One More Reason I Don't Like "No-Pass, No-Play" As It Stands Now

In Monday's post, I presented a few reasons why I'm not too fond of Texas' no-pass, no-play law; here's one more:

• A law that was originally intended for athletics should not apply to the arts. Now it gets personal. And before you ask me if, in fact, the reason that I feel this way is because I'm a musician and not an athlete, I need to point out that there's a big difference in how the two disciplines perform. Things like music and drama aren't completely learned until a performance takes place, and it's not right to deprive a student of that opportunity because of failing one class. (But wait, Kev--isn't a football game a "performance" as well?) Yes, but the "seasons" are set up quite differently. Bench an athlete for even an entire six-weeks, and there's probably still at least half of the season left. Bench a bandmember during the six-weeks with UIL contest and the band trip (which often occur within a few weeks of each other) and two-thirds of the semester's performances are gone.

I'll let a college student close out this discussion:

[...] (A) successful band program builds not only good performers, but good human beings as well, and this author challenges H. Ross Perot to find as many of those positive traits of attitude, teamwork, camaraderie and cultural enrichment being developed in a science, math or English class. Some things cannot be learned sitting at a desk with a textbook!

(Perot led the Governor's Select Committee on Education--the one that developed the education reforms that included no-pass, and is often given the buik of the credit--or blame--for its inception. Oh, and the college student? Me, back in the day, in a class paper that morphed into an article in the TMEA magazine.)

I don't expect as many people to agree with me on this reason as with the previously-stated ones, but I felt like I needed to throw it out for general consumption. Feel free to comment away as always...

The thrill of victory; the agony of de feet: In one Minnesota family, it's a tradition to run around the garden barefoot during halftime of the Super Bowl. But, as their teenage son found out, doing so when it's 17 degrees below zero outside is not such a great idea.

A much better place to run barefoot, I'd think: Philadelphia may soon be getting rubber sidewalks; which would save money, be environmentally friendly and minimize the number of slip-and-fall accidents that happen on them.

Coming soon to a theatre near you: Bambi vs. Doczilla, on the ski slopes. Thankfully, it ended in a tie, as neither party was hurt.