By Nicolaus Mills, Special to CNN
Editor's note: Nicolaus Mills is professor of American studies at Sarah Lawrence College and is working on a book about the West Point football team of 1964 and its service in Vietnam.
(CNN) - Harvard is caught up in a student cheating scandal that its dean of undergraduate education calls "unprecedented in its scope and magnitude." As a Harvard grad, I am embarrassed, but what has me really worried is that Harvard, despite officials acknowledging the seriousness of what has happened, gives signs of trying to finesse the consequences of the scandal where key athletes are concerned.
The scandal centers on 125 students, as many as half of them varsity athletes from the men's basketball, baseball and football teams, according to The Boston Globe. They stand accused of copying from one another or plagiarizing on a take-home exam in a spring 2012 government course, "Introduction to Congress," with an enrollment of 279.
At Harvard the standard penalty for cheating is that a student can be asked to withdraw from the university for a year. In the case of athletes, withdrawal means the loss of a year of athletic eligibility, according to the NCAA, if they are forced to leave after they have registered for classes.
By Ashley N. Vaughan, CNN
(CNN) - When it comes to winning, Coach Beverly Kearney, University of Texas head women's track and field coach, knows how to get the job done.
With a coaching career spanning nearly three decades, she has won seven NCAA championships and coached 12 Olympians. In 2007, she was inducted into the USTFCCCA Coaches Hall of Fame.
Needless to say, Kearney's athletes are known to get results.
"They would say that I'm tough. That I believe in being the best you can be at all times," she says. "I am going to demand their best, and I am relentless at it."
But for Kearney, success means more than coming in first place. Her goal is to make others successful beyond the finish line, so she founded the Pursuit of Dreams Foundation. Designed around Kearney's coaching philosophy, the nonprofit strives to connect young men and women with needed resources to realize their fullest potential.
FULL STORY
by LZ Granderson, CNN Contributor
Editor's note: LZ Granderson, who writes a weekly column for CNN.com, was named journalist of the year by the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and is a 2011 Online Journalism Award finalist for commentary. He is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter: @locs_n_laughs
(CNN) - The first "cup" was used in hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.
That joke's been circulating on the Internet for years. And while it is funny, it's also an embarrassing observation about our past carelessness. But before we start congratulating ourselves about how "advanced" we are now, we should make note of this one little factoid: For much of the country, high school football practice started last month, and for much of the country, high school classes start next month.
Given where our high schoolers rank globally in reading, math and science, that is essentially putting the cup before the helmet in the 21st century.
Here again are the numbers: 14th out of 34 nations in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Again - 25th in math. No wonder we keep saying we're No. 1; there's a chance many of us can't count much higher than that.
Read the full story from OpinionJustin Combs worked hard in high school to improve his football game and earn a 3.75 GPA . He recently received a $54,000 merit-based scholarship to UCLA, where he'll play football.
In April, Forbes named Justin Combs' dad, Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, the wealthiest artist in hip-hop. Some say the family should return Justin's scholarship, arguing that Combs should pay for his son's education and taxpayer money should go to students with greater financial need. Other say Justin Combs earned the scholarship through his grades and athletic ability, and deserves to keep it.
What do you think? Should the Combs family keep, return or donate the money? Should students with wealthy parents have access to merit-based scholarships and financial aid?
By Jacque Wilson, CNN
(CNN) - As the district director of physical education and health literacy for Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Jayne Greenberg's annual budget is $0.
That's right - $0.
It's almost unbelievable when you know the statistics - that one in six U.S. children are obese, that nearly one-third are overweight, and that these rates are even higher for Hispanic children (of whom Miami has a high population).
But Greenberg doesn't despair. "I've been in my position since 1995 - I've never had a budget," she says. "It's always been up to me to find my own money."
She has also found a way to encourage students to sign up for gym class again.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools is one of nine regional finalists in the Active Schools Acceleration Project's first annual Innovation Competition. ASAP is an initiative started by ChildObesity180.org, an organization dedicated to reversing the trend in childhood obesity.
The requirements were simple: Schools had to show a way they were encouraging students to move throughout the day. The school's program had to be creative, include all fitness levels and be easy to duplicate in other districts.
(CNN) - Public schools in Oregon must discontinue the use of Native American names, symbols or images as mascots following a State Board of Education vote.
Prohibited names include, "Redskins," "Savages," "Indians," "Indianettes," "Chiefs" and "Braves," the board said in a statement Thursday.
The board by a 5-1 vote adopted the rule and gave schools until July 2017 to comply.
"I do not believe any of our schools with Native American mascots intended to be disrespectful," state Superintendent Susan Castillo said in a statement. "Our role as educators needs to be to create a safe, supportive, and welcoming environment for all of our students — an environment which honors them for who they are as individuals with a rich and varied cultural history. We can no longer accept these stereotypical images for the sake of tradition — not when they are hurting our kids."
The NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal received his doctorate in education from Barry University in Florida. Fredricka Whitfield speaks with him about the importance of education. O'Neal says, "If you have education, you'll always have something to fall back on."
By David Ariosto, CNN
(CNN) - As schools gear up for March Madness, a new study released Wednesday shows that race and gender gaps in higher education continue to plague college basketball players on the NCAA tournament teams.
The study found that the female players in the tournament continue to out-graduate their male counterparts, and that graduation disparities between blacks and whites persist but are considerably less pronounced among women.
"The women's teams always give us good news to report each year," said Richard Lapchick, the lead author of the report, which was produced by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida.
The study found that women student basketball players on the tournament teams graduate at a rate of 89%, compared with 67% for men.
In addition, a disparity of 8 percentage points exists between white and African-American women. That disparity jumps to 28 percentage points among male athletes, the report found.
FULL STORYPete Dominick, Rachel Campos-Duffy, Goldie Taylor and Christine Romans discuss the effects of kids playing football.
From Your Bottom Line with Christine Romans. Join us every Saturday at 9:30 a.m. ET on CNN.
Christine Romans, Will Cain and former NY Giants player Amani Toomer discuss the NFL bounty scandal, violence in football and whether children should be allowed to play.
From Your Bottom Line with Christine Romans. Join us every Saturday at 9:30 a.m. ET on CNN.
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