Other NCAA News

Here's some other stuff from The Chronicle I thought I'd toss out there. First up is some news on unregulated prep schools. This did crack the mainstream media somewhat, probably because this is a popular way to get basketball players in to college in the post Prop 48 world... NCAA to Crack Down on Unregulated Prep Schools The National Collegiate Athletic Association plans to get tough with unregulated preparatory schools. The association enacted legislation last month designed to expose fraudulent preparatory schools and diploma-mill high schools. The measure gives the NCAA broad powers to scrutinize schools that are not accredited by state or regional agencies. NCAA officials have estimated that dozens of preparatory schools might be providing fake grades to help elite high-school athletes with poor academic records get into college. The problems came to light in December, when a correspondence high school in Miami was singled out for its remarkable success in raising the grade-point averages of high-school football players. A New York Times investigation led the NCAA, the Florida High School Athletic Association, and the Miami-Dade County Public Schools to conduct their own inquiries. Soon afterward, Myles Brand, the NCAA's president, established a 17-member group to determine how widespread the problem is. The level of fraud is increasing, Mr. Brand says. Some secondary schools are offering diplomas for a flat fee with no course work required. Other schools provide little or no instruction yet graduate students with high grades. The new rules were created to help the NCAA curb such abuses. Starting last month, NCAA officials planned to start asking tougher questions of hundreds of unregulated preparatory schools and the students who attend them. The association will now require those schools to provide written verification that they offer valid academic courses. NCAA officials will also examine students' transcripts more closely to look for fraudulent activity — for example, taking three levels of Spanish in one semester. The association plans to add four employees and work with private investigators and law firms to help ferret out schools that are operating inappropriately. NCAA employees will make visits to preparatory schools where they suspect problems. By this summer, the association plans to release a list of schools that fail to meet its eligibility requirements. Students who have attended those schools and who have received college athletics scholarships will probably be allowed to keep their scholarships this fall. But they would not be allowed to participate in their sports until NCAA officials determined that their high-school grades were legitimate. "As we phase in the program, we want to look carefully not to unfairly punish students," says Kevin Lennon, an NCAA vice president. But if the NCAA finds "absolute abuses" in which students are complicit in academic fraud, he says, those students will not be "grandfathered in." Next up we have the ongoing saga of mascots. The NCAA recently told the University of North Dakota to go #$@% themselves by rejecting their appeal to grant a waiver to the Fighting Sioux, and UND is preparring to respond in kind. It's too bad the NCAA can't look in the mirror and discover the hostile behavior is coming from Indianapolis (an ironic place name for the headquarters of the NCAA), because once the landscape has been removed of every mascot and place name with a Native American reference, they will have successfully completed their ethnic cleansing, and we will have forgotten that Native Americans ever existed in this country. Yes, this is a bitter subject for me. I went to one school whose mascot essentially glorifies people who were technically criminals (although I don't particularly have a problem with using Sooners), while my grad school (Oklahoma City U.) went through their PC phase under a new president whose only accomplishment was to change the nickname from Chiefs to Stars. Funny thing is, I'd think that if the Chiefs' athletic director had a problem with the name, being full-blooded Kiowa he would have stepped up either as a student (he played basketball for the school) or during his tenure as AD. Part of the problem is that the average tenure of a university president isn't what it used to be. The president at OKC U. who made the change, for example, was around for about 18 months (if that). These guys bounce around from school to school, and thus develop no deep loyalty or appreciation for the traditions of their institutions. If I lost anyone in this rant, I'll remind you these are the same people who make the rules in the NCAA. I'll put the brakes on my diatribe now and just say I think North Dakota will likely win this case in the long run. Mascot Dispute Escalates - Universities consider suing the NCAA after it rejects appeals over the use of American Indian images The National Collegiate Athletic Association denied appeals last month from three universities who want to continue using American Indian mascots and nicknames that the association has deemed to be "hostile and abusive." The ruling, by the NCAA's Executive Committee, means that Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of North