With less than nine months before graduation, about 15 percent of the Class of 1996 has not completed their physical education requirement.
Even though 160 seniors have either not taken three terms of physical education or not passed a 50-yard untimed swim test, Associate Director of Physical Education Ken Jones said the number actually has been declining the past five years.
The seniors will not be allowed to graduate unless they complete their requirements by the spring, Jones said.
Brian Giunta '96 is one credit short of fulfilling his PE requirement. He said he got one credit his freshman year and another sophomore year. He had surgery on his shoulder in the spring of his sophomore year, and could not take another PE class until Winter term of his junior year.
"In '95 winter, I decided to take a PE class, but I had a schedule conflict and was unable to continue the class," he wrote in an electronic-mail message. "I have been off since then. Now I am one credit short and much too busy for PE."
Giunta is currently training for a marathon, which he wrote he was "hoping to be able to get some PE credit for ... but I was denied."The problem of massive amounts of students scrambling to fulfill their PE requirement dates back five years, when the administration proposed dropping the PE requirement to reduce costs.
As sophomores, the Class of 1992 heard the rumor that PE would be cut and assumed they would not be required to fulfill their requirement. Jones said about 300 students from the Class of 1992 entered their senior year without fulfilling the requirement.
Since then, measures have been taken to ensure that seniors will not miss graduation due to physical education.
The College uses a $50 fine to prod students into completing the three terms of PE and the swim test by the end of their sophomore summer, according to Jones.
Jones said students have begun to fulfill their requirements earlier since the fines were implemented.
According to Jones, the PE department sometimes resorts to drastic measures to ensure students complete their PE requirement in time to graduate.
Jones said he arranged a swim test at Columbia University for a senior who could not make it back to campus.
He has also arranged to let students obtain PE credit at various locations across the country, so students can finish all of their PE on time, Jones said.
"Spring term comes, you break a leg, and even though you just can't do the PE, by that time, a broken leg is not even a valid excuse," Jones said.
