Balsy

The current one. I think it would have done a lot for SS's image and future plans if it looked like he "gave a damn". Even if nothing really can be done, even if what needs to be done is insurmountable...it looks a lot better to be ahead of it, and in an open and transparent matter. Being frank, but ultimately leaving the public/supporters to decide (as in rallying to save it or not). That, IMO, is what a good leader does. Never underestimate people who "give a damn" and are given the opportunity to act.

I agree. I feel like they're in a position to be like the '13 edition of the Zips. Improvement, but not yet over the hump. Let's just hope their turnaround game doesn't come against us. I'd say for sure the top spot is between Akron, BG and Ohio. Lance Leipold has had a pretty succesful coaching career at DIII Wisconsin-Whitewater, but I think there will be a bit of an adjustment period for him before I'd consider Buffalo in contention at the top spot. I think we're all ready for a little football after this...eventful...summer! Go Zips!

Source? And numbers?

To me it's the product of poor leadership. What and how was the administration engaging the public about these hardships? There are other options...engaging the people who 'give a damn' about it. One of my mother's favorite stories of NEO is that of Playhouse Square in Cleveland. It was scheduled to be torndown and made into parking garages in the 70's, a thought today that is almost unthinkable. The reason it's still there became a thriving seed for the revitalization of downtown Cleveland is because of a small group of people who gave a damn, and fought to keep it (and raised the money to do so). I have hope that a similar movement might save EJ. My concern is the lack of leadership. This is something the administration could have speerheaded themselves by engaging the public, those whom are passionate about it, in an open and transparent manner. I fear this administration is alienating the few people who might give a damn.

I think this would qualify for my "giving a damn" contention.

I think the point that we need to focus on is that Police officers are not bad people. They're also not good people simply because they're police officers. There are bad police officers who give the rest a bad name. There are good police officers who do not get enough praise for what they do. Both of these facts, however, are not the issue of BlackLivesMatter. BlackLivesMatter is an movement not to demonize police, but to bring attention to the fact (yes it is a fact a-zip) that there is both intentional and unintentional racism in law enforcement. There are many studies on the unintentional side, of unintentional racism that is, but what it ultimately boils down to is seeing people as people. The incidient in Cinncinnati demonstrates the problem: where a man, whom was black, was unarmed and non-violent, was shot and killed by a police officer in a simple traffic stop. The office proceeded to lie about what happened leading to the shooting, and is now charged with murder. Why did the police officer shoot and kill a clearly non-violent black man? To act as if this is an isolated event, is woefully ignorant. To act as if this isn't a problem, is woefully ignorant. This is the reason the BlackLivesMatter movement has come into being. It has NOTHING to do with police officers being good or bad people.

whoops...i meant beat...stupid buttons.

Not well. Several of my younger friends who are still there are looking to transfer.

I agree. Infact, book it now...the Zips will beat the Bobkittens on homecoming this year. This is the year.

No they shouldn't. They were only doing what anyone in their position should have been doing. Especially with UA closing EJ Thomas Hall, the financial burden athletics takes up at UA is absolutely unsustainable. Losing EJTH is equivalent to losing the football program. Oh wait, EJTH attracts more people from the local community than football ever does. The person/people who should really be apologizing are the bafoons running the university over the past decade. Their missmanagement of UA has led to this, not the faculty. Edit: But I'd imagine that Bowden will do as he always has done. Until we start winning games, it doesn't matter what discussions are going on, recruiting won't improve. Winning should be the top priority, everything else should be seen as noise.

It's not about how many african americans are killed by whom, that isn't the issue. Most white homicides were carried out by other whites too for that matter. But again, homicide rates aren't the issue. It's the blatant disregard of basic human dignity by police officials. Where any infraction is met with the highest possible reaction. A highest possible reaction that disproportionately affects the african american community. It doesn't matter what opinion you, a law enforcement official, or fox news has of Freddie Gray. Freddie Gray (or any suspect for that matter)'s history is irrelavent. What is important is how a situation is handled. Baltimore PD, as well as federal investigators determined Gray had been illegally detained, and the officers involved have been charged. Everyone should be outraged when a suspect (not convicted of a crime in a court of law) is summarily punished by law enforcement officers or (in the case of Gray) killed. Put the shoe on another foot: What if a white-man, practicing his 2nd amendment rights, was stopped by police., llegally searched and seized without probable cause; arrested and than subsequently killed on transport to the police station. You're telling me we shouldn't be outraged? We should be. The fact is, this doesn't happen to white people as often as it does to other racial minorities. That's a fact. And that's the reason for this movement. And that's why #AllLivesMatter is a rather ignorant and dismissive white-wash of a very real issue.

