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UNC Student Athlete writes daft 10-sentence final paper, gets an A- (Paper Inside)

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T

Twio

Member
From NY Daily News

His paper:

fake29n-2-web.jpg
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A whistleblower at the University of North Carolina has revealed a typo-riddled, 146-word term paper that earned a football player an A- in a bogus course meant to boost his GPA and keep him eligible.

The single-paragraph report on Rosa Parks was revealed in an ESPN interview with Mary Willingham, a campus tutor who spent a decade working with UNC athletes and who has taken the lead in speaking out about how the school allegedly jipped jocks out of a quality education.

In the segment, Willingham and former Tar Heel gridder Deunta Williams explained how athletes at the school were urged to take scam "paper classes," listed in course books as independent studies classes in departments such as African American Studies.

The classes had no attendance requirement, Willingham said, and students were only required to write a single paper to receive a high grade from an adviser.

"Athletes couldn't write a paper. They couldn't write a paragraph. They couldn't write a sentence," Willingham told ESPN.

"Some of these students could read at maybe a second- or third-grade level. But for an adult that is considered illiterate," she said.

Willingham said the Rosa Parks paper, which ran just 10 sentences long, was an example of the kind of work students were doing in the scam courses.

HBO's "Real Sports" program ran a similar segment on March 25.

Two former Tar Heels told "Real Sports" reporters that UNC athletics officials shuttled them into easy-A courses and even chose their majors for them.

Bryon Bishop, a former offensive lineman, said he was handed a predetermined schedule on the first day he stepped on campus.

Throughout his tenure, athletic department honchos told him, "To stay on course for graduation, you need to take these courses," Bishop told the show.

The damning reports come amid a shakeup in the world of big-time college football.

On Wednesday, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Northwestern University football players were employees of the school and therefore entitled to form a union.

The blockbuster decision sided with a group of football players at the Big Ten school who argued, among other points, that since their scholarships were tied to performance, they should have the right to collectively bargain.

Officials at the Evanston, Ill, university said the school would appeal the decision to NLRB brass in Washington.

The case could end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a statement, UNC said HBO was reporting on old news and that officials conducted seven reviews over the past two years to institute reforms, including revamped department structures and improved classroom audits.

An eighth review was underway, university spokesman Joel Curran said.

"Our goal is to create an academic success program that is one of the best, if not the leader, among peer universities," Curran's statement said.
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Z

zero shift

Banned
Why would the bus driver went to sit where the passengers are if he is suppose to be driving the bus?

...seriously this shit is frightening.
 
C

Captain Pants

Killed by a goddamned Dredgeling
I'm on my phone, so I don't have the source handy, but I'm pretty sure this a homework assignment and not a term paper. Doesn't make it too much better, but at least it wasn't a final.
 
B

BlackJet

Member
Doesn't surprise me. Most of these schools are in it for the money. It's just one of the many reasons I don't watch college sports.
 
S

Satch

Banned
folks out here tryin to do the right thing to get into college and these knuckleheads get to take a spot lol
 
G

GoldenEye 007

Member
UNC should be investigated by their accreditor. Joke that they've been completely mum on this. This wasn't a one off professor, but an entire department at minimum conspiring for academic fraud.
 
A

Agnostic

but believes in Chael
This is on par with the quality of my writing skills. Too bad I wasn't good at sports to get an education on paper and use it for my benefit.
 
D

Delta Assault

Member
kirblar said:
We need you to write a BS paper..... but it's gotta avoid getting picked up by the plagiarism scan program.
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I highly doubt they asked anything so demanding as turning the paper in digitally via a sophisticated online dropbox. This looks like it was just printed out and handed in physically.
 
T

Twio

Member
Captain Pants said:
I'm on my phone, so I don't have the source handy, but I'm pretty sure this a homework assignment and not a term paper. Doesn't make it too much better, but at least it wasn't a final.
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Yeah, I presumed that it was his final term paper from his heading but it could just be a revised paper. Trying to figure out which of the two it is at the moment.
giga said:
Who's surprised?

http://espn.go.com/college-football...ina-tar-heels-handed-postseason-ban-2012-ncaa
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It isn't surprising at all, but more attention needs to be brought onto student athletes and their ineptitude in college so things can change.
 
K

kirblar

Member
GoldenEye 007 said:
lol college basketball is notorious for recruiting and practices sometimes worse than football. Especially recruiting.
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Yeah, the recruiting stuff is silly, but because it's only 10-15 guys it doesn't make big waves. There's a lot more money and manpower invested in football.
 
terrisus

terrisus

Member
football player an A- in a bogus course meant to boost his GPA and keep him eligible.
Click to expand...

"Some of these students could read at maybe a second- or third-grade level. But for an adult that is considered illiterate," she said.
Click to expand...

Fully expected that coming into this topic.
 
T

TTG

Member
This almost isn't fair for the athlete in question, I can see him typing this up five minutes before practice on his phone.
 
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