Academics, Graduation Rates, etc

[Jagdaddy]

On the bright side, it seems to undermine Mike Freeman's libelous contention that OSU players get their grades handed to them.

 

[TRON]

I saw this on Around the Horn also. JA Adande was the winner and he used his 30 seconds to bring this to light. The first thing I though was that had to be a tainted number. I don't know why he would make such an obviously ignorant remark other than for shock value. There has been no other items to make tOSU look bad since TS took a little side cash. We've stayed out of the news across the board, put the #1 team with the Heismen Trophy winner (as well as other awards soon to be announced), as well as top mens and womens hoops teams who also have stayed off the blotter.

It just seemed to me like a stab to take down a dragon with a swiss army knife. It was a worthless attempt to make tOSU look bad.

Well I will give JA Adande some credit, he did state that our football program is on top and things are looking good for us, then he goes on about the graduation rate.

 

[CleveBucks]

The data has to be for students entering in the late 90's, because they usually give you a 6-year window according to the NCAA. As Coops players filter out and Tressel's replace them, the grad rate should go up. OSU has led the conference in Academic All-Big Ten every year Tress has been here.

 

[methomps]

I think what Adande said was that 32% of black football players at Ohio State were "on track to graduate"

 

[Steve19]

because Clarret is in jail and hasn't done anything stupid in awhile

Now, if you meant, "hasn't done anything stupid in public for a while...", then never were truer words spoken.

On the bright side, it seems to undermine Mike Freeman's libelous contention that OSU players get their grades handed to them.

Not so fast. Everyone knows that Tressel is paying Mr Such and Such to give the players their grades. The unfortunate part is that this brings the grades laundering operation into full view and suggests a possible NCAA investigation.

Grades laundering occurs when illicit grades are circulated into the system and exchanged for other grades. Students being the selfish people they are, the only students willing to exchange grades with Mr Such and Such are those with worse grades. Just goes to show why we need less student seating in the Schott, students aren't pulling their weight in the grade laundering scheme.

 

[Steve19]

OK, I suppose I should come clean on this. Mr. Such and Such has been paying me as part of an international syndicate of grade launderers working out of developing countries to aid US football players. We are currently working for USC, Ohio State, Florida, TSUN, and, of course, for our biggest customer Notre Dame (and he really is big if you know what I mean (cymbal roll ).

The scam started small looking much like these rather innocent (or are they?) paper conservators. We took grades from US students and exchanged these with grades at mainly Chinese universities. As our scam was exposed, we moved from university to university.

http://www.hants.gov.uk/record-office/conservation/images/conservation.jpg

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-conservation-washing_printhttp://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-conservation-washing_printhttp://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-conservation-washing_print

Over time, we have become more professional and are able to work in new industrial strength laboratories that look something like this. We launder thousands of grades every day.

http://www.metsopaper.com/paper/MPwFiber.nsf/WebWID/WTB-041215-2256F-AAE76/$File/Valdivia_fiberline.jpg

Working with predictive computer software, at the instruction of Mr Such and Such and his uncle, Dr. Evil, our lowly paid computer geniuses (who look something like this) identify likely program participants and gain their cooperation.

http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/43267/2/istockphoto_43267_computer_genius.jpg

I know that this has probably cost us a national championship and that Boise State is now a shoo-in, but at least I can now sleep at night again.

Thank you.

 

[Saw31]

Nice hardware...

 

[methomps]

The scam started small looking much like these rather innocent (or are they?) paper conservators. We took grades from US students and exchanged these with grades at mainly Chinese universities.

You're not as clever as you may think. You see, we've been on to you. Playing Texas last year, we learned from the Texans the art of digging up dirt on your opponent in order to distract him and win at all costs (Texas boosters leaked the Papadakis issues)

In anticipation of playing tOSU, we did a little digging ourselves. We found your scheme. Of course, your confession does help explain Ted Ginn's calculus 305 grade:

 

[Steve19]

Well, I can tell you guys that business has now slowed considerably. I have had a freshly cleaned, ironed, and starched B in Physics 100, A in Finance 201, and a B+ in English 200 sitting on the shelf for three hours now. Don't remember holding stock this long ever before. I think I'm ruined and I invested a lot in software, which apparently becomes hardware in the hands of some BP users .

