Georgia Tech bought by Adidas

Yesterday's issue of The Washington Post included an article explaining that two Adidas officials (and an aspiring NBA agent) are on trial in a federal court in New York.  The men broke NCAA recruiting rules and allegedly defrauded the colleges recruiting a high school basketball player from Michigan (Will Hobson, "Any probes by NCAA will wait till trials end," Page D1, October 6, 2018).

The same day, I received the Fall 2018 issue of the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine.  Its cover included the teaser: "Inside the deal with Adidas." An article by Tony Rehagen provided the following details: over six years, Adidas will provide a total of $17.46 million worth of apparel and $1.2 million cash.  (Adidas will give bonuses if the football team or men's basketball team appears in a championship game.)  According to the article, "college athletics is big business."

And that includes branding.  As part of the deal, Tech revamped the teams' uniforms (all featuring the Adidas logo), with a new color and new wordmark (here).  The football helmet has a new version of the GT logo.  The football team also got a renovated locker room that cost $4.5 million; of course, it features the Adidas logo also.

The men and women who play on these teams will also get workout gear to wear around campus.  But they won't be compensated when Adidas or Georgia Tech sells replicas of their uniforms to students and fans, because of NCAA rules.  The athletes' compensation is restricted by the NCAA, a cartel that exploits them and refuses to share the millions that it receives in various media and marketing deals (including deals for video games featuring players' likenesses, an issue in the O'Bannon lawsuit).  The players have no association to represent them; they have no power except the power to opt out (which some do, working in professional leagues without playing for college teams).  

Because of the NCAA, Adidas supposedly commits a crime when it gives money to high school athletes, but it is acceptable to give gear and money to the athletic departments who are recruiting and exploiting these athletes.  The trial in New York is about people who broke NCAA rules, but the NCAA is the guilty party. 

The Perils of Meritocracy

The meritocracy that exists in American society is the subject of two articles that consider current events and classical philosophers.

In The Washington Post, Fareed Zakaria argued that meritocracy is under assault and under siege.  This meritocracy replaced a aristocratic system, led by WASPs, that "rewarded wealth, social status, and family connections."  In First Things, Patrick J. Deneen explained this American aristocracy was stable because both the working class and the elites believed two premises that were first described by Plato in the Republic: (1) all citizens (both classes) are united by their commonalities (e.g., belonging the same family or clan) and (2) each person belongs to a specific, distinctive, and unequal class.  When all believe both premises, the working class accepts the inequality, while the elites use their wealth and power to help others and serve the common good.

Today, this consensus appears to be unraveling.  Zakaria criticized a proposal to change the criteria for admission to New York City's selective, specialized high schools.  Socially liberal elites are uncomfortable admitting that there is a hierarchy of talent.  Deneen made the same point and stated that today's elites embrace inclusion---we're all equal, and no one should be left out---because they take the first premise as given.  The elites deny the second premise, however, which allows them to ignore their responsibility to the common good by emphasizing inclusion and claiming that those who are not elites chose their fate.  Their blindness is the result of rejecting Christ's commands.

Zakaria concluded that, despite its faults, no alternative is  better than meritocracy.  Deneen concluded that, because the elites whom this meritocracy created refuse to acknowledge their position and fail to work for the common good, the working class will continue to support populist rebellions.

Sources:
Deneen, Patrick J., "The Ignoble Lie," First Things, April 2018.  https://www.firstthings.com/article/2018/04/the-ignoble-lie

Harris, Elizabeth A., "De Blasio Proposes Changes to New York’s Elite High Schools," The New York Times, June 2, 2018.  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/02/nyregion/de-blasio-new-york-schools.html

Zakaria, Fareed, "American meritocracy is under attack," The Washington Post, June 29, 2018.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/meritocracy-is-under-attack/2018/06/28/e9f689d0-7afb-11e8-93cc-6d3beccdd7a3_story.html?utm_term=.b0d259db9570

What does a family teach?

According to Esolen and his reading of Pope Leo XIII's writings, a family is a true society and must be obedient to legitimate authority.  The leader of a family is the father, whose authority comes from God. (This, of course, does not mean that the father is better than the mother.)  The father himself must be obedient to God and faithful in his duties.  In particular, husbands should "live considerately with your wives" (1 Peter 3:7), and fathers must work together to establish good schools for their children.

