Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early
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Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early
#2is there a way to read nytimes articles with javascript disabled? (other than archive.is, I use cloudflare DNS)
Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early
#3It's not at all clear to me why we allow American football and universities to have such a perverse relationship, when it's plain to see that football itself has nothing to do with education, except insofar as it's an activity that many students enjoy (but there is no shortage of other non-academic activities that many students share, such as baseball...) And in cases like this, where students are leaving the game early, it's perhaps not an activity that students enjoy after all.
Why can't the American football industry run itself more like the American baseball industry? Instead of leeching off universities, particularly public universities, they could be operating minor leagues independent of any educational system.
(Defenders of the current system will often claim that football is profitable for universities and provides funding for academics, but that is only true in a very small number of schools, so I don't think that's a valid argument. It may well be the case in Alabama, but I still don't think it relevant since I take issue with the scheme as a whole, not merely on a case by case basis.)
Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early
#4It's not at all clear to me why we allow American football and universities to have such a perverse relationship, when it's plain to see that football itself has nothing to do with education, except insofar as it's an activity that many students enjoy (but there is no shortage of other non-academic activities that many students share, such as baseball...) And in cases like this, where students are leaving the game ea…
Many students who attend American universities aren't just buying education. They are buying a "college experience" of which sports are a major part.
Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early
#5It's not at all clear to me why we allow American football and universities to have such a perverse relationship, when it's plain to see that football itself has nothing to do with education, except insofar as it's an activity that many students enjoy (but there is no shortage of other non-academic activities that many students share, such as baseball...) And in cases like this, where students are leaving the game ea…
There is college baseball.
I'm firmly in the camp that sports have nothing to do with education, and there should be no association of organized sports and public educational institutions whatsoever. Gym class is one thing, but after-school sports have nothing to do with receiving a basic education.
Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early
#6Sounds like students opt-in to this to get rewards later. It's not a penalty, it's more like you don't get a free lottery ticket.
Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early
#7Towards the end of my time as a student at the University of Michigan I stopped buying tickets to the games. Between the crowds, security, drunk strangers, the sun in September or the cold rain in November - it's just more fun and more comfortable to watch at home with friends.
Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early
#8It's not at all clear to me why we allow American football and universities to have such a perverse relationship, when it's plain to see that football itself has nothing to do with education, except insofar as it's an activity that many students enjoy (but there is no shortage of other non-academic activities that many students share, such as baseball...) And in cases like this, where students are leaving the game ea…
>why we allow
Who do you mean by we?
I'm not familiar with the american university system but how much public (say tax) money does a private university like Stanford get (which also has a good football team).
Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early
#9It's not at all clear to me why we allow American football and universities to have such a perverse relationship, when it's plain to see that football itself has nothing to do with education, except insofar as it's an activity that many students enjoy (but there is no shortage of other non-academic activities that many students share, such as baseball...) And in cases like this, where students are leaving the game ea…
There is college baseball. I'm firmly in the camp that sports have nothing to do with education, and there should be no association of organized sports and public educational institutions whatsoever. Gym class is one thing, but after-school sports have nothing to do with receiving a basic education.
Why should schools only provide a basic education? There are a great many reasons to participate in after school sports: general health and fitness, teamwork, confidence, community.
Schools can't do this too?
Re: Alabama tracking students' locations to penalize them for leaving games early
#10It's not at all clear to me why we allow American football and universities to have such a perverse relationship, when it's plain to see that football itself has nothing to do with education, except insofar as it's an activity that many students enjoy (but there is no shortage of other non-academic activities that many students share, such as baseball...) And in cases like this, where students are leaving the game ea…
> Why can't the American football industry run itself more like the American baseball industry?
I am a very strong opponent of the overwhelming sports culture at American universities, and of the absurd sums of money spent to sustain it. (Example: Dabo Swinney was just given a $93 million contract to remain the football coach of Clemson.)
This
>Defenders of the current system will often claim that football is profitable for universities and provides funding for academics
is part of the reason. But the real argument is: successful football programs generate positive publicity for the school; they encourage more strong high school students to apply for admission; they encourage alumni to open their pocketbooks and donate.
Personally, as a professor at an American university, I don't buy it. But evidently my bosses do.