative piece by the NY Times and my thread is slanted? OK.

Actually, I am a Bama grad.

Damn I'm good! Only a bammer...

Let be guess. You're a barner?

I'm insulted by that. Actually I'm a Vol.

Ahhh yes. The magic school in Tennessee that miraculously gets athletes qualified when they couldn't get qualified anywhere else.

 

[Tobolo]

LOL Auburn Sux . . . . . . hmm with the spelling you would think that I might have been an Auburn football player. I especially liked the part about them churning out great professional atheletes like Bo Jackson. LOL BO KNOWS!!!

 

[slsmnaz]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
Queasy, it's amazing how you act like this is an isolated event. Are you naive enough to think that it only happens at AU? How many university admins saw this story and rushed to close down similar departments?

And to bump your own slanted thread, come on. You must cheer for bama.

I post an investigative piece by the NY Times and my thread is slanted? OK.

Actually, I am a Bama grad.

Damn I'm good! Only a bammer...

Let be guess. You're a barner?

I'm insulted by that. Actually I'm a Vol.

Ahhh yes. The magic school in Tennessee that miraculously gets athletes qualified when they couldn't get qualified anywhere else.

They still have to get through the NCAA Clearinghouse like everybody else. Like it or not the bear died and took bama fball with him.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: slsmnaz

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
Queasy, it's amazing how you act like this is an isolated event. Are you naive enough to think that it only happens at AU? How many university admins saw this story and rushed to close down similar departments?

And to bump your own slanted thread, come on. You must cheer for bama.

I post an investigative piece by the NY Times and my thread is slanted? OK.

Actually, I am a Bama grad.

Damn I'm good! Only a bammer...

Let be guess. You're a barner?

I'm insulted by that. Actually I'm a Vol.

Ahhh yes. The magic school in Tennessee that miraculously gets athletes qualified when they couldn't get qualified anywhere else.

They still have to get through the NCAA Clearinghouse like everybody else. Like it or not the bear died and took bama fball with him.

And TutorSee's record was what last year?

Thank you.

 

[davew0670]

Originally posted by: slsmnaz

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
Queasy, it's amazing how you act like this is an isolated event. Are you naive enough to think that it only happens at AU? How many university admins saw this story and rushed to close down similar departments?

And to bump your own slanted thread, come on. You must cheer for bama.

I post an investigative piece by the NY Times and my thread is slanted? OK.

Actually, I am a Bama grad.

Damn I'm good! Only a bammer...

Let be guess. You're a barner?

I'm insulted by that. Actually I'm a Vol.

Ahhh yes. The magic school in Tennessee that miraculously gets athletes qualified when they couldn't get qualified anywhere else.

They still have to get through the NCAA Clearinghouse like everybody else. Like it or not the bear died and took bama fball with him.

and when fulmer dies all he will take with him is a box of krispy kremes and bear claws

 

[rudder]

A good football program brings in a sh!tload of money to the university. The ones that continually have good programs year after year are smart enough to not get caught.