More generally, parents must (and have the right to) teach their children about what is true and right, including the truth about God and His creation.  A solid education starts with sound philosophy (such as that of St. Thomas Aquinas), for true philosophy leads one to God.

In a family, a child has a history, a place in the story of creation, and a relationship with God and His people.  In a family, a child learns to live with others and to live for others.

On the other hand, what will a government without God teach?  It will teach that marriage is an agreement defined and controlled by the state; that divorce should be simple and marriages are temporary; and that the state should teach the children because transient parents cannot.  In this way, the state will remove fathers from families and corrupt their children, who will learn nothing except the "most abject theories of Materialism."

When Teachers Don't Matter

In "When Teachers Don't Matter," Mark Bauerlein discussed two changes in academia: the new role of the professor, and the lack of relationships between professors and students.

Bauerlein regrets that a professor is no longer a presence, the seat of knowledge, an authority, or a moral exemplar. As a professor in an engineering school, I see the same trend happening, more slowly perhaps, but I do not mourn. Because more effective channels exist, the professor should not be the source who transmits knowledge or use that position as the basis for authority. Bauerlein claims that professors are now mere functionaries, accreditors, and graders, but this overlooks the fact that a professor designs the course in which the students learn. Students take courses to learn how to do something (such as how to analyze a poem, design a bridge, or live a good life), and professors must design courses in which students learn. A course is not a chance to admire a professor, it is an activity in which a professor helps students learn. The role of the professor has changed, but it is not diminished. Indeed, it may have increased. The public admires designers of video games, computers, and other technology products; as the importance of course design attracts more attention, students will admire the professors who design and lead the most effective courses (whether or not there are lectures from the front of the classroom).

Bauerlein also laments the lack of relationships between professors and students. This is an important insight, and students who fail to talk with the professors who teach their courses are losing an important opportunity. In general, this reflects a lack of community, which can occur when a school becomes too concerned with its output and productivity, and professors consequently become too concerned with writing proposals and papers. There are examples, however, of communities today. In A Whole New Engineer, David Goldberg and Mark Somerville described the communities formed at Olin and Illinois, and I have had the pleasure of belonging to (and teaching courses for) a learning community here at Maryland. In these communities professors can become mentors.

Good student-professor relationships can help students learn and alter their lives. Even as instructional strategies change, forming such relationships is still possible.

The Function of the University

In his article about universities, Roger Scruton paraphrases Cardinal Newman:

This, Newman implied, is the true social function of the university. Within college walls the adolescent is granted a vision of the ends of life; and he takes from the university the one thing that the world does not provide, which is a conception of intrinsic value. And that is why the university is so important in an age of commerce and industry, when the utilitarian temptation besieges us on every side, and when we are in danger of making every purpose a material one—in other words, as Newman saw it, in danger of allowing the means to swallow the ends.

Academic Freedom

As described in the post by Robert P. George, Princeton University formally adopted the principles of the University of Chicago report on academic freedom, which includes the following principles:

The ideas of different members of the University community will often and quite naturally conflict. But it is not the proper role of the University to attempt to shield individuals from ideas and opinions they find unwelcome, disagreeable, or even deeply offensive. Although the University greatly values civility, and although all members of the University community share in the responsibility for maintaining a climate of mutual respect, concerns about civility and mutual respect can never be used as a justification for closing off discussion of ideas, however offensive or disagreeable those ideas may be to some members of our community.

The Way of Aporia

In her article Uneasy Grace, Meghan Sullivan discusses four approaches to resolving struggles between Christian faith and other evidence:

1. On the Way of Dilution, one gives up things one believes.
2. On the Way of Fundamentalism, one refuses to reason and dismisses the other evidence without thought.
3. On the Way of Separation, one keeps the two types of beliefs completely separate and does not try to reconcile them.
4. On the Way of Aporia, one accepts that one's understanding is limited and works to resolve the conflict while accepting both types of beliefs until understanding arrives.

