Speaking of War Eagle

Ang's joke (and phone call) reminded me of this that a friend emailed me last week:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/14/sports/ncaafootball/14auburn.html


As someone who was given strong pressure (indirectly) from Virgil Starks to "be easy" on athletes, I know that the athletic department is VERY interested in the academic "success" of their student athletes. However, this new incident doesn't seem like a problem of only the athletic department. Petree must have been getting something for his trouble. If not, he's a real idiot.

But what are we to do, those of us with one or more Auburn degrees? "Hide our diplomas?" as Ang said some newscasters in B'ham suggest? The University, not the NCAA needs to take care of this problem. We need higher standards like honor codes and zero tolerance policies for cheating, plagiarism, and sleazy professors. I know that football is a money maker, but without a reputable university behind it, the football team is nothing, despite the fact that some might think it otherwise.

Auburn is (or can be) better than this. Having taught many athletes, I know that many of them are intelligent, hardworking students. It is a shame that a few slackers give the whole University this kind of reputation.

How do we crack down on these few (professors, staff, and students) without punishing the lot? How do we pro-actively self police instead of constantly reacting to bad news?