Michigan Students vs Athletes, Volleyball Perspective
The Daily ran an entry from Lexi Zimmerman (senior setter) and Courtney Fletcher (junior middle) today on the divide between Michigan students and Michigan athletes. An exerpt of the introduction:
Everyone knows the two sides of the issue: “Athletes are only here because they play a sport,” and “non-athletes sit around and do nothing all day." But both arguments have an element of truth. Some athletes were greatly helped by their athletic ability when applying to Michigan, and, equally, there are some non-athletes who have all day to do homework yet still fail to turn it in on time. While both sides have legitimate arguments for their cause, the real issue is the lack of respectful dialogue between the two schools of thought. Here is our attempt to contribute to that dialogue.
The article itself was kind of meh, explaining who they are and lamenting the difficulties of juggling schedules. It left me wondering more what inspired them to write the article in the first place.
I loved the daily when I was at Michigan. For the crossword.
yeah... that crossword got me through many an engineering lecture. I'd feel like a genius on mondays, and an idiot on fridays
yep. the crossword. and also the crime notes.
Woman walks into parked car in hospital parking lot. No injuries were reported.
Gotta love the crime notes
I made the crime notes once - true story.
Everyone in my house had copies of the paper that day. Local celeb.
Lexi Zimmerman was a student of mine when I was a GSI a few years ago. She put in more effort than most non athlete students and it was clear that she cared about the course. I have a big issue with athletes that don't put effort in for a class and expect to pass, but student-athletes that put work into a class...I'll bend over backward to help them out and give them every chance to succeed.
But why does it matter that they are student-athletes? Shouldn't you be bending over backward for every student that puts work into a class? What if that student is working X amount of hours just to take that class?
I think it's fair to assume that setting your work schedule with your boss that knows you're a student, while challenging, is more realistic than asking the NCAA to reschedule athletic events...
Student athletes have no control over their schedule. They may have the best will in the world to be there to do an end-of-term presentation, let's say, but if their team goes into the post-season, they could be halfway across the country. So, if that is a major portion of the grade, the instructor will have to accommodate that in a way that doesn't usually come up with the sort of jobs students have.
Excellent point. I'm of the opinion that each student should be treated equal regardless of their outside-school responsibilities. Yes, student-athletes are totally victim to their schedule so an example like that is a good one, so long as equivalent responsibilities of non-student-athletes are recognized as well.
I was out doing field work all day, but this is 100 percent correct. Hockey players traveled all the time during both semester, off season workouts were year round for most sports, athletes have curfews and wake up un-godly early to practice, during the season and during the off season. These kids just don't have the same amount of time as every other student.
One of my best friends is on the V-Ball team, and I can't even have a conversation with her about things like this.... S
Athletes are incredibly segregated by the university here. They put them all in south quad in west quad on the same floor together. Their interactions with students is very limited.
My friend who goes to Miami (FL) has several friends who are athletes. This is because athletes at Miami are placed into housing just like any other student. He is legitimately good friends with 4 or 5 football players there. In fact they quite frequently call him up when they're about to light a blunt or a j. This is not just him trying to act cool, its true. I also had another friend who frosh year she was a goalie on the Miami (FL) soccer team. She transferred to MSU (her family is a big MSU family) after a new coach came to Miami. She was placed into random housing and most of her good friends at Miami were not on the soccer team.
As a non-athlete who used to play 3 sports in high school; I would do anything to be able play competitive sports again. The athlete academic center would be quite a nice benefit for me to use on a daily basis. I wouldn't have to live at the ugli and grad as much and wouldn't have to work on the side at a sorority house...nah, lets be honest i would still want to work at the sorority house, who am i kidding.
is which sorrority? :-P
Maybe I'm naive, but I always thought the divide was how students saw student-athletes in revenue sports vs. how they see those who compete in other sports. People are amazed when they hear Zoltan was a Ross student, because they don't expect a football player to be enrolled in a U-M school known for selectivity and time demands. But is anybody that awed to hear a water polo student successfully completed a professional program like nursing? Or that a track star graduated with honors in French? Those are pretty impressive achievements, too. Competing in D1 sports takes a ton of time, no matter what the team's record or revenues, or whether your face gets on TV.
Yeah, I always kind of figured it was like that, too. Most people expect the tennis players and track team to be smart, while they expect football players to be there out of athletic ability and nothing else. Either way, student-athletes are pretty "segregated" from the general student body - unless you live in South or West Quad. Let's be honest though, what athlete would want to live on North Campus or the Hill? Just adds more time to their trip to S. Campus every day (though the Crisler bus from Markley really doesn't take that long, I guess).
The track guys at D1 schools that I know are quite a bit smarter and harder working than the football guys at D1 schools I know. It might just be my experience, but it seems like this is the case at most places.
They do get a lot of privileges that other segments of the student body would love to have, but don't get. For example, my scholarship is through the US Army and I have commitments to the ROTC program that can make scheduling classes very difficult. Unlike the athletes, I do not get to register early, although I have had some very accommodating GSIs.
I think the reason for this is the source of the scholarship. The university has money invested in scholarship athletes and has a great amount of motivation to see them succeed. Non scholarship athletes are also public faces of the university, giving the university motivation to see them succeed.