Tag Archives: civicissues

Civic Issues

Looking Back and Looking Forward

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I think we have definitely covered a lot of interesting topics of discussions this semester in our collective civic issue blogs. I have to admit that college sports on campus was not actually my first choice of topic, and at first I was a little disappointed with the assignment, but in the end, I am glad that I got the chance to explore more into this and learn more about other perspectives as well.

I think the most interesting thing I learned through this civic issue is how many different things are wrapped up in college sports. We have written about the power of the NCAA, and it is costs and benefits. We have written about how athletics and sports affect the social scene on campus. We have written about the funding and revenue of sports in a university. I think I really did not expect this topic to be so full of different ideas when it was first assigned. In a way, I think this makes it even more interesting looking back over the semester of blogging. College sports on campus might seem on the surface to be a simple issue when compared with some of the other topics like climate change or gender roles. But in fact, there are so many different ways to approach the discussion of college sports, and different people will have totally different ideas and perspectives on these approaches. For many people, college sports are very linked to family or culture, and can be seen as almost sacred. Others might view sports as a distraction from academics or a waste of money from the university. It is very difficult to weigh the pros and cons of sports culture as well. Sports on campus can unite the school and contribute to a feeling of community and school spirit. However, overvaluing sports, or placing athletes and coaches on a pedestal can create huge problems, which we are certainly all too familiar with here at Penn State especially. And there are no right answers to these discussions either.

I think it is really impossible to write out all the good and bad things about college sports on campus. Like most things, there are many negatives and there are many positives. In my opinion, overall I think sports on campus are a positive addition to a university. I think the school spirit that sports foster is extremely important. I think sports can help a college go from being a collection of students to a real community. However, I think there are still many problems with college sports on campus. While I do feel that overall the pros outweigh the cons, I think it is important to pay just as much attention to the negative sides of sports on campus. This balance is definitely not something that is usually looked at, especially when it comes to college sports. I think a lot of time, the media can only paint the positives, but I think we need to remember that there are many negative sides to college sports as well. This is definitely something we have talked a lot about through our blogs this semester, and it has made me realize how complex this issue is.

As I continue with my time here at Penn State, I am sure I will continue to see the issue of college sports all around campus, and I will definitely be more aware of the different perspectives that influence how sports affect college life. Especially as a student athlete, sports will certainly continue to be a big part of my life, so I am sure there will be a lot to think about these next few years and beyond as well. I am sure that there will be many changes to the world of college sports in the future, and it will be interesting to look back on these discussions as changes unfold over time.

 

Civic Issues

The Benefits of College Sports

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Last weekend was the NCAA championship for fencing, and traveling with the team to the competition was a really meaningful experience. We unfortunately fell a little short of our goal for the weekend, and finished in 2nd place over all. The scores were very tight throughout the whole thing, but Columbia/ Barnard ended up taking home the gold. While the end result was a bit disappointing, I still took a lot away from the experience of attending the competition with my teammates.

The event was held at Ohio State, and It kicked off on Thursday with the men’s side of the competition, which lasted through Friday. I was not able to get there for the first two days, but I followed the results online instead. I drove up with some of my teammates very early Saturday morning to get there for the start of the women’s event. The environment at the venue was crazy with energy. I was not actually competing, but I was there cheering and screaming with my whole team. We ran around the venue cheering on all our teammates who were fencing. It did not really occur to me at the time, but after the competition when we were piling in the car to head home, I realized how special that was. One of our coaches came up to us in the parking lot and said something that I think is really important when thinking about college sports on campus. In the world of fencing cheering and team support is pretty uncommon. Even at world championships there is nothing like the cheering and screaming at NCAAs. For this reason, according to my coach, the NCAA championship is the best competition in the world.

I was thinking more about this, and I realized that this is something that is really unique to college sports.

Sure for some sports like basketball or football there is a professional league, and maybe those games could be considered to be more thrilling than college games. But the school spirit and atmosphere associated with college sports is definitely undeniably electrifying. I thought it was interesting that even though sports are a huge part of my life here at Penn State, it took someone actually pointing this fact out for me to realize how amazing college sports actually are.

It is easy to get caught up in the ridiculousness of NCAA regulations and rules. Especially around this time of the year with March Madness, there is always debate over betting on sports or paying student athletes. And a lot of these debates and controversies are not at all unfounded either. We could also discuss the many problems with college sports. High profile student athletes are sometimes hailed as celebrities, which can be very problematic for the culture of a university. We do not have to look far to find larger scale problems with an obsessive sports culture on a college campus. Penn State knows all too well that problems can arise when we overvalue sports or place coaches on a pedestal. There are countless arguments to be had over the problems with college sports.

