All Posts Tagged With: "university athletics"
Lower admission standards for athletes
Once admitted students must demonstrate academic progress
If grades make you a longshot for college, you’re much more likely to get a break if you can play ball. An Associated Press review of admissions data submitted to the NCAA by most of the 120 schools in college football’s top tier shows that athletes enjoy strikingly better odds of having admission requirements bent on their behalf.
The notion that college athletes’ talents give them a leg up in the admissions game isn’t a surprise. But in what NCAA officials called the most extensive review to date, the AP found the practice is widespread and can be found in every major conference.
The review identified at least 27 schools where athletes were at least 10 times more likely to benefit from special admission programs than students in the general population. That group includes 2009 Bowl Championship Series teams Oregon, Georgia Tech and Alabama, which is playing Texas for the national title Jan. 7.
At Alabama, 19 football players got in as part of a special admissions program from 2004 to 2006, the most recent years available in the NCAA report. The school tightened its standards for “special admits” in both 2004 and 2007, but from 2004 through 2006, Crimson Tide athletes were still more than 43 times more likely to benefit from such exemptions.
Alabama coach Nick Saban offered no apologies. “Some people have ability and they have work ethic and really never get an opportunity,” he said. “I am really pleased and happy with the job that we do and how we manage our students here, and the responsibility and accountability they have toward academics and the success that they’ve had in academics.”
The NCAA defines special admissions programs as those designed for students who don’t meet “standard or normal entrance requirements.” The NCAA says such exceptions are fine as long as schools offer the same opportunities to everyone from dancers, French horn players and underrepresented minorities as they do to fleet-footed wide receivers and 300-pound offensive linemen.
Texas was one of seven schools that reported no use of special admissions, instead describing “holistic” standards that consider each applicant individually rather than relying on minimum test scores and grade-point averages.
But the school also acknowledged in its NCAA report that athletic recruits overall are less prepared. At Texas, the average SAT score for a freshman football player from 2003 to 2005 was 945 — or 320 points lower than the typical first-year student’s score on the entrance exam. School officials did not make coach Mack Brown or athletic director DeLoss Dodds available to comment.
Ryerson to get new hockey arena
Federal government kicks in $20 million to develop Maple Leaf Gardens
Ryerson’s Rams are finally getting a new arena just a few blocks from campus, as the federal government kicks in $20 million to revamp Maple Leaf Gardens. The historic arena was purchased by grocer Loblaw Companies Ltd. in 2004 but has remained largely unused for various operational reasons. The arena will reopen in 2011.
The Gardens will be home to a grocery store on the first floor, with an athletic facility occupying the second. The top floor will largely be dedicated to a hockey arena, the same size as the original, and with the capacity to host 5,000 fans. Volleyball and basketball will also be played on the third floor, the Globe and Mail reported.
Earlier this year, Ryerson students voted to pay an extra $126 per year in athletic fees for new facilities that will help fund Ryerson’s portion of the deal, also $20 million. The remaining third of the $60 million project will be raised through donations. A $5 million donation has already come from Loblaw’s Weston family.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, Transport and Infrastructure Minister John Baird, Ryerson president Sheldon Levy and Loblaws chairman Galen Weston all made the announcement jointly.
Maple Leaf Gardens opened in 1931, hosting its first Maple Leaf game on Nov. 12 that year, when the Maple Leafs lost 2-1 to the Chicago Blackhawks. Loblaws has said it will maintain the existing facades of the arena, as well as existing rooflines “with the majority of development taking place within the building’s interior.”
This story has been updated
With files from the Canadian Press
SFU to start in NCAA one year earlier, in 2010
League will give their students a unique opportunity, says school’s athletic director
Simon Fraser University will begin play in the NCAA Division II in the fall of 2010, one year earlier than originally planned, in a move that will save the school money while offering athletes a unique opportunity, athletic director David Murphy said Tuesday.
“We have the ability to provide a great Canadian education and we can also combine that with an NCAA athletic experience,” Murphy told a news conference. “No one else can do that.”
SFU is the first non-U.S. member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The school’s varsity teams will become the 10th member of the NCAA’s Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
Richard Hannan, the conference’s commissioner, said SFU was a logical choice.
The conference has institutions in five states, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska.
“They are a prestigious, quality institution, academically and athletically, ” said Hannan. “Geographically they are a great location for us.
“We needed another member. We need to get to 10, then hopefully we can get to 12.”
SFU currently has 19 teams competing in the small-college National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics in the U.S. and Canadian Interuniversity Sports.
Murphy said joining the NCAA will save SFU money in travel and membership fees. It costs about $500 to belong to the NCAA, while CIS fees are “quite a bit more,” he said. “The savings in memberships will be over $40,000.”
SFU currently plays in the CIS’s Canada West conference, where they sometimes must travel as far as Winipeg for games – a trip of about 1,870 kilometers by air.
Another major difference is the NCAA pays to travel to any championship. In the CIS and NAIA, individual schools pay the travel costs. Under CIS rules, scholarships can only cover tuition and school fees. An NCAA scholarship covers tuition, room and board, which could give SFU an edge when recruiting athletes.
Originally, SFU had planned to compete in the CIS next season and move on the NCAA in 2011-12.
Workouts producing watts in campus gyms
Students are the hamsters, as schools find new ways to go green
As she pedalled an elliptical exercise machine at the University of Oregon, Wen Lee’s face lit up like the light bulbs she was powering.
“I could run my television with this,” the environmental studies graduate student said between breaths, making the three bulbs on the stand in front of her glow brighter as part of a demonstration of renewable people power.
