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83 wiersze
5.8 KiB
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83 wiersze
5.8 KiB
Plaintext
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Varsity athletics: Credit or no?
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It's a matter of balance
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Vassar's varsity athletes may soon receive academic credit for participating in
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their sports during the school year . This proposal has been in the works for nearly two years, and at long last,
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folks are voting to approve it. Or to not approve it, but the former seems more likely.
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As a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and as a long-time varsity athlete, you might say I have
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particular stake in the proposal. After all, I could get half a unit a semester for up to four semesters--a typical
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class is worth one unit, and a typical physical education course of any level is worth half a unit, with a maximum of
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two physical education units counting toward graduation requirements. It seems justified: Students can receive credit
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for participating in other extracurricular, faculty-supervised activities, such as the orchestra, the choir, and the
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repertory dance theatre, so why not varsity athletics?
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My friend over at Carolyn Blogs agrees: from the above standpoint, sure, it seems fair to give credit to
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students . If you get credit for introductory P.E. classes, you should get credit for varsity athletics. But our
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school newspaper presents other arguments in favor, which Carolyn thinks are highly unjustified:
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On top of everything, we must remember that varsity athletics present a considerable time commitment. It is rare to
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find another activity on campus—academic or extracurricular—that includes a comparable daily rigor and frequent
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overnight obligation. Varsity athletes regularly travel throughout the northeastern to participate in meets, games and
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tournaments, often gone from campus for an entire weekend at a time.
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And you know what? Although it's certainly frustrating to travel to Boston for an all-day competition on the same
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weekend as a good friend's birthday party, a fascinating-sounding lecture, a dance party, and seventeen other campus
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events no one in their right mind would ever want to miss, I agree with Carolyn. The reason I participate in my sport is
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because I enjoy it. If I cared more about other activities, I'd do those instead. Simply being a huge time commitment is
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not a valid reason for awarding credit. Carolyn's supporting example, that higher level courses with more difficult and
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plentiful homework are worth the same amount of credit as introductory 100-level courses, drives this point home. And
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she's backed up by our school's system of awarding units
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instead of credit hours :
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This system—which in its most basic form allots one unit of credit per semester course, regardless of difficulty,
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hours in class and subject matter—makes Vassar relatively unique in its credit system.
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According to Registrar Dan Giannini, “The rationale behind such a system is to try to send the message that all
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courses are equal in worth and that one shouldn’t try to distinguish between courses based on time spent in or out of
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class.”
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The reason time commitment is highlighted is because, according to the authors of the article, the faculty "must
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consider what it can do to mitigate possible academic pressures on these students." Um. No, I don't think the faculty
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has any obligation whatsoever. Students choose to be varsity athletes of their own accord. If they can't manage to
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balance their athletics and their coursework, then perhaps they should reconsider participating in a varsity sport in
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the first place. Athletes shouldn't get special privileges simply because they're athletes.
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Personally, I like the fact that even though I dedicate huge chunks of time to my sport (more time than
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I dedicate to any single course, at least while in-season), I can still keep up with my classmates who are taking
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comparable course loads, minus the sport. Sacrifices must be made, sure: Dance party on Friday night, or overnight
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travel to a competition?
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The question is, what's more important to me?
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You learn stuff, too
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The article continues:
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While athletes will continue to be held to the College’s rigorous academic standards, the athletics credit could
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discourage a varsity athlete from unnecessarily taking on five academic credits while in their athletic season.
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With the proposed varsity credit, the athlete seeking to assume five courses in his or her athletic season will be
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checked with an overload form, thus encouraging the student to think twice about assuming such a large academic and
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extracurricular load.
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I'd like to be known that students who have trouble balancing tough course loads and time-consuming extracurriculars
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have always had the option of taking a lighter load or dropping an extracurricular. Adding the option of a
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varsity unit to the list doesn't make much of a difference. Students who aren't varsity athletes could add an easy P.E.
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course instead. Students who can balance their work and their sport will continue to do so. And let it be known, varsity
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athletes don't have to take a half unit for their sport... thus negating the need for an overload form if
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taking five courses.
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Carolyn says, in response to the above quote, that "participating in sports is optional, and should always take
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second place to academics." True, mostly. Academics are officially what college is about. Academics are what get graded.
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Students' GPAs will, in part, determine what they are able to do with their lives. But academics are only one particular
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kind of knowledge. Carolyn's statement assumes that a student can learn more important things from academics than from
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participation on a sports team. Personally, though, some of the most important things I've learned about persistence,
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goal-setting, success and excellence, effort, teamwork, leadership.... these I've learned from my sport and my coaches.
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It's a different kind of knowledge than what one typically gains in an academic course, yes. But it's no less important.
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And that, I think, is the best reason for awarding credit for varsity athletics.
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