erinbooneblog

Introduction

College athletes are pushed beyond their breaking points on a daily basis. From six am workouts, to writing papers at two o’clock in the morning, college athletes do not receive any special treatment among professors or coaches.
Student athletes have no choice but to work harder than regular college students because they don’t have the same amount of time to devote to their studies. If you ever want to learn how to manage time well, speak to a student athlete. Imagine waking up at 6 am every morning, going to all your classes because you’re not allowed to miss, making time in your day for three meals, practice, a shower, study hall (which is mandatory at most colleges), and getting at least six hours of sleep. Now do that for five days straight.
Would a lower course requirement be fair for student athletes? No, it would not because student athletes are here primarily to get their education, and sports are “supposed” to come second. The plaintiff in Jacobs’ article regarding Carolina said it best, “I want to call on all athletes to stand with me and Devon Ramsay. We must stand strong so that we can be seen as more than just mere athletes.” We are Student athletes.

Annotated Bibliography

Jacobs, Peter. “Here’s The Insane Amount Of Time Student-Athletes Spend On Practice.” Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc., 27 Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.

According to Jacob’s article the average amount of time a college athlete spends practicing is about thirty-eight hours a week for male sports, and thirty-three hours for female sports. The NCAA regulation for in season practice hours is twenty per week. Clearly somewhere along the way college coaches are using loopholes such as individual workouts, athlete led workouts, and conditioning or weight room.
Recent media attention on UNC’s “paper classes” has allowed us access into the “student-athlete” world. These classes were instituted to help the athletes maintain a minimum GPA and to lessen their load of coursework because of the many hours they are putting in on the field or court. “If these young men and women are going to come in and put in 30, 40, 50 hours, the least we can give them is a set of circumstances academically that really allows them to benefit educationally from what they have put into the athletics context,” Robert Orr, one of the lawyers representing the UNC students filing the lawsuit, told Business Insider.

“Working With Student-Athletes.” CollegeBoard. CollegeBoard, Web. 06 Dec. 2015.

The article written by the college board association illustrates not only the struggles of college athletes, but high school athletes as well. It deduces the struggles of not only the student athletes, but the teachers, counselors, and last, but DEFINITELY not least, the parents. The site explains how an athlete should begin looking and preparing for their college scholarships at least by their freshman year of high school. Most division 1 male sports have already filled their quota by eighth and ninth grade. Female sports ranging from division 1 to division 2 acquire their athletes as late as sophomore year. The counselor is supposed to help the athlete create their eligibility center account and keep their grades up depending on the course requirements of each division. Parents are supposed to help keep grades up as well by setting strict rules and guidelines to keep the athlete on track. Teachers are supposed to challenge the students the same if not more than regular students. The SAT and ACT are one of the main concerns along with GPA because academic scholarships can be determined from these tests.

Oppenheimer, Daniel. “Why Student Athletes Continue to Fail.” Time. Time, 20 Apr. 2015. Web. 06 Dec. 2015.

The highly opinionated article written by Oppenheimer expresses the widespread belief that student-athletes are actually athletes that attend school. What I mean by this is Oppenheimer states that college athletes are sent to school to play a sport, and an education is not their primary goal. He also mentions how twenty additional schools other than Carolina are being investigated for scholarly fraud due to the fake classes and programs. He expresses the studies of students who do want their education more than to play the sport they love, but it’s just not attainable for most to put 100% into each. Oppenheimer further mentions a few suggestions on how to manage your time well and also how to prioritize your college athletic life regarding academics.

Ganim, Sara. “CNN: Some College Athletes Play like Adults, Read like 5th-graders – CNN.com.” CNN. Cable News Network, 8 Jan. 2014. Web. 09 Dec. 2015.

Professor Willingham who works for the University of North Carolina was interviewed by Miss Ganim and confessed her concerns about the athletic affairs at her university. Willingham discussed how her students came to her barely knowing how to read and write. One wanted to learn so he could read the articles dedicated to him in the newspaper. Another was so helpless that he had to have help sounding out the word Wisconsin. COLLEGE STUDENTS not being able to read and write above a fifth grade level. Can you imagine? A stipulation in Willingham’s interview is her opinion that it is okay to accept these athletes with these low capabilities, because it is the universities job to raise their reading and writing levels.

