Dion Harris'catch-and-shoot three-pointer as time expired in the second overtime gave the Michigan men's basketball team an 87-84 win over Notre Dame in the NIT second round Monday, March 20, in Crisler Arena. The Wolverines, who trailed by double digits in the first half, played catch-up in the second period and finally pulled ahead on a triple from Daniel Horton, who finished with 29 points. Harris, Lester Abram and Chris Hunter each had 15 points for U-M, which hosts Miami (Fla.) in a quarterfinal at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
3/17/06
Michigan State Falls To George Mason, 75-65
George Mason sure proved it belonged in the NCAA tournament. Despite critical comments by some experts that it should not have gotten an at-large berth, the 11th-seeded Patriots used hot shooting, a balanced attack and a surprising rebounding superiority to upset sixth-seeded Michigan State 75-65 Friday night in the first round.
I was really struck this time, even more than usual, as I read the wonderful Robin letters, by just how awe-inspiring you all are! And what a fascinating privilege it has been and is to witness and participate in the life journeys of the SLG’s -- girlfriends still, after all these decades. Our letters show deep interests, vibrancy of living, compassion, love, caring, diligence, lots of humor, appreciation of all that we have, and a mental balance and depth of character that get us through the really tough times in our lives (these seem to increase as we age). Three Cheers for the SLG’S!!!
Chris Hunter scored a team-high 20 points, Dion Harris added 18, and Daniel Horton had 14 as the Michigan men's basketball team handled Texas-El Paso, 82-67, in the NIT first round Thursday, March 16, in Crisler Arena. With Harris and Horton each hitting three triples and combining for 21 points in the first half, the Wolverines owned a 44-34 lead at the break, and Hunter took over in the second half, scoring 14 of his points. Brent Petway added 10 points for U-M, which will host Notre Dame at 7 p.m. Monday, March 20.
Janet L. Howard, 65
CHEBOYGAN - Janet L. Howard, age 65 of Burt Lake, passed away Wednesday, March 8, 2006 at Cheboygan Memorial Hospital.
She was born Feb. 3, 1941 in Gary, Ind., to Henry and Doretta (Rasmussen) Irving. On March 14, 1964 in Saginaw, Janet married George H. Howard, who survives.
Janet worked as a teacher's aide for the VanBuren Public Schools for 13 years, retiring in 1994. She and George then moved to their home on Burt Lake where they had summered since 1979. She received a bachelor of science degree in occupational therapy from Western Michigan University, where she was a member of the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority. Janet enjoyed swimming, sewing, woodworking, restoring wood furniture, upholstery, caning, camping and traveling.
Besides her husband, George, Janet is survived by her two children, Kevin (Cathy) Howard of Willis, Mich., and Kristen (Eddie) Antkoviak of Cheboygan; two sisters, Jean (Dr. Wesley) Jackson of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and Melissa (Fred) Marria of West Bloomfield, Mich.; one brother, Dr. William (Lori) Irving of Los Altos Hills, Calif.; and three grandchildren, Jack, Ella and Maci Antkoviak. She was preceded in death by her parents.
A Memorial Service will be conducted at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 14, 2006 at the Nordman Funeral Home in Cheboygan, with the Rev. Jeff Dinner officiating. Visitation will be held two hours prior to the service at the funeral home.
Memorial contributions in Janet's name may be directed to Hospice of the Straits.
Most painful loss: Michigan
Twenty-one turnovers and 18 percent shooting cost the Wolverines an NCAA tournament bid. The loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Michigan's seventh defeat in nine games, guarantees Daniel Horton and Dion Harris will play in the NIT rather than the NCAA tournament. Some would like to believe that wins over Illinois and Michigan State keep Horton and Harris on the bubble. But the selection committee strongly prefers clubs with records of better than 3-8 against RPI Top 50 competition and a 5-7 tally away from home.
For once, blame the student By Patrick Welsh
Wed Mar 8, 7:08 AM ET
Failure in the classroom is often tied to lack of funding, poor teachers or other ills. Here's a thought: Maybe it's the failed work ethic of todays kids. That's what I'm seeing in my school. Until reformers see this reality, little will change.