The University of Oregon – one of its school colours is, after all, green – is the latest in a growing number of college campuses and exercise clubs across the country where workouts produce watts.
Splitting the $14,000 cost with the local utility, Eugene Water and Electric Board, the school has retrofitted 20 Precor elliptical machines to generate electricity using technology from ReRev.com of St. Petersburg, Fla. The power from each machine in the Student Recreation Center goes through a converter that turns DC into AC, and a meter to keep track before it flows into the grid.
The amount of electricity produced is small. The university estimates that 3,000 people a day on 20 machines would generate 6,000 kilowatt hours a year, enough to power one small energy-efficient house in the Northwest. But it fits in with other sustainability projects, such as solar panels on the rec centre roof, and a high sense of being green among the student body.
“Oh, wow! It’s awesome! That’s cool!” said sophomore Eileen Donnerberg when told the machine she chose for her workout was producing electricity. “I never thought of that. It’s a good thing.”
The machines are even making their way into the run-up to one of the school’s biggest events: the annual Civil War football game with Oregon State University. OSU connected 22 exercise machines to the grid last February and will compete with Oregon to see who can generate the most electricity.
The power is a drop in the bucket compared to the University of Oregon’s overall electricity consumption, which is equivalent to 2,280 houses, said sustainability director Steve Mital.
And Northwest electricity rates are so low it would take 28 years to recoup the investment, but Mital said that isn’t really the point.
“We’re not going to get off Middle Eastern oil by connecting up all the ellipticals all over the country,” said Mital. “We bought it and installed it mostly because it’s an educational opportunity. People will be on those things sweating away and it gets them thinking.”
Olympic gold medallist, top swimmer up for a university sport award
$10,000 award goes to top female and male athletes from Canadian universities
An Olympic gold medallist and a world-record swimmer are among this year’s nominees for the top honours in Canadian university athletics.
McGill goaltender Charline Labonte, who helped the Canadian women’s hockey team to gold at the 2006 Olympics, and UBC’s Annamay Pierse, who broke a short-course world record in the women’s 200-metre breaststroke last month, are the BLG award female nominees from their respective conferences.
The BLG awards recognize the top female and male athletes from Canadian universities. They will be handed out in Toronto on April 27. Each winner will receive a $10,000 post-secondary grant.
Other female nominees announced Tuesday are Ghislaine Landry of the St. Francis Xavier women’s rugby team and University of Guelph runner Lindsay Carson.
Marc Rancourt of the Saint Marys hockey team, Laval football lineman Etienne Legare, York soccer player Francesco Bruno and Joel Schmuland of the Alberta volleyball team were nominated on the men’s side.
Labonte led her team to its second straight Canadian university hockey title as well as a 36-0 record against CIS opponents this season.
It’s already been a busy year for Labonte, who is currently in Finland playing at the women’s world championship as Canada continues its preparation for the 2010 Olympics.
The physical education student from Boisbriand, Que., says McGill has always accommodated her national team commitments.
“McGill is a very understanding school,” Labonte said during a conference call. “Our athletic program is really supportive. They understood the situation.”
She’ll be away for a month in the middle of exam time.
“It’s not easy,” she said. “It’s really not an easy thing for them as well but they’re really helping me to be successful at school.”
She says her national team experience is among the assets she brings to the Martlets.
“Being on the national team obviously gives me a lot of experiences that are extremely enjoyable as a hockey player and as a person,” she said. “That’s the kind of confidence I’m trying to provide to my teammates.”
Pierse has also had a few balls in the air this season. She swept all the breaststroke events at the 2009 CIS swimming championships, setting Canadian records in the 100-and 200-metre races. A few weeks later, the Edmonton native broke the short-course world record in the 200 at the Canadian spring nationals.
Having an understanding university behind her has made all the difference, says Pierse.
“It’s great being part of a university program that understands not only that you want to represent your university but you do have the higher goals at representing yourself and your country at the international level,” she said. “It’s a balance that you do with your coaches and with your school.”
Landry, from Toronto, is a the reigning two-time CIS women’s rugby MVP while Cambridge, Ont., native Carson was named the CIS female track athlete of the year after winning three gold medals at the nationals. She also captured bronze at the national cross-country championships.
Schmuland was named CIS men’s volleyball player of the year as the Golden Bears claimed their third title in five seasons.
“I’m riding an unbelievable high right now,” said the Calgary native. “I don’t think I actually fully understand what has all happened so far. Hopefully over the summer I’ll be able to reflect and think about what a great team season that I was able to be a part of.”
Rancourt, the reigning CIS men’s hockey MVP and scoring champion from Ottawa, led the Huskies to their first University Cup championship appearance since 2002.
Legare, a St-Raymond, Que., native who was named CIS lineman of the year, guided the Rouge et Or to their second Vanier Cup victory in three years and is one of the top prospects going into the 2009 CFL Canadian college draft.
Bruno, a Toronto native, was named the CIS men’s soccer MVP after leading led the Lions to their first national title since 1977.
The BLG awards are based on athletic accomplishments, outstanding sportsmanship and leadership. Each of 52 CIS schools selects one female and one male athlete of the year. From these nominees, one female and one male athlete are chosen within each of the four regional associations.
The awards have traditionally been handed out in Calgary but the ceremony has been moved to Toronto this year.
“It was felt that it was a great national award and we should give it national exposure,” said Doug Mitchell, national co-chairman of BLG LLP, the law firm that sponsors the awards. “We’re having it in Toronto this year, it will be back in Calgary next year and then the following year it will be in Vancouver.”
- The Canadian Press
