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Welcome to your January Ninth edition of CNN STUDENT NEWS.I`m Carl Azuz.
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In less than a month the XXII Winter Olympic Games will kick off in Sochi, Russia.
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The opening ceremony is Friday, February 7th.
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Here`s by the numbers look at what`s ahead: 6,000 athletes competing. The best in the best in winter sports from 85 countries worldwide.
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The Olympics will run 17 days in the resort city. They`ll include 1650 Paralympians and they`ll be traveling to Sochi from 45 countries.
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Total number of events, 89. Some of them will take place near Sochi`s coast. Others in the mountains overlooking the city.
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This could be the most expensive Winter Games ever.
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Russia`s spending at least $50 billion on things like roads, railways, stadiums, ski jumps and security.
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Russia says this will be the most secure Olympics ever. 25,000 police officers, 8,000 additional security officers.
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The country`s confident in Olympic safety, and that`s despite recent terrorists bombings in another Russian city.
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And this could be the warmest games ever. Sochi`s average temperature in February, 47 degrees Fahrenheit.
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It`s colder than in Vail, Colorado, one of America`s largest ski resorts.
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It has some of the best skiing in the U.S. In Vail`s back country, away from the mountain itself, the terrain is only for the most experienced skiers and snowboarders.
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There is an avalanche control here. And two skiers and two snowboarders got caught in a sudden slide of snow Tuesday.
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Three of them were temporarily trapped. The fourth person, the grandson of one of Vail`s cofounders was killed.
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Officials believe the avalanche was caused by the skiers and snowboarders. Conditions might have been right for one.
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What we`ve been seeing over the last, say, ten days or so - is just a general increase in the size of the avalanches in the back country.
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Why is that?
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Well, we have some very weak snow near the ground that formed earlier in the season, and we`ve been getting kind of consistent snowfalls, so the slab over it starting to get thicker and larger.
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Skier Davis Lamere (ph) recently rescued his brother from an avalanche in the same area.
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It clearly shows you how quick and dangerous these events can be.
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Time for the Shoutout. Which of these college sports is not regulated by the NCAA?
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If you think you know it, shout it out! Is it: baseball, football, water polo or none of the above?
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In addition to football and baseball, the NCAA oversees many college sports including water polo, rifle (ph) and bowling.
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That`s your answer and that`s your shoutout.
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NCAA athletes are known for competing at top collegiate levels, but at some schools,they may not be able to compete academically.
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What does it matter, if they are helping bringing money for universities and sports like football and baseball?
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And if they are hoping to go pro.Well, for one thing - they probably won`t.
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The percentage of NCAA football players who go pro, 1.7 percent. Percentage of NCAA basketball players who go pro, 1.2 percent.
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And the chances of high school athletes going pro are well below one percent for every major U.S. sport.
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This is why: the low test scores reported for many of today`s college athletes are causing concern well beyond campus.
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The University of North Carolina is not just an athletic powerhouse with dedicated fans. It`s also a top tier academic institution.
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But one academic counselor there who spent years tutoring student athletes, says too many of them can`t even read.
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I mean we may as well just go over to Glenwood Elementary right off the street and just let all the fourth graders in here, third graders in here.
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If they can`t read and there are no remedial classes, what`s the option? To cheat?
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The other option is to cheat. That`s correct. Or to find some professor, some course of curriculum where there are professors or there is little or no work expected of the student.
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Mary Willingham says there are athletes who come to the University of North Carolina who are reading at a third and fourth grade level.
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She says there is no way for them to succeed in a college classroom. The only place they can succeed here, is on the football field.
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Willingham is one of the few people we could find who`s looking at the reading levels of athletes in the revenue-generating sports: football and basketball.
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They are leaving here, a profit-sport athletes without an education.
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They are significantly behind the level of reading and writing that`s required .
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With the university`s permission, she combed through eight years- worth of test scores.
