Kin 405 - Chapter 6 review

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California State University, Northridge *

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405

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Philosophy

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Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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8

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Chapter 6 – Sports on Campus: Intercollegiate Sports and Their Actions -Role of sports in the university -University: refuge of scholarship -The Incompatibility Thesis -Corruption of intercollegiate sports -Problems of the black athlete -A defense of college athletics -entertainment -enhance academics -performing arts -cognitive skills -The Game of Life? -Culture of athletics -Athletics and educational values Sports on campus -is there an ethically questionable side to intercollegiate athletics? -violence…in 1900s -academic fraud -coddling of athletes -cheating in recruiting/eligibility -low graduation rates -win-at-all-costs (cheating) -with increased media involvement increased $ increased inequality increased academic fraud/cheating/coddling of athletes/win-at-all-costs mentality -incompatibility thesis: intercollegiate athletics are incompatible with academic values -strong version: incompatibility between academic values and ANY serious forms of intercollegiate sport -weak version: incompatibility between academic values and elite Division I athletic programs (such as at USC or UCLA) -central questions: what place should an athletic program have on a college campus? (what role do those sports have on campus?) Role of sports in the university – the case of incompatibility -just plain wrong? -desirable? -what type of program is desirable? -what is university? university as a refuge of scholarship (what university should be)
-ideal model of what the university should be -expose students to “the best that has been thought and said” -transmit, examine, and extend the realms of human knowledge -critical inquiry: fundamental to a democratic society A defense of the incompatibility thesis 1. Given enormous pressure to win, too often athletic programs cheat 2. Basic contradiction between aims of education and aims of athletics 3. Values associated with athletics at odds with academic’s critical inquiry and questioning that is central to university The corruption of intercollegiate sports -As sport has become a big business… -If purpose of participation becomes winning for the sake of external goods, players will be viewed as mere means to an end (universities look at players as means to accomplish the goals to be more successful and business of college sports) -violation of NCAA rules -misbehavior of college athletes -low graduation rates -42 schools failed to graduate ANY black male basketball players between 1991- 1992 and 1994-1995 (shows no correlation between athletics and academic values) -Using a method of calculating graduation rate that inflates the graduation success rate (which masks the problem of low graduation rates) -athletes expected to give everything to athletics, no time or effort taken to ensure success in the classroom -tremendous expenditures for athletic programs, but very few programs actually generate revenue (expenditure > revenue; however this critique isn’t as strong because at ACC conferences, tens of millions of dollars are being given to schools for athletics) -spending on athlete increasing faster than spending on student-at-large -ACC in 2010: $15,000 per student-at-large vs. $103,000 per student athlete The problems of the black athlete -problems, especially alleged exploitation, particularly apply to the black athlete -demographics: -African Americans are: -12% of the US population -33+% of college football and basketball players - ~40% of professional football players - ~66% of professional basketball players
-Rationale (of disproportionate levels of participation)? -discrimination -lack of opportunity in inner-city areas -dearth/lack of nonathletic role models -more highly valued within black community: a way out (a way to be successful) -genetic vs. environmental differences (even if there are genetic differences, that doesn’t explain the whole disproportionate levels of college/professional black athletes; there are environment/social factors that impact that; if it’s just genetic differences then there isn’t much that can be done to impact people’s genetic makeup, but if there’s social differences then there is a number of ways to help make better/ameliorate some of the problems that various people face) -Problems: -opportunity for upward mobility through sport limited to few (more helpful for black athletes to get their degrees instead of relying on the slight chance of being able to play professionally) -major intercollegiate sports capitalize on this gamble -young African Americans harmed in the process A defense of college athletics -sport reinforces academic mission -some institutions not prone to scandal -some institutions have high graduation rates -vast majority of athletes play with no desire/illusion to become professional (so no means to an end with college sports) College athletics and entertainment -critics of college sport conceive of the mission of the university too narrowly -entertainment of the student body and wide community is a public service of the university -athletics responds to university’s public service obligation (university can provide a major source of events in smaller states/communities and sense of community itself) -appreciate for the multiple missions of the university -But critics can reply: 1. entertainment only applies to high profile sports (like basketball, football) 2. type of entertainment from athletics differs in kind from other forms of entertainment the university legitimately provides (strip club on campus to provide entertainment but not entertainment-worthy to put on campus) 3. athletics involve academic abuses other activities don’t normally involve; -athletics is educationally vacuous/empty
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