The question that no one asked the sports minister

[injuryupdate]

In the recent parliament sitting, I didn't hear any reports of any one asking the following question to the sports minister:

Given that it is a stated government policy to: "(1) significantly increase the number of people participating in sport right across Australia, including in rural and regional communities; (2) Markedly increase youth participation in organised sport; (3) Boost the active membership and reach of sporting organisations and local sporting clubs"
source:
http://www.dcita.gov.au/sport/sport_policy/backing_australias_sporting_ability_-_a_more_active_australia_-_policy_statement/backing_australias_sporting_ability_-_a_more_active_australia_-_html_version

....why is the government proposing to make sports union membership at University voluntary (rather than compulsory)?

How does lowering the membership of sports unions increase youth sports participation?

[Gibbo]

For the affirmative:
* Obesity is a problem well before University level, so preventative efforts are better direct at primary school where good exercise, diet and health habits can be better established.
* The cut in union fees will increase the cost of beer, coke, standard take away food sold at unis which may indirectly improve nutrition
* Most of the uni dollars spent on sport go to things like gyms and pools both which have expense upkeep and both of which are poor weight loss options. IT is a massive myth that doing weights burns fat. Better activites like walking and jogging cost nothing and will not effected.
* WEight and other unscientific but highly popualr forms of exercise for health benefits also produce their fair share of injuries producing more costs that could be saved (not good news for Sydney University Sports Medicine).
* It may be argued that the only people using the university facilities are fit and healthy people anyway and not the boombahs.
* There is nothing stopping anyone organizing a game of touch with their mates, which will cut out the BS associated with insurance.

I rest my case. I was gipped out of $400 every year at uni. How many student unions are corrupt and rig elections to rort mony anyway? Why should I pay for the star trek society, the Aethiest student group, the VB/Tooheys New/Jim Beam etc Club.



In the recent parliament sitting, I didn't hear any reports of any one asking the following question to the sports minister:

Given that it is a stated government policy to: "(1) significantly increase the number of people participating in sport right across Australia, including in rural and regional communities; (2) Markedly increase youth participation in organised sport; (3) Boost the active membership and reach of sporting organisations and local sporting clubs"
source:
http://www.dcita.gov.au/sport/sport_policy/backing_australias_sporting_ability_-_a_more_active_australia_-_policy_statement/backing_australias_sporting_ability_-_a_more_active_australia_-_html_version

....why is the government proposing to make sports union membership at University voluntary (rather than compulsory)?

How does lowering the membership of sports unions increase youth sports participation?

[injuryupdate]

Good to have a bit of argument, but I think you are falling for the same flawed logic that has caused Brendan Nelson to abandon his Hypocrattic Oath to do no harm:

"Better to organise a game of touch footy with your mates" - and where were you thinking of organising the game? In the Baker's Delight and 7-Elevens that Brendan Nelson wants on the university grounds instead of union facilities. If you were actually wanting to play the game on GRASS then think about who was going to water the grass and mow it and generally keep it in a condition where you and your mates can go to play touch. Just like councils and state and Federal governments, universities need to raise levies to upkeep facilities. However, they will now be unable to, so there is every chance that some sports fields and green areas will actually be levelled to create profit-making buildings to pay for other things around Uni.

With respect to the 'best ways to lose weight', it is important to note that activity levels, rather than weight, are much better predictors of health, although there is a high correlation between inactivity and obesity. We need to give everyone the opportunity to be more active. Rather than cynically saying that everyone should just walk more, we need to promote all activity. Doing weights or using the step machine or playing basketball on a cheap concrete area or cricket on an expensive oval are all valid forms of activity and we should encourage all of them.

I agree that there should be accountability with respect to where unis spend their funds. Perhaps the law reform should be to state that student funds should ONLY be spent on infrastructure and not on student politics or clubs. However, if the Federal government wants to play this game, they should be consistent and make sure they aren't spending taxes on political ads. I hate the fact that my taxes pay for political ads telling me the government is "strengthening Medicare", when I feel that Medicare is a corrupt system with in built features to make certain doctors very rich in return for using monopoly powers to crunch down the earnings of other doctors.

I know as a doctor that I get some benefits from Medicare, but as a sports physician I end up paying far more in tax than my patients receive in Medicare benefits. This is because sports physicians are treated so badly under Medicare that (1) I charge way above the rebate and despite this (2) I earn lots of my income not seeing patients as it isn't worth my while to work full time as a clinician, because the Medicare system results in me earning a lower hourly rate than I do in my other jobs.

Rather than tell me how much you hate the kite flying club at your Uni, tell me how voluntary student unionism is going to increase the chances that a single extra uni student is going to be physically active.

I can answer the question in advance because it is patently obvious that physical activity levels at University MUST fall after the new legislation is passed, because facilities will have far less money to support them and those that survive will be far more expensive to use.

Under the non-user pays taxation system, I am paying taxes as a healthy exercising individual to support the health needs of a large inactive unhealthy section of the population.

It is time for inactive people to subsides activity far more than they do, rather than the other way around.