Yet, while these topics are frequently tossed around, I think the benefits of college sports on campus can often be lost. College sports bring the university together. Attending a sporting event, or following your school’s team online can fill you with a sense of pride for your school. Whether it is screaming out “We Are!” at a football game or seeing a new sport for the first time with some friends, college sports can serve a great purpose of unification. Professional sports teams have huge followings and fan bases, but they are formed from the love for the sport. College sports, however, are formed from a separate identity. In this way, while I would not describe myself as a football fan, and follow no professional team, I definitely would say that I support Penn State football. I know nothing about gymnastics or wrestling, but I have enjoyed going out to watch these sports and support them because they are Penn State. This is something really unique to college sports. Even though every part of the weekend didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to, it was nice to be reminded of the wonderful parts of college sports.

 

Civic Issues

Deliberation

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The deliberation I went to was about stress in college life, and at Penn State especially. It was called “Pennsylvania Stress University”. There were several different approaches that we went through to discuss stress in college and at Penn State. The moderators did a good job of presenting each different approach and generating ideas for discussion among the group at the deliberation. The approaches covered university organized programs for stress management as well as student led initiatives. The first approach focused on student lead initiatives to reduce stress, the second was more about changing the university structure to make it less stressful, and the third was about programs offered through the university.

The first approach the group covered was about student led initiatives such as peer counseling on campus. While the moderators initially phrased the guiding questions well, the discussion quickly veered off topic and little was done to re-focus the group. Instead, it was basically mentioned that some groups like this already existed and then the discussion moved more to university based programs and changes. I think if would have been better if we had spent more time discussing these options or discussing ways to make them better rather than basically mentioning a few things that exist and moving on.

The next approach focused on institutional changes. For example, the idea that changing the focus of classes from a few very large exams to several smaller quizzes would help reduce stress. Also, it was brought up that classes often all have exams around the same time in the semester, which can be very stressful. If there was a way to space out this timing, it would likely help reduce stress greatly.

The last approach was on stress related programs run by the university. They started by covering existing programs at Penn State such as Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). We then discussed ways to improve these existing services as well as other services that could be added. One of the main things that came up was the negative attitudes that are often associated with these programs. This is clearly a problem as it could discourage people from attending programs that might otherwise be helpful or even necessary. We then also discussed other programs that could be added to supplement the existing ones. For example, peer counseling with psychology students could be very beneficial if students aren’t comfortable going to an adult, but would instead prefer to talk to someone their own age who might be more likely to relate or understand the concerns of the stress of college life. These could even be offered as Skype sessions rather than in person conferences, which might further allow students to become more comfortable with the idea.

After all approaches were discussed, the conclusion was focused on picking one option that was the best. I thought this didn’t really fit with the idea of a deliberation, as no one approach was necessarily the right choice without others to supplement it. I did enjoy parts of the discussion, but I think it could have been moderated better to incorporate more ideas rather than just focusing on the three approaches as all completely separate.

Civic Issues

NCAA Drug Testing

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There are a lot of rules and regulations when it comes to student athletes, and there are a ton of forms to sign as the beginning of the year, so I have to admit that I had forgotten a lot of what I signed. This week, I was randomly selected for my first drug test. The test consists of a urine sample, and the whole thing is supervised, which is about as awkward as it sounds. I made sure I was super hydrated and drank a ton of Gatorade before hand, so I really had to pee when I went for the test, which was probably a good thing in terms of making it less awkward.

I was curious later about what they were actually testing for, and how they conducted the tests, so I went to the NCAA website. Turns out there is a huge list of banned substances, and they are very exact about their rules. If you are really curious, you can watch this grrreat video, which has some excellent camera skills and acting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wseIax8bpsA

If you don’t feel like sitting through the video, which is probably a good life choice, I’ll fill you in on what the NCAA is looking for in drug tests, why they test, and how they test the samples. The actual list of banned substances is pretty extensive, and they don’t list out every drug, but instead provide categories and a few examples within these categories of banned substances. The banned classes of drugs are stimulants, anabolic agents, diuretics and other masking agents, street drugs, peptide hormones and analogues, anti-estrogens, beta-2 agonists, and only banned for rifle are alcohol and beta blockers. This is a long list of names I have mostly never heard of, so it can be complicated to determine what is acceptable and what is not. Basically, the NCAA suggests that athletes not take any drug or supplement without consulting an athletic trainer or team doctor to make sure it meets compliance with drug testing policies.

