Deck 9: Sport and Higher Education

Question 1

The playing of Dixie and the flying of the Confederate flag in recent years at college football games in the southern U.S.:

A) show that "Old South" symbols promote racial integration on campus when they appear in a sports context.
B) are still offensive to black students.
C) reveal that cultural symbols lose their significance in the sports context.
D) are no longer important to white alumni and fans.

Answer 1

are still offensive to black students.

Question 2

Recent NCAA policies and behavior on college campuses regarding Indian mascots show that:

A) Indian mascots used by college sports teams generate ethnic pride among Indians.
B) the NCAA is trying to encourage more colleges and universities to use Indian mascots, fight songs, and nicknames.
C) Indians have often opposed the use of Indian mascots and nicknames by colleges and universities because they have not had any control over their creation or use.
D) all colleges and universities using Indian mascots and nicknames have willingly cooperated with the NCAA's recent policy in this area.

Answer 2

Indians have often opposed the use of Indian mascots and nicknames by colleges and universities because they have not had any control over their creation or use.

Question 3

According to the analysis of big-time college sports in the text and in this course:

A) these sports programs are unfairly and incorrectly criticized for corruption.
B) the most commercialized of these sports programs typically provide student- athletes with the academic encouragement and resources they need to be successful students.
C) money is a significant cause of corruption in college sports.
D) the NCAA has been successful in eliminating academic fraud in even the most commercialized college sports programs.

Answer 3

money is a significant cause of corruption in college sports.

Question 4

The examination of women's intercollegiate sport in the U.S. in the text and in this course has revealed that:

A) the fate of the AIAW in its competition with the NCAA reflects the successful resistance of women's college sports to commercial influences.
B) scholarships for female athletes based only on athletic talent - that is, athletic scholarships - were permitted by the AIAW but are not permitted by the NCAA.
C) the AIAW was perceived as more of a threat by the NCAA as it grew in size and the number of championships it offered..
D) women are not as serious as men about college athletics at the big-time level..

Question 5

The history of the AIAW shows that:

A) women could organize and run their own sports effectively and sponsor championships at the national level in college sports.
B) Title IX had little effect on college sports in the 1970s.
C) the AIAW was more powerful than the NCAA.
D) women had relatively fewer chances for leadership positions in college sport in the AIAW than they have had in the NCAA.

Question 6

The Adlers' study of a big-time college basketball team showed that:

A) the members of the team tended to perform better as students when they had more conflict among their academic, athletic, and social roles.
B) the role demands on the members of the team and their team subculture tended to discourage a serious commitment to academics
C) "pragmatic detachment" applied to the athletes' feelings about their sports role and developed during their first year of playing college basketball.
D) the "eligibility education" approach of the athletes to their education prepared those unable to pursue a professional basketball career for a smooth adjustment to life after college basketball.

Question 7

Recent six-year graduation rate data (based on the federal measure) have shown that for Division I scholarship athletes:

A) their overall graduation rate was higher than the graduation rate for all students.
B) there was no difference between the graduation rates of black and white football players.
C) black male basketball players had higher graduation rates than white male basketball players had.
D) male athletes had higher graduation rates than female athletes had.

Question 8

Compared to other college presidents, the college presidents most committed to big-time athletic programs are more likely to:

A) dismiss the idea that winning teams boost student applications and alumni
Support.
B) be at NAIA than NCAA institutions.
C) be involved in the athletic "financial arms race."
D) ignore the influence of the Intercollegiate Golden Triangle on athletics at their institution.

Question 9

One of the three possible futures in college athletics identified by the 1991 Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics (KCIA) Report was:

A) an absence of Congressional or governmental concern about academic and financial problems in college athletics.
B) self-corrective action by higher education institutions to address sources of academic and financial problems in college sports.
C) the withdrawal of the Golden Triangle from college athletics.
D) current academic and financial problems in college athletics disappearing if the athletic financial arms race is allowed to intensify.

Question 10

The college athletics reform efforts by the Knight Commission (KCIA) have differed from most prior reform efforts because the KCIA:

A) has not been concerned about commercialism.
B) has focused on measures to try to assure that student-athletes are serious students.
C) has not included members of the Golden Triangle.
D) has appeared to have an influence on the NCAA.

Question 11

College sports:

A) began with a commercialized event.
B) have been organized, regulated, and run by university officials and professional coaches from their beginning.
C) began with a football game.
D) were started by the NCAA.

Question 12

The "athletic trap" for college presidents:

A) is their tendency to ignore the value of athletics to their institution.
B) is a more serious for presidents at Division III institutions than for presidents at Division I institutions.
C) could involve their institutions in a "financial arms race" in athletics from which it is difficult to escape.
D) is the tendency for college presidents to be former athletes.