According to Sullivan,

there are some conflicts that we never get to resolve in this life. At the heart of the Way of Aporia is a conviction that you shouldn’t ignore conflicts between faith and reason. They are bound to happen, especially if you have a valuable, thick faith. But you also should not give up important beliefs too quickly or too flippantly in the face of conflict. This is a perfectly respectable stance in other branches of inquiry. And it is perfectly respectable for Christians to assume.

Georgia Tech's Official Colors

Although "Up with the White and Gold" is the best fight song ever, Tech's official colors are not white and gold. According to the Official Colors page:

Authorized colors are gold (PMS 124), navy (PMS 539), metallic gold (PMS 874), and black.

Catholic Education, the Common Core and the New Evangelization

An interview with the executive director of the Secretariat of Catholic Education about the Common Core.

Sam Rocha’s Strange and Startling Philosophy of Education

Stephen H. Webb's review of Sam Rocha's Primer for Philosophy and Education, in which Rocha

goes to some length to distinguish painting from priming, and as you read him, you realize that he is describing not priming but educating. He is showing his readers how education works by describing an analogous activity.

The Christian Intellectual

In The Christian Intellectual, R.R. Reno considers

How, then, should the Christian intellectual proceed? What should be our approach to higher education and academic work? More broadly, how should we view our distinctive vocation as intellectuals?

Among his conclusions is the following observation:

A genuine intellectual serves truth, a Christian intellectual all the more so. The truth, moreover, is sought by other people as well, which is why the intellectual life means participating in a conversation rather than embarking on a solo voyage. A loving intellect therefore seeks to advance the intellectual lives of others.

Why good grammar matters

Kyle Wiens describes why good grammar matters:

Applicants who don't think writing is important are likely to think lots of other (important) things also aren't important.

Hat tip: First Thoughts

Steel sculptures

I found the steel sculpture at the University of Florida (mentioned here); it is on the west side of Weil Hall not far from Florida Field and the O'Connell Center. I also happened to find a similar sculpture on the campus of the University of South Florida; it is near the engineering buildings. Here is a photo of that one:

Not on Facebook

Steve Baarendse has an article in Touchstone on his reasons for not being on Facebook. He is specifically addressing college students. After listing various shortcomings of Facebook, he asks,

How do we use social media responsibly, especially in view of our calling as students? Answering this will require great discernment. ... Let’s agree that the danger doesn’t necessarily lie in our tools, but in our lack of self-control, which can make us the slave of our tools. Just as we can overeat in the cafeteria, so we can over-consume in our use of technology.

Academic busyness

First Thoughts post about how universities and colleges are very busy saving the world:

We must recommit to “citizenship” as a foundation of the academy and model citizenship by addressing the real problems of our state, national and global communities.

Has greed swamped learning?

In his column in The Washington Post, Robert McCartney asks, "Has greed swamped learning as the top priority for America’s institutions of higher education?"

How Economics Shapes Science

An interview with Paula Stephan, the author of How Economics Shapes Science, which discusses the economic and other incentives of academic researchers. Among the items covered in the interview:

The evidence is overwhelming that in certain fields — especially in the biomedical sciences — we produce more Ph.D.s than there are research or teaching jobs. This imbalance is caused by the fact that principal investigators staff their labs with postdocs and graduate students, not permanent staff scientists. Faculty like the model: graduate students and postdocs have new, fresh ideas; they are also inexpensive and they are temporary. But unless the number of new jobs grows quickly enough to absorb the newly trained, (which it hasn’t for many years), this system of staffing produces many more Ph.D.s than the job market can absorb. That’s why I call it a pyramid scheme.

Layton's Chance

Two QUEST alumni started Layton's Chance Vineyard and Winery on their family farm near Vienna, Maryland.

Steel Sculpture

This "Steel Sculpture" was created 1986 by a University of Florida engineering professor for teaching structures. Over 100 other universities now have one also (see http://www.aisc.org/content.aspx?id=704). Photo from the UF Civil Engineering department web site. Where on the UF campus is this sculpture?

Reforming public schools

In the January, 2012, issue of First Things, Charles Glenn's article reviews the history of public schools and argues that a wide variety of schools is needed and "Parents should be free to choose the school their children attend without financial penalty."