N&O: The College Inn – An Address of Choice

AD & Department NC State Administration33

We will have more about this later…but wanted to post the link so everyone could comment on the article. since this is a potential NCAA compliance issue.

Just another example of what absentee management will do for you when you have someone unwilling to LEAD and unable to manage ALL of the moving pieces of a $40 million business.

Why didn’t NC State have specific data on the College Inn to know exactly what percentage of student athletes were living at the dorm?

How can our athletics department be so well staffed yet have such limited access to tangible numbers and information?

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AD & Department NC State Administration

33 Responses to N&O: The College Inn – An Address of Choice

  1. Rochester 04/20/2008 at 6:54 AM #

    It also is subject to strict NCAA regulations — rules that, based on records and other interviews, N.C. State could run the risk of violating because it has monitored the College Inn arrangement loosely.

    The third floor of the College Inn’s two-winged complex features several hallways with clusters of N.C. State athletes. Records obtained by The N&O show that N.C. State student-athletes live in at least 13 of the College Inn’s 32 third-floor apartments, or 41 percent.

    I think those are the two worst paragraphs as far as planting the seed of doubt in people’s minds. Just because something is factually accurate doesn’t mean it doesn’t leave an impression. How about if they ran this: “Sidney Lowe has never been caught beating his wife.” Factually accurate, but it certainly plants a seed, doesn’t it?

    You have to question the news judgment of the editor who decided this article A) warranted prominent placement in the paper, and B) warranted being written at all. If they really wanted to write a story on the College Inn and had no agenda they could have written about how nice it was, talked to a non-athlete who lived there and just got their input on what life was like living there. That’s not what they chose to do.

  2. Sonic 04/20/2008 at 7:52 AM #

    Noah

    Since you seem to be pressing the issue, can you point out for me where specifically the article states that the College Inn is in compliance with NCAA regulations? What sentence and paragraph? My paper must have left that part out. The 41% referenced could lead someone to infer that they are in compliance. However, the very next paragraph references a hallway on which half of the apartments are occupied by athletes and further states that occupants of the other apartments on that hallway could not be determined. As Rochester correctly points out, there are several portions of the article that could lead one to infer that they may not be in compliance. His Sidney Lowe example is spot on.

    I also have to agree that the timing of the article is just a little too coincidental if you know what I mean.

  3. PackerInRussia 04/20/2008 at 8:23 AM #

    So, they picked a random rule and decided to write an article congratulating NC State for being in compliance with that rule? Again, it seems like they thought they were going to find something, but didn’t and ran the story anyway. No conspiracy, just a non-issue.

  4. choppack1 04/20/2008 at 9:01 AM #

    Noah – nowhere does the article say that we are in compliance. Not one sentence says, “All/Most evidence indicates that NC State is in compliance w/ the NCAA regulation.”

    The closest it takes to making a stand is the sentence Rochester points out:
    rules that, based on records and other interviews, N.C. State could run the risk of violating because it has monitored the College Inn arrangement loosely.

    I’d like know where anyone writing this article says that we are in compliance. They mention the #s – but it’s obvious they did a lot of digging. In addition, they don’t mention any of the other 2 schools in the ACC right next door.

    Factual accuracy is a very low bar. It’s like saying, “well, he didn’t lie on his application.” It’s the most basic element not of fairness, but of any story. The “it’s true” arguments is the excuse I’d use if I made a presentation that was horribly biased toward one recommendation. Truth and bias aren’t mutually exclusive.

  5. 66pack 04/20/2008 at 9:04 AM #

    The appearance of these buildings reminds me of military barrcks.Another reason why NCSU is ranked #9 on the list of the 10 most ugly campuses and that include centenial.TOP TEN CAMPUS!

  6. lush 04/21/2008 at 4:39 PM #

    maybe they had the numbers, but didnt feel they needed to disclose them to a newsource blatantly trying to sabotage the school. maybe they were trying to tell the n&o to fuck off, thats our business and the NCAA’s not yours

    on second thought that would be too ballzy for the ones in charge at this university

  7. gopack968 04/21/2008 at 6:41 PM #

    The reply I received from Ted Vaden, the N&O public editor, to my query on the article:

    I’m attaching a response from Andy Curliss, the editor for that project:

    “The piece on the College Inn was an interesting and detailed look at an aspect of the athletics program that I venture to guess many people knew little about. As we noted in the piece, NCSU says it is within the rules. NCSU also acknowledged loose monitoring of the facility — and as was made clear in the story, the university did not allow several key people involved to speak with us about the facility.

    “Within the rules or not, it is still worth reporting about things that are of interest to readers. The Wolfpack Club is one of only two booster groups that are also landlords in the ACC.

    “I bet plenty of readers — State fans or not — find that worth reading about. As you start to write about that novel situation, an obvious question is whether NCAA rules apply and what are they and how is NCSU following them. We looked into it, and reported what we found out.”

    Ted Vaden

    And my reply:

    I have to say that it sounds more like the N&O tried to find dirt, failed, and then wrote the story anyway. The hint of impropriety was all over the article. Unwritten, but clearly inferred.

    And none of this answer addresses the size and position of the headline (can a story about student housing possibly merit that size type?) or the placement of the article above the fold, sports page 1, on the day of the Red/White game. I also found the complete absence of any quotes from students who live in the facility – athletes or otherwise – rather strange.

    But all complaints aside, Mr. Vaden I appreciate the time you took to look into this and pass the answer on to me.

    Thank you.

  8. john of sparta 04/21/2008 at 9:59 PM #

    please accept the theory of NCSU fulfilling
    the role of “low hanging fruit” for the N&O.

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