The Observer, March 28, 2008
Volume XL, Issue 22
Outside the Circle
Michigan athletes' favorite professor
As reported by The Ann Arbor News, a single University of Michigan professor taught 294 independent studies for students, 85 percent of which were for athletes, from the fall of 2004 to the fall of 2007.
In the paper's report, which is the first of a series of articles about Michigan athletics and took seven months of investigation, many athletes were reportedly steered to the professor and many reported earning three or four credits for meeting the professor as little as fifteen minutes every two weeks.
Three former athletic department officials said that many of the athletes were urged to take courses with the professor, John Hagen, to increase their GPAs. Student transcripts examined by the paper show students earning significantly higher grades with Hagen than in their regular courses.
The News initially reported that Hagen denied teaching such a high percentage of athletes in his independent studies, but after viewing the documents The News uncovered, Hagen could not deny their validity. Hagen did, however, continue to deny being a part of any effort to raise athletes' GPAs.
Michigan's president and athletics director declined to be interviewed for the story.
Monologues at Notre Dame
The president of the University of Notre Dame announced last week that he would permit a campus production of The Vagina Monologues. A debate over the decision promptly broke out among students and officials.
The play has always been controversial at campuses nationwide, especially religious institutions like Notre Dame. But the school has focused more attention on the issue than any other prior institution.
In his statement authorizing the play, the Rev. John I. Jenkins, Notre Dame's president, cited the university's commitment to academic freedom and noted that play organizers had agreed to abide by principles he established. For example, each performance will be followed by an academic panel featuring at least one speaker to offer the Catholic perspective on the issues addressed.
In his statement, Father Jenkins recognized that he would likely offend both supporters and critics of the play under his stringent conditions.
Bishop John D'Arcy of the diocese in which Notre Dame is located issued his own statement, calling the play "pornographic and spiritually harmful," and criticizing the decision to permit it.
One of the project's organizers wrote about the situation on the blog Free Exchange on Campus, and while she noted the limitations placed on the effort, she praised the decision to let the production take place as "a positive step forward."
Another cartoon controversy at U.Va.
Less than 12 months after a controversy over a cartoon that appeared to make fun of starving people in Africa, the University of Virginia's student newspaper is again apologizing for offensive material. The Cavalier Daily recently published two cartoons that depicted the Virgin Mary in a sexual encounter and Jesus doing stand-up comedy while being crucified. Both cartoons were removed from the paper's website earlier last week after nearly universal criticism from the campus. A notice published by the newspaper said that it is "never the intention" of the newspaper "to offend, and we regret having done so." The notice goes on to say that the newspaper is reviewing its cartoon policies.
Student stress
A recent poll of college students conducted by the Associated Press and mtvU has found that many students regularly experience stress, but that many consider themselves to be happy.
The poll shows that four in 10 students say they feel stress often with nearly one in five students saying they feel stress all the time. About one in six said that they have friends who have discussed committing suicide.
The survey found that female students stress more than male students, and white students tend to report more stress than black or Latino students.
While the AP report emphasizes the statistics that suggest a major stress problem on campus, the poll also found that six in 10 said that they are usually hopeful and enjoy life, and half of students said that they felt understood by their families.