 

[Okinawa's#1Buck]

Well I will give JA Adande some credit, he did state that our football program is on top and things are looking good for us, then he goes on about the graduation rate.

That was just a teaser to make the dragon look bigger. It's the beginning of any great fishing story which is what he was on, a fishing trip.

 

[Tlangs]

why did he exclude white's from the statistic. White players make up a lot of our roster. Why should they be excluded when talking about Ohio State academics????

 

[WaitingforKickoff]

why did he exclude white's from the statistic. White players make up a lot of our roster. Why should they be excluded when talking about Ohio State academics????

Exactly. Pretty much a total non-issue in my mind.

 

[TRON]

why did he exclude white's from the statistic. White players make up a lot of our roster. Why should they be excluded when talking about Ohio State academics????

Its a black thing...you would not understand.

 

[sandgk]

I think what Adande said was that 32% of black football players at Ohio State were "on track to graduate"

Then Adande showed an unwillingness to read, learn and inwardly digest.

The study has been widely reported in print, many times over, as a 32% graduation rate.

Here is one such example of those several. Daytona Beach News Journal

Ninety-one percent of Florida's white football players graduated, as compared to 74 percent of its black players. The gap was greater at Ohio State, where 85 percent of white players graduated and 32 percent of black players earned degrees.

why did he exclude white's from the statistic. White players make up a lot of our roster. Why should they be excluded when talking about Ohio State academics????

In fairness, the study author did not do so, but the deaf-eared and witless Adande focused only on the 32% number, and even then failed to realize the following - from the Daytona News-Journal:

The six-year graduation rates are based on the four freshmen classes that entered the schools between 1996 and 1999 -- in other words, players who aren't even on the rosters now.

And informed folk around here know exactly why that graduation statistic is doing nothing but moving upward now.

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

COLLEGE FOOTBALL GRADUATION RATES
Study gives OSU low mark in players getting degrees
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Ken Gordon
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Ohio State officials are defending the wide gap between graduation rates for their black and white football players, saying the percentages do not reflect what?s happening in the program.
Last week, the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport released its annual graduationrate study of bowl-bound college football teams. Of 64 bowl teams, Ohio State had the second-lowest graduation rate for black players (32 percent). Only Georgia (24) was lower.
Also, white players graduated at an 85 percent rate, giving OSU the largest racial gap (53 percent) of any school studied.
Overall, the football graduation rate was 55 percent, which ranked near the middle of the 64 teams.
But athletic director Gene Smith and faculty representative John Bruno said OSU?s numbers are misleading, mainly because the rates came from players who entered school between 1996 and 1999, before Jim Tressel took over as coach.
The study used NCAA statistics, which allow players six years to graduate after they enroll.
"I want to say this without disparaging anybody, but the data does not accurately reflect what coach Tressel has been doing," Smith said. "He has created an environment where academics are important."
Smith and Bruno pointed to student-athlete academic initiatives the school has introduced recently, such as individualized programs to earlier identify a student?s deficiencies.
"We?re throwing all the resources we can at it," Bruno said. "It will take a little bit of time to turn it around. This is an investment that will take a few years to play out."
Bruno also said the school already knows it will not have any teams face sanctions because of low Academic Progress Rate scores. The NCAA will not release the latest numbers until spring, but Bruno said OSU is safe from penalties.
The racial gap is troubling, Bruno said, but again reflects a larger issue than just what is going on within the football program.
"No doubt it?s a problem and an issue," he said. "This isn?t to make excuses, but in reality, the graduation rates of black males at this institution are significantly lower than white males.
"That?s a national trend that nobody is proud of and we?re all working on. It?s a very complex cultural issue, and we?re all kind of running uphill on this one."
The study reflects that fact. It reported that graduation rates of all 119 Division I-A football teams were 62 percent for white players, 49 percent for blacks.
Those numbers both beat the overall student-body graduation rates of 60 percent for whites and 36 percent for blacks.
Senior defensive tackle David Patterson, who is black, said he didn?t think the football team had a problem.
"I know that all the guys who make it four or five years pretty much graduate," Patterson said. "We have some guys who transfer or leave, but I haven?t seen a guy that?s been here four or five years that hasn?t graduated."
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