Discovery

A lot of factors—like money and a good high school GPA—naturally improve one’s chances of completing college. But an analysis by WSU researchers has unearthed a few surprises, like membership in a sorority or fraternity, or participation in varsity sports.

The study, which looked at nearly 6,000 WSU freshmen enrolled in the fall of either 2002 or 2003, found varsity athletes are more than twice as likely as similar non- athletes to graduate in five or six years. Students in a fraternity or sorority were nearly three times as likely to graduate as similar students outside the Greek system.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen was a WSU Phi Kappa Theta and dropout. But a WSU study suggests Greek life and varsity athletics generally improve a student's chances of graduating.

This is important stuff, given that one-half to one-third of freshman don’t graduate in six years, depending on the school. That may have helped the project earn the “Best Poster” award at a meeting this year of the Association for Institutional Research.

It’s also something of a surprise if you’re among those clinging to certain notions about “Animal House” fraternities and the alleged oxymoron, “student-athlete.” As the Huffington Post put it, “The phrase ‘dumb jocks’ is officially bogus, at least according to a new study out of Washington State University.”

Vicki McCracken, a professor of Economic Sciences and co-author of the study, notes that there are strong statistical relationships between factors like varsity sports and graduation, but establishing causal relationships is outside the power of social science. In other words, varsity athletes tend to graduate more frequently, but it’s not possible to say they graduate because of their athletic participation.

But it is possible to speculate on why one might lead to the other.

To whit:

Finances are a huge reason students stop going to college. Many athletes get financial aid, and need to maintain good grades to keep the aid. Many also have tutors, computer labs and other academic support.

Athletes can be disciplined, hard-working people. Try hitting a tackling dummy in the heat or enduring three hours of controlled suffocation in a pool.

Yet another theory: Greek life and athletic participation are measures of student engagement. Disengage, and you are lost, floundering and uninspired, making it easy to leave and do something else.

For Greeks and athletes, says McCracken, “there’s another reason for being here. It’s not just the academics.”

Feel free to join in the speculation. It’s one of the great intellectual parlor games.

And you might consider another feature unearthed by the study, a poster of which can be seen here: Just as being an athlete seems to boost one’s chances of graduating, so does being female.

Ready, set, discuss.

Note: This is the first in our new series, “Scene Around Campus: A Glimpse into WSU’s Corners and Curiosities.” Join us as we explore the many nooks and crannies of campus that residents and visitors might otherwise miss.

Welcome to “The Whoa Moment.”

You’re ushered into a room down a musty hallway. You take a seat, the lights go out, and — after a moment of darkness — the night sky flickers above you, a canopy of fuzzy white dots representing the universe as seen from Pullman. You forget about the world outside as you’re lost in space.

The Washington State University Planetarium is a 1960s star projector tucked away in Sloan Hall. WSU astronomers Michael Allen, Guy Worthey and Ana Dodgen lovingly keep it clean and in working order.

The planetarium is dated and clunky, but the astronomers’ faces light up when they talk about the roughly 2,000 fifth- and sixth-graders who visit every year on field trips.

“The little kids get so excited about what we’re telling them,” Dodgen says. “It’s a way to spark their curiosity in astronomy and science.”

Set up in 1962, the planetarium is likely older than these kids’ parents and possibly their grandparents. Working with the WSU Foundation, the astronomers are trying to collect donations to update the facility with a digital projector. Mostly, they’re hoping for a big donor, someone star-happy enough to hand over $50,000 or $70,000.

“Everyone loves the planetarium, but in terms of loving it enough to empty your wallet … that hasn’t happened yet,” Worthey says.

Within the planetarium, the projector is run from a main console with knobs for each celestial body. There are motors to animate daily, monthly and yearly paths. The console looks like a 1920s radio.

“This is like Frankenstein’s laboratory down here,” Worthey jokes during a recent visit, swinging Mars — a tiny red dot — across the screen.

Despite fuzziness and flickering, the northern hemisphere mostly works. From certain angles, pieces of the projector, a big black globe dotted with pinholes, block much of the rest of the sky. If you pick the wrong seat, the Southern Cross and Alpha Centauri might be obliterated.

The planetarium is closed to the public and used mainly for undergraduate science classes and local middle and elementary schools. However, WSU and community groups can schedule free shows through Allen or the physics department at astro.wsu.edu or 509-335-1279.