Abdication of individual responsibility, ridiculous litigation, and the resulting hyperaversion to risk are 100% to blame.
Everything bad that happens is someone else's fault > sue everyone in the same hemisphere as the incident > administrations adopt a "bubble-wrap everything" zero-exposure policy.
I blame society.
I wish that was more surprising. If I had a child that was approaching graduation I would steer them away from college unless they were interested in some sort of STEM degree. The rest unfortunately these days seem like just a way to get a lot of debt and get your brain turned to mush.
From the title I was worried it was some sort of anti-GLBT group.
But yes, as written that is ridiculous. However, I have reasons to doubt it. Reason.com is not a great source. There's more than just a bit of editorializing in every article and it's always from a very biased angle.
In reply to volvoclearinghouse :
I kind of want to know where the "threshold of acceptable risk" is. I used to play rubgy and participate in crew during college. Rugby everyone is semi familiar with, Crew, OTOH, we used to clip into a boat with no PFD and go out on the river. Basically everything unsafe about watercraft according to the Coast Guard.
Backpacking is pretty much the least dangerous activity I've partaken in over the course of my life.
dculberson said:From the title I was worried it was some sort of anti-GLBT group.
But yes, as written that is ridiculous. However, I have reasons to doubt it. Reason.com is not a great source. There's more than just a bit of editorializing in every article and it's always from a very biased angle.
Ahh, the voice of reason. There's one in every group... hopefully.
Good response.
If true...that's very sad. Colleges these days are starting to not make sense. Instead of teaching you to function in society I think they are teaching you the exact opposite. In college I belonged to both a motorcycle and sailing club...probably both dimantled by now. I need to look.
dculberson said:From the title I was worried it was some sort of anti-GLBT group.
But yes, as written that is ridiculous. However, I have reasons to doubt it. Reason.com is not a great source. There's more than just a bit of editorializing in every article and it's always from a very biased angle.
My Uncle was a professor at Penn State. My 97 year old Aunt still lives in State College.
She did cross country skiing until 2 years ago.
I wonder how their risk assessment program would deal with a 95 year old woman who is still on their health plan potentially exposed to extreme cardiac and hypothermia beyond cell phone range.
Duh.
Every person at Penn State that was doing this before can still go out and do it. It's just that Penn State says they aren't going to be responsible for it. Which is their right. If you think this is really stupid, consider for a second if you would want to assume liability for a bunch 19 year olds going cave diving and kayaking. I wouldn't. They are adults, if they want to get outside (which is great) they can, just like me or you.
gearheadmb said:Every person at Penn State that was doing this before can still go out and do it. It's just that Penn State says they aren't going to be responsible for it. Which is their right. If you think this is really stupid, consider for a second if you would want to assume liability for a bunch 19 year olds going cave diving and kayaking. I wouldn't. They are adults, if they want to get outside (which is great) they can, just like me or you.
Except that they don't get any student club funding, access to school vans for travel, ability to promote events through official channels, etc.
DD#2 does a ton of event promotion and club organization for her school's student activities. Loss of those resources would kill most of the clubs and end many of the activities.
gearheadmb said:consider for a second if you would want to assume liability for a bunch 19 year olds going cave diving and kayaking. I wouldn't.
Consider that college is pretty much all about assuming liability for a bunch of 19 year olds doing all sorts of stuff. I mean, when one runs a college, that's basically what they're signing up for. What other sorts of things do 19 year olds do on college campus- or off?
Guys, you are getting this backwards.
The issue is not whether students can go on outings. Of course they can.
The issue is whether Penn State is supportive of the students.
Claiming "risk" for activities that have never shown risk is stupid.
edizzle89 said:I was unaware you needed to be in a club to go on outings....
Please see my post above. No, the school is not prohibiting group outings. They are just making them 10,000% harder to organize, promote, and execute.
Fueled by Caffeine said:If I want to be outraged.. by gum.. I'm going to find something to be outraged about.
Which gum is it that triggers you? The mere mention of Juicy Fruit causes me to fly into an uncontrollable rage!
It's not really about risk. It's about the university's exposure to liability. And a real shame, the three clubs should have status on campus so they can better attract members. This decision to be terrified will make it much harder for students to find out about them.
While I feel most comments I could make about Penn State and risk assessment might get me in trouble, I did really like this quote.
The Outing Club collects a $20 dues payment at the beginning of a semester and then charges $5 to $10 for trips. Counting gear, food and gasoline, each participant would typically pay $25 per trip.
The cost of Outdoor Adventure trips bumped up from between $30 and $60 last year, to between $90 and $130 this year, Mr. Waltz said, and appeal to different participants.
The outdoor adventures club gets to stay, but not the outing club.
1988RedT2 said:Fueled by Caffeine said:If I want to be outraged.. by gum.. I'm going to find something to be outraged about.
Which gum is it that triggers you? The mere mention of Juicy Fruit causes me to fly into an uncontrollable rage!
zebra stripe.... Raaaawr...
Duke said:edizzle89 said:I was unaware you needed to be in a club to go on outings....
Please see my post above. No, the school is not prohibiting group outings. They are just making them 10,000% harder to organize, promote, and execute.
would they not be able to start a 'club' on FB or some other source where everyone can keep in touch and know about events and do outings in no association with the school? maybe i'm missing why the school has to be part of it for it to work?
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