After visting ESPN’s website on December 17, I was taken aback to see the UNF men’s basketball team featured on the website’s homepage.

Unfortunately, I quickly realized that the article, which centered around a 76-36 UNF loss to No. 25 Clemson, had little to do with any improvements UNF has made on the court. Rather than focusing on UNF’s attempt to keep up with Clemson Whelliston’s article had a much different objective: explaining the $80,000 paycheck UNF received to get crushed by Clemson. However, the author, Kyle Whelliston, did have a few words of praise to say about UNF’s effort.

A nine-year-old boy’s father recently posted a video on YouTube of his son playing basketball with hopes it will catch the eye of an NCAA recruiter. The young boy is actually very good for his age, and the clip has already been viewed more than a million times.

University of Florida football coach Urban Meyer sent hundreds of text messages to recruits to avoid the NCAA limit on phone calls, and found another recruit’s girlfriend a gymnastics scholarship at UF just to sweeten the deal, according to a Gainesville Sun report.

What do the two have in common?

They are both examples of how NCAA recruiting has gone too far.

Gov. Charlie Crist announced a plan Nov. 21 that will allow each of Florida’s 11 public universities to recommend tuition rate increases up to $370 per semester next year, according to the Florida Board of Governors.

The plan is scheduled to allow each university the ability to recommend tuition rate increases up to 15 percent annually as long as schools are actively working toward the governor’s 10-point plan – a plan geared to lower the gap between Florida’s tuition and the national average.

“A well-educated workforce opens the door to endless opportunities for every Floridian and for the Sunshine State,” Crist said in a statement. “By working together, my administration, the Legislature and the higher education community can make our universities stronger than ever. This proposal is an example of the improvements we can make for college students by bringing stakeholders together.”

The state Legislature will initially raise tuition to adjust for inflation. After that, it will be up to each university’s Board of Trustees to recommend any further tuition hikes.

Current economic and job market conditions have more students considering graduate school as a way to weather the financial storm and improve their outlook upon graduation.

A recent survey conducted by Kaplan shows 75 percent of business schools report admissions have become more competitive at the graduate level than three years ago. And with unemployment figures in Florida at their highest in nearly 15 years, new graduates will have to decide whether going into the work world or continuing education is for them.

The Test Prep and Admissions area of focus has witnessed a 200-percent increase in student attendance of seminars and practice tests in 2008, said Russel Schaffer, Kaplan senior communications manager.

“The increased interest reflects a historical trend, many view grad school as a safe haven to ride out the job market,” Schaffer said.

Nov. 16 – Information (Building 50) – A student sent an e-mail to a classmate in which he suggested “taking over the entire school by force and holding hostages until demands are met.”

The teacher of the two students informed UPD about the location and time of the following class meeting for security purposes.

Nov. 17 – Drugs (Building S) – Housing coordinators found a minute trace amount of marijuana on the desk of a student who was removed from housing.

The amount was so insignificant that it was disposed of rather than taken to the property room.

Nov. 17 – Criminal mischief (Lot 10) – Two males were seen walking and writing in wet concrete. They made several words, initials and foot prints in the concrete.

The suspect remains at large.