Question 13

Examining the major justifications for college athletics discussed in the text leads to the conclusion that:

A) the idea that college sports build character may be true but it is not consistent with the Dominant American Sports Creed.
B) college sports require commercial investment from corporate sponsors because alumni do not support winning teams.
C) the idea that publicity about college athletic success attracts significantly better student applicants has not been consistently or strongly supported by research.
D) college presidents and athletic directors have generally not seen a need to justify college sports programs.

Question 14

Evidence from the 2002-2003 NCAA Gender Equity Report showed that, on average, at the Division I Bowl Subdivision institutions:

A) female athletes outnumbered male athletes.
B) the same amount of money was spent on athletic recruiting for women's and men's sports.
C) more was spent on athletic scholarships for female athletes than for male athletes.
D) total athletic expenditures were greater for men's sports than for women's sports.

Question 15

Discussion in the text of research about star college coaches, salaries, and competitive success showed that:

A) the twenty-five best-paid coaches in football and men's basketball all had teams in the top 25 rankings of their sport.
B) successful big-name coaches are most likely to attract the top recruiting classes.
C) a "stars wars arms race" for coaches exists in the top realms of Tier I men's college sports but does not yet exist in any realm of women's college sports.
D) the idea of the "star wars arms race" for coaches applies more to Division III than to Division I college sports.

Question 16

NCAA data from 2004-2005 have shown that:

A) more than 90% of Division athletic programs were self-supporting - that is, generated financial surpluses.
B) institutions with the most elite football programs, such as The Ohio State University, tended to have the largest financial deficits.
C) on average, athletic spending tended to be about half of all university expenditures.
D) the biggest individual expense item in most athletic operating budgets was athletic scholarships.

Question 17

Athletic programs in the "Elite 6" conferences:

A) share their television revenue with other conferences so that all NCAA Division I conferences earn the same amount of revenue.
B) spend less on coaches, recruiting, facilities, and financial aid and academic support for athletes than do athletic programs in other conferences.
C) tend to generate the most revenue and also spend the most money in college athletics.
D) generate about the same amount of interest from the media and corporate members of the Golden Triangle of college sports as do athletic programs in other conferences.

Question 18

According to data cited in the text from Lapchick and his colleagues' analysis of Graduation Success Rates (GSRs) and Academic Progress Rates (APRs) for recent football bowl teams and teams in the NCAA men's basketball championships:

A) both teams playing in the BCS national football championship after the 2006 season (i.e., Florida and Ohio State) had APR scores substantially above the accepted minimum of 925.
B) both teams playing in the 2007 national championship game in men's basketball (i.e., Florida and Ohio State) had APR scores at or below 925.
C) bowl teams tended to graduate more of their African-American players than their white players.
D) there was a significant "racial gap" between the graduation rates of African- American and white players for football bowl teams but not for top men's basketball teams.

Question 19

The Knight Commission-sponsored survey of U.S. adults conducted in 2005 showed that the majority of respondents believed that:

A) big-time athletic programs generated deficits rather than profits or surpluses.
B) successful teams had no influence on alumni giving.
C) successful big-time programs tended to increase the quality of student applicants.
D) the Golden Triangle elements of the media and corporate sponsors were a positive factor in college athletics in helping colleges and universities achieve their academic mission.

Question 20

After reviewing the work of the Knight Commission and the research it has sponsored since 1990, we can conclude that:

A) Knight Commission-sponsored surveys have shown that the percentage of people in the U.S. thinking that colleges sports are "out of control" has steadily increased since 1990.
B) the Knight Commission has been ignored by the NCAA and the Golden Triangle, just as prior reform efforts in college sports have been.
C) the Knight Commission has promoted the importance of college presidents assuming more control over college sports.
D) the Knight Commission has recognized the importance of increased commercialization as the means to end the "arms race" in college sports.

Question 21

Why have Chief Illiniwek and other Indian mascots been controversial? Be specific.

Question 22

How and why do the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate (GSR) data typically differ from the Federal Graduation Rate (FGR) data for the same sports, why did the NCAA create the GSR as a new measure of graduation rates, and how has the FGR of student-athletes at our institution compared to the FGR for all students at our institution in recent years?

Question 23

What are two findings from the Knight Commission survey of public attitudes about college sports that seem paradoxical or contradictory, and how can you explain the contradiction? In citing the findings, you do not need to cite specific percentages, but you need to indicate the predominant attitude or belief expressed for each finding.

Question 24

How did Jim Thorpe and his Carlisle Indian School teammates transform college football, and why was this accomplishment a "historical oversight"?

Question 25

How did Matheson's analysis of graduation rates, race, and Simpson's Paradox in the special feature in the text suggest that graduation rate data seemed both to support and contradict critics of men's college sports, and what do the graduation rates for black male athletes and black male students in general tell us about the athletics department and the institution in general?