The NCAA and Penn State

Perhaps I'm not the best judge of this all, because I have only a slight interest in college football, possibly as a result of having gone to two colleges with, well to be charitable, abominable football records, Humboldt State University and Oregon State University.  But maybe that makes me more objective.

If you care at all about this topic, you've undoubtedly heard how the NCAA has decided to punish Penn State for it's tolerance/lack of oversight of Jerry Sandusky, the long time and formerly lauded  Assistant Coach convicted of 52 counts of sex abuse over 12 years. It's generally believed that many in the football program and administration, including coach Joe Paterno, overlooked specific knowledge of the abuse in the interests of not damaging the program:

Emmert banned Penn State from bowl games for four years, imposed massive scholarship reductions (a total of 40 initial scholarships lost over four years) and fined the school $60 million.

The fine?  OK, as long as the money goes to a decent purpose.  I don't trust academics to do so, especially over a long run, after oversight has ceased. But why deny future students in the program, who had nothing to do with Sandusky's offense the punishment of less scholarships and the right to participate in future bowl games if they manage to put together a winning season (especially after my sanctions below are imposed)?

Emmert also vacated all of Penn State's victories from 1998 through 2011, meaning former coach Joe Paterno loses 111 wins from what had been a total of 409 victories, the most all time in major college football.

Now that's just stupid.  Why deny the students who actually played the games from 1998 through 2011 the credit for winning the games.   Having an assistant coach with a sex problem isn't like a steroid which somehow gave them an unnatural advantage over their competitors. Will it make other schools, students and football programs to be elevated a notch by having Penn States victories nullified?  I doubt it.  That's sort of an ultimate asterisk.

The NCAA, which placed Penn State on five years' probation, is reserving the right to investigate and punish individuals implicated in child sex-abuse case until after criminal proceedings. 

Courts and school administrations are the places where crimes need to be investigated and dealt with.  It's clear from their decisions above, that NCAA is taking a totally wrong headed approach to this problem, by punishing potential students who aren't even in college yet.

Here's my suggestion. Fire everyone in the football program and hire new. Fire every administrator in the chain of command from football up through the Chancellor, and all their aides and toadies and start fresh. Are some of them innocent?  No doubt, but that doesn't seem to prevent the NCAA from sanctions that will affect literally hundreds of students.

Honey, We Shrunk the Kids...

Home ranges.  As life gets safer and safer, children's freedom becomes more and more restricted.

A British study called One False Move, investigating the mobility of children, found that the average eight-year-old saw its ‘home habitat’ shrink to one-ninth of its size within a single generation. In 1970, 80% of British kids 7 or 8 years of age were allowed to go to school unsupervised; by 1990, this figure had dropped below 10%.

The result of this gradual shrinkage of children’s habitat, is the effective end of the outdoor childhood. This evolution, by and large underreported, is put in stark perspective by this map. Zooming in on parts of Sheffield, in the north of England, it pictures the differences in size of the stomping grounds of four generations of the Thomas family - each snapped at eight years of age:

I can certainly see that in my life.  At eight (back in 1959 or so), I was walking about a mile to and from school in Culver City, a town surrounded by Los Angeles, or to and from the public pool, in summer.  We had the freedom to chase fish and tadpoles in La Ballona Creek, even at that time, a giant concrete drainage ditch nearby, with foul run off in the bottom.  We had even wider ranges when we visited our cabin in the San Bernardino Mountains.  We were allowed to wander about anywhere we wanted, carrying our BB guns, although I doubt we went much farther than a couple of miles unaccompanied.  Such lack of parental attentiveness would practically be considered child abuse today.

At eight, our kids certainly had the run of the street, and possibly a few streets further. A half a mile at most.  But most of their spare time was taken up by soccer or video games.

Found at Ace's ONT.

Fair or Unfair?

Running legend Michael Johnson believes Oscar Pistorius has an 'unfair advantage'- Short Legs:

The American, winner of Olympic gold medals in the 400m in 1996 and 2000, was talking specifically about Oscar Pistorius, the South African known as ‘blade runner’.

