Cheatin’ Ducks
- Thread starter kougkurt
- Start date
Full article link below. Summary - "we knew these things were wrong, we did 'em anyway, and kept doing them even while being investigated."
And faculty got in on the fun too. But hey, they would change grades fro ANY student:
• An adjunct instructor altered a course grade from an F to a B-minus for a women's track and field student-athlete, which allowed her to remain eligible and earn a degree.
"When the university discovered the grade change, the instructor, who was not familiar with NCAA rules, told the university he would have made the same accommodation for any other student, regardless of student-athlete status,"
http://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/25460105/oregon-athletic-department-put-probation
That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I shouldn't have bothered going to class. I could have received an accommodation to get a B-, regardless of my student-athlete status.
BTW, I can tell one story about a similar attempt. I was an undergrad TA teaching math 101 (that's the math class you take if you fail the math placement test, which, IMO, shouldn't happen if you graduate from HS). I caught a student cheating on the first test. I took his test, told him to leave, and that he'd be getting 0 for the test. She shrugged and left. He continued to come to class. On the second test, I caught him cheating again, and did the same thing. Now, when they trained us to teach these classes, they told us any instance of cheating is grounds for disenrollment from the class or an automatic F. Being the young punk that I was, I filled out the paperwork to have him removed from the class.
The next day I got a call to go to the math department head's office. In there was the department head and my immediate supervisor (the actual professor responsible for the classes). I assumed it was to explain the details of my form. I told them the same story I told you above. They asked me to change the form from a disenrollment, and to just wait for the end of the semester to give the guy an F. When I asked why, they told me that he was an athlete and that if I dropped him from the class, he'd fall below the minimum number of credits to be eligible. Just give him the F, but at least he'd still be able to go to practice, etc. I got the feeling they didn't care either way I chose, but that they had received some pressure from the athletic department to do this. I went along and just gave him an F at the end of the semester.
I don't know if that amounts to a violation. But it sure rubbed me the wrong way. But at least they didn't ask me to fake any grades. Nor would I have. I had kids in that class that were genuinely struggling and had somehow graduated from HS without knowing the basics. (I kid you not, I had a girl that was boggled by negative numbers. When I asked her "What is 7-3?" she had no problem. When I asked her, "What is -3 + 7?" she was completely lost. I have no idea how she got out of HS.) If I had been asked to pass this guy while these other students worked their behinds off to get a C or B, I would have raised a serious stink.
$5000 fine.
Uncle Phil opens his wallet and says "You want that in 100's or 50's?"
Uncle Phil opens his wallet and says "You want that in 100's or 50's?"
Plus 1% of the budgets of Men's and Women's BB. That is a few more bucks. Too bad they didn't throw FB in there too.
So what is -3+7 genius?! On the edge of my seat...
I had 2 run-ins at WSU with student "athletes." There are a lot of good ones out there so I don't mean to disparage them all, but:
- I shared a required class with a well-regarded WSU receiver and ST star. He was a surprisingly nice guy given his profile on campus, but we got him for some group projects. I understand he traveled, but he passed despite showing up to class ~2x and contributing nothing to group projects which were a majority of his grade. Interesting...
- There was another kid who washed out our freshman year. Made it to class maybe 40% of the time, showed up with a pencil but never bought (or brought?) books, and would fall asleep in class every time he attended. No hijinks there - he was beyond saving even through cheating, and was gone in a year.
I have a theory on how she finished high school. Might also apply to college and the job market.
My college TA story comes from the opposite perspective. I was 19, and was experimenting with growing a beard to help acquire my own beer. My English 201 instructor (a shrill, morbidly obese radical feminist grad student) spent a few minutes at the beginning of class one day describing to the class how sexy she thought men with beards were. I quickly decided buying beer at the store was overrated, there's nothing wrong with a red Solo cup. The beard was dispensed with as soon as class was over. A few weeks later, the same instructor found that I was working in concessions at Beasley, and would be working during an upcoming George Strait concert. She offered me an immediate A in exchange for an autographed picture from George. I may have been inclined to take advantage of that offer, but that concert was so mind-numbingly boring that I'm pretty sure I fell asleep.
On the plus side, I got an A in the class anyway...and I also learned a lesson that proved valuable throughout college - it often does not matter what you write, or how well you write. If your position agrees with the instructor's, your grade will improve markedly.
Two experiences here:
- Shared two classes with a certain well known basketball/baseball athlete. Never really talked to him beyond the 'is anyone sitting there?' sort of interaction. No idea what grade he got in the classes, but he attended at least as often as I did.
- Lived in the dorms downstairs from a Prop 48 DL, and actually had a few social interactions with him. I continue to be surprised that he was actually able to dress himself, and did not need to be reminded to inhale. No idea how he got into high school, much less college.
I'm not really sure what your point was here, but I enjoyed the story. Brings back memories. Sounds like this shrill woman had the hots for you. In one of my early business classes I would go over and help my TA grade our tests and he fed me beer. He would grade mine of course.
Not sure what my point was anymore either. Maybe I’m just still scarred by the experience. I’m just not sure which was worse - the interactions with the TA, or being at a George Strait concert.
In their own minds, Oregon track is the elite program in the nation. THE elite program. This is based primarily in pouring a ton of money into it and people professing to care about the program.
They have rose to some prominence, but it looks like it may have been ill begotten.
If they really wanted to punish Oregon they should have limited them to yellow and green uniforms.
I'm shocked a "radical feminist" wanted a George Strait autograph!!!!! It's like me saying I wanting an Ariana Grande autograph... yes, I had to look up who the top 10 artists were on my iTunes to get her name.... no f'ing clue who she is. But your story makes me shake my head that much, too. Weird as hell.
