Blog #15: Abstract and Bibliography

This research paper primarily explores the question: How does the presence of big-time athletic programs compromise the intellectual integrity that is the basis of higher education?There is a current controversy surrounding the benefits that Div IA athletic departments bring to the university. In recent history there is evidence that suggests that the integrity of academics in higher education is dwindling on account of the presence of big time athletic programs. College is a place where students share a common goal of academic achievement, but the transition to the business of Division IA athletics shifts the focus of funding from education to athletics in order to ensure the success and prosperity of sports. As institutional funding is redirected to support the the athletics department, academics suffer; they become second class citizens to the sport culture.  There is also the idea that big-time intercollegiate athletics contributes to the party-like atmosphere that exists on campus, further diminishing the focus on academics. With the threat of privatization breathing down the neck of institutions across the nation, there has been an increase in focus on money, which in turn, corresponds to the increase in a focus on sports as an alternate source of revenue; universities have lost sight of the mission of higher education. Although big-time athletics appears to be toxic to the intellectual community of higher education, its presence is a vital aspect of campus culture, and contributes greatly to the social environment. A balance must be met in order to ensure the academic mission of the university is not lost, and athletics is able to flourish without infringing upon education. It is possible that academics and athletics can coexist in the American institution of higher education. 

Works Cited 

Benford, Robert D. "THE COLLEGE SPORTS REFORM MOVEMENT: Reframing the “Edutainment” Industry." Sociological Quarterly 48.1 (2007): 1-28. Print.

Brand, Myles. "The Role and Value of Intercollegiate Athletics in Universities." Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 33.1 (2006): 9-20. Print.

Carey, Jack. "Knight Commission: Athletics Vs. Academic Spending Too Unbalanced." USA TodayPrint.

Dowling, William C. Confessions of a Spoilsport: My Life and Hard Times Fighting Sports Corruption at an Old Eastern University. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007. Print.

Goidel, Robert, and John Maxwell Hamilton. "Strengthening Higher Education through Gridiron Success? Public Perceptions of the Impact of National Football Championships on Academic Quality." Conference Papers -- American Association for Public Opinion Research (2005): 1. Print.

Guarino, Mark. "Penn State Riot: If University can't Fire Joe Paterno, is Something Wrong?" Christian Science Monitor (2011): N.PAG. Print.

Kingsbury, Alex. "The Sports Fallacy." U.S.News & World Report 137.9 (2004): 70-. Print.

Pine, Nathan. "The Role of Athletics in the Academy: An Alternative Approach to Financial Investment." Journal of Sport & Social Issues 34.4 (2010): 475-80. Print.

Sigelman, Lee. "It's Academic-Or is it? Admissions Standards and Big-Time College Football." Social Science Quarterly (University of Texas Press) 76.2 (1995): 247-61. Print.

Sperber, Murray. Beer and Circus: How Big-Time College Sports is Crippling Undergraduate Education. 1st ed. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2000. Print.

Winston, Gordon C., and David J. Zimmerman. "Peer Effect in Higher Education." National Bureau of Economic Research (2003)Print.

Interview

I interviewed James Kim, a former football player and student at Rutgers. He supplied me with a lot of information on the perks that the athletic department receives at the expense of the university. He also supplies an athletes perspective on the matter of whether athletics negatively impacted his academic success as well as his view of where athletics stands in the academic institution. Before I started this research project James actually brought me to the Rutgers football stadium, and I was able to see first and the pleasures that the football team endures. The stadium has a state of the art gym where athletes from all school sports programs are able to train. The football locker room is full of several big-screen TV's that are mounted in ever corner, and each player receives their own locker which is made out of some expensive wood. The locker room resembles that of a basketball locker room, where each player has their own cubby to put their equipment; it just seems like there was an awful amount of money spent on something so simple. These lockers seemed nicer than a professional football locker room. There were also rooms with expensive TV's and couches where the player were able to lay back, relax and fool around. My question is, why spend money on things like this when the players have dorms that serve the same purpose. Recently, Rutgers spent a lot of money on renovating the stadium, which now seat a substantially larger crowd, and it now has a huge display screen. Was all of this necessary to ensure the success of the program which is still not even as close to as prestigious as such programs as Notre Dame and USC? Where did all the money come from to fund these things that were essentially unnecessary? James told me that he believes that athletics is extremely valuable to the campus culture of Rutgers, and it is hard to imagine the school without the program. He also stated that there should be a balance between academics and athletics, but how can that balanced be achieved with the athletics department has an open checkbook, and the university is attracting incoming students who are essentially there to be fans? Both James and I were in agreement that the salaries of the coaching staff, as well as other expenses are completely unnecessary and infringe on academic funding. James did state that the University is full of fans and in turn that may hinder the academic success of the institution, but as a student athlete he was unable to see any reflection of that. For James, the party's never ended, but he seems to think that the presence of Div IA athletics had anything to do with that. All in all he stated that he went to college to get a degree, not be an athlete. Coming from an athlete those are pretty strong, rare words; most athletes seem not to have any sense of education.