In the article My Zombie, Myself: Why Modern Life Feels Rather Undead, by Chuck Klosterman, zombies are the interesting topic. Klosterman uses many examples when symbolizing the zombies as our problems regarding technology.
Klosterman states, “It’s not that zombies are changing to fit the world’s condition; it’s that the condition of the world seems more like a zombie offensive.” According to Klosterman the zombies are easy, which actually means we are slowly but surely using the easiest technological solution. We humans are becoming more and more zombie-like in regards to technology. In his fourth paragraph, he divulges into the fears of the human race.
Godzilla, Frankenstein, werewolves, and vampires are the other monsters he discusses. He carefully critiques each monster in regards to the idea behind them, which “linchpins” into his point regarding the zombies in his article. Zombies spark a fear of consumption in us. The Internet and the media is what we are really afraid of being consumed by. If we take the fight of today, we may be able to hinder the fight tomorrow.
Klosterman states we need to keep fighting. Not to let up today, tomorrow or the next day. Technology is like zombies and it will always keep coming at us, but if we keep moving forward, and keep deleting the crazy stuff, we can get through it. We can win and make the world a better place.

In the book “The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace,” Jeff Hobbs tells the tale of Robert Peace’s short and cliché life. Robert Peace was an african-american born to Jackie Peace and “Skeet” Douglass in 1980. Jackie Peace wanted more for her son, and was granted her wish when Rob was accepted into private school. Rob was gifted intelligently and athletically. Rob used these talents to accumulate friends, the respect of elders, and eventually his scholarship to Yale. After attending Yale and overcoming some of his shortcomings with drugs, Peace was given a job back at home. While Peace was home he was suctioned back into the drug world, where he would inevitably die because of his one fatal weakness.

Robert Peace was born into a predominantly black neighborhood, where he would only adhere to three things. Athletics, academics, and partying. Peace was a pro at it all. He excelled in school, performed plays and acts that his coaches were stupefied by, and partied until he couldn’t party any more. Unfortunately Peace had one fatal flaw that would become the death of him. Drugs. Peace’s own father was a drug dealer. Although the writer portrays him as a good guy, Skeet was a criminal and eventually charged with murder of his two neighbors. Whether Skeet did commit the crime or not, because of the world he revolved in, he was presumably guilty until proven innocent. One would think Rob would learn from his father’s mistakes, but he inevitably became him. A good guy, but a criminal nonetheless.

Robert’s mother was his moral compass. She saw from an early age what pull Skeet had on her son’s life. Jackie didn’t want her son wrapped up in his father’s business not one bit. Thus not marrying Skeet so her and Robert could live separate from his business. Unfortunately Rob was enthralled by his father and watched his every move which led to his eventual same lifestyle. It wasn’t that Rob or Skeet were not smart enough to get a good honest paying job, because they both had those jobs, but they each enjoyed the people aspect of the job regardless of the consequences or the legal proceedings.

Hobb’s portrays Peace as an african american male who was not cliché, but from a reader’s standpoint Peace is everything a cliché stands for. Peace was a gifted african american athlete, who did well in school and was granted a scholarship to Yale, but eventually died because of where he came from. Although he wanted to place Peace on a pedestal for his intelligence and athletic ability, Hobb’s friendship with Peace inadvertently clouded his attitude on his writing. Robert Peace’s life was short, and it was even tragic, but it was most definitely cliché.

Erin Boone

ENG 131

Dr. Jane Lucas

September 20, 2015

Concerns about Online Classes in College

According to the New York Times editorial “The Trouble with Online College,” problems regarding online classes in college include students who procrastinate, have no self-motivation, and no sense of time management. While the highly motivated students thrive from the ability to accomplish work early, and earn an “easy” high grade, students who are less likely to apply themselves are generally going to fall behind due to the lack of the physical presence of a teacher. While the editorial believes the presence of a teacher and the Internet (hybrid courses) is the ideal environment for a college student, funding the teaching as well as the technology is unattainable at the moment for some universities and colleges.

