N&O Editorial About UNC Scandal - StateFans Nation StateFans Nation

John Drescher, Executive Editor of the News & Observer, wrote an editorial Saturday about the questions that should’ve been asked by the Faculty Council last week…but weren’t.

When UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Holden Thorp appeared before the Faculty Council last week to discuss investigations into the Tar Heel football program, the scene was set for the faculty to blitz him with questions.

Thorp signaled serious problems a few weeks earlier in opening a news conference by saying, “To anyone who loves this university, I’m sorry about what I have to tell you.”

Shortly after, 13 players were kept out of the season-opening game in Atlanta.

So how many questions did Thorp get last week from the Faculty Council?

Two.

Not 22.

Two.

One more than one.

Which questions would he have asked?

1. You are investigating whether a tutor employed by the university to work with football players gave inappropriate aid. That tutor also worked for coach Butch Davis and tutored his high school son. Is it appropriate for a tutor to work for both the university and the football coach?

2. You have indicated that academic misconduct might have occurred. If so, who is ultimately responsible?

3. If the NCAA hadn’t investigated football players and their relationships with agents, would UNC have learned of the possible academic cheating? If not, isn’t that a problem?

4. Some players used social media to discuss their travels and possible contact with agents. Shouldn’t UNC’s compliance officers closely monitor Twitter and Facebook?

5. Will you conduct a sport-by-sport review to see whether other athletes might have received inappropriate academic aid?

6. Should the $70 million expansion of Kenan Stadium be cancelled or scaled back, depending on the results of the investigations?

7. Is UNC admitting more football players who don’t meet typical UNC admission standards than it did five or 10 years ago?

8. Are you satisfied with the oversight of the athletic department?

9. Is it possible to have a winning football team and maintain top-rate academic standards for all students?

10. What have you learned about operating a Division I football program since starting your job as chancellor?

If anyone, the Faculty Council should require maximum accountability of The Carolina Way. But no one else does, so why should they be any different?

31 Responses to N&O Editorial About UNC Scandal

IamGumbyDammit 09/20/2010 at 6:30 PM #

When I read this editorial on Saturday, the sentence “Our reporters will work to get answers to these questions” made me laugh so hard that the coca-cola i was drinking shot out my nose. The N&O has ONE reporter with the stones to do that (JPG) and I am suspect as to how much they (N&O) have his back…
phillypacker 09/20/2010 at 6:38 PM #

Would it be possible to demand an independent investigation by purchasing a whole page ad in the N&O or a billboard as close to Chapel Hill as possible? I would give all that I could to help pay for either or both.
ADVENTUROO 09/20/2010 at 7:48 PM #

I think this thing may play out….just give it a little time. What is hiliarous is the posters on the InsideCarolina blog. They have an “NCAA” thread. In one of the first comments, one poster tells the NCAA to to Fornicate itself. Now that is CLASS. If you really want some great humor then you ought to read the “HOT” threads. I don’t know if it is politically correct to laugh at the remarks of those afflicted with the dreaded Blue Kool Aid addition. Is it OK to laugh at the demented ones when they are allowed to use their computers. Most of them think that matriculating at UNC means public urination on Franklin Street.

God save us if this is the liberal and sought after level of education that UNC is pretending to save. I don’t know which is funnier, the posters on the IC thread or listening & watching the Campaigner in Chief during his “I LOOOOOOOOVE Wall$treet” town hall meeting today.

So, let’s just sit back and enjoy this thing….I have three or four sites that I visit the first thing in the morning….just for the laughs. My day is brighter and my disposition is better.

My wife says my virility has increased….so she is also happy.
Packstrength90 09/20/2010 at 8:53 PM #

What everyone seems to overlook in this situation is that the academic issues were only brought to light during the agent gate investigation. Academics has always been an option, not a requirement, for the upper tier athletes at UNC.
For this to continue, some of the faculty have to be aware of the cheating. It would be easy enough to find out how many players had papers written by the nanny, and how many were in the same class. The prof. or grad student teaching that class would have to be involved for them to get away with it. SQUEEZE that teacher and the house of cards will come falling down!
But this will never happen. Unlike NCSU 20 years ago, the faculty IS involved in this mess. Who in their right mind believes they are going to “self report”. That’s a freaking joke and Foreskin Bowels, Sleezdor, and Holdum will never let anything that isn’t uncovered by outside parties see the light of day!
packsbiggestfan 09/20/2010 at 9:12 PM #

So if the media outlets aren’t putting this out there as they should, how do we as fans make it apparent to the world?

I was in MB this weekend, watching the UNC vs GT game, and some guy at the bar says “Carolina sure had alot of preseason hype but haven’t made anything of it,” no mention of the cheating though. I guess he’s clueless.
Broccoman 09/21/2010 at 5:41 AM #

On that Ohio- Ohio ST- it may have NCSU connection to boot.

The assistant AD of communications- a comm major I was next door to in the dorms who loved sports has the exact same name. I wonder I know him and the rest of the “China Grove Mafia”. (they were fun to be around- huge wrestling and NASCAR fans)