Reactions to story from USAToday

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  Service academies, Big 12, SAT and $2.999

  http://www.doubleazone.com/2008/10/college_football_army_nav...
  55 days ago in NCAA Double-A Zone · Authority: 57

  Here's a great article by John Feinstein about Army, Navy and Air Force's football programs. Unfortunately these football squads don't receive the national recognition that BCS schools do (outside of the annual Army-Navy game), and it's a shame. These players embody what it means to be student-athletes, and as Feinstein says, they are "some remarkable young men." A few months ago, we debated about whether service academy star athletes should be able to forgo their required service to play professionally. What do you think about this issue? Many people believe the SEC is the best conference around. This year, however, there appears to be a shift in power to the Big 12. The conference currently has four of the top seven teams in the country (Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas and Texas Tech). It will be interesting to see what happens when these top teams start going head-to-head, and it all begins this weekend when Oklahoma and Texas square off in the Red River Shootout. Missouri and 17th-ranked Oklahoma State will also meet this weekend. Which is the better college football conference this season - the SEC or Big 12? We talked a few weeks ago about how some schools are going away from using standardized tests scores from the SAT or ACT as a measure for college acceptance. The one thing about standardized tests is that they are exactly that - standardized. In a culture of inconsistent grading scales from one high school to another, at least tests like the SAT are the same for everyone. Do you think the SAT and other standardized tests should be considered for college admittance? The Scarlet and Gray is going green. Ohio State has collected over 150-tons of recyclable goods during its 11 football home dates in the past two seasons. Kudos to Ohio State for this initiative and hopefully more schools will continue to make this a priority at their sporting events. Nine Division II basketball games will be televised this upcoming season on CBS College Sports Network. It's great to see D-II basketball get some national recognition (similarly to D-II football this season) because these student-athletes deserve it. Hopefully we will see some Division III action on a national platform in the near future. This morning, I drove by gas stations in Indianapolis promoting $2.999 a gallon, an enjoyable sight to see. Hopefully this trend of lower gas prices continues around the country, which will help intercollegiate athletics departments lower their immediate travel expenses from what they previously anticipated.
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  College Admissions Testing: For and Against

  http://www.educatednation.com/2008/10/07/college-admissions-...
  56 days ago in Educated Nation | Higher Education Blog | Commentary on The State of Education Today · Authority: 23

  Today’s USA Today has a big College Admissions Testing throwdown in the Op-Ed section. The USA Today folks are for keeping the testing around until there’s a better way to measure the rigor of high school coursework from one school to the next (an ‘A’ in a tough course at a tough school is different than an ‘A’ in an easy course at a less intense school). Although I’m not in agreement with them, they do make some good points and I respect that they were man enough to admit that the SAT and the ACT are “notoriously poor predictors of success.” Jesse Mermell, the executive director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing (FairTest.org) writes the opposing Op-Ed, and argues beautifully for chucking standardized admissions testing. Mermell agrees with the NACAC’s findings: NACAC is right. Test-optional admissions clearly works well. More than 775 accredited, bachelor degree granting institutions already do not use SAT or ACT scores to make decisions about all or many applicants (see the list at http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional). They have found that de-emphasizing test results yields better qualified and more diverse student bodies. Test-optional colleges and universities look at a variety of factors, including the rigor of an applicant’s high school curriculum, the track record of students from the same school, leadership, community service and personal circumstances. Trained professionals perform a comprehensive review of each admissions portfolio. They weigh multiple sources of evidence, not just how well students fill in bubbles on a Saturday morning. I won’t re-spew my stance on the subject as I think I’ve over-explained myself already. Posted by Alexa Harrington

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