Next semester’s re-direction of the health and physical education curriculum will affect what gym classes will be offered and their weight in credits.

According to department director Lisa Hrehor, the department will offer more ‘health- and wellness-based’ classes and decrease the number of activity classes offered. Hrehor said the change has been made largely in response to student feedback received on course offerings.

‘It seems to be a better direction to be heading in,’ she said. ‘We’ve been researching this possibility for the past several years.’

Any curriculum changes made at Binghamton University must be brought by the department before the University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. The Committee is composed of 14 faculty members, one graduate student and one undergraduate student. Currently, the undergraduate position in the committee remains empty.

According to Associate Dean of Harpur College Donald Blake, who sits on the committee and reviewed the proposed departmental changes, the adjustment can also be attributed to the department’s efforts to ‘simplify’ the physical activity requirement all BU students must fulfill.

In order to fulfill the requirement, students must complete both a wellness (labeled as S) and physical activity (a Y course) general education requirement. Some courses fulfill only one or the other, some fulfill both.

‘Right now, what we have is very confusing,’ Blake said. ‘We want to be able to provide students with a solid list of courses that will fulfill the entire requirement.’

The revised course list will also display the department’s efforts to standardize the number of credits offered for each course.

While Hrehor said she was unable to comment specifically on what classes would be cut because ‘the semester’s roster hasn’t been approved yet,’ one set of classes will definitely be left off of the spring semester’s list: English Horsemanship I, II and III.

The classes, which have been offered at the University for nearly 30 years, have been run in conjunction with the Binghamton-based South Wind Stables, allowing BU students the opportunity to learn to care for and ride horses for University credit.

‘I was totally shocked to receive a letter in the mail informing me that the class would no longer be offered next semester because it doesn’t fit in with the wellness curriculum,’ said stable owner and manager Roni McAbee. ‘After 28 years, that’s the notice they give me.’

According to McAbee, BU students taking the courses provide the stable with approximately 60 percent of their income during the fall and nearly 70 percent during the spring semester.

‘The stable has never existed without the program with the University,’ McAbee said. ‘They’re not even phasing this in. We’ll lose nearly all of our business.’

According to her, the class has remained popular over the years, as enrollment has never waned and few students drop the class each semester. McAbee said she did not understand why the University would wish to drop the class, as all costs are covered by enrolled students.

‘BU pays for nothing. I provide transportation for the students to and from campus. Students pay me for the upkeep and housing of the horses. I don’t receive a salary,’ she said. ‘The University has never given me any money and I have never asked for any.’

The horses students ride are not used for any other purpose during the semester and if the classes are no longer offered, many of them may have to be sold off, McAbee said.

‘I’m really upset they’re canceling the classes,’ said Pamela Gradowitz, a senior nursing major taking the class. ‘It’s something I never would have done if the class wasn’t offered.’

Several students taking the class have expressed anger over the cancellation and plan to petition against the change.

‘Being able to ride horses up here is very important to me and it’s one of the main reasons I chose to come to Binghamton in the first place,’ said Jaclyn Corley, a sophomore who has taken both Horsemanship II and III. ‘It’s the only class that I look forward to each week. Riding helps me wind down from all the stress I’ve been dealing with and helps me to relax.’

What angers McAbee the most, however, is the reasoning the department gave for dismissing the class.

‘Riding is such a wellness-based activity. It’s used as a form of therapy for the handicapped and prisoners,’ she said. ‘The students develop a bond with these horses and learn their quirks. It’s been proven to be very therapeutic.’