While he stressed that he considers Pistorius, who has been allowed to compete at the London Games in the able-bodied 400m, as a friend, the Dallas-born sprinter revealed that he considers the principle of disabled competitors lining up alongside those without specially developed limbs flawed.

When asked at a Times+ event whether he thought Pistorius's inclusion was political correctness gone mad or an inspiring human story, the 44 year-old said: “I think it is both. I know Oscar well, and he knows my position; my position is that because we don’t know for sure whether he gets an advantage from the prosthetics that he wears it is unfair to the able-bodied competitors.

My opinion, FWIW.  If his current prosthetic legs weigh approximately what his original legs would, let him complete.  If not, add weight to make them equal.  If he wins, give him an asterisk. 

I don't think we need to worry about athletes having their legs amputated and replaced by prosthetics, at least until after one of the them wins gold.

Former Pron Star Seeks Community Service

Former porn star working as EMT in Virginia

A former porn star is now reportedly working as a volunteer emergency medical technician in Virginia, where some are questioning her suitability for the job.

Harmony Rose, 29, is a volunteer for the Cave Spring Rescue Squad, where she has been working for the past several months after passing a criminal background check, WDBJ7.com reports.

Chief Laura Alexander, who declined to discuss Rose’s previous career as an adult film actress (NSFW link) said Rose is currently on a six-month probation period that is standard for new volunteers. After her probation period, the squad's members will vote to decide whether Rose becomes a permanent member.

Is she clean, (drugs and VD)?  If so she should be allowed to try out for the volunteer position.  Why should this be held against her?  Her previous work was legal, if distasteful to some, and shouldn't be a disqualifying matter.  I firmly believe that people need to be allowed to try to better themselves, and others shouldn't try to stand in their way when they make the attempt.

Rose’s previous line of employment, however, has prompted Roanoke County Fire Chief Rick Burch to recently seek legal advice from the county attorney.

In a letter obtained by the station's website, County Attorney Paul Mahoney said Roanoke County doesn't have much power when it comes to volunteer rescue squads.

“These decisions are left to the volunteers,” the letter read.

I hope the other volunteers evaluate her based on her efforts, and her abilities in her probationary period and not on her past efforts. You go girl!

Wombat-Soccho hit his self imposed Sunday deadline with "Burning Photographs" and Rule 5s at The Other Mccain.

Montana School Bans "Schindler's List" Producer: Too Conservative

You never know, he might say something unacceptable to the "left wing radical" principal

Gerald Molen, who won an Oscar for co-producing Schindler’s List, had been invited to speak to a class of seniors at Ronan High School in Montana. He’s also one of the few conservatives working in Hollywood and is currently making a documentary based on Dinesh D’Souza’s book, “The Roots of Obama’s Rage.”

Molen, who is a popular motivational speaker, said his speech was going to be apolitical. He had planned on reminding students of their individual greatness and opportunities for the future.

But when he showed up at the high school — about 90-minutes from his home in Bigfork, Mont. – the principal informed Molen that he would not be allowed to address students because he was a “right-wing conservative.” He was told that there had been some calls to the school complaining about the planned speech. “He said some callers didn’t want kids exposed to that, despite not knowing what my message would be,” he told the Hollywood Reporter. “

Molen, who also worked on films like “Jurassic Park,” and “Twister”, wrote a letter in the local newspaper, explaining what happened and expressing is outrage.

“I served three years in the Marine Corps so that others might stand before their peers or even a group of students, but never did I think my voice would be stilled by some mysterious caller(s) on the notion that I might say something they ‘thought’ would not be in the students’ best interests,” he wrote in The Daily Inter Lake.

There are so many things wrong with this, it's hard to know where to start. The principal should lose his job over it.  It's such a remarkably bad example to set for the students.  Diversity is mandated in all but thought.

You might think that a nice western red state like Montana would be free of such prejudice, but in fact, the whole nation is divided along rural/urban lines, and even the reddest states have a few blue speckles.

Will 'Slutty Wednesday' Become the New Norm?

We can only hope...