Last month, as I averaged the second-quarter grades for my senior English classes at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., the same familiar pattern leapt out at me.
Kids who had emigrated from foreign countries - such as Shewit Giovanni from Ethiopia, Farah Ali from Guyana and Edgar Awumey from Ghana - often aced every test, while many of their U.S.-born classmates from upper-class homes with highly educated parents had a string of C's and D's.
As one would expect, the middle-class American kids usually had higher SAT verbal scores than did their immigrant classmates, many of whom had only been speaking English for a few years.
What many of the American kids I taught did not have was the motivation, self-discipline or work ethic of the foreign-born kids.
Politicians and education bureaucrats can talk all they want about reform, but until the work ethic of U.S. students changes, until they are willing to put in the time and effort to master their subjects, little will change.
A study released in December by University of Pennsylvania researchers Angela Duckworth and Martin Seligman suggests that the reason so many U.S. students are "falling short of their intellectual potential" is not "inadequate teachers, boring textbooks and large class sizes" and the rest of the usual litany cited by the so-called reformers - but "their failure to exercise self-discipline."
The sad fact is that in the USA, hard work on the part of students is no longer seen as a key factor in academic success. The groundbreaking work of Harold Stevenson and a multinational team at the University of Michigan comparing attitudes of Asian and American students sounded the alarm more than a decade ago.
Asian vs. U.S. students
When asked to identify the most important factors in their performance in math, the percentage of Japanese and Taiwanese students who answered "studying hard" was twice that of American students.
American students named native intelligence, and some said the home environment. But a clear majority of U.S. students put the responsibility on their teachers. A good teacher, they said, was the determining factor in how well they did in math.
"Kids have convinced parents that it is the teacher or the system that is the problem, not their own lack of effort," says Dave Roscher, a chemistry teacher at T.C. Williams in this Washington suburb. "In my day, parents didn't listen when kids complained about teachers. We are supposed to miraculously make kids learn even though they are not working."
As my colleague Ed Cannon puts it: "Today, the teacher is supposed to be responsible for motivating the kid. If they don't learn it is supposed to be our problem, not theirs."
And, of course, busy parents guilt-ridden over the little time they spend with their kids are big subscribers to this theory.
Maybe every generation of kids has wanted to take it easy, but until the past few decades students were not allowed to get away with it. "Nowadays, it's the kids who have the power. When they don't do the work and get lower grades, they scream and yell. Parents side with the kids who pressure teachers to lower standards," says Joel Kaplan, another chemistry teacher at T.C. Williams.
Every year, I have had parents come in to argue about the grades I have given in my AP English classes. To me, my grades are far too generous; to middle-class parents, they are often an affront to their sense of entitlement. If their kids do a modicum of work, many parents expect them to get at least a B. When I have given C's or D's to bright middle-class kids who have done poor or mediocre work, some parents have accused me of destroying their children's futures.
It is not only parents, however, who are siding with students in their attempts to get out of hard work.
Blame schools, too
"Schools play into it," says psychiatrist Lawrence Brain, who counsels affluent teenagers throughout the Washington metropolitan area. "I've been amazed to see how easy it is for kids in public schools to manipulate guidance counselors to get them out of classes they don't like. They have been sent a message that they don't have to struggle to achieve if things are not perfect."
Neither the high-stakes state exams, such as Virginia's Standards of Learning, nor the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act have succeeded in changing that message; both have turned into minimum-competency requirements aimed at the lowest in our school.
Colleges keep complaining that students are coming to them unprepared. Instead of raising admissions standards, however, they keep accepting mediocre students lest cuts have to be made in faculty and administration.
As a teacher, I don't object to the heightened standards required of educators in the No Child Left Behind law. Who among us would say we couldn't do a little better? Nonetheless, teachers have no control over student motivation and ambition, which have to come from the home - and from within each student.
Perhaps the best lesson I can pass along to my upper- and middle-class students is to merely point them in the direction of their foreign-born classmates, who can remind us all that education in America is still more a privilege than a right.
Patrick Welsh is an English teacher at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Va., and a member of USA TODAY's board of contributors.
Copyright © 2006 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