As a first-year college student it becomes evident what you are and are not capable of after the first two weeks. The “struggling students” the editorial refers to are students who do not apply themselves. Students who have a hard time planning or organizing assignments for their online courses should buy an agenda, or simply print out the work so they can physically check off what they have accomplished. It drastically improves a student’s grade when he/she has a physical list of their assignments.  Another technique they could use is reminders on their phones or computer for due dates. While hard working students that do not earn a high grade are a reality, they are not common enough to play a part in these statistics.

Unfortunately community college students are ranked among the lowest in online statistics. “The research has shown over and over again that community college students who enroll in online courses are significantly more likely to fail or withdraw than those in traditional classes, which means that they spend hard-earned tuition dollars and get nothing in return.” (The Trouble with Online College) According to this quote, students are unintentionally wasting money by not using their time efficiently, or by not self-motivating.

After reading further, teachers seem to be a crutch for students in college. Teachers are like a gravitational force that students cannot seem to leave. What is it about a physical body and an online interactive teacher being different? From experience, the online teacher usually gets back to you faster. Online classes usually get a better grade at the end also, because the teacher has a heavier load than a regular teacher. More times than not teachers that are online interactive have physical classes as well.

Students that are highly motivated and self-efficient excel in online courses according to the editorial. As a whole these students do not make up enough for the online courses to be considered successful in college. Does this make their hard work useless? Probably not. Does it make it hard for funding to be provided when there are more people failing than passing? Yes. Another problem that these students face is the cheating aspect. The students that can’t the class will turn to them in hopes of using their work.

Lastly, the editorial discusses confidence as a key factor in online classes as well. Yes, confidence does play a key role in a class experience, but wouldn’t the physical class require a certain level of confidence as well. Another point to be made is the fact that the editorial implies that engagement only comes from a physical classroom, when in all reality most online courses are structured around as much engagement as possible. The last key point to make about the confidence comment, involves the competent comment as well. Who says that all students that do not do well in an online course are incompetent? Maybe they were low on time management, or self-motivation, but that does not make them incompetent.

After reading the editorial “The Trouble with Online College,” from the New York Times, individuals have a better understanding of why online courses are not as well utilized and why they are considered more difficult than a traditional classroom. Self-motivation, and time management are key factors in preserving a good grade in an online course. You do not have to be the most brilliant student in an online course, just like you do not have to be in the classroom. You just have to strive to perform the best you can. At the end of the day if you still do not pass the class, it is not due to incompetency, some learners just need a physical learning environment. It is all based on your level of commitment and effort.

College is about new experiences and figuring out what you want to do with your life. That is why fraternities, sororities, clubs and sports are introduced at the collegiate level. Why would you not try an online class?

“The Trouble with Online College.” The New York Times. The Opinions Pages, 19 Feb. 2013. Web. 20 Sept. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/opinion/the-trouble-with-online-college.html?_r=1&gt;.

In the poem “i know the grandmother one had hands, “Jaki Shelton Green repeats this line over and over again to represent a change in time or a change of direction about her grandmother. The first “section” talks about literal actions her grandmother performed such as “making bread” (4) and “rolling dough” (3). Towards the end of the poem she refers to the sky which usually means the person has passed. Throughout the poem, Green talks about her grandmother’s literal and metaphorical actions. Metaphorical actions she performed were “growing knives” (14) and “hands disappearing into the sky” (28). Throughout the poem Green writes about her grandmother working, helping, and being there for her and other people. Admiration was definitely a motivational key for this writer regarding her grandmother. Her grandmother obviously was a key role model in her life and she looks up to her for working hard. The reason she led me to believe she looked up to her grandmother because she used lines such as “pushing it along” (19) and “but they were always inside” (20). According to Green her grandmother was a hard worker, with a sentimental side. She was a loving and caring woman, who also earned her way and made her granddaughter proud. Towards the end of the poem she ended with a melancholy section regarding her grandmother’s place in the clouds or “heaven” and her place among the rain starters. In the section about the clouds, Green ends with her grandmother doing something else for someone else even after death. Throughout the poem Green reiterates how her grandmother is about everyone else, but herself. After the first few sections of the poem, Green starts to show how her grandmother has faced hard times and overcome them. In conclusion, Green admired her grandmother for her work ethic and ability to do for others.