That's a statement that completely white-washes the issue, which is why it's become a movement. It completely ignores the actions of overzealous police officials, over zealous escalation and the lack of dignity and respect given to a group of people due to the color of their skin. It also ignores institutional policies, like arrest quotas, that are inherently applied against one group of people rather than another. THAT's what this movement is about. These are all issues of which current members of law enforcement, as well as former members of law enforcement, have spoken about. It's not just one or two police officers, it's many who have spoken on this issue. What's really unfortunate is that there are people seriously trying to deny that there is a problem.

Agreed. I'm not sending this university another penny, and I'm contemplating my athletics financial support for that matter. UA cannot let that happen, frankly the community can't let that happen either. Playhouse square in Cleveland almost became a parking garage if it weren't for a small group of dedicated individuals to change that. We need that group of dedicated individuals more than ever now. I only fear that Akron and the University community doesn't have that. Especially now, with this administration.

Agree, Pitt! It's the homeopener, and it generally has the highest butt-in-seat attendance, with the most students as well. And who knows, maybe a win will convince a couple of them to come back for another game this season.

This comes down to a point I've tried to make several times: "give a damn!" We need people who 'give a damn' at UA. People who go above and beyond. People whom aren't just going through the motions. I know it's easier said than done, but c'mon akron!

And the athletics events are serving the students? You've got to be kidding me...the events at EJ Thomas are MUCH closer to coming out even than Athletics ever will, AND they events at EJ Thomas bring more people to your campus than almost all the athletics events combined.

I'd invite you to read the Q&A I posted earlier, because you too are completely missing the point of the BlackLivesMatter monicer. Its about bringing attention to and discussing the unintentional (and in somecases perhaps intentional) systemic racism that exists in society, especially that which pertains to perceiving a threat: Cardale wasn't nuanced in explaining this (his bad), but you also can't put too much stock into cherry-picked, twitter troll responses.

That is very interesting, what's going on with them?

The piece that you linked there is just as bad as anything Cardale said. He was apparently responding to trolls (whom themselves are probably ignorant on the topic since they're responding with the AllLivesMatter bit), but didn't do a good job of articulating the nuances of the BlackLivesMatter movment. This is a rather articulate opinion Q&A on the topic. Perhaps Cardale should have been more, nuanced, in his response...but that piece written about it is atrociously simplistic.

I guess Cardale really SHOULD have transferred to Akron if he wanted to start at QB this year...

Bingo. Very good post LZip. Now I'll profess my bias, I'm very against online classes (anecdotally of course) because of my personaly experience with them. In my college career I have taken a few online classes, classes with online components (etc) and they were crap. Note: they weren't from Akron. I've also seen decent classes with large online components that were made by the departments themselves internally, and were pretty good (again not Akron). A few of the field courses I took (field ecology, 2 different field geology courses) they had online components for the regular "content", quizes, tests and other assignments. Our in person time was labwork, field work, discussions and colloquims. So it is possible and I wonder if Scarborough is getting a lot of pushback because the departments didn't get the opportunity to try making their own online courses. Dave has inspired me a to do a little digging into the education research journals, and give context to anyone who'd like it.

If we had an increase in attendance by 33% and we finally get over .500, I wonder if the ABJ will publish an article titled "Biggest Attendance Increase In Nation"

If we're talkinga bout attendance woes at Akron, how about a competition between student groups, with the prize being a donation to the group's charity. There is a lot of student groups that do charity work in the community. Maybe it would get groups to encourage their own members to attend, increase their own membership, to get points (extra points (or double points) for checking out at the end of the game (etc)). Couple that with a entries for a scholarship drawing, I think it could potentially have an impact.

Interesting, to be sure. Even the Saudi's recognize that Can't sucks...or at the very least is behind us.

Or it looks good on the resume of an administrator, administration team, whom doesn't plan on being around long enough to see if it actually does work or not. Data is often cherry-picked to support any narrative especially when it's paid for privately conducted research that will never be open to criticism because it's "proprietary".