Book Review #5

Sperber, Murray. Beer and Circus: How Big-Time College Sports is Crippling Undergraduate Education. 1st ed. New York, New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2000. Print.


In Sperber's book he discusses the negative effect that big-time college athletics has on undergraduate education. He states that undergraduate education is in deep trouble; universities with big-time sports programs are usually research schools where the professors are paid and praised for being good researchers rather than teaching the students. Students are taught by graduate students who do not get paid, and often don' t teach as effectively as a professor. This fuels the party atmosphere that exists on campus' around the nation; if the professor isn't even focused and committed to the class then why should the students? Universities, in turn, set athletics as the center of attention, thinking that simply if the students have their parties and sports they'll be happy. This mentality takes attention off of the academic shortcomings of the institution and gives the students a way to have fun. An institutions inability to supply the students with quality education is masked by the atmosphere of beer and sports. To conclude, Sperber offers a few possible solutions to the problem; cut big-time sports programs to the level of such academically prestigious institutions as Harvard or Yale, make cuts in graduate education so the focus can be on undergrads, and cut back on research programs so that professors are able to actually teach their students rather than a grad student. 


Murray Sperber is very knowledgeable on the subject of college sports and high education. He is a professor of English at the University of Indiana, and has published several books on the impact of big-time athletics on the academic community of higher education. Sperber was a chair member of the Drake Group, which was a national faculty committee that advocated the reform of college sports. A very academically centered man, Sperber has seen first hand as a professor, the impact that college sports as on a university as well as its undergraduate students. 


Collegiate Culture- consists of students known as collegiate's whose lives consist of sports, partying, and having fun; occasionally studying, but jut enough to get by and graduate. 


Academic Culture- students that have a serious academic mentality, they world hard and get the best grades. These students understand the value of education. 


"School's try to ascend the academic polls by accumulating faculty who possess or will achieve research fame". (75) -Research universities have professors that focus on their research rather than teaching the students. The students are at a loss academically, so the university tries to make up for this deficit by pumping money into the athletic department to attract future students, and keep current students and faculty happy with the athletic atmosphere of fun and partying. 


".....he spent millions of dollars on intercollegiate athletics and proportionally little undergraduate education. As a result the Wildcat football team managed to achieve national fame in the 1990s, and his general undergraduate education programs continued to limp along".(235)- Schools with big-time athletic programs spend increasing amounts of money to fund them, and they are ultimately taking money away from education. To these institutions having a successful athletics program is much more important than having a successful education program, so what is the purpose of paying tuition to just be sports fan?


"The only consistent finical losers are the schools that belong to the NCAA and furnish the stadiums, arenas, and facilities for its operations....the vast majority of colleges and universities do not make money in big-time intercollegiate athletics". (229)- Contrary to popular belief, athletic programs do not make nearly as much money as they consume. So, in the end its the institution in it entirety thats suffering at the expense of the athletics department. The money thats lost has to come from somewhere, and thats money that is being taken away from education. 


