Although he concedes that the physical education major is “hardly a rigorous, demanding discipline” (par. 5), Shughart proposes that football be a major in its own right. His argument hinges on the...

Although he concedes that the physical education major is “hardly a rigorous, demanding discipline” (par. 5), Shughart proposes that football be a major in its own right. His argument hinges on the comparison of football to music and other performance arts in which students receive “academic credit for practice sessions and recitals” (par. 5). He calls them “vocational subjects” (par. 4) because their purpose is job training.

In conceding that the physical education major is “hardly a rigorous, demanding discipline” (par. 5), Shughart appears to think his readers are likely to assume disciplines or subjects studied in college should be rigorous and demanding. Do you share this assumption? Why or why not?

By calling football a “vocational subject” and proposing that there be a major in football, Shughart seems to assume the primary purpose of a college education should be job training. What other reasons, if any, might people choose to go to college?