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L A W R E NC E
JOURNAL-WORLD ®
75 CENTS
Mario Chalmers
3!452$!9 s *5.% s
Tyshawn Taylor
Sherron Collins
Majored in African/AfricanAmerican studies
Cole Aldrich
Brandon Rush
Julian Wright
Majored in communications
Marcus Morris
Markieff Morris
Thomas Robinson
Majored in American studies
A MAJOR CONCERN
LJWorld.com
Rec center would cost $100,000 per month ——
Special sales tax district would also be required By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
At Texas A&M, 37 percent of the men’s basketball players and football players major in agricultural leadership and development, compared with less than 1 percent of nonathletes.
Between 2004 and 2012, 43 players who’ve indicated a major in media guides have passed through the KU men’s program. Of those, 61 percent have majored in communications, African and African-American studies, or American studies.
It will take $100,000 per month in lease payments for the next 20 years — and a new special sales tax district — for the city to build a regional recreation center in northwest Lawrence. But as city officials on Friday released the most detailed figures yet for the project, Lawrence Mayor Bob Schumm said he’s becoming more convinced the project is a good deal for the city. That’s in part because the new numbers indicate Lawrence developer Thomas Fritzel and his company essentially are offering to finance the project interest free, representing a potential savings of about $8 million Schumm for the city. “It is a gift to the city,” Schumm said of the offer. “There is really no other way to look at it.” City commissioners at their meeting on Tuesday will receive a public briefing on plans to build a regional recreation complex on the northwest corner of Sixth Street and the South Lawrence Trafficway. Here’s a look at some of the newest details:
The city will make $1.2 million a year in lease payments to Fritzel for 20 years, for a total of $24 million. At the end of the 20-year period, the city will own the recreation center. The city will own the ground — which is proposed to be donated by Please see CENTER, page 5A
At Iowa State, seven of 11 men’s basketball players majored in liberal studies.
At Baylor University, 51 percent of the football players major in general studies, compared with just 1 percent of all other undergraduates.
Athletes’ tendencies to ‘cluster’ in certain academic fields problematic, some say By Shaun Hittle sdhittle@ljworld.com
ONLINE: See graphics at LJWorld.com
The “player,” highly recruited from Miami or New York or Philadelphia, shows up on campus in Norman or Stillwater or Lawrence. He’s ready to catch touchdown passes or throw down hammer dunks to help his
team in the competitive world of college athletics in the Big 12 Conference. A couple of years on campus, and the player expects to leave some eligibility on the table and take his talents to the NFL or NBA. But first, there’s that college part. Surrounded by a team of tutors and advisers, the player must go to classes and maintain a certain GPA. Not sure what to major
What is ‘clustering’? Clustering describes a situation where university student athletes congregate in a particular major. Previous academic studies and USA Today have looked at this in the past. The JournalWorld is the first to review
the Big 12 specifically. In all the studies before this, clustering was found, to varying degrees, mostly in men’s basketball and football. Researchers say clustering occurs when 25 percent of a team is in one major.
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And the best part? Professor Johnson or Smith understands the pressures of big-time college athletics. They’ll take care of you. They’re big fans of the team. Please see ATHLETES, page 8A
How we conducted our study Using information available on athletic department websites, we collected the most current information about athletes’ majors for:
Big 12 men’s basketball and football teams, including those entering or leaving the conference this year.
Men’s basketball teams who played in the NCAA’s “Sweet 16” this year.
All KU sports teams for the current year.
The KU men’s basketball team from 2004 to 2012. In cases where clustering was found, we collected information from the various schools on the percentage of all undergraduate students in those majors. For some athletes, majors were not indicated, and those players were not included in our study.
INSIDE
Strong storm
High: 88
in, player? No problem. Maybe you should think about communications or criminal justice or AfricanAmerican studies, he’s told. See, many of his fellow players major in that. You can all take classes together.
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Suspects accused of child abuse here had neglect case in Illinois By George Diepenbrock gdiepenbrock@ljworld.com
The Illinois child and family welfare agency substantiated neglect allegations last November against a suburban Chicago couple accused of tying up two of their young children on Wednesday in a west Lawrence Walmart parking lot. Kendall Marlowe, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Children and Family, said Friday that in December the department opened a supportive services case working with A. Gomez the family of Adolfo Gomez Jr. and Deborah M. Gomez after the allegations were substantiated. The children were not removed from the home as part of the case, and it was closed in April, he said. Douglas County prosecutors on Thursday filed two D. Gomez counts of child abuse each and other felony counts against the couple after Lawrence police Wednesday morning discovered a 5-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl blindfolded with their hands and feet bound near the family’s vehicle outside Walmart, 550 Congressional Drive. Please see PARENTS, page 8A
Officials push for NBAF Kansas officials pressed the federal government Friday to move ahead with construction of a new biosecurity lab near Kansas State University. Page 3A
Vol.154/No.168 28 pages