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Letter: Student-athlete defends early class enrollment, questions Cigar editorial
Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: Editorial/Opinion
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10/24/07 - To the Cigar,
Last Thursday I awoke to read my e-mail and find the editorial titled, "Student-athletes cheat the system." First and foremost I realize that in writing this letter it only seems self-serving as I am writing from a student-athlete point of view. The truth of the matter is that student-athletes by no means cheat the system by using early registration.
The early registration system is in place and available to numerous student groups and organizations on campus with legitimate time constraints, not just student-athletes. The early registration system is also meant to avoid the possibility of missing class due to travel schedules, not practice schedules. The author of the editorial would have risen an absolutely legitimate concern to be dealt with on our campus had the editorial been factually based.
The author claims that seniors should be outraged that some freshmen are registering for classes in front of them. First, most freshmen are not taking the same classes as seniors, and, if they are, more than likely the seniors never did what they were supposed to in regards to finishing their general education courses in their earlier years here.
The other possibility is that they are taking a free elective course at 100- or 200-level. Many student-athletes, myself included, never registered for early registration. Only approximately 80 percent of student-athletes registered for this. It is not something that is just given to student-athletes as the author would lead you to think. There is an application process that includes a meeting with an adviser within the student's discipline who needs to approve the application.
Student-athletes make up approximately 3 to 4 percent of the university. They span 77 majors and reside within every college. If done by average alone, which is not completely accurate given that some majors have more student-athletes than others, there are about six-and-a-half student-athletes per major.
Last Thursday I awoke to read my e-mail and find the editorial titled, "Student-athletes cheat the system." First and foremost I realize that in writing this letter it only seems self-serving as I am writing from a student-athlete point of view. The truth of the matter is that student-athletes by no means cheat the system by using early registration.
The early registration system is in place and available to numerous student groups and organizations on campus with legitimate time constraints, not just student-athletes. The early registration system is also meant to avoid the possibility of missing class due to travel schedules, not practice schedules. The author of the editorial would have risen an absolutely legitimate concern to be dealt with on our campus had the editorial been factually based.
The author claims that seniors should be outraged that some freshmen are registering for classes in front of them. First, most freshmen are not taking the same classes as seniors, and, if they are, more than likely the seniors never did what they were supposed to in regards to finishing their general education courses in their earlier years here.
The other possibility is that they are taking a free elective course at 100- or 200-level. Many student-athletes, myself included, never registered for early registration. Only approximately 80 percent of student-athletes registered for this. It is not something that is just given to student-athletes as the author would lead you to think. There is an application process that includes a meeting with an adviser within the student's discipline who needs to approve the application.
Student-athletes make up approximately 3 to 4 percent of the university. They span 77 majors and reside within every college. If done by average alone, which is not completely accurate given that some majors have more student-athletes than others, there are about six-and-a-half student-athletes per major.
