Too many athletes can't handle the strenuous demands that come with excelling in sports, he said. And it will only get worse if the major changes aren't made. Though Sperber is decidedly against it, a universal athletics major proposal would fit the bill of a major change. Already, some of these classes are available at UNL, cross-listed under the Department of Health and Human Performance in the Teachers College. Golfers, for example, could take a one credit class, 105P, in which they practice golf.
Similar classes exist for other sports as well.
But none of these classes is in the same college, and none of them ties into an overall course of study for athletics. Several Nebraska athletes see the possibility of an athletic major as a positive one. Right now, they said, some athletes continue in the field of athletics after college, whether it be playing professionally, coaching or in administration. The fields are getting bigger and bigger. If somebody wants to go into that, then I think they should have the classes to do it.