Paul But everyone had to pass this class/requirement, right? I think there are at least two problematic issues here. The first is that BMI is well known to be a problematic measure for fatness or fitness. Second, the requirement is only applied to some students (whose with BMIs over 30). If the university thinks that students should learn about nutrition and fitness they should require the class for everyone.
I taught at a university once in Kentucky where such a class was required for all students. It was called "Lifetime Fitness" although the students humorously called it "Lifetime Fatness". Marie **************************************************** Marie Helweg-Larsen, Ph.D. Department Chair and Associate Professor of Psychology Kaufman 168, Dickinson College Carlisle, PA 17013, office (717) 245-1562, fax (717) 245-1971 Office hours: Mon/Thur 3-4, Tues 10:30-11:30 http://users.dickinson.edu/~helwegm/index.html **************************************************** -----Original Message----- From: Paul C Bernhardt [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, December 04, 2009 5:55 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: RE: [tips] Too Fat To Graduate for my undergraduate education at Georgia Tech, one required course was "Drownproofing." You were required to pass the course and one requirement for passing the course was to swim underwater on a single breath the entire length of the swimming pool (25 meters). Other things were required for better grades such as reading handwriting on the bottom of the pool, treading water with a lead brick tied to your foot, etc. The underwater lap was a minimum to pass. I wasn't able to do it. The instructor was a kind guy and stayed late on the last day of the quarter to see if we could get me there. Everyone else had made it. I was coming up between 5 and 15 feet short time after time. We went for an hour after that class, me trying over and over. He decided to pass me anyway because he knew I was simply physically incapable, but was willing to stay and try as long as needed. When you went to Tech you knew that Drownproofing was a requirement to graduate. I can only presume these students knew that this BMI/Eating for Life class was part of the requirements when they signed up. I see no problem and lots of good. Paul C. Bernhardt Department of Psychology Frostburg State University Frostburg, Maryland -----Original Message----- From: Mike Palij [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Fri 12/4/2009 3:12 PM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Cc: Mike Palij Subject: [tips] Too Fat To Graduate Imagine having to have a BMI below the obese threshold in order to be able to graduate from college. Imagine no more; see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/04/lincoln-fat-graduate-obesity I wonder when this will be made a condition of granting tenure. -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([email protected])
