Colby-Sawyer College Symposium to Explore Legal Issues in Sport and Exercise
NEW LONDON, N.H. - The Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences at Colby-Sawyer College will host a symposium on legal issues in sport and exercise on March 31 in New London.
The symposium will feature lectures and discussion led by Dr. JoAnn Eickhoff-Shemek, who will address, “Determining Legal Duties in Negligence Cases: What factors do courts consider?” and “Counterfeit matters,” by Dr. Allen L. Sack. Additionally, Ms. Rochel Rittgers will speak to the issues of “Preventing litigation through communication,” and Dr. Bruce B. Svare will discuss “What everyone should know about the pressurized world of youth sport.”
The symposium will take place on Monday, March 31, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Wheeler Hall at the Ware Campus Center. The lectures are free and open to the public. Lunch tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors. To register for the event, contact Terri Hermann at thermann@colby-sawyer.edu or (603)526-3616. View the symposium schedule.
The topic of this year's symposium reflect trends in the field that require professionals to protect themselves and minimize their legal risks. "In today's litigious society, it is becoming very important for sport and exercise professionals to have an extensive knowledge of aspects of liability and preventative law to better enable them to prepare or and prevent possible future litigative actions," says Colby-Sawyer Associate Professor of Exercise and Sport Sciences Greg Austin.
Dr. JoAnn Eickhoff-Shemek is a professor and the coordinator of the Exercise Science Program at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Her teaching and research focus on legal liability and risk management issues in health/fitness facilities. She is currently co-authoring a text entitled Risk Management for Health/Fitness Professionals: Legal Issues and Strategies, to be published in 2008. Dr. Eickhoff-Shemek is an associate editor and the legal columnist for ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal. She is an ACSM certified health/fitness director and exercise test technologist and a fellow of ACSM and AWHP.
Dr. Allen L. Sack is director of the Institute for Sport Management at the University of New Haven. His extensive research has focused on topics ranging from sport and ethnic cleansing in the Balkans to sport marketing, corporate sponsorship, and strategic management. He has been a consultant for the National Collegiate Athletic Association and is an expert on the role of sport in higher education. He has also served as the director of the Center for Athletes Rights and Education. His most recent book entitled Counterfeit Amateurs: An Athlete's Journey Through the Sixties to the Age of Academic Capitalism, was published in February 2008.
Ms. Rochel Rittgers is the head athletic trainer at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois. She teaches courses in sports medicine and other health-related areas in the school's physical education department. She has been highly active in the Illinois Athletic Trainer's Association (IATA). In November, 2007, she was inducted into the IATA Hall of Fame. She is also involved in the National Athletic Trainer's Association, having chaired and/or served on several committees. Ms. Rittgers often speaks at various state and national engagements on subjects related to sports medicine and health.
Dr. Bruce B. Svare is a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the State University of New York at Albany, where he teaches and conducts research in the behavioral neuroscience program. He is also the director of the National Institute for Sports Reform. He has specialized for more than 30 years in the study of anabolic steroids and has authored more than 70 scientific papers and written numerous books and book chapters in the field of behavioral neuroscience. Dr. Svare lectures nationally and internationally on the topics of sports reform and anabolic steroid abuse. He also has extensive experience as a coach and a sports administrator.
Exercise and Sport Sciences at Colby-Sawyer College
Colby-Sawyer College's Exercise and Sport Sciences Department offers bachelor-degree programs with specializations in Athletic Training, Exercise Science, and Sport Management. To learn more about the programs, visit www.colby-sawyer.edu/academic/ess.