The material presented in Sperber's book directly supports the focus of my research in every way. He touches on the aspect that college athletics contributes to the "animal house" party culture that is now surrounding higher education. This party atmosphere and the fan mentality is toxic to the learning environment in college institutions, and ultimately there is a decline in the academic culture that was once the basis of college. Sperber brings about the idea that if nothing is done the athletic department will soon run the university, and undergraduate education will be destroyed. We must salvage and rebuild on whatever smidgen of academic community still exists. 

Book Review #4

Sigelman, Lee. "It's Academic-Or is it? Admissions Standards and Big-Time College Football." Social Science Quarterly (University of Texas Press) 76.2 (1995): 247-61. Print.

The data explored by Lee Sigelman in this article is that of the relationship between football recruit admissions in institutions of higher education and a schools deviation from standardized test acceptance standards. Sigelman focuses on data from USA Today which depicts the relationship between the average acceptance standards for normal students to that of student athletes at universities with big-time football programs. According to the data in which Sigelman bases his research, the gap between normal students and student athletes SAT scores is pretty substantial. It is true that the more selective a university is the more academically qualified their athletes are, but there is still a hefty gap between mean test scores. Less academically qualified athletes find themselves struggling to match the performance of fellow students; athletes that spend 30+ hours a week preparing and participating in a sport spend 12 hours a week preparing for class and doing school work. Sigelman concludes that a school academic quality and its ability to surround football recruits with students who will be intellectually superior, creates a recruiting advantage. These schools attract more talented athletes because of their high academic quality, which may give the university an edge on the field and court, but not in the classroom. 

Lee Sigelman was a Professor of Political Science at George Washington University. He was awarded the Frank J Goodnow distinguished service award and the Walter Beach Pi Sigma Alpha award. What makes Sigelman a credible source on this topic is his knowledge and respect for academics. His research was focused on Political Science involving public opinion, mass communication, and electoral behavior. Sigelman offers an unbiased view of the relationship between academics and athletics, because he research is based solely on facts; his pieces lack opinion, and seek to prove his point based on factual evidence. 

SAT Admissions Standards- Sigelman uses the mean SAT scores of universities with big-time athletic programs as the basis of his article. The average SAT scores of normal students is representative of a universities acceptance standards. 

Schools academic quality vs. gap of entrance scores- there is a wide gap between the acceptance scores of normal students and that of athletes, and the more selective a school is academically (higher quality), the wider the gap is. Sigelman focuses on this gap to depict that higher quality institutions have an advantage in athletic recruiting.

"There appears to be no connection between football players' scores and a team's success in football, but there is a negative correlation between a school's success on the football field and the proximity of football players' mean SAT scores to all students' SAT scores". - It is clear that football players with higher SAT scores are not the best athletes; the more academically inclined athletes a football team has , the less likely they are to be successful on the field. Schools pick athletes with lower scores, but better athletic skills in order to ensure success on the field.

"New scholarship football players have substantially lower entrance scores than all new students at the same school. There is not a single Divison I-A school where the average entrance exam score of football recruits exceeds that of all new students". - The fact is that acceptations are mad for student athletes; schools that hold athletics in high regards, such as Div I-A schools lower their admission standards for good athletes. 

"...a school's academic quality, and more specifically its ability to surround its football recruits with students who will be their intellectual superiors rather than their peers, constitutes a recruiting advantage". - Student athletes that attend universities are not regarded the same as normal students; normal students are perceived as being superior to athletes because athletes lack the academic integrity of the rest of the student body. Schools that are better ranked academically are more successful in recruiting top athletes.

The material that Lee Sigelman bases his research will prove to be extremely helpful in my research. I've been looking for a piece the touches on the average admission SAT scores of student athletes compared to that of normal students. There is a table in the article that I'd like to incorporate into my paper which compares the mean SAT scores of normal students to that of football recruits. The findings of this article show that institutions are willing to lower the bar on academic integrity in order to give them on edge in sports, but the question still remains if whether accepting these essentially non-qualified athletes negatively impacts the intellectual community of higher education? 