Stuyvesant HS students hold 'Slutty Wednesday' to protest school’s strict dress code policy

Nearly 100 smarties at the city’s top-performing high school bared their bodies in “risque” outfits yesterday to denounce their school’s conservative dress code — which bans the exposure of shoulders, midriffs, lower backs, bras and undies.

Stuyvesant HS students held the so-called “Slutty Wednesday” protest after girls got fed up with being told throughout the year that their short skirts and sleeveless tops made them more fit for a club dance floor than for a seat at the best public school in town.

What, no shoulder, midriffs, lower back or underwear?  What is this, Sharia?

Boys in tank tops complained that the administration’s apparent emphasis on keeping the girls well-covered was not only biased, but it also maligned the guys as horny teens who can’t control themselves when they see too much skin.

Yeah, Boys don't pay attention to that stuff, don't you know?

“We work our asses off here, and school is about learning. Clothing is not important,” said ninth-grader Lucy Greider, who said she has been sent to the office 10 times this school year for showing off too much cleavage, midriff or shoulder.

Ten times?  She's a slow learner.  Or very stubborn.  But it's not important to her.

“Sometimes, the teachers will call you out in the hallway, [but] I like what I wear. I want to have my own style in school,” she added. “A lot of the classrooms don’t have a/c’s and when it is 80 degrees outside and it is really hot, it’s perfectly OK to show a little skin.”

The dress code, which was introduced in the fall, bars students from donning tops with text or images in bad taste.

Hey, it's not text!

Bad taste is subjective.  It's like grading on a curve.

Shorts, dresses and skirts are not permitted to end above the fingertips when students extend their arms down at their sides.

Principal Stanley Teitel didn’t respond to an e-mail seeking comment. But he told the student newspaper last year — when the dress code was first under consideration — that the policy was intended to create a better learning environment.

I remember 9th grade, my math teacher Mr. Dinkle (yes really), sending girl after girl to the office for skirts that were "too" short.  His point was to tire the office and make them give up.  It worked.

As always, thanks to Wombat-Socho for including this (and the others) in Rule 5 Sunday "Train in Vain" at The Other McCain.

Judge Sentences Honor Student to Jail for Skipping Class

A Texas judge threw an 11th-grade honors student in jail for repeatedly missing school in the hope that he could make an example of her.

Diane Tran, 17, works two jobs while taking dual-credit and advanced placement classes at Willis High School in Willis, Texas, KHOU-TV reported. Her parents divorced and moved away, leaving her to support an older brother at Texas A&M University and a baby sister who lives with relatives. She lives with the family of one of her employers, the owners of a wedding venue.

Tran told KHOU she doesn’t want to miss school, but is so exhausted sometimes that she can’t make it to her morning classes before attendance is taken. Other times she even ends up missing the day entirely.

“She goes from job to job, from school she stays up ’til 7 o’clock in the morning doing her homework,” Tran’s friend Devin Hill told the station.

Judge Lanny Moriarty warned Tran back in April not to miss any more school; when she missed again last week, he issued a summons and had her arrested in open court Wednesday. Tran was sentenced to a night in jail and ordered to pay a $100 fine.

“If you let one (truant student) run loose, what are you gonna’ do with the rest of ‘em? Let them go too?” Moriarty asked.

He admitted to KHOU after the fact that he didn‘t know the full circumstances of Tran’s situation. He said he might work to have the arrest removed from her record, where it would otherwise remain.

This is just insane.  I'll bet there are literally hundreds of under-performing students at the same school, skipping classes routinely, and the teachers and administration have just written them off.

This judge needs a stint in jail the next time he's late for anything.  Remember, overwork or need for sleep is no excuse.

First Grader Suspended for Bad Taste

Boy, 6, Suspended For Singing ‘I’m Sexy And I Know It’

A 6-year-old boy was suspended from his suburban Denver school for three days after school officials said he told a girl “I’m sexy and I know it,” a line from a popular song.

D’Avonte Meadows, a first-grader at Sable Elementary School in Aurora, is accused of sexual harassment and disrupting other students, according to a letter the school district sent to his mother after he was sent home Wednesday.