ESPN: Fla St: 1/2 of football and 3/4 of basketball had learning disabilities

[Tugg Speedman]

This Sunday, Dec. 13, the series looks at Florida State University, where 61 athletes allegedly were involved in an academic-fraud scandal that included, in some cases, access to test answers and tutors who edited and typed papers. The NCAA ruled Florida State guilty of major violations, announcing it would reduce scholarships in football and other sports, and force Bobby Bowden's team to vacate as many as 14 victories from 2006 and 2007.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=4737281

The story also says the Florida State classified many athletes as “Learning Disabled” or LD:

With a documented learning disabled diagnosis, athletes can get relief from the NCAA in meeting its minimum academic requirements for initial eligibility. They can apply for approval to submit SAT or ACT scores that were acquired through "non-standard" tests in which special accommodations were provided, and use high school courses for LD students to satisfy the NCAA's core-course requirements.

Once on campus, a learning disabled athlete can ask for an NCAA waiver that allows him or her to take less than a full course load (12 hours) in a given semester. And at Florida State, the athlete can be exempted from passing the state-mandated basic competency tests in math and English that all at-risk college students must take before their junior year. "A good number of athletes come through the waiver system," says Jennifer Buchanan, chair of the CLAST (College Level Academic Skills Test) Waiver Committee at FSU.

Beyond that, some learning disabled athletes drink from a fire hose of course assistance. At Florida State, classroom accommodations, such as note-takers and untimed tests, are dispensed by the campus disability center that is available to all students. But athletes also have the resources of a $1.5 million-a-year athletic academic support unit with 32 computers, private tutoring rooms and a five-station "Learning Center" for athletes with learning disabilities or deficiencies.

That's where Monk set up camp, working on papers and other assignments with what she estimates were about 65 learning disabled athletes. She tells "Outside the Lines" that more than half of the football team, and three-quarters of the basketball team, had learning disabilities. FSU spokesman Rob Wilson did not respond to requests by "Outside the Lines" for information on the number of learning disabled athletes who were in the program when Monk left.

By comparison, experts estimate that 5 to 10 percent of the general adult population has a learning disability.

[ChicosBailBonds]

It's ironic that one of last year's Rhodes Scholarships was a football player (damn good one) from Florida State.

There are only 32 Rhodes Scholars each year from the United States.

[Tugg Speedman]

It was Myron Rolle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myron_Rolle

Most scouts thought he'd be a first round pick.  He pulled his name from the draft to study at Oxford

[warthog-driver]

It's ironic that one of last year's Rhodes Scholarships was a football player (damn good one) from Florida State.

There are only 32 Rhodes Scholars each year from the United States.

Bill Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar. I shudder to think what his "sport" was...

[Tugg Speedman]

Bill Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar. I shudder to think what his "sport" was...

1968 from Georgetown ... he played the sax in the band.

[warthog-driver]

1968 from Georgetown ... he played the sax in the band.

Is this for real? Is that what qualified him for the Rhodes scholarship?

[pbiflyer]

1968 from Georgetown ... he played the sax in the band.

Hey, that was totally uncalled for.....oh wait, you said sAx. Never mind.