These are the drugs and substances the NCAA is looking for when they do drug tests, but what is the purpose of testing in the first place? Well, first of all, a lot of these substances actually have a lot of potential to be harmful, especially with intense physical exercise. So, a big part of the ban is to ensure safety of student athletes. Another reason, of course, is to ensure that sports and competition remain fair without the influence of performance enhancing substances, which might corrupt the results. To ensure both of these are upheld, the NCAA does both random testing, and post-season championship testing. Any student athlete can be randomly called for a drug test at any time, and failing to show up to a test is effectively the same as testing positive. In addition, after winning championships, drug tests are mandatory to ensure fair competition.

The samples themselves are all tested at an independent certified collection agency. The standards for testing samples are strict laboratory conditions determined by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which set up the drug testing and anti-doping standards for the Olympics.

In the NCAA, drug testing began in 1986 at championship events, and was expanded to year-round Division I and Division II programs in 1990. In addition to this, today 90% of Division I schools conduct their own drug testing programs in addition to the NCAA programs.

The NCAA spends approximately 4.5 million dollars every year to test and collect over 13,500 samples from around the country. The NCAA also spends over 1.5 million dollars on assisting drug education programs at colleges and universities around the United States.

These drugs tests are clearly a well thought out and complicated process. While I definitely did not enjoy my involvement earlier this week, it is interesting to understand the process that goes on in schools across the country and the reasons the NCAA has for carrying out the drug testing in the way it does.

 

Civic Issues

College Sports on Campus

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This semester, I will be writing about college sports on campus. I think the topic of college sports on campus will be really interesting to explore. It is an issue that covers so many areas, from university administration to student life, so there are many ways to address it and try to understand it. At a place like Penn State, sports are a huge part of the culture on campus, so I am excited to see where this topic will take me in my blog. Colleges and universities around the country struggle to find balance between academics and athletics, and the issue of this is often discussed. In this way, it is an topic not just relevant to us here at Penn State, but to the whole country. Sports in the United States, especially at the college level, are totally different from anywhere else in the world, so I think it will be really interesting to explore this issue.

Sports have also always played a big part of my life personally. I have been involved of some type of sport for as long as I can remember. Like most kids, I played soccer in elementary school. Then I tried my hand at gymnastics, ski racing, swimming, ballet (does that count as a sport?), and field hockey. I loved being active, but I didn’t find a sport I truly loved until I discovered fencing. I have been fencing for seven years now, and it has become a huge part of my life. In high school, I fenced with a local club program and traveled to competitions around the country by myself. Now, I am on the Penn State fencing team, so fencing has become an even bigger part of my life than before.

But despite being a student athlete, and loving sports all my life, I have never really been one to describe myself as a sports fan. I love participating in sports, but I have to admit that I don’t really enjoy watching sports all that much. I didn’t even attend a single football game this year. As a student-athlete, the sports culture at Penn State is something I am very much aware of and involved in, but it is also something I don’t totally understand, so I am really interested to learn more and explore different perspectives with this blog this semester.

There are so many interesting angles to take when it comes to college sports. The issue of academic standards for athletes is often discussed on campuses. Scholarships and athletic funding are also a hot topic of debate. And the culture associated with sports, especially football, on campus is relevant and increasingly important to address, particularly with Penn State’s recent history.

There are so many interesting news angles to look at with college sports on campus, but I think the most interesting thing about the topic is the way sports unite a group of people. At Penn State, sports are something that brings the community together. In a sea of 45,000 students, college sports are something that connects people. From the “One Team” slogan, to the cheering at sporting events, it is clear that Penn Staters share a united love for sports. Alumni and locals share in the community of athletics that Penn State offers.

Yet at the same time, it cannot be denied that there are problematic aspects of such a strong sports culture. Penn State is a school primarily, but do athletics overshadow the academic reputation of the university? In a place with such a big athletics presence, how do we ensure that academics retain their place in importance without taking away the sports culture that Penn State is known for?

I am really looking forward to delving into some of these questions this semester, and learning more about college sports on campuses around the country (and maybe even the world), not just at Penn State. I think it will be interesting to look at this topic on many different scales, and I think that is essential to really understand it. I’m looking forward to learning a lot through this blog, and seeing all sorts of different perspectives.