(no subject)

[camwyn]

Thomas "The Big Ox" Aquinas demands an explanation for this bullshit:

In 2006, Lincoln University in Pennsylvania introduced its Fitness for Life programme with the aim of encouraging students to lose weight. The premise was that if a student had a body mass index (BMI) - a ratio of weight to height - of above 30, then they should take some college-sanctioned steps to show they had lost weight or at least tried. The course includes walking, Pilates, exercises and fitness games. But this year, some students have not completed the course, so they may not be able to graduate. Professor James L DeBoy, head of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation department at Lincoln University, who proposed the programme, says that around 30 students are unlikely to pass...

Comments

[e-mily.livejournal.com]

um.

xcuze me, Lincoln University.

but.

wtf r u doin.

srsly.

*bitchslaps some morons*

[camwyn]

If it were voluntary, fine. If it were compulsory for people majoring in physical education, or for people in any medical school programs they might have, maybe.

Overall? I'm waiting for this policy to get bitchslapped with an ADA lawsuit.

[lilpocketninja.livejournal.com]

God, I hope so. Fuck that noise.

[e-mily.livejournal.com]

Indeed. That's what I'm thinking.

I know that certain physical requirements exist for certain programs. Particularly service-based programs. But none of them are BMI based, they're all performance based. My dad's firefighter program requires certain physical tests, but, again, they don't give a damn about BMI if you can perform the required tasks.

And any program that does have such requirements always lets you know upfront.

None of this "yeah... we were never really that clear on this but now you can't graduate, fatty" bullshit.

[silveraspen]

... What.

Oh I really want a sitdown talk with that imbecile DeBoy.

[renshai.livejournal.com]

I wonder if their weight-lifting team gets a by? Or, for that matter, their rugby/football/hockey teams, any non-track-running track and field athletes, or, you know, those whose healthy body weight still earns them a BMI above 30.

And are they preventing people whose BMI marks them as underweight from graduating as well?

[feonixrift.livejournal.com]

If they were, I could never graduate there (not that I'd ever attend such a discriminatory institution). Even in peak condition and eating lots in an attempt to gain weight, I still don't come up to a "normal" range BMI.

[feonixrift.livejournal.com]

*sputters* That's beyond fail.

[jeditigger.livejournal.com]

I can see what they were trying (and failing) to do.

But just out of interest? Where does skinny Smokey McSmokerstein, who smokes 2 packs a day, fit into this equation? Where does frat boy Drunkin Midday fit into this equation?

Yeah.

[cameoflage.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's just because I've spent the last couple days on a Left 4 Dead fanworks binge, but your icon plus "Smokey McSmokerstein" makes me think of this guy (http://left4dead.wikia.com/wiki/The_Smoker).

[duane-kc.livejournal.com]

I see one college that will shortly see declining enrollment, and utterly fail to understand why.

[jerusha.livejournal.com]

I... just... I...

Disregarding, for the moment, whether I think this is a good idea in general (hah!): The program, or at least the reporting, is self-contradicting. Early in the story, it says "to take some college-sanctioned steps to show they had lost weight or at least tried". And then Professor Head of PE Department (go fig) says that people aren't going to graduate because they haven't "completed" the course. I'm OK with them having a PE requirement in general. I can live with, although I'm not thrilled with, requiring additional/continued enrollment in PE for some students (e.g. those over a certain BMI [not that BMI means anything <suppresses rant>]).

But failing people on a graduation requirement because exercise didn't make them skinny? Someone is DOIN IT RONG, and my candidates, in order, are

1. the ones who promulgate the idea that EXERCISE WILL MAKE YOU THIN, and
2. Professor PE McFail and the rest of the administrative structure that's letting him get away with this.
3. The science department(s), for not beating Professor PE McFail with a gigantic stick of CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION, MORON!

Although I suppose that could be laid at the feet of, oh, let's call them 1A) Public health organizations who, despite knowing a) that correlation does not equal causation and b) none of the studies on "healthy lifestyle" interventions have shown any effect on i) BMI or ii) disease rates, continue pushing FAT = EVOL.

Argh. My soapbox is getting a lot of traffic today, isn't it?

[almeda.livejournal.com]

The man in my icon could fix that faculty.

But I don't think anything short of it would do so, having heard the detailed NPR interviews with the people involved.

They were totally all, "But fat is a moral issue, and anyone who's too lazy to bother to get rid of it isn't deserving of a degree from a Christian university." Without quite saying it in such blatant language. :-/

[camwyn]

I had not been aware of that aspect of the school.

On the other hand it suddenly makes the fact that I invoked the Big Dumb Ox for this rather more appropriate, doesn't it.

[almeda.livejournal.com]

PE McFail (who I think is who was interviewed) clearly conveyed with his every sentence that (a) what he was asking of these students was truly minimal in terms of effort and attention, and (b) they just can't be bothered, despite signing (something) upon admission that said they would.

Reporting from other sources in the story implied that (a) is, from the pov of someone who doesn't already work out regularly, false, and (b) was not as obvious as might be (i.e., buried amidst a lot of paperwork and not mentioned again by the advising staff until suddenly they might not graduate).

What I wish is that the NPR narrative voice had actually mentioned that BMI IS FULL OF SHIT, instead of just elevating it as the be-all and end-all, "anyone over 30 is clearly TEH DETH FAATZ" measure. They did, however, make clear that McFail's pov was, um, idiosyncratic.

Full disclosure: my BMI is 32.

[mephron]

HENRY ROLLINS DEMANDS AN EXPLANATION FOR THIS FUCKING BULLSHIT!

THIS FUCKING, FUCKING BULLSHIT!

[lots42.livejournal.com]

All it takes is one student with a medical condition saying 'sue' and the program is gone.