My Case

The basis of my research paper will be around the concept that the presence of big-time athletic programs  have compromised, and continue to negatively impact the intellectual integrity that is that basis of the higher education. College athletics programs impose on university funding that is supposed to directly benefit academics. There is a ball of corruption that surrounds athletics, and it shifts attention away from education through a focus on having successful sport programs. Athletic programs should be self-sustaining and should not depend on, nor take away from the primary goal of college; education. Although athletics positively contribute to the social and cultural atmosphere of college, intellect should not be simply tossed aside at the expense of athletics. As put in William Dowling's, Confessions of a Spoilsport, "College is not part of football, but rather football is a part of college". People have lost sight of the true value of academics in the modern university.

Research related to my case:

• http://ehis.ebscohost.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f4956f8a-98a7-4a65-8a6b-d3d4440b79f4%40sessionmgr13&vid=2&hid=3

• http://chronicle.com/blogs/players/athletics-vs-academic-spending/24885

Book Review #3

Pine, Nathan. "The Role of Athletics in the Academy: An Alternative Approach to Financial Investment." Journal of Sport & Social Issues 34.4 (2010): 475-80. Print.

In this piece, Nathan Pine, an assistant athletic director, probes the question of whether institutions of higher education should financially support their athletic programs. The answer to this question, as perceived by Pine, is that athletic programs should be capable of being self-sustaining. A very strong and reasonable proposition if you ask me. Pine suggests that institutions use what is known as tuition waivers for student athletes, and this waiver would serve as the only institutional support given to athletics financially. He uses the example of the Pacific Ten Conference at the University of Arizona, where tuition of waivers for student athletes is currently being used. Trough the use of theses waivers athletics is able to existence and positively contribute to university culture without interfering with the academic achievement of the university. All in all this proposition offers a fair, peaceful solution, and academics and athletics will be able to co-exist.


Nathan Pine is a man of athletics; he has experience in intercollegiate athletic programs, so he basically provides an inside view of how athletics sees itself in the university. Pine is currently the assistant athletics director at the University of California, Berkeley, and currently holds a masters in education. He has served with other athletic programs at Oregon State University and the United States Military Academy. 


Tuition Waiver- tuition and fees will be reduced to little or nothing for student athletes. 


PAC-10 Conference at the University of Arizona- the model described as being successful in adopting tuition waivers for student athletes. 



"A solution exists that can address the athletic program’s number one challenge of tuition and fees and at the same time make an investment in education: the univer- sity’s investment in athletics needs to be made in the form of tuition waivers for the student athletes who represent the institution. This solution will also dictate that an athletic department does not have an open checkbook to spend the institution’s dollars frivolously on areas outside of the educational mission."
- This is a big quote, but I think it says a lot; instead of asking for more funding for athletics, this solution offers something that will decrease athletic funding from the institution and essentially put a leash on athletic spending. 



"The investment by the university in education is a positive step toward ensuring that student-athlete academic performance will be tracked by the university administration and as a result academic achievement will increase."
-This is exactly what needs to happen if athletics and academics are to co-exist in higher education. Academic success will be able to flourish and sports will take a valuable, but backseat position to academics. 



"Intercollegiate athletics improve the campus community through increasing diversity, in providing a unifying cause and through a spectacle that entertains campus constituents."
-In this quote Pine speaks of the positives of the presence of athletics in the university, these things are true and shouldn't be ignored. This tells me that athletics should exist, but not at its current level. 


The material outlines in Nathan Pines' article offer a somewhat open headed perspective of what should be done with intercollegiate athletic programs. Instead of being one sided in his position, Pine's solution will benefit athletics, academics, and campus life. This specific article will benefit my research in that it offers something that all others do not; people either want to abolish college athletics, or they want them to stay at the current level they are now. The fact is that athletics can not remain the way it is now, its toxic to the academic achievement level of the university. So, in this case everyone will be happy; sports still exist, and academic success will be on the rise. 

Visual

This visual represents my argument pretty well. Even though the focus of this chart is primarily on student athletes instead of the institution as a whole, it still conveys the issue of a loss of intellectualness in modern higher education. As the chart depicts, there is a significant difference between the GPA of non-athletes to athletes. The difference isn't as bad as one might think, but yet again these are averages that represent a large student body. I find it interesting that females, both athletes and non-athletes, have a much higher average GPA than males do. It makes me think, is gender a factor that contributes to the loss of the academic focus of higher education due to the presence of athletic programs?

