SOCIAL WASTE. The preceding post has the humorous side of the basketball tournament. Education Secretary Arne Duncan isn't laughing.

I fail to see why a small number of programs that seem largely indifferent to the academic success of their student-athletes continue to be rewarded with opportunities for postseason glory. I played with inner-city players who had been used and dumped by their universities. When the ball stopped bouncing, they struggled to find work, had difficult lives, and some died early. The dividing line for success was between those who went to college and got their degrees and those who did not.

In this year's NCAA tournament, 12 men's teams -- or about one out of five in the field that started play last week -- have failed to graduate 40 percent of their players, based on the NCAA's expansive graduation rate formula. The NCAA formula allows players six years to graduate -- and it does not count transfers or players who leave early to go to the pros against a team's graduation record, as long as the players leave in good academic standing.

He's naming names, not necessarily the usual suspects. California, Maryland, Washington: solid academic reputations all.