Michael Murphy Source 4

• Documentation:
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• How do college athletics influence the health of student-athletes?
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• Selby, Rosemary, Harvey M. Weinstein, and Tracy Steward Bird. "The Health of University Athletes: Attitudes, Behaviors, and Stressors." Journal of the American College Health Association 39.1 (1990): 11-18. Print.
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• Exploration:

General health background, drug and alcohol use, weight and diet trends, stress, and the use of helping resources were the main topics of interest for this article.  The main goals of this study were to identify causes of student-athlete stress and health-related sex differences in athletes.  The study was conducted through a questionnaire distributed to 27 members of university athletic teams in March 1985.  Here are a few of the results.  86.4% of the respondents were white but the distribution of age was pretty even.  35% of athletes had a current physical injury.  Less than half of the athletes relaxed daily.  About a quarter of athletes got good sleep daily and 68% say they get sufficient sleep two times or less a week.  In season, a quarter of athletes used painkillers at least once per week.  Some women were involved in sports with a weight requirement so their weight frequently influenced their emotion.  63% of women athletes saw themselves as overweight.  Men and women athletes have opposite opinions on binge eating.  About two-thirds found injury as a stressor.  Women found eating behaviors much more stressful than men.  Many conclusions came out of these results.  Injuries are stressful because of the importance athletics play in athletes' lives.  The data seems to disprove the increase risk of amenorrhea for female athletes, possibly because most of the surveyed had a normal weight.  Drugs and alcohol were not shown to increase during the season, showing students are not using them to really cope with stress.  Athletes might not be aware of the long term effects of frequent use of analgesics, because of how regularly athletes use these drugs.  The influence of weight loss and dieting on women is concerning.  They are stressors, along with coach expectations.  Coaches are highly significant people in these athletes' lives.  Athletes should be offered counseling to deal with the trauma of injury.  Drug and alcohol education needs to become important.  Also regarding women-athletes' weight, a nutrition specialist should meet with the athlete and coach so that everyone is on the same page and reasonable about weight requirements, reducing stress on the athlete.  Athletes must utilize counseling resources on campus to deal with stress.

This article brought to light some of the health concerns related to student-athletes, however there are some problems.  First of all, the survey was conducted in 1985 which is a long time ago.  Although lots of the information still seems relevant, there have been many new scientific discoveries and a different university culture which has probably altered the influence of athletics on the health of student athletes.  Because of the date of the survey, the percentage of white respondents was way too high, and women were involved in specific sports like gymnastics.  Women did not have complete equality in athletics yet because Title IX conversations were still frequent, which would skew the data slightly.  Despite this information, much of the facts still seem credible.  I found it saddening yet predictable that one third of athletes currently have an injury, and two thirds see injury as a huge stressor.  This is bound to be the case because of how much of an importance competition have in these athletes' lives.  If there were no sports, I bet many athletes would have gotten involved in another type of activity and their stress would stem from a different source.  The extra stress from food and weight on women athletes is possibly fixable.  I agree with this source's solution to this problem of making sure the coach understands how women weight works.  But in today's society, the media frequently sexually objectifies women and gives them an unreasonable standard.  Because reaching that standard is narrowly impossible, lots of women will feel bad about their weight because of society, not because of their coaches.  This problem is not exclusive to women athletes so if anything, I think being fit from work outs would show athletics positively influencing women.  I think that currently, athletes have learned about the chronic effects of painkillers but that probably has not stopped them from using them.  Their routines are so vigorous that they may need these painkillers to make it through, which shows the negative effect of athletics.  This source has definitely revealed to me some potential problems relating to the health of college athletes.  I agree that athletes need to have access to nutrition specialists and counselors/psychologists to have realistic expectations and stay mentally and physically healthy.  The lack of sleep from athletes is not good because that translates to their mental health and effectiveness in the classroom.  I slightly disagree with the validity of this source because of its date.  However, this source does slightly lead me to believe that sports overall negatively effect the well-being of athletes.  Although, sports provide students with a support group but they can sometimes become so intense and end up stressing the student out more than helping she/he.

Source 1 states that sports could positively influence the public relations of a university while this source illustrates the effects of sports on student health.  This source would counter Source 1 by stating that the public could see the negative effects on the student-athletes' mental health, which would negatively influence the public's perception.  The public would not want to support and send their kids to a school where many students are extremely stressed out, and lots of this stress on student-athletes is from sports.  Additionally, Source 2 reveals the negative perception that faculty have of student athletes, illustrating a bad learning environment.  This source would elaborate on the fact that sports create a poor learning environment.  Students that are too stressed with their athletics will be distracted and not able to perform well in the classroom, conveying the negative impact of sports on a student's learning.  All of these negative conclusions make me wonder about the positives of having sports on campus.

I need to research the positives of having athletics on campus to see if the positives outweigh the negatives.  Most of the articles have pointed out all the concerns from athletics so that is the way I am leaning right now.  How is the general student population effected by athletics at universities?  Even if I get the answer to that question, the well-being of student athletes is still a huge influence on my final opinion.  So far I see the positive influence on the public's perception from sports, the potential lack of safety on campus, the distraction from learning for athletes, and the health concerns of athletes.  I must find answers to other general topics relating to university athletics, especially regarding campus life and the student body.