A WRAL story that went up this evening has some interesting details regarding the widening academic scandal in Chapel Hill. The most important thing to me is the revelation that, according to the article, ~58% of the students in the “suspect” classes were athletes:
More than half of the students enrolled in the classes in question were athletes, according to Nancy Davis, associate vice chancellor for university relations. 246 of them were football players (36 percent of enrollments); 23 were basketball players (3 percent); and 131 (19 percent) were students who competed in Olympic sports.
I wonder if they consider baseball as an Olympic sport for the purposes of those numbers — you will excuse me if I don’t take UNC-CH’s numbers at face value. Either way, I wonder if they will still cling to the ridiculous “athletes got no preferential treatment” mantra. Moving on, some refreshing news! Apparently there are some adults in Chapel Hill – History Professor Jay Smith is not amused by the whole thing:
â€I was sickened by it as I think most faculty around the campus were…â€
“We had all this news about a rogue tutor,†Smith explained. “There was a rogue assistant coach, a rogue agent, now, a rogue faculty member and a rogue administrative assistant. That’s a lot of rogues.”
The News and Observer has also finally gotten to the party. Their approach seems to still be a dying effort to hold up the statements about this making the University stronger. Hilarity. There is a certain Wake County Superior Court judge who likes to share a chuckle about how many people he’s helped find Jesus just before their sentencing hearing. The N&O claims that UNC Chapel Hill might take action against (insert name of one of many “Rogue” individuals here).
Now, university officials say they may seek action against Nyang’oro for not teaching a class as they had anticipated. The move comes after The News & Observer inquired about summer school payments to Nyang’oro.
We all know how lawsuits in this mess have turned out for the Heels. We can all also only hope that their arrogance and scape-goating ways have indeed allowed them to learn nothing from the McAdoo saga. We welcome lawsuits and all the clarity they typically bring with them to the show. If there is such a thing as buying a ticket to a deposition, we could make some serious dough being a broker for those. How much would you pay to watch a used and accused professor bring down the UNC Basketball house of cards?
Factually speaking, this story by the N&O brings forth a little more clarity on exactly who was in those fake classes:
Football players and basketball players accounted for 39 percent of the 686 enrollments in the 54 suspect classes. Football players alone accounted for 36 percent of the enrollments. Non-student athletes accounted for 42 percent of the enrollments; the rest are student athletes in non-revenue-producing sports.
But university officials say student athletes and non-student athletes were treated equally when it came to the no-show classes and unauthorized grade changes. Figures released Thursday show four non-student athletes received them along with three football players and three other student athletes who are not in revenue-generating sports.
The Chairman of UNC’s Board of Trustees, Wade Hargrove, was quoted in that same N&O article. His statement at least shows concern, but again it’s the party line that this is going to make UNC stronger. We are privy to at least one story regarding Wade Hargrove that gives us hope that he is indeed going to treat this mess appropriately. It can be assumed that ultimately he pulled the trigger on Butch. The question that remains is whether Butch’s firing was indeed an effort to root out the evils at UNC or whether it was a last ditch effort to salvage UNC Basketball. The latest developments in this story certainly bring that question to the forefront once again. Mr. Hargrove’s statement to the N&O:
“All of that is deeply troubling,†said Wade Hargrove, chairman of UNC-CH’s board of trustees. “My concern at this point is making sure that measures are in place to prevent these things from ever happening again at this university.â€
Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/05/11/2057064/unc-chapel-hill-might-take-action.html#storylink=cpy
And so we continue to get the ridiculous party line from UNC in this latest episode of their now epic cheating scandal. To wit: as long as regular students also cheated, that makes it ok. Umm, no. Regular students aren’t dealing with eligibility requirements enforced by the NCAA. Since the starting lineup of at least one UNC Basketball National Championship team was in AAS per one UNC student, there brings a high likelihood that stripping those players of their fake AAS credits would put their eligibility at the time in jeopardy. If their GPAs or even their credit totals dipped below minimum requirements, it will be time to consider lowering a banner or two.
And what is this yip we keep hearing about “if other students do it, that makes it okay?”. Where does this come from? Do adults really think that way? More to come on this issue in a later entry. You’ll want to check back in for that one. It seems UNC has been using this smoke-and-mirrors approach for years to hide their misdeeds, and in some cases inappropriately degrade the competition (all other ACC schools). Again, keep watching SFN for updates.
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Now, let’s check in on some Tar Heels in the news! This WRAL story gives us the amazing news that Donte Paige-Moss was arrested this week:
Former North Carolina defensive end Donte Paige-Moss was charged with speeding, reckless driving to endanger and driving while impaired in Orange County Wednesday.
Paige-Moss is set to appear in court June 28.
The junior declared for the 2012 NFL draft on January 2 but went undrafted. He has yet to sign anywhere as a free agent.
Alert SFN readers will remember Paige-Moss’ comments about the UNC-CH football scandal explaining (paraphrased) “only the bank robbers who get caught get in trouble.” As well as him taking a swing at Sterling Lucas after a State-UNC game. Here he is in action in Miami:
Also, earlier this week brought word that former UNC-CH football player Chris Hawkins got arrested in Kinston.
A former UNC football player who made national headlines for an improper benefits scandal has been arrested by the Kinston Department of Public Safety for shooting into an occupied dwelling.
Again, alert readers will recall that Hawkins was involved in the football scandal.  Among other things, he was considered an agent by the NCAA and was arrested on felony cocaine trafficking charges in 2009. Hawkins apparently had free run of the football building when Butch was in charge.
Stay tuned.
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