Book Review #2

Brand, Myles. "The Role and Value of Intercollegiate Athletics in Universities." Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 33.1 (2006): 9-20. Print.

Myles Brand offers an excellent counter argument which will be crucial in creating a well rounded research paper. Brand begins by stating "The Standard View" of athletics in the university; athletics are perceived as being an extracurricular activity rather than a focal point for the prosperity of an institution. In Brand's description of the Standard View of college athletics he relates athletes to art and music programs. He makes a valid point in stating that art and music students are accepted into an institution based on skill, even if GPA and SAT scores are well below the minimum requirement set by the school. Student athletes and music/art students are actually quite similar; They must be accomplished in their the sport or program that they wish to be enrolled, they miss class sometimes to attend off-campus events, and the institution funds the programs. These are just a few of the examples that Myles Brand uses to justify the presence of intercollegiate athletics. Brand then presents the "Integrated View", which basically would replace the Standard view with one that is more balanced and sees athletics as part of the mission of the university. He concludes with saying that the educational value behind athletics should not be ignored, and it should be a positive part of university life and culture. 

Myles Brand is very knowledgeable on the the presence of athletic programs in American universities. He was the president of both the University of Oregon and Indiana University, as well as the president of the NCAA. At a glance it may seem that Brand is the ideal person to go to on matters pertaining to college athletics, but he actually offers a biased view. He is exactly the kind of person that feeds an institution to the wolves of the  entertainment industry that athletics represent. 

The Standard View- is the perception that intercollegiate athletics is an extracurricular activity, rather than an important part of education and campus culture.

The Integrated View- creating the perception that athletic programs are made a part of the central goal of the institution, or the educational mission of the university. 

"Some content is acquired in cognate courses, and that tends to be factual knowledge. The primary content, however, in both cases is knowledge how, and that is acquired in individual or group settings with a master teacher or coach." (12) The quote depicts how athletes do in fact learn while they are participating in the athletic programs. They learn factual things that can easily be applied to their life. 



"Division I, athletics departments should be self-supporting or, better, return revenue to the institution for central academic purposes. "(14)  Brand states that the financial funding that supports intercollegiate athletic programs should come from the program itself, and should not take away from university funding meant to enhance education; athletic programs should be self sustaining. 



"Intercollegiate athletics, at its best, demonstrates positive values. These values include striving for excellence, perseverance, resilience, hard work, respect for others, sportsmanship and civility, and losing—and winning—with grace."(17) This is yet another quote which states the positives that athletic programs bring to an institution of higher education. 


The material of this academic journal will serve as an essentially part of my counter argument. I will use the perspective of Myles Brand to question and complicate my research question. Even though big-time athletic programs take away from the intellectual integrity of the institution and sell out its resources in the name of entertainment, it still has positives that it brings to campus life and culture.

Book Review #1

Dowling, William C. Confessions of a Spoilsport: My Life and Hard Times Fighting Sports Corruption at an Old Eastern University. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007. Print.

In Dowlings, Confessions of a Spoilsport: My Life and Hard TImes Fighting Sports Corruption at an Old Eastern University, there are many different issues presented that strongly depict how big-time college athletics are toxic to the learning environment of higher education. The primary focus of Dowling's experience is at Rutgers University. Rutgers, once in what is known as the Patriot League, played Ivy League institutions such as Princeton, Colombia, and Yale, made the transition into the Big East conference. This was the beginning of an all out invasion that would prove to throw aside the intellectual foundation of the University. Increased funding and a focus on athletics inevitably resulted in a loss of a the educational environment that once consumed Rutgers. Dowling reflects on his experiences with the RU1000, a club dedicated to getting the word out about the reality of Big-time athletics in higher education. Through many ups and downs, the fight to get Rutgers back to the University that it once was would prove to be one that was out of the reach of such a small organization. All in all, Dowling provides evidence that shows just how harmful Div IA athletics are to the integrity of higher education, essentially alluding to the fact that there is no room for glorified athletics in higher education. 

