Loss of football scholarships should mark end of dark ages
The last shrapnel of Jim Hofher's era hit UB's football team Wednesday, when the NCAA took away three of its scholarships because of missed academic goals set forth during his reign. The loss doesn't reflect well on UB's program, but should prove a small setback in what will eventually be seen as a triumph. UB football is on the right track and the NCAA penalties won't affect the newfound momentum underway.
The NCAA's Academic Progress Rate report identified UB's football program as being in the "contemporaneous penalty" phase, meaning a student-athlete flunked out academically while his or her team's APR score was below 925, which is why UB lost three scholarships. But this isn't a huge blow to the program - Gill had a small recruiting class this year, and good news can be found in the other statistics.
UB actually had 10 of its 20 teams gain in score when compared to last year, and although five teams fell below the 925 cutoff lines, football was the only one penalized. The other team's scores projected above the cutoff in the four-year window allotted, so they were merely put on notice. And UB's football team actually improved its score from last year, just not enough to bring it above the minimum threshold. UB was not the most heavily penalized team in the conference. Temple lost nine scholarships and lost Toledo six.
Turner Gill's efforts at improving the quality of UB recruits will only help in improving UB's future APR score. Our hope is this episode will be remembered as the low point of UB's Division I-A football efforts, not a trend of its future.
Revealing hidden agendas
Alito's 'thank you' shows he could be compromised
The note Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito sent to Rev. James Dobson explicitly reveals Alito's political leanings and implies he could rule with a political agenda. Alito's confirmation hearings were notable only for his relentless insistence that he had no opinion regarding abortion rights, yet the note says different.
While broadcasting his radio program on Wednesday, Dobson, the conservative founder of the evangelical Christian group Focus on the Family, announced that Alito sent him a letter thanking him and his followers for support during the "challenging times" his conformation hearings presented. Alito pledged to "keep in mind the trust placed in him" by the anti-abortion advocates who supported him. But scores of "thank you" letters were sent out, Alito's defenders say, so nothing should be read into Dobson receiving one. This is hardly comforting. Were Ralph Reed, Pat Robertson, Ann Coulter, and Jerry Falwell recipients of Alito "pledges" as well?
On Alito's first day on the bench, the case the current version of the Supreme Court decided to hear was a case pertaining to abortion rights. This, after his mother declared to anyone listening that Roe v. Wade was dead upon her son's arrival on the bench. South Dakota's newly passed anti-abortion laws are designed to bring Roe's ruling before the Supreme Court. The letter to Dobson only reinforces what was obvious.
Alito is a reactionary activist whose regressive ideology was the overriding factor for him being selected by Bush in the first place. The only thing surprising about the letter is Dobson's public acknowledgment of it. The anti-abortion campaign's most effective weapon is the stealth manner with which it is conducted in. Dobson's gloating was the only surprise in the whole affair.
