COlLEDGE SHORTS

Author: Rachel Greenhaus

NCAA demands academic standards

The National Collegiate Athletic Association has announced that it will be toughening its academic standards for Division I sports teams. Teams that were previously evaluated by their graduation rate will now be held to a more constant measure of academic success, something the NCAA calls the Academic Progress Rate or APR. This new system is designed to force athletic superpowers like Southern California and Connecticut to hold their athletes to a higher academic standard. Both of these teams, national champions in football and basketball respectively, include student athletes who fall short of the NCAA's lowest acceptable APR.

Under the new system, Division I teams that fail to meet the NCAA's academic standards will be docked scholarship money. For each athlete with a poor or failing academic record, the school could be docked one scholarship for one year. Slightly more than half of all Division I schools would fall below the APR cutoff in this new system and would therefore be at risk for scholarship cuts. Some find the new system confusing (1000 is a perfect APR while 925 is the minimum acceptable score, equivalent to about a 50% graduation rate) but everyone seems to agree that this program is a step in the right direction for college athletics.

"This is the morning of a new day," said NCAA president Myles Brand. "The NCAA and its member universities and colleges will now be held accountable for the academic success of student-athletes. This is a step toward fully integrating into athletics the mission of higher education."

-washingtonpost.com



Former UVM prof charnged with fraud

In an "unprecedented case" in Burlington this week, ex-University of Vermont (UVM) College of Medicine Professor Eric Poehlman pleaded guilty to one charge of making false statements. Those statements were made on a grant application which won him large amounts of federal funding during his teaching career. Poehlman taught at UVM for over 10 years and currently works as a research consultant in Montreal. He first became a suspect in 2000 after one of his students accused him of scientific misconduct. During UVM's subsequent examination of his practices he deleted evidence, produced false evidence and false testimony and coerced witnesses into producing false evidence. He resigned his post at UVM in 2001.

This past Monday, Poehlman appeared in Vermont District Court, waived his right to a trial and listened as the accusations against him were presented. He is accused of presenting falsified data on applications for grants that would have totaled over $11 million had he received them all. His application was denied on most counts but the prosecution claims over 2 million dollars were unrightfully allocated due to Poehlman's fabricated research. Even so, at the hearing, defense lawyer Robert Hemley cited Dr. Poehlman's "very good important scientific work over a long period of time," and said, in his defense, that "there is a lot of pressure on academic researchers to produce grants."

Poehlman faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for his actions and his sentencing is scheduled for July 18. He has already been barred by the federal government from receiving Public Health Research funds and must retract or correct 10 previously published articles that he falsified.



-boston.com