William C. Dowling, once a professor of English at the University of New Mexico, experienced the corruption of athletics and how they diminish the value of education. He has seen, first hand, the negative effects that follow an institutions commitment to Div IA athletics. With his experience and ever lasting respect for education in American institutions, there is no better person to present these controversial facts. 

Some terms used frequently in his book are the "magic sphere" of Division IA athletics, and he often uses sports boosters as the reason that athletics continue to be such an important part of college.

Magic Sphere- is the term used to depict the bubble of corruption that surrounds college athletics. In this sphere anything goes , and recruits are guaranteed acceptance to a university at any cost necessary. 

Sports Boosters- sports advocates that view college athletics as the heart of a university. These people don't see any harm, only the so called benefit, that sports bring to a university. 

“a world in which the power wielded by the athletics department could rearrange, to any degree necessary, the environment in which athletes lived their daily lives” (pg. 7).-This quote describes the power tat athletics coaches have, and shows the corruption that lurks behind the curtain of college athletics programs. 

“..the only thing that matters at a university is big-time sports, the symbolic center of the institution has shifted profoundly”. (pg. 9).-The center of American institutions was once academics, but the presence of big-time athletics programs had lead to abrupt shift in the priorities of the modern institution. 

"Universities exist to transmit knowledge and understanding of ideas and values to students, and to add to the body of intellectual knowledge, not to provide entertainment for spectators or employment for athletes". -Friedman (pg.56).- Milton Friedman, a decorated Rutgers alumni endorsed the RU1000, and makes a clear point that athletics, in no way, contributes to the academic atmosphere that should be the center of a university. 

The material explained in Dowling's book strongly supports the topic of my research paper in the manner that it shows the degrading priorities of an institution committed to athletic success. It essentially provides me with the evidence needed to construct a well rounded research paper on the growing issue of Division IA athletics in higher education. It is short and to the point, with a clear message, it has proven to be exactly what I need to further my research. 

Five Scholarly Sources and Research Question

My sources: 

• Benford, Robert D. "THE COLLEGE SPORTS REFORM MOVEMENT: Reframing the “Edutainment” Industry." Sociological Quarterly 48.1 (2007): 1-28. Print. 
• Carey, Jack. "Knight Commission: Athletics Vs. Academic Spending Too Unbalanced." USA TodayPrint. 
• Dowling, William C. Confessions of a Spoilsport: My Life and Hard Times Fighting Sports Corruption at an Old Eastern University. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2007. Print. 
• Goidel, Robert, and John Maxwell Hamilton. "Strengthening Higher Education through Gridiron Success? Public Perceptions of the Impact of National Football Championships on Academic Quality." Conference Papers -- American Association for Public Opinion Research (2005): 1. Print. 
• Pine, Nathan. "The Role of Athletics in the Academy: An Alternative Approach to Financial Investment." Journal of Sport & Social Issues 34.4 (2010): 475-80. Print. 

Research Question (still in the works):

Is there room for athletics in modern higher education? How has the overabundance of funding led to corruption within athletics and a loss in the quality of academics?

Unmaking the Public University

Well, another week has gone by, I intended on going to the Public University in Higher Education conference, but unfortunately couldn't make due to a change in my work schedule. I submitted the final draft for my analytic essay, but it was late as a result of me misreading the terms of the due date. Overall I think it was one of the most interesting topics I've ever written about; that is because as a student of higher education I can relate to the issue. Although I was unable to attend the conference I did do some research on one of the speakers who is a major advocate against the spread of privatization in American public colleges. Christopher Newfield, a University of California English professor, has written and spoken about the intrusion of privatization on public universities. The privatized institution is one that is focused on financial prosperity rather than the quality of education. I came across and article that is basically a criticism of Newfield's book "Unmaking the Public University and seems to explain the key points that Newfield makes while also offering some additional insight on the issue.(http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/140539-unmaking-the-public-university-by-christopher-newfield/P0). As stated in the article Christopher Newfield's 'Unmaking the Public University', "budgets shifted expenses through a reliance on teaching assistants and “visiting” rather than full-time (and tenured) faculty"(Murphy). Quality, educated faculty are being overlooked and cut in an effort for the institution to save money, as a result there are more TA's that get paid a lot less than a full-time professor would. This robs both teachers from their jobs, and students from receiving the best education for their money. Tuition rates are on the rise because state funding is decreasing; tuition rates make up for the loss of state funding, but what is there to show for it?  Technically there should not be a shift in quality if money isn't being lost. Higher education is making the shift to capitalism and it is becoming a business that prays on young students that aspire to gain freedom and opportunity from college. Murphy states, "Universities can’t be capitalist. They need to balance their books, but they need to teach from books, and produce more books, that challenge profit as the price of everything and the value of nothing". Higher education can't just sit on the sidelines and watch as the value of education diminishes, and college becomes more and more difficult for middle to lower class people to attend. College isn't about money, but academics and education; its something that should be attainable by everyone. If public universities are to become privatized the future could very well be grim for higher education, since the majority of people will not be able to attend, and the value of a college degree will all but disappear. 

RIOT review

I just finished the Rutgers RIOT tutorial and I have to say it's pretty informative. One of the things I liked most about it was the fact that you actually have to interact with the program, it makes things more interesting and keeps you pay attention. In a way its actually kind of fun and does a good job of appealing to the student. I learned a lot about research going through the program. It first touches on narrowing a research topic down to something thats manageable, yet allowing for enough to be written about. The second subject was using databases such as EBSCO host, which is much more reliable and easier to use than search engines such as google when trying to find sources for a research topic. My favorite thing (which I didn't know about) was Refworks. This seems like it makes citations so much easier by basically doing it for you. It helps you keep tract of your sources and in the end takes a load of during the last minutes before the paper is due. Keeping an organized log of sources is also something that makes things much easier so that you don't lose tract of the all the different sources that you've found. The library offers so much, and I plan to use it to its fullest potential to find the information that I need for my research paper. I like how you can use the database and find articles at no expense to you. I plan on doing the some thing that the videos showed to narrow the topic down to something interesting and easily manageable.

Analytic Essay and Privatization

It is now week 4 of the class, and I'm still not exactly sure about what I want my research paper to be about. I'm taking another class that recently touched on issues with the football program, and how athletics seems to have taken a priority over academics in terms of funding. This is an interesting topic because it can incorporate privatization and how it could effect college sports. I saw another student in the class is doing their research paper on something similar, so maybe I could focus on the football program specifically; dive into how college sports are essentially clouding the true value of higher education. Students view athletic programs as part of the college experience; there is an overwhelming focus on things that should not be taking priority over academics. The football program currently loses a lot more money than it brings in, and funding that should be going towards the salary of professors and other factors that benefit academics is being cut to make up for the immense deficit that is created by the football program. There needs to be a balance between college athletic programs and academics. If anything is to get cut it should be athletics. If privatization were to prevail it would be the students that ultimate suffer, because tuition rates would rise in an effort to make up for the funding lost from the government. 

If schools are on an inevitable path to become privatized where would the money come from to fund athletics? Would there be any room for athletics in higher education? Is there room for both athletics and academics in a privatized institution?

Initial thoughts for final paper

So, I was a bit confused about the limitations of the research paper topic, but I've got it figured out now. I've still been contemplating what to write about and haven't really come up with anything I'm willing to commit to yet. Week 2 of class we talked a lot about schools that turn a tremendous profit through promises of education. These schools are everywhere including New Jersey. I actually have a family member that is currently employed by one of these "profit" schools. The students go to this school for about a year and they told that attending this school is the path to a successful career. To attend this school, which really isn't a school at all (students just go around to hospitals and observe), students are expected to pay a tuition of around $20,000 per/year. Thats a lot of money for "schooling" that brings you no where. Though this is similar to articles and videos we watched, I'd like to look deeper into this; provide a different perspective, and find something that hasn't been covered by any of the published information on these schools .