Lavi Aulck
Sports Editor

A petition has been launched by Student Body Association (SBA) Vice President Jessica Puckett to remove SCC’s requirement of physical education (PE) classes from the core degree requirements.

The petition itself states numerous reasons for its own enactment including a lack of online class opportunities to fulfill the PE requirement and the notion that the PE requirement does not necessarily reflect the educational needs of today’s early-workout, gym-membership student population.

The petition also declares that the lack of a definitive method with which to evaluate the success of the (PE) requirements has caused many PE classes to regress into what the petition calls “an easy 4.0.”

“I found that the PE requirement, in contrast to all other core degree requirements, had no measurable goals or outcomes.” Puckett said. “If we applied these criteria to all other departments, undoubtedly they could each recommend adding a course requirement to our curriculum. The intent of the petition is to show the campus community that this issue is of serious concern to students and we would like that conversation to start now.”

Though the petition is not an official act of the SBA government, news of its enactment was first given by Puckett at the Feb. 19 SBA senate meeting and has since won the support of many SCC students, including SBA President Ivanhoe.

“I signed the petition because of my own personal experience taking PE classes for credit,” Ivanhoe said. “In the first PE class I took (badminton), I learned nothing about techniques or game strategies from my professor, who usually sat on the sidelines while we played, and some of the questions on the final were along the lines of who we liked playing against the most. My other PE class, sea kayaking, was a great class but we were never told that it was only for a pass/ fail grade until the end of the course. If I am paying for credits, I want more than what I could get from a free intramural class and I want to know what is expected of me for a grade.”

SCC Athletic Director Doug Palmer, meanwhile, believes having a PE requirement ties in with the ideas and mindset of the state. “Two-thirds of the community colleges in Washington State have PE as a requirement,” Palmer said. “More people are getting interested in it and one of our state’s initiatives is to make Washington a fitter state. I think (having a PE requirement) really does fit in with the basic philosophy of the area and of the state.”

Gillian Lewis, Dean of Health Occupations and Physical Education, agrees with Palmer and believes maintaining the health of the students to be of primary concern. “I’m more about maintaining healthy student minds and bodies than I am about abandoning (the PE requirement) without a long consideration and, as of yet, there hasn’t been a long discussion,” Lewis said. “Anything benefits from discussion – that’s my attitude.”

As of now, Puckett is recruiting a team of students to assist in her efforts by collecting signatures for the petition in person, online, and through email. Puckett is hoping for somewhere between 300 to 500 signatures before she offers her case at a Faculty Senate Meeting on March 12. She also plans to hold a debate early next quarter to allow students to present their stand on the matter.

Though Puckett has begun the process for the removal of the PE requirement, she understands that the outcome of her work might not be seen for several years. “(After the petition process,) the next steps to move forward on this involve the faculty and administration creating and convening a General Education Committee to review and evaluate the PE requirement. This endeavor won’t be short term, but more likely a longer haul.”

Lewis agrees that the process will most likely take a great deal of time. She also believes that communication is vital to a campus-wide endeavor such as this. “The process to change degrees is a very long process and anything like that involves a lot of discussion, not just between the administration and the students, but between the faculty and administration as well,” Lewis said “I, personally, am not sure of what the entire process is, but I do know that it has to involve a discussion involving the whole campus.”

The petition can be viewed and signed online at:
www.choicesforsccstudents.blogspot.com