[Gibbo]

A rebuttal:
You are over looking the major issue that physical activity participation habits are grooved well before University. The focus should be at the primary school so hopefully by the time the kids reach University, obesity and inactivity are not a concern. By University the horse has bolted brother! To say that University studetns will only exercise because they have facilities that they fund through mandatory fees is a long way off the mark. However, I agree that some fess should be kept for sports unions as the University games are perhaps the bender of a liftemine.

Secondly, if you want to take your agrument to the next level, lets scrap medicare totally. Why should be blow our taxes on a system that is propping up people who get sick or injured. The role of a dr is to diagnose a collection of signs and symtpoms, give it a name, prescribe or administer a pharmalogical agent. The health alternative for medicare would make subsidies for people wanting to visit professions that will improve health, not decrease sickness, a subtle philosophical difference lost in the world of allopathy. I'm sure while morally you agree with this argument, the medical profession will in no way agree to slash the incomes of their members and as such will always speak with a forked tongue on the issue. It is a kin to McDonalds being invited to discuss nutrition, there are vested interests elsewhere.

Where will games of touch be played? How about for Meblourne University you visit Princess Park with its 20 Ovals, parklands, 4Km running track. If you want a game on campus say for Sydney Uni, why don't they let students on the grass outside the main quad. IT is in better nick than any cricket ground in the country. If you are at UTS you are stuffed.

And to the point of paying more for tax. Yes everyone is hit up with the Medicare system and the consequences of obecity - type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart attack etc. But the same could be said for useless surgical procedures like for ITB friction syndrome...

I also question why you haven't raised introducing madatory unionism at High schools, primary school and kindargarten; if it is so beneficial.

You want me to answer will physical activity levels fall when the unionism is lost? Yes they will, I know each year there are at least 50 participants in the annual beer Olympics that will lose an event. And what about the boat races? Pity the participants. But consider this, by scrapping the $400 per year that is required up front, will you answer this for me, will this increase the amount of people able to afford University education? The answer is it MUST. Improving the education of our scoiety by providing 14 hours of classes per week to a greater number of students that will grant them more down time to exercise than would be otherwise available to them working the street corner to afford the fees to enter university.

In concluse Madame speaker, whilst some good points have been raised by the defensive, it is clear that inactivity is a multifactorial problem that will not simply be addressed by maintaining student unionism. Inactivity is already a problem with it in place so I don't see it as the answer. Whilst I agree with the defendent on many issues, this has been a successful attempt to stir him up, and a light hearted one at that. Often your recollections of university are a direct result of the clubs and societies you joined, the parties you had, the alcohol your drunk and the opposite sex you chased. I'm tipping the defendent played his hand at many of these and perhaps even spent one summer too many at band camp, that has rendered his mind incapable of considering an alternative. His argument is non-sequenta and I look forward to a reply, beginning with "and one time, at band camp...."

Cheers big ears

Gibbo

[hhh]

I stand corrected... It seems that there are now two issues that draw a "no comment" from Dr J.
1. females
2. Taking the piss out of him harder than he noramlly does, putting it back on him with interest!
You should consider requesting a regular spot in Sport Health titled Dr G, or the G Spot Gibbo. Solid effort, I'm still laughing, bring on round 3!!!

[injuryupdate]

Agree that childhood physical activity is perhaps even more important than adult, as it sets the trend, but doesn't mean we should neglect uni physical activity.

The unis' biggest problem in this debate is that they have called it a Union fee, and the Federal Libs are still back in the Dollar Sweets Union busting days.

The equivalent in secondary schools would go something like this:

The government forces private schools to have two fees, one for academic expenses (i.e. classes) and the other for extra-cirricular activities (i.e. sports, music - outside music classes, drama, excursions etc.) and then legislates to say that the extra-curricular fee must be voluntary. So therefore you can go to your private school for $6000 per year but if you want your sport and drama and music as well, you can pay another $6000 on top of the academic.

Tell me that this legislation isn't going to reduce the amount of sport played at schools (not to mention less plays, less excursions) and make the schools even more full of the stereotypical Asian student mentality of go to school for classes all day and then go home and study all night.

I can't see that this will be any different to what will happen to the Unis. Less outside stuff. More study.

Higher GDP, higher obesity, richer and fatter, the way our society is heading.

[hhh]

I know you studied Medicine, but uni life is not go to uni, come home more study for 99% of students. For starters you need to make the decision of whether you could be bothered to show up for a tutorial, if not ring a mate who is going or download the notes off the web. Go back to bed, get up have some breakfast at 11:30am. Watch some Jerry Springer. Show up for a lecture. Leave half way through, go to the canteen wat a hot dog and hook up with some mates. Go home, prepare for Uni night at the bar (traffic light themes is a popular one). Go to uni night, try to pull, miss out get home at 3:00am. End day 1. Day 2 as above. This cycle continues until an assignment is due or there is an exam when cramming takes place for 1-2 nights beforehand if you haven't managed to get a copy of the exam that somehow is floating around. Spending some time at the photocopy room in the lead up to an exam is a sure way to get in the loop.