Editor:
It is astounding that the University of Arizona is eliminating the undergraduate physical education portion of the Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences. In reality, the UA will no longer graduate physical education teachers, thus jeopardizing our ability to fully educate children from pre-school through high school. In addition, this decision makes the undeniable statement that physical education is a lesser entity, and it is not an important and integral aspect of our educational system. In reality this decision threatens the future of our society and our children by eliminating their ability to learn how to:
ù be physically fit.
ù utilize leisure time for positive physically and recreationally based pursuits.
ù master proper body mechanics and motor skills.
ù develop socialization skills while cultivating a sense of team work through healthy competition.
ù acquire healthy habits while fostering well-rounded lifestyles.
ù breed an overall sense of health and wellness through a commitment to body, mind and spirit wholeness.
What is even more bewildering is the elimination of this program while continually expanding athletics for the elite few; the latest example being the expenditure of almost $650,000 to construct a gymnastics facility for use by 12 athletes, a facility that is not only of little or no use to any other students at the university, but is not even accessible to them.
Thus the abyss continues to widen between the physically elite and our ever-expanding masses of unfit, overweight, physically incompetent and progressively unhealthy youth.
Dr. Grant E. Smith
Director of Campus
Recreation