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And found that up to 25 percent of athletes in the revenue sports don`t have the skills to take classes at a community college, let alone a competitive university like UNC.
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Looking at 183 football and basketball players between 2004 and 2012, Willingham found that eight percent were reading below a fourth grade level,
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and 60 percent were reading between a 4 and 8 grade reading level.
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We wanted to know: is this happening in other schools?
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The NSAA told us that in 2012 alone there were 30 football and basketball players who were admitted with very low test scores.
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Of course, they point out, that`s just a small percentage of the 5700 athletes admitted that year who are playing those sports.
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But we wanted to know for ourselves. So, we filed open records requests at 37 public universities across the country or open records the laws apply.
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We asked for six years` worth of data.
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We`ve got data back from 21 division one universities,
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including top 25- ranked footballs schools like Texas A&M, Georgia, Oklahoma State, Ohio State and Climson (ph).
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The results were startling.
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Most schools had between seven and 18 percent of football and basketball players scoring so low on the reading portion of their exams,
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experts told us they would only be reading at an elementary level.
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That`s an ACT score of 16 or less, or below 400 on the reading portion of the SAT.
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But many of the universities had different explanations for low test scores,
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like Texas, which said some athletes don`t try very hard, aiming only to become NCAA eligible.
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Or "Washington," which pointed out, low scores may indicate learning disabilities.
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And Louisville, which says entrance exams are just one factor considered when admitting a student athlete.
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You can read their full responses on cnn.com.
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Not every school we asked would give us information.
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In fact, about half refused or said they`d send the data after football season. Why did we first go to UNC?
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We were following up on a scandal from two years ago, when it was discovered that many student athletes were enrolled in classes that required little or no work.
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Even though the NCAA said it found no athletic scandal, a professor was recently indicted for fraud and UNC`s own internal investigation found evidence of academic fraud.
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As a result, the schools says it put in place 120 reforms and insist that UNC`s athletic program is now clean.
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And you are confident here that you`re doing the right thing by student athletes.
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I`m very confident. And I think our track record over time that we admit students who can do the work.
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Now, we are also highly competitive, and our students have to compete Monday through Friday as well as they do on Saturday. And I think the ones that are really committed to being authentic students, they are.
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Mary Willingham says she`s skeptical these changes have made a difference.
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We say that we made 120 changes, which you can make all the changes you want,
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but if you are still not meeting students where they are at as an educator, and bringing them along so that they can have success in the classroom.
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Then those changes are all for nothing.
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CNN also talked to a dozen professors and advisors at multiple universities and may echo what Mary Willingham found.
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Now, the universities argue, they are satisfied with their overall graduation rates,
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but the question, of course, is how these athletes graduate if they can`t read.
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Sara Ganim, CNN Washington.
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From Newport to Noonan, we are heading states on both U.S. coasts, and today`s CNN STUDENT NEWS Roll Call.
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In Newport, Washington, hello to the grizzlies of Newport High School.
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Stopping by New Mexico to check in with the Monzano High School monarchs in Albuquerque. Monarchs rule.
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And from Noon in Georgia, shoutout to the Cougars of Noonans High School. Thanks to some of you for visiting earlier this week.
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Think fast. Favorite vending machine food. Candy, cookies, snack bars. But a burrito?
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Oh, no. But oh, yes, says this beef been and tortilla machine.
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It`s located at a West Hollywood gas station and some of those who tried it, say for the price.
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The burritos are pretty good. They are $3 each, so you could do the math on that.
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The machine offers free WiFi for the wait, because it does somehow cook the food. After all, no one would want a Burrito.
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It`s pretty detailed and it shows you how vending machines are just stuffed with possibilities.
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Well, now the secret`s out. We`ve spilled the beans, and we`ll be looking to more news in the tomorrow`s 10 minute raps.
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We hope you lead that up. For CNN STUDENT NEWS, I`m Carl Azuz.