Dakota will not be allowed to participate in or serve as hosts for NCAA postseason tournaments unless they drop their American Indian mascots and team nicknames. Nine months ago, the NCAA ordered 19 colleges to stop using American Indian nicknames during postseason competition. After last month's ruling, six colleges remain on a list of institutions banned from playing in or serving as hosts for postseason games because they have not changed their mascots or nicknames. Appeals from three other colleges are pending. (See the table on Page A44 for the status of all the cases.) NCAA officials described last month's ruling as final, but the confrontation does not appear likely to end anytime soon. Officials at Illinois and North Dakota sharply criticized the decision and are considering legal action against the NCAA to keep their names without penalty. The issue raises questions about what legal right the NCAA has to prohibit certain universities from using mascots and team nicknames that they choose. Courts have traditionally given the NCAA broad latitude to enforce its rules on member colleges. But some legal experts question the way in which the association formulated its mascot policy, and say that it could violate universities' legal rights to equal protection because it singles out some Indian mascots and not others. Myles Brand, the NCAA's president, said in a news conference last month that the association has the "obligation and responsibility" to ensure that its championship events are conducted in a way that respects the rights of members of all ethnic groups, including American Indians. All ethnicities, he said, are guaranteed rights under the U.S. Constitution. Asked how the NCAA's policy would hold up if it was challenged in court, Mr. Brand said the association "feels very confident in its position and will defend it to the utmost." Fighting Back The latest rulings angered officials at the University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign and the University of North Dakota. Of the six colleges on the list of banned institutions, Illinois and North Dakota have the most to lose because they have the biggest athletics programs. Last fall Illinois officials won an appeal from the NCAA to keep using the university's "Illini" and "Fighting Illini" nicknames. The latest appeal involved its Chief Illiniwek mascot, which NCAA officials still consider hostile and abusive. Last month Illinois officials said that a ban on holding NCAA postseason events would put Illini athletics programs at a competitive disadvantage and could prevent the university from being able to recruit the best athletes and coaches. The ruling could have an immediate impact on the university's athletics program. The Illini men's tennis team, ranked among the nation's top 10 programs, was expected to play host to early rounds of the NCAA tournament beginning this month. Now the team may not be able to play postseason home matches. Many of Illinois's other sports programs could also suffer. The Illini have played host to NCAA championship events in eight different men's and women's sports, and regularly compete for national championships in many events. In men's gymnastics, for example, Illinois was host to the NCAA championships in 2004, and the Illini team finished second in NCAA competition this year. The NCAA denied North Dakota's appeal to keep using its "Fighting Sioux" nickname after hearing from a Sioux leader who said his tribe opposed the university's use of its name. Charles E. Kupchella, president of the University of North Dakota, said in a written statement that he was "baffled" by the NCAA's "arbitrary and capricious" ruling. He said the university planned to consider "legal and other options" with the state's board of higher education and North Dakota's attorney general. North Dakota has one of the best Division I hockey programs in the country, and often holds NCAA tournament games in its $100-million Ralph Engelstad Arena. The facility has thousands of images of the university's "Fighting Sioux" logo emblazoned on the walls and on the gymnasium floor. To hold NCAA postseason games there now, the university must change its nickname and cover up those images. Finding Fault If any college sues the NCAA to keep using its American Indian images in postseason play, a court may find fault with the way the NCAA enacted its mascot policy, several lawyers say. The NCAA's Division I Board of Directors normally hands down legislative changes after member colleges weigh in. In this case, however, the association's Executive Committee passed the policy without allowing colleges as much input as the board usually does. The Executive Committee is considered a governance body and does not enact legislation, but under NCAA bylaws it oversees associationwide issues and is allowed to establish policies. Some lawyers say that because the NCAA did not follow its normal procedures, a court may consider overturning the policy. Bernard W. Franklin, a senior vice president at the association who oversees the Executive Committee's mascot work, says the decision was well vetted by member colleges. "This decision came about after a five-year review," he says, adding that it should not have surprised anyone.