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How not to fail

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Also by Shannon Van Curen:

Searching for peace around campus (September 20, 2005)
Do or die for Wisconsin (October 28, 2005)
Tough contest ahead (January 15, 2006)
Sarnecki prepares for final college swim (March 7, 2006)
UW rowers set for Big Ten meet (April 28, 2006)

by Shannon Van Curen

Friday, January 20, 2006

1.65.

No, that is not the number of minutes Kevin Gullikson averages on the court. That is the grade point average it takes to remain eligible as a first-semester freshman athlete at UW.

1.65 — how can an athlete stoop below that, especially when the athletic department supplies any athlete with any amount of free tutorial services he or she may need?

Not only does the athletic department supply free tutors to athletes — it also supplies most student-athletes with free books and supplies.

The athletic department also monitors their academic progress through weekly meetings with advisors and progress reports from professors.

So, with all this help, how can an athlete still manage to fail?

"There are many different ways," said former Olympian and UW swimmer Adam Mania, who was ineligible during the spring semester of his freshman year. "Not going to class, obviously, being homesick or not being able to make the transition from high school to college. There were many different obstacles for me. I came from a small town … and making the transition to a school of 40,000 was quite startling.

This contributed to my homesickness. I was quite close to my parents and close to everyone at school," Mania continued. "Being in swimming helped me out a lot because I was grouped with a bunch of people with similar interests. But obviously it's hard to let go of the ones who have been with you since kindergarten."

Being homesick I can understand, but failing still troubles me.

If you took 12 credits, or four three-credit courses, and received the following grades — BC, C, C, D — you would still retain eligibility.

With a GPA as low as 1.65, shouldn't an athlete know he or she is in trouble? There is no way a 1.65 GPA would surprise anyone. Some professors may lack a heart, but most of them are pretty compassionate.

If you take a look at what the average student does every day to survive at UW, there is no way a student-athlete could lose his or her eligibility.

If a student-athlete actually studied every day, met with tutors on a weekly basis, talked to professors, always completed assignments on time and attended the majority of classes, there would be no way he or she could be in an academic crisis.

I would even bet money that Paris Hilton could pull off a 2.0 GPA at UW.

And how could an athlete put his or her team in jeopardy by not studying? Or, better, how could an athlete risk the embarrassment of a publicly known dreadful GPA?

"I think it just hurts them," Mania commented. "I don't think it hurts anyone else. Sure, it's disappointing for the parents or friends, but they will support that person just as long as they know that they are trying. And it only hurt me for a short time. I feel as if it were a blessing in disguise. It turned me around, got myself under control, organized, and I learned a lot from it. I started with a 1.3 GPA and now my cumulative is 3.0."

Mania was able to turn himself around after putting in the extra hours to study. All it took was time.

Athletes put at least 20 hours a week into their sport, which means they cannot live the normal lifestyle that a non-athlete would enjoy here.

I'm not saying we should feel bad for athletes because they devote so much time and energy to their sports. Look at the advantages they could enjoy: free tuition, extra spending money, free clothes, rent money, food money, travel and the thrill of doing what they do best.

Since a student-athlete spends the majority of time dealing with extra pressures that many non-athletes may not understand, they should give up the extra things that many regular students enjoy — meaning an athlete should probably pass on a game of Halo after practice and journey to the library instead.

I know playing games is fun, but I would assume athletes would rather play their sport with their teammates instead.

It always sucks to give up a fun activity to study, but it is a small price to pay to help yourself and your teammates down the road.

For Mania, all he needed was a little help with organization to turn his GPA around.

"One of the things that I did was to get a mentor to help me with organization of my materials," he said. "Being organized and knowing what was coming helped me prepare more for school. I also got a tutor, who was able to work with me one on one. Coming from a school with 15 kids in every class to a lecture hall of 300, you don't feel like you really know anything. The tutor helped me a lot with my schoolwork and helped me turn around.

I started taking classes I was actually interested in rather than classes that were required for a direction that I didn't even know why I was pursuing," Mania added. "I started studying something that I liked and [something in which] I was actually interested. Plus, I became a lot closer with the people I was around and became better friends with them."

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Dean Thompson (January 20, 2006 @ 2:31pm):

I found this column to be both misguided and irresponsible on many levels.
One of the many reasons for poor academic performance that Shannon failed to mention or discuss is the recruitment of athletes from sub-par educational backgrounds on the basis of athletic prowess.
UW is actually on of the more respected schools in the country when it comes to academic integrity of its athletes, both in terms of admissions and eligibility standards. That being said, it is no secret that on a national scale athletes are often subject to less stringent admission standards which ofentimes leaves them under prepared and ill-suited to the demands of a college ciriculum. This is a practice that results from the business side of schools competing for hundereds of millions of dollars in the big-time revenue producing sports.
While it is a morally reprehensible practice, it is unfair to put all of the blame upon the athlete's shoulders.
Another factor oftentimes at play is the attitude of the althletes themselves toward their own academic achievment, attitudes that are often lacking in prioritization relating to anything other than athletic competition.
While personal responsibility ultimately lies with each individual athlete, it is short-sided not to consider factors that lead to this situation, namely, the idolization that society places on succussful sports stars.
From a very early age, people with exceptional athletic ability are treated specially, which only increases exponentially with age. When individuals are treated as such their entire life, it is little wonder that some actually start to put more empahsis into what gets them special treatment, and away from what does not (i.e. academics). Many athletes end up avoiding scholarly tasks out of fear and embarrassment, which will only be reinforced by a column in the student paper reminding everyone how dumb you have to be to not be eligible (thanks so much Shannon).
Finally, your characterization of students leaves much to be desired, namely the extra perks they receive from their scholarships like 'extra spending money'.
Go as ANY athlete how much extra cash they have to throw around w/o being allowed to have a part time job on top of their athletic committments. They ar for the most part seriously lacking ANY discretionary income, unlike many of their non-athlete, out of state classmates @ a school like UW who come from well-to-do backgrounds, never have to work, don't have 20+ hour/week practice/competition schedules and STILL flunk out.
How about a column on how stupid you have to be to NOT be an athlete and get below a 1.65?

Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 3:00pm):

Quite a few generalities in your column and I guarantee you that Paris Hilton could not get a 2.0 at UW. Giving her way to much credit.

Anonymous (January 20, 2006 @ 5:25pm):

you should try to sound a little bit more superior, svc. i think there are some people out there still under the impression you don't know what's best for us...
many, many people fail out of college and it isn't just because they're worse people than you, svc. it's easy